The U.S. Global Change Research Program reports that the frequency and intensity of extreme heat ... more The U.S. Global Change Research Program reports that the frequency and intensity of extreme heat are increasing globally. Studies of the impact of climate change on child health often exclude sleep, despite its importance for healthy growth and development. To address this gap in the literature, we studied the impact of unusually high temperatures in the summer of 2022 on infants’ sleep. Sleep was assessed objectively using Nanit camera monitors in infants’ homes. Generally, sleep was not impacted when temperatures stayed below 88° but was negatively impacted when temperatures reached over 100°. Compared to non-heatwave nights, infants had less total sleep, less efficient sleep, took longer to fall asleep, had more fragmented sleep, and parents’ visits were more frequent during the night. Following peaks in temperature, sleep metrics rebounded to better than average compared to non-peak nights, suggesting that infants compensated for disrupted sleep by sleeping more and with fewer i...
Introduction Daylight saving time (DST) imposes a twice yearly 1h change in local clock time. Alt... more Introduction Daylight saving time (DST) imposes a twice yearly 1h change in local clock time. Although it may seem a small adjustment, there is increasing awareness of the potential acute and long term effects at the individual and population level. Several studies have shown detrimental effects on sleep patterns, but mostly focusing on adults. Only one study has looked at the effect in infants’ sleep of change from standard time (ST) to DST, reporting negative effects. One study limitation was the reliance on parental reports of infant sleep. In addition, effects of the change from DST to ST are unknown. We hypothesize that the change from DST to ST would lead to earlier rise times, leading to sleep loss in the week following the change. Methods Caregivers of 510 children ages 3-24 mos (M=9.8 mos) tracked their child’s sleep using Nanit baby-monitor. Sleep metrics analyzed were: Nighttime sleep duration (NSD) and midpoint, number of night-wakings and sleep efficiency. Wilcoxon rank...
This article describes the author’s research journey exploring infant and toddler sleep. From pol... more This article describes the author’s research journey exploring infant and toddler sleep. From polygraphic recording in hospital nurseries to using videosomnography in homes, the author traced the longitudinal development of infant/toddler nighttime sleep and waking behaviors. The home-based video observations led to a redefinition of a pediatric milestone; namely, “sleeping through the night,” and provided a framework for assessing and treating infant/toddler nighttime sleep problems.
Poorly designed and analyzed studies ascribing effects of obstetric drugs on infant behavior may ... more Poorly designed and analyzed studies ascribing effects of obstetric drugs on infant behavior may not only have misrepresented facts but may also have ren-dered well-designed and analyzed studies difficult to execute. KEY WORDS: obstetric drugs; infant behavior. Strong claims have been made about adverse effects of obstetric drugs on the behavioral development of children (Brackbill, 1979). In some cases these claims have received wide coverage in the media. Yet there is growing skep-ticism about these claims (Kolata, 1979). The present paper focuses on two issues underlying skepticism: (a) problems of the confounding of obstetric drugs and various factors and (b) faulty statistical analysis.
