Call for Interdisciplinary Projects Sevres 2014 Project title Biological Rythms : unity and diversity Acronym BIORHYTMICS A General Information Keywords (5) Humans, biological cycles, citizen science, Team members Names Martha Gajowa Neuroscience Fields of interest Aude Bernheim Microbiology // Bioinformatics Marguerite Benony Cristina Garcia Biochemistry, Human Health Jean François Darrigrand Engineer in life science Abstract (200 words max) Our daily rhythm is based on time. Schedules and calendars are standard ways of organizing our lifes. However; each individual might have a personal cycle, an internal clock. Our aim is to measure our daily cycles using a smarphone application. The user would perform simple tasks to monitor his cardiac cycle, hormonal cycle, mental state and physical performance. Then, he would get back a map of his daily cycle that would allow him to understand better his personal rhythms and how to improve it. We think that being aware of our personal rhythms and of their changes could be a way to live happier and healthier lives. 1
B Description of the project (1 page max) B-1 General Introduction Humans have been adjusting their way of living on the circadian cycle and seasons. However, at different ages, in different parts of the world, those cycles do not represent the same conditions. Recent evolution in living conditions, like the growing urbanization has changed the way humans lived. As living organisms, humans have their own biological rhythms. From the beat of the heart to regular cycles like sexual hormonal ones, the human body concentrates different rhythms. How do those rhythms vary between individuals? Are they influenced by living conditions? By socio cultural factors? In order to investigate these questions, this research project aims at collecting data about human biological rhythms through the use of an application. Users will receive a kit that will allow them to record various biological parameters (heart rate, sexual hormonal cycle, muscle reactions and cognitive performance) and will fill a questionnaire about their living conditions. In return, they will receive a rhythm profile that will be linked to infos and advice about their lifestyle. From those data, biological rhythms will be analyzed in term of variation between individuals, at different times in the days and in the month. Finally, we will test if certain factors (socio cultural, geographical ) modify biological rhythms. B-2 Objectives and specific aims Are biological rythms influenced by our way of life? Create an app and a kit to mesure biological rythms. Collect biological rythms and build rythms profiles for users to give them info and advice on their lifestyle. Analyse diversity in biological rythms in terms of geography, socio cultural aspects, profiles. 2
C Detailed description of the project Scientific question: How do body rythms change among Individuals A: Development of the application. 1) Development of the specific measurements of the application: a smartphone application called Biorhythimics. It will assess: - Hormonal levels (checked on monthly bases) For women: period calendar to measure the estrogens level For men: weight, physical activity, number of erections diet to assess the testosterone levels. - Muscular stiffness device: external device will be a ball able to measure the strength used by participant. - Reaction time: will be played as a game that will be different every time where the user will have to rapidly react to a visual stimuli ( based on Stroop test) 3
- - - Cognitive abilities: it will be a simple equation or a puzzle different every time to measure how long it takes to the user to resolve it (adjusted to the level of the user). Heart beat: the user will wear an external device (sticker on the skin above the heart wirelessly connected to the phone) to monitor his/her heart beat during the day. General mood: questionnaire about general stress at the present moment and general satisfaction and affectivity level. Our aim is to calculate an index with these measurements in both holidays and working days. The user will choose two days during the week: a working day and a holiday (e.g.: Monday and Saturday). These days the user will be tested three times a day (during morning, afternoon and evening) for each parameter. (S)he will be able to choose the time at which (s)he will be tested as long as the interval is of at least 4 hours. The app will automatically set up alerts to remind the user to record the parameter. These data will be sent to our database for further analysis. 2) Developing the different users group profiles: Each user has to create an online profile: We will ask to this preliminary participant his/her age, sex, weight, diseases, general mood and drug use in a preliminary questionnaire. We then want to develop different group profiles. For this aim we will make participant clusters with the data obtained in step 1. As the clustering can be done using different approaches, we will decide later on during the project which one is the more accurate to serve our application. We will hope to have an initial sample of 1000 individuals: 500 men and 500 women from ages 20-50 divided in equal groups. We will use this group to cluster people into different categories according to their daily/monthly cycle. will be saved at secured server and then data will be transforñed by an anonymization process and made available online. During the installation of the application users will be informed about data we will collect and the way we would use them. To install the application users will need to agree for using their data. For each category we will consult a medical doctor to get an advice about how to improve stress management, reduce their fatigue physically and mentally. B) General use of the application and the data created with it 1) Launch the application for general use The user will complete the same tasks and get a profile based on our previous study-. The application will show a graph about his/her daily and monthly cycle. It will also classify the patient into a category and offer some medical advice about how to improve their daily performance. Thanks to these measurement analysis we will be able to predict the daily cycle of the individual: meaning when (s)he is more tired/stressed during the day, when his/her muscular performance is better. 2) Analysis We will try to detect if specific groups of people have specific patterns. We will for example focus on testing if geography, social-cultural aspects, place of residency (cities vs countryside) seasons etc have effects on biological rhythms. We will develop data visualization tools specific to rhythms to allow a general public to understand the results. 4
D Scientific Interest in the project of all the participants and beyond (200 words max. What are your motivations to participate to this project? Why should other scientists, society and general public be interested?) Learning how living conditions affect biological rhythms would allow to better understand how the environment affects different body functions. It could help prevent health problems by catching possible issues that a certain user profile might experience. It would also constitute a very interesting database in terms of basic physiological data clustered with socio cultural information. For the users of the app, they will be able to monitor their rhythm, quantify themselves and know themselves better. This will empower them to make choices about their living conditions using this information. The interdisciplinary team presenting this project has the competences necessary. To build the devices that will record biological data, the design background of Marguerite Benony, the neurosciences expertise of Martha Gajowa, the biochemistry knowledge of Cristina Garcia and Jean-Francois Darrigrand s engineering skills will be used. For the design of the app, the experience of Aude Bernheim in this field as she worked on a citizen science app before and the design skills of Marguerite Benony will prevail. Analysis of data will be performed by all members the team : statistical part by Aude Bernheim, Martha Gajowa and Cristina Garcia while data design and data communication will be handled by Jean Francois Darrigrand and Marguerite Benony. Year 1 Martha Gajowa Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Aude Bernheim App App Test of the devices and // Building the databases structure Marguerite Benony Cristina Garcia Jean François Darrigrand App design / Device App design / Device App design / Device Test of the devices and // Building the databases structure App design / Device Year 2 Martha Gajowa Aude Bernheim Marguerite Benony Cristina Garcia Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Vizualization Construction of first profiles Vizualization Construction of first profiles Vizualization Analysis Jean François Darrigrand Construction of first profiles Construction of first profiles Profiles devlopment 5
Year 3 Martha Gajowa Aude Bernheim Marguerite Benony Cristina Garcia Jean François Darrigrand Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Analysis Analysis Vizualization Analysis Profiles devlopment Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Analysis Vizualization Vizualization Vizualization Analysis Analysis Analysis Communication ith users Communication ith users Communication ith users 6
E BUDGET (1 million euro max for 3 years including salaries, equipment, consumables, etc.) Budget in K Salaries (3 years, 5 PhD Students) 525 Special Devlopment for (App Devloper, Devlopment, 60 ) Kits (8000*50) 400 Unseen Charges 15 Total 1000 7