Academic literature on the topic 'Timing Irregularity'

Breakfast skipping and nighttime snacking have been identified as risk factors for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. However, the effects of irregularity of meal timing on health and daily quality of life are still unclear. In this study, a web-based self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted involving 4490 workers (73.3% males; average age = 47.4 ± 0.1 years) in Japan to investigate the association between meal habits, health, and social relationships. This study identified that irregular meal timing was correlated with higher neuroticism (one of the Big Five personality traits), lower physical activity levels, and higher productivity loss. Irregular meal timing was also associated with a higher incidence of sleep problems and lower subjective health conditions. Among health outcomes, a high correlation of irregular meal timing with mental health factors was observed. This study showed that irregularity of meal timing can be explained by unbalanced diets, frequent breakfast skipping, increased snacking frequency, and insufficient latency from the last meal to sleep onset. Finally, logistic regression analysis was conducted, and a significant contribution of meal timing irregularity to subjective mental health was found under adjustment for other confounding factors. These results suggest that irregular meal timing is a good marker of subjective mental health issues.

Abstract Introduction Misalignment between the central circadian clock and daily behaviors increases cardiometabolic morbidity and mortality risk, likely due to internal misalignment between central and peripheral circadian rhythms. Experimental studies suggest food intake may act as a time cue (‘zeitgeber’) for resetting circadian rhythms, representing a potential behavioral target to ameliorate circadian misalignment and associated health consequences. However, the extent to which eating timing relates to circadian rhythms in free-living adults is unclear. Therefore, we tested the associations between eating timing with 24-h rest-activity-rhythms (RAR), a free-living proxy for endogenous circadian rhythms, in non-shift-working adults. Methods Adults without chronic health conditions or sleep disorders completed 14 days of 24/7 wrist accelerometry to evaluate RAR variables of interdaily stability (IS; day-to-day stability in RAR), intradaily variability (IV; within-day fragmentation of RAR), relative amplitude (RA; difference between peak vs. trough activity), L5 onset time (5-h period with lowest activity), and M10 onset time (10-h period with highest activity). Concurrently, time-stamped image-assisted diet records were obtained to generate average eating timing variables, including daily eating onset (time of first caloric intake after awakening), offset (last caloric intake time), duration (time elapsed between eating onset and offset), and caloric midpoint (time at which 50% of daily kcals were consumed), and variables illustrating irregularity in eating timing (standard deviation of eating timing variables). Pearson’s correlations quantified the associations between RAR and eating timing variables. Results Participants (N=30) were 28.0±6.6 years, 57% female, with a BMI of 23.8±2.5 kg/m2. Higher IS was correlated with lower irregularity in both eating onset (r=-0.55, p<0.01) and duration (r=-0.51, p<0.01). Higher RA correlated with earlier eating onset (r=-0.47, p<0.01), longer eating duration (r=0.53, p<0.01), and lower eating onset irregularity (r=-0.37, p<0.05). Later L5 correlated with later eating onset (r=0.67, p<0.001), offset (r=0.58, p<0.001), caloric midpoint (r=0.56, p<0.01), and greater eating offset irregularity (r=0.53, p<0.01). Later M10 correlated with later eating offset (r=0.40, p<0.05). Conclusion Preliminary findings indicate that eating timing and RAR are moderately correlated in free-living adults. Earlier eating timing, increased eating regularity, and longer daily eating duration may represent behavioral targets for improving circadian rhythms and subsequent cardiometabolic outcomes. Support (If Any): Support provided by the American Heart Association (#831488) and a University of Delaware Research Fund-Strategic Initiative Award.

In this note, we demonstrate that the high firing irregularity produced by the leaky integrate-and-fire neuron with the partial somatic reset mechanism, which has been shown to be the most likely candidate to reflect the mechanism used in the brain for reproducing the highly irregular cortical neuron firing at high rates (Bugmann, Christodoulou, & Taylor, 1997 ; Christodoulou & Bugmann, 2001 ), enhances learning. More specifically, it enhances reward-modulated spike-timing-dependent plasticity with eligibility trace when used in spiking neural networks, as shown by the results when tested in the simple benchmark problem of XOR, as well as in a complex multiagent setting task.

