Keith W. Pecor

Sleep health, messaging, headaches, and academic performance in high school students

AIM We tested for associations of bedtime, sleep duration, instant messaging, and chronic headaches with hypersomnolence and academic performance in a sample of high school students in New Jersey, USA. METHODS Students were surveyed anonymously and asked to report their sleep and messaging habits, headache status, and overall grades. RESULTS We found that greater hypersomnolence was associated with later bedtimes, shorter sleep durations, and the presence of chronic headaches, but not with messaging after lights out. Also, we found that academic performance was lower in students who messaged after lights out, but it was not affected by headache status, bedtime, or sleep duration. CONCLUSIONS These results are consistent with other studies that have demonstrated associations between headaches and hypersomnolence and between instant messaging habits and academic performance. They also add to a growing literature on the relationships among use of electronic devices, sleep health, and academic performance by adolescents.

Effects of Instant Messaging on School Performance in Adolescents

Instant messaging may compromise sleep quality and school performance in adolescents. We aimed to determine associations between nighttime messaging and daytime sleepiness, self-reported sleep parameters, and/or school performance. Students from 3 high schools in New Jersey completed anonymous questionnaires assessing sleep duration, daytime sleepiness, messaging habits, and academic performance. Of the 2,352 students sampled, 1,537 responses were contrasted among grades, sexes, and messaging duration, both before and after lights out. Students who reported longer duration of messaging after lights out were more likely to report a shorter sleep duration, higher rate of daytime sleepiness, and poorer academic performance. Messaging before lights out was not associated with higher rates of daytime sleepiness or poorer academic performance. Females reported more messaging, more daytime sleepiness, and better academic performance than males. There may be an association between text messaging and school performance in this cohort of students.

The tradeoff between reproductive and food resources in the crayfish Orconectes virilis

The conflict between mating and foraging is one of the many tradeoffs associated with reproduction. The relative attraction to sex pheromone and food stimuli by male virile crayfish (Orconectes virilis) were tested using two experiments. In the first experiment, the responses by males to pheromone and food stimuli alone were assessed. In the second experiment, males were exposed to both pheromone and food stimuli in a choice maze. To determine the effects of feeding motivation, the males in the choice experiment were fed either one day or seven days prior to observation. Male crayfish exhibited similar responses to the pheromone and food stimuli individually. Males exhibited a preference for the pheromone stimulus over the food stimulus in the choice trials, and that preference that was not influenced by starvation.

The use of conspecific and heterospecific alarm cues by virile crayfish (Orconectes virilis) from an exotic population

The successful establishment of a population of introduced animals is dependent upon a number of variables, including the ability to respond adaptively to novel stimuli indicating predation risk. Previous studies have suggested that exotic crayfish have an advantage over native species, in that the former respond to alarm cues released from both injured conspecifics and injured heterospecifics and the latter typically respond only to injured conspecifics. This pattern could be a result of learning in the new environment or a predisposition of certain species to respond to a broader range of alarm stimuli. We tested between these possibilities using individuals from an exotic population of the virile crayfish (Orconectes virilis). The crayfish responded similarly to alarm cues from conspecifics, sympatric heterospecifics, and novel heterospecifics. The results suggest that these animals enter a new habitat with the ability to respond adaptively to a wide range of predation risk cues, but more work is needed before this hypothesis can be accepted conclusively.

Sleep complaints in cerebral palsy and/or epilepsy: A pediatric sleep questionnaire study

This study determined whether common symptoms of sleep disorders were more prevalent in children with cerebral palsy (CP), epilepsy, and with CP comorbid with epilepsy. The pediatric sleep questionnaire was administered to the guardians of healthy control children (n = 69), children with CP (n = 23), epilepsy (n = 106), and CP comorbid with epilepsy (n = 29). Scores on symptoms of sleep disordered breathing, insomnia, and excessive daytime sleepiness were analyzed separately and compared among the groups using Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance by ranks. In comparison to controls, the CP group had a significantly higher prevalence of sleep disordered breathing, insomnia, and excessive daytime sleepiness, and the CP comorbid with epilepsy group exhibited significantly higher prevalence of sleep disordered breathing and insomnia. The epilepsy group showed significantly higher prevalence of sleep disordered breathing than controls. The sleep complaints were more common in this cohort of children with CP and/or epilepsy that deserve clinical attention for proper diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders.

Use of Head Computed Tomography (CT) in the Pediatric Emergency Department in Evaluation of Children With New-Onset Afebrile Seizure:

Objective: Cranial computed tomography (CT) is not recommended in the routine evaluation of children with first afebrile seizure due to its low yield. The objective was to assess the current practice in our pediatric emergency department regarding the use of head CT in children with first afebrile seizure and to identify the factors that lead to ordering a head CT. Methods: Medical records of patients between 1 month and 18 years old evaluated at our emergency department for presentation of first afebrile seizure between 2010 and 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. Data extracted include age, gender, seizure type, single or multiple seizures at presentation, seizure duration, predisposing conditions to seizures (ie, history of developmental delay), and whether a head CT was performed. Contingency tables with chi-square analyses were used to determine which variables were associated with increased use of head CT. Results: Of 155 patients (88M/67F) included in the study, 72 (46.5%) underwent head CT and only 3 had clinically significant findings that did not require acute management. There were no differences in CT use by age, sex, seizure type, seizure number, seizure risk factors, or findings on physical examination. Head CT was performed more frequently in cases with seizures ≥5 minutes and unknown seizure duration (P = .04). Conclusion: Despite existing evidence, the emergent head CT rate was high in our cohort. Children with seizure duration of ≥5 minutes or of unknown duration were more likely to undergo head CT in our emergency department.

Phenology: From Natural History to Climate Change

ABSTRACT Phenology refers to the seasonal changes in activity and abundance observed in both plants and animals. This article highlights two animal groups, aquatic insects and frogs, in which phenology can be observed, using data collected directly and via databases. Effects of climate change on phenological patterns are also discussed.

Responses to injured conspecifics and heterospecifics by water fleas, Chydorus sphaericus

Abstract Cladocerans have been shown to exhibit a variety of responses to chemical stimuli associated with predation risk, including those from predators and injured conspecifics. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that individuals of Chydorus sphaericus would respond with avoidance behavior to chemical cues from both injured conspecifics and injured heterospecifics. Avoidance behavior was seen in response to cues from C. sphaericus and Daphnia magna. Responses to cues from Daphnia pulex were intermediate between those of the other cues and the water control. We propose that a concentration effect may be responsible for the mixed responses to heterospecific cues and speculate that responses to a broad range of cues may help explain the expansive range of C. sphaericus.

Optimal Foraging by Birds: Experiments for Secondary & Postsecondary Students

Abstract Optimal foraging theory attempts to explain the foraging patterns observed in animals, including their choice of particular food items and foraging locations. We describe three experiments designed to test hypotheses about food choice and foraging habitat preference using bird feeders. These experiments can be used alone or in combination and can also provide a foundation for students to develop extensions incorporating the basic methodology. We see these experiments as most applicable in secondary and postsecondary education, but they could be adapted for a variety of educational environments and for students with a variety of backgrounds.