ALBERT

Description: Cross-sectional observations have shown that the timing of eating may be important for health-related outcomes. Here we examined the stability of eating timing, using both clock hour and relative circadian time, across one semester (n = 14) at daily and monthly time-scales. At three time points ~ 1 month apart, circadian phase was determined during an overnight in-laboratory visit and eating was photographically recorded for one week to assess timing and composition. Day-to-day stability was measured using the Composite Phase Deviation (deviation from a perfectly regular pattern) and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were used to determine individual stability across months (weekly average compared across months). Day-to-day clock timing of caloric events had poor stability within individuals (~ 3-h variation; ICC = 0.12–0.34). The timing of eating was stable across months (~ 1-h variation, ICCs ranging from 0.54–0.63), but less stable across months when measured relative to circadian timing (ICC = 0.33–0.41). Our findings suggest that though day-to-day variability in the timing of eating has poor stability, the timing of eating measured for a week is stable across months within individuals. This indicates two relevant timescales: a monthly timescale with more stability in eating timing than a daily timescale. Thus, a single day’s food documentation may not represent habitual (longer timescale) patterns.

Description: The lost productivity from fatigue adds something like $2,000 per worker per year to an organization's overall costs. The human and financial burden of fatigue has prompted specialists to develop fatigue risk management plans, which have been implemented with success in industries like aviation, manufacturing, and first responders. We'll explore the common risk factors for fatigue and delve into successful programs from major players in the American marketplace, and provide actionable recommendations for change within your organization to prevent fatigue and encourage greater holistic wellness among your workers. Learning Objectives - Explain the causes and effects of the fatigue problem - Illustrate the difference between physical and chronic sleep-related fatigue - Explore fatigue management case studies from aviation, manufacturing, and warehousing - Demonstrate fatigue conclusions from research conducted at NASA - Answer common questions on fatigue management - Share recommendations from our experts on creating a fatigue management plan.

Description: Despite the introduction of flight, duty, and rest time regulations to reduce the risk of sleepiness, airline pilots often encounter elevated sleepiness during flight. To combat this sleepiness, in some instances, pilots can take a short nap on the flight deck (controlled rest) to improve their alertness. Little is known, however, as to when and how often this countermeasure is used operationally.

Description: Despite the introduction of flight, duty, and rest time regulations to reduce the risk of sleepiness, airline pilots often encounter elevated sleepiness during flight. To combat this sleepiness, in some instances, pilots can take a short nap on the flight deck (controlled rest) to improve their alertness. Little is known, however, as to when and how often this countermeasure is used operationally. Methods: Forty-four pilots from a European carrier wore actiwatches and filled in an electronic sleep and work diary for approximately 2 weeks resulting in data from 239 flights. Self-reported in-flight rest periods were used to set rest intervals and sleep was estimated within these intervals using Philips Actiware 6.0.9. Wake threshold selection was set to medium; sleep threshold detection algorithm was set to 10 immobile minutes at sleep onset and sleep end. Timing of sleep periods was analyzed relative to home base time. Results: Preliminary analyses showed that controlled rest was taken on 46% (n=110) of flights. On 23 flights (10%) pilots reported taking two controlled rest periods. Sleep, as estimated by actigraphy, was achieved during 80% (n=106) of controlled rest periods. The mean sleep duration was 32 ( 12) minutes estimated within successful controlled rest periods. Approximately two-thirds (67.5%, n=81) of all rest periods were initiated during home base time night (0000h-0800h). On 11% (n=26) of flights, pilots also reported taking bunk rest (longer rest period in a designated sleeping facility).Conclusion:This study shows that controlled rest is commonly used as a countermeasure to sleepiness on the flight deck. Further analysis is required to determine what other factors contribute to the decision to take controlled rest, and how effective it is in reducing sleepiness on the flight deck.

Description: Fatigue is a hazard that must be managed within 24-hour safety-critical operations. Napping is the best known countermeasure to fatigue caused by sleep-loss and circadian misalignment. This presentation will: define fatigue; discuss ways to make the most of a nap opportunity; highlight the benefits of napping, including two case studies from workplace settings; outline the challenges in implementing napping in the workplace; and walk through examples to demonstrate that not all naps are equal when it comes to benefits to alertness and performance. The second half of the presentation will focus on sleep inertia, that is, the brief period of impaired alertness and performance experienced after waking from sleep. The factors contributing to and caused by sleep inertia will be discussed, along with countermeasures to reduce the impact of sleep inertia on alertness and performance.

Description: Managing fatigue in 24/7 operations is complex; fatigue and performance degradation can have health and safety consequences for the workers and can have economic and community consequences. We will present new findings on sleep, circadian misalignment, and performance in operational personnel. The presentations will shed light on how sleep and circadian misalignment affect workers' performance, safety, and health across multiple operations, and their application in fatigue risk management.As part of this symposium, I will discuss how pilots can use short naps (controlled rest) as a countermeasure to elevated sleepiness in-flight. My presentation will describe how and when controlled rest is used operationally and outline best practice guidelines for maximizing the benefits while managing the associated risks.

Description: Human error has been implicated as a causal factor in a large proportion of road accidents. Automated driving systems purport to mitigate this risk, but self-driving systems that allow a driver to entirely disengage from the driving task also require the driver to monitor the environment and take control when necessary. Given that sleep loss impairs monitoring performance and there is a high prevalence of sleep deficiency in modern society, we hypothesized that supervising a self-driving vehicle would unmask latent sleepiness compared to manually controlled driving among individuals following their typical sleep schedules. We found that participants felt sleepier, had more involuntary transitions to sleep, had slower reaction times and more attentional failures, and showed substantial modifications in brain synchronization during and following an autonomous drive compared to a manually controlled drive. Our findings suggest that the introduction of partial self-driving capabilities in vehicles has the potential to paradoxically increase accident risk.