Abstract Introduction Irregular sleep has been associated with worse cardio-metabolic health compared to regular sleep, but prior studies are limited in sample size and have assessed sleep irregularity over short assessment periods (7-14 days). This study investigated associations between sleep irregularity and hypertension in a large, global sample over multiple months. Methods Data from 12,300 participants (Mean ± SD; 50 ± 12 years, 12% females) who used an under-mattress sleep device and a portable blood pressure monitor between July 2020 and March 2021 were included. Each participant had ~180 nights of recordings and ~70 blood pressure entries. Sleep duration regularity was assessed as the standard deviation of device-assessed total sleep time. Sleep timing regularity was assessed as the standard deviation of sleep onset time and sleep midpoint. Logistic regressions were conducted, controlling for age, sex, BMI, and mean total sleep time. Results Across total sleep time quartiles, sleep duration irregularity was consistently associated with a 9-15% increase in hypertension risk. A 38-minute increase in sleep midpoint irregularity was associated with an 11% (1.11 [1.03, 1.20]) increase in hypertension risk, independent of mean total sleep time and mean sleep midpoint. Similarly, a ~31-minute increase in sleep onset time irregularity was associated with a 29% increased risk of hypertension (1.29 [1.18, 1.42]). Conclusions Irregular sleep, regardless of average total sleep time, was associated with increased hypertension risk. Further assessment of day-to-day fluctuations in sleep duration and timing for potential effects on next-day blood pressure and cardiovascular health outcomes is warranted.

BACKGROUND: At the present time all worldwide diesel engine manufacturers have directed their development strategies on the way of reduction of harmful emissions, fuel efficiency improving and increasing of the power per liter. Using only accumulator type system is not sufficient for the goals achievement. It is necessary to use new auxiliary units, such as an exhaust catalyst, an exhaust recirculation system, injection of additional liquids together with diesel fuel, as well as to improve the existing units. Increasing the accuracy of injection rate of a nozzle will make it possible to adjust the engine fuel system more precisely, that will have a positive effect on all development directions of diesel engine engineering. Injection rate of a nozzle is dependent on fuel pressure in the nozzle inlet and on control signal timing. Pressure pulsation with stable timing cause irregularity of injection rate of a nozzle. Possibility of decreasing of nozzle inlet pressure pulsation is mainly defined by design of a high-pressure fuel pump, as it supplies fuel partially. The design optimization will make it possible to increase the accuracy of injection rate, that will make a positive effect on development of the diesel engines promising areas.
 AIMS: Study of irregularity of fuel supply by fuel pumps of various diesel engines designs with the Common Rail fuel accumulation system, aimed to decrease fuel oscillations and to improve stability of injection rate of a nozzle.
 METHODS: In order to assess the efficiency of high-pressure fuel pump designs, these designs were simulated in the specialised software. Theoretical studies of fuel supply irregularity for various designs of the pumps were carried out.
 RESULTS: Graphs of non-uniformity of fuel supply of high-pressure pumps depending on their design are obtained.
 CONCLUSIONS: Based on simulations, the conclusions about design influence on fuel supply irregularity of various designs of pump are made, recommendations for use are given.

There is considerable debate over whether the brain codes information using neural firing rate or the fine-grained structure of spike timing. We investigated this issue in spike discharge recorded from single units in the sensorimotor cortex, deep cerebellar nuclei, and dorsal root ganglia in macaque monkeys trained to perform a finger flexion task. The task required flexion to four different displacements against two opposing torques; the eight possible conditions were randomly interleaved. We used information theory to assess coding of task condition in spike rate, discharge irregularity, and spectral power in the 15- to 25-Hz band during the period of steady holding. All three measures coded task information in all areas tested. Information coding was most often independent between irregularity and 15–25 Hz power (60% of units), moderately redundant between spike rate and irregularity (56% of units redundant), and highly redundant between spike rate and power (93%). Most simultaneously recorded unit pairs coded using the same measure independently (86%). Knowledge of two measures often provided extra information about task, compared with knowledge of only one alone. We conclude that sensorimotor systems use both rate and temporal codes to represent information about a finger movement task. As well as offering insights into neural coding, this work suggests that incorporating spike irregularity into algorithms used for brain-machine interfaces could improve decoding accuracy.