Der Ruhrverband ist verantwortlicher Träger der umfassenden Wasserwirtschaft im gesamten Flussgeb... more Der Ruhrverband ist verantwortlicher Träger der umfassenden Wasserwirtschaft im gesamten Flussgebiet der Ruhr. Er betreibt ein System von Talsperren zur Bewirtschaftung der Wassermengen sowie ein flächendeckendes Netzwerk von Abwasserbehandlungsanlagen und Ruhrstauseen zur Reinhaltung der Gewässer für 60 Kommunen. Betreiber von Talsperren sind gesetzlich verpflichtet, ihre Talsperren ausreichend zu überwachen. Beim Ruhrverband betrifft dies 8 Talsperren, wovon die Möhnetalsperre in Bild 1 gezeigt wird, 5 Ruhrstauseen und einige Nebenbauwerke. Die Talsperrenüberwachung beinhaltet eine umfangreiche Messausstattung vor Ort, in regelmäßigen Abständen durchzuführende Überwachungsmessungen, eine sichere Archivierung der so gewonnenen Messdaten sowie umfangreiche Auswertungen, zum Beispiel in Form von Sicherheitsberichten. Herzstück all dieser Arbeiten ist eine Datenbank, in der die gewonnenen und weiter zu verarbeitenden Messwerte zentral gespeichert werden. Der Talsperrenbetrieb ist beim Ruhrverband dezentral organisiert, so dass die Messdaten der geologischen Überwachungsmessungen durch an den Talsperren vor Ort vorhandenes Talsperrenpersonal gewonnen werden können. Die weitere Bearbeitung der Messdaten erfolgt hingegen in der Zentrale des Ruhrverbands in Essen. Verformungsmessungen werden, wie auch die Aufbereitung der Ergebniswerte, durch eine zentrale Vermessungsgruppe durchgeführt. Die jährlichen Sicherheitsberichte aller Talsperren werden schließlich zentral in Essen durch die Gruppe Talsperrensicherheit erstellt. Es ist ersichtlich, dass sich insgesamt eine große Personenzahl mit unterschiedlichen Aufgabenstellungen mit Gewinnung und Bearbeitung der einzelnen Messwerte beschäftigt. Vor diesem Hintergrund ist eine umfassende Datenbank mit einem einheitlichen Datenbestand aller relevanten Messwerte der Bauwerksüberwachung von zentraler Bedeutung. Durch Vermeidung einer doppelten oder mehrfachen Datenhaltung kann die Wahrscheinlichkeit von Übertragungsfehlern minimiert werden. Des Weiteren verringern sich die Aufwände für Sicherung und Archivierung. Ein geeignetes Rechtesystem regelt für die Beteiligten die Bearbeitbarkeit der Daten auf unterschiedlichem Niveau und garantiert so eine zentrale Datensicherheit.
Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (Division 43), 2018
Household chaos has been linked with dysregulated family and individual processes. The present st... more Household chaos has been linked with dysregulated family and individual processes. The present study investigated linkages between household chaos and infant and parent sleep, a self-regulated process impacted by individual, social, and environmental factors. Studies of relations between household chaos and child sleep have focused on older children and teenagers, with little attention given to infants or parent sleep. This study examines these relationships using objective measures of household chaos and sleep while controlling for, respectively, maternal emotional availability at bedtime and martial adjustment, in infant and parent sleep. Multilevel modeling examined mean and variability of sleep duration and fragmentation for infants, mothers, and fathers when infants were 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months (N = 167). Results indicated infants in higher chaos homes experienced delays in sleep consolidation patterns, with longer and more variable sleep duration, and greater fragmentation. ...
Parenting behaviours play a major role in the evolution of infant sleep. Sleep problems in infanc... more Parenting behaviours play a major role in the evolution of infant sleep. Sleep problems in infancy have been associated with excessive parental involvement at night-time, and with shorter delays in response to infant night wakings and signalling. Infant crying and sleep problems are linked, yet little is known about the impact of parental responses to crying on infant sleep patterns. This study examined the hypothesis that lower parental tolerance for crying is associated with infant sleep problems. We studied 144 married couples divided into three groups: parents of infants suffering from night-waking problems (i.e. the clinical group), parents of infants without sleep problems and childless couples. Crying tolerance was assessed using questionnaires, audio recordings of crying infants and using a novel paradigm, in which participants were shown a video of a crying infant and asked when they would intervene. Parents in the clinical group demonstrated shorter intervention delays in ...
American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 2012
This study examined sleep, sleepiness, and daytime performance in 68 children with autism, 57 chi... more This study examined sleep, sleepiness, and daytime performance in 68 children with autism, 57 children with intellectual disability (ID), and 69 typically developing preschool children. Children in the autism and ID groups had poorer daytime performance and behaviors than the typically developing children. Children in the ID group also were significantly sleepier than children in both the autism and typically developing groups. These significant differences persisted over 6 months. Actigraph-defined sleep behaviors and problems did not relate to daytime sleepiness or daytime performance and behaviors for the children with autism or the typically developing group. For the ID group, longer night awakenings and lower sleep efficiency predicted more daytime sleepiness. For each group, parent-report sleep problems were associated with more daytime sleepiness and more behavior problems.
American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 2011
The present study examined daytime sleep patterns in 3 groups of preschool-aged children: childre... more The present study examined daytime sleep patterns in 3 groups of preschool-aged children: children with autism, children with developmental delay, and children who were developing typically. Sleep was assessed in 194 children via actigraphy and parent-report sleep diaries for 7 consecutive days on 3 separate occasions over 6 months. Children with autism napped less often and for shorter periods of time than children with developmental disability, with whom they were matched on chronologic age. Children with developmental disabilities napped more like children in the typically developing group, who were, on average, 6 months younger. Each group displayed an expected shift in daytime sleep as more children matured out of their naps.
Die Planung und der Betrieb von Wasserversorgungsanlagen sowie die Organisation der zugehörigen U... more Die Planung und der Betrieb von Wasserversorgungsanlagen sowie die Organisation der zugehörigen Unternehmen birgt seit jeher ein gewisses Maß an Risiken. So können sich im Laufe der Betriebszeit Planungs- und Betriebsgrundlagen wie das Wasserdargebot oder der Wasserbedarf infolge Änderungen des Klimas, der Demografie, der Bevölkerungszahlen und Wirtschaftsstruktur sowie Änderungen des Verbrauchsverhaltens stark ändern. Im Bereich der Wassergewinnung können Risiken dadurch entstehen, dass Verunreinigungen ins Rohwasser gelangen, die die Trinkwasserqualität beeinträchtigen und den Aufbereitungsaufwand deutlich erhöhen. Schließlich können wirtschaftliche und betriebliche Risiken dadurch entstehen, dass z.B. übergeordnete internationale Gesetzgebungen und Normungsänderungen Auswirkungen bis hin zur Ebene der einzelnen Wasserversorgungsunternehmen haben. Und schließlich nimmt aufgrund der zunehmenden Digitalisierung der Wasserversorgung das Risiko unbefugter Eingriffe in die IT-Infrastru...
The U.S. Global Change Research Program reports that the frequency and intensity of extreme heat ... more The U.S. Global Change Research Program reports that the frequency and intensity of extreme heat are increasing globally. Studies of the impact of climate change on child health often exclude sleep, despite its importance for healthy growth and development. To address this gap in the literature, we studied the impact of unusually high temperatures in the summer of 2022 on infants’ sleep. Sleep was assessed objectively using Nanit camera monitors in infants’ homes. Generally, sleep was not impacted when temperatures stayed below 88° but was negatively impacted when temperatures reached over 100°. Compared to non-heatwave nights, infants had less total sleep, less efficient sleep, took longer to fall asleep, had more fragmented sleep, and parents’ visits were more frequent during the night. Following peaks in temperature, sleep metrics rebounded to better than average compared to non-peak nights, suggesting that infants compensated for disrupted sleep by sleeping more and with fewer i...
Introduction Daylight saving time (DST) imposes a twice yearly 1h change in local clock time. Alt... more Introduction Daylight saving time (DST) imposes a twice yearly 1h change in local clock time. Although it may seem a small adjustment, there is increasing awareness of the potential acute and long term effects at the individual and population level. Several studies have shown detrimental effects on sleep patterns, but mostly focusing on adults. Only one study has looked at the effect in infants’ sleep of change from standard time (ST) to DST, reporting negative effects. One study limitation was the reliance on parental reports of infant sleep. In addition, effects of the change from DST to ST are unknown. We hypothesize that the change from DST to ST would lead to earlier rise times, leading to sleep loss in the week following the change. Methods Caregivers of 510 children ages 3-24 mos (M=9.8 mos) tracked their child’s sleep using Nanit baby-monitor. Sleep metrics analyzed were: Nighttime sleep duration (NSD) and midpoint, number of night-wakings and sleep efficiency. Wilcoxon rank...
This article describes the author’s research journey exploring infant and toddler sleep. From pol... more This article describes the author’s research journey exploring infant and toddler sleep. From polygraphic recording in hospital nurseries to using videosomnography in homes, the author traced the longitudinal development of infant/toddler nighttime sleep and waking behaviors. The home-based video observations led to a redefinition of a pediatric milestone; namely, “sleeping through the night,” and provided a framework for assessing and treating infant/toddler nighttime sleep problems.
Poorly designed and analyzed studies ascribing effects of obstetric drugs on infant behavior may ... more Poorly designed and analyzed studies ascribing effects of obstetric drugs on infant behