Body temperature presents exhibits a diurnal variation that follows a sinusoidal pattern
Fig1. - Pattern of body temperature (solid grey line) in a sheep before shearing (left) after shearing (middle) and during lactation (right panel). Black dotted line indicates the cosinor fit.
(Figure 1)
but can also respond very quickly to stimulation (within minutes to a few minutes).
The temperature profiles can be obtained via data loggers coupled to a temperature sensor which
are either implanted in the body cavity, inserted in specific sphincters or attached at
strategic points on the body surface.
The frequency of sampling is driven by the need for precision but, more importantly by the memory of
the loggers and the duration of the experimental period.
We are collecting such data in different species of animals (sheep, cattle, duck, rabbit) that
are exposed to treatments, such as level of nutrition, cold or heat exposure or stressful situations,
that affects the diurnal pattern of body temperature (Figure 1).
Different treatments can induce a range of changes in the diurnal pattern: 1) change
in the periodicity, 2) change in the characteristics of the sinusoid curve such as mesor,
amplitude, or absolute maximum or minimum and, 3) increase the frequency of anomalies in the diurnal
pattern (spikes or dips).
We are seeking the development of a software that would analyse the diurnal pattern of body temperature and generate data allowing the comparison of different periods between and within animals.
The software will:
Run under different platforms
Allow the selection of specific windows of time within large data set
Analyse the periodicity of the signal
Perform a cosinor analysis to generate parameters describing the fitted sinusoid curve (curve fit, mesor, amplitude, acrophase).
Identify "outliers" data point of series of data points that deviate from the fitted curve and document the extant of the deviation
Client
Contact Person: Dominique Blache/Shane Maloney
Telephone: 6488 6763/ 6488 3394
Email: [email protected], [email protected]
Preferred method of contact:
Location: CSIRO Floreat and UWA Crawley