Abstract. We have examined several cases of magnetosphere compression by solar wind pressure pulses using a set of instruments located in the noon sector of auroral zone. We have found that the increase in riometric absorption (sudden commencement absorption, SCA) occurred simultaneously with the beginning of negative or positive magnetic variations and broadband enhancement of magnetic activity in the frequency range above 0.1 Hz. Since magnetic variations were observed before the step-like increase of magnetic field at equatorial station (main impulse, MI), the negative declinations resembled the so-called preliminary impulse, PI. In this paper a mechanism for the generation of PI is introduced whereby PI's generation is linked to SCA – associated precipitation and the local enhancement of ionospheric conductivity leading to the reconstruction of the ionospheric current system prior to MI. Calculation showed that PI polarity depends on orientation of the background electric field and location of the observation point relative to ionospheric irregularity. For one case of direct measurements of electric field in the place where the ionospheric irregularity was present, the sign of calculated disturbance corresponded to the observed one. High-resolution measurements on IRIS facility and meridional chain of the induction magnetometers are utilized for the accurate timing of the impact of solar wind irregularity on the magnetopause.

Mutation of the Cacna1a gene for the P/Q (CaV2.1) calcium channel invariably leads to cerebellar dysfunction. The dysfunction has been attributed to disrupted rhythmicity of cerebellar Purkinje cells, but the hypothesis remains unproven. If irregular firing rates cause cerebellar dysfunction, then the irregularity and behavioral deficits should covary in a series of mutant strains of escalating severity. We compared firing irregularity in floccular and anterior vermis Purkinje cells in the mildly affected rocker and moderately affected tottering Cacna1a mutants and normal C57BL/6 mice. We also measured the amplitude and timing of modulations of floccular Purkinje cell firing rate during the horizontal vestibuloocular reflex (VOR, 0.25–1 Hz) and the horizontal and vertical optokinetic reflex (OKR, 0.125–1 Hz). We recorded Purkinje cells selective for rotational stimulation about the vertical axis (VAPCs) and a horizontal axis (HAPCs). Irregularity scaled with behavioral deficit severity in the flocculus but failed to do so in the vermis, challenging the irregularity hypothesis. Mutant VAPCs exhibited unusually strong modulation during VOR and OKR, the response augmentation scaling with phenotypic severity. HAPCs exhibited increased OKR modulation but in tottering only. The data contradict prior claims that modulation amplitude is unaffected in tottering but support the idea that attenuated compensatory eye movements in Cacna1a mutants arise from defective transfer of Purkinje cell signals to downstream circuitry, rather than attenuated synaptic transmission within the cerebellar cortex. Shifts in the relative sizes of the VAPC and HAPC populations raise the possibility that Cacna1a mutations influence the development of floccular zone architecture.

Abstract Introduction Sleep health is linked to dietary choices, and skipping breakfast is associated with risk of negative health outcomes in adolescents. However, there is a lack of research on whether dimensions of sleep at night predict adolescents eating breakfast the next day. We investigated within- and between-person associations of multiple aspects of sleep with adolescent breakfast consumption. Methods Data were collected from a subset of the age 15 wave of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (n=590). Teens wore an actigraphy device and completed daily surveys for ~1 week (mean=5.9 days). Surveys assessed subjective sleep quality (low–high) and consumption of breakfast (no/yes). Mixed models assessed whether actigraphy-measured sleep timing (onset, midpoint, and offset) and subjective sleep quality predicted odds of breakfast consumption in both within- and between-person models. A curvilinear association between sleep duration and breakfast consumption was also assessed. Irregularity of sleep duration and timing were tested as additional predictors, calculated as SD per person (in between-person models only). Analyses included random intercepts for participants and covariates: school day, boredom, loneliness, happiness, depressive symptoms, sex, race/ethnicity, body mass index, and household income. Results Within-person analyses revealed a significant curvilinear association between sleep duration and breakfast consumption, such that on nights when teens slept shorter or longer than their average, they had lower odds of eating breakfast the next day (p=.005). Additionally, on nights when teens had a later sleep midpoint or offset than their usual, they tended to skip breakfast the next day (both p<.05). Between-person models showed that teens who on average had later sleep timing (onset, midpoint, and offset) and who reported lower sleep quality had lower odds of eating breakfast (all p<.04). Lastly, teens with greater irregularity of sleep duration and sleep timing (midpoint and offset) had lower odds of eating breakfast (all p<.009). Conclusion Findings indicate that multiple dimensions of adolescent sleep health, including long and short sleep duration, later sleep timing, and poorer sleep quality, are associated with lower odds of eating breakfast. These sleep and dietary behaviors in adolescence may consequently impact future metabolic health. Support (if any) R01HD073352