CIRCADIPY: PYTHON LIBRARY FOR CHRONOBIOLOGICAL DATA ANALYSIS

Chronobiology is the scientific field concerned with the study of periodicity in biological processes, including the circadian cycle. In mammals, this endogenous rhythm is orchestrated by the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus, which modulates the rhythmicity of several physiological variables, such as metabolism, body temperature, locomotor activity, and sleep. The circadian clock disruption has direct implications on health, being associated with cardiovascular disease, immune disorders, and metabolic/hormonal changes observed in obesity and diabetes. Circadian rhythms can be assessed by examining correlated time series, such as body temperature and locomotor activity. The study can be done by visual inspection, spectral analysis, and more precisely by parameterization of cosine models. We have developed a library (i.e. CircadiPy) that packages chronobiological analysis methods and data inspection functioning as an open-access toolkit for the analysis and interpretation of chronobiological data. The package was developed to aid the understanding and facilitate the analysis of the dynamics of processes that are affected by or influence the circadian rhythms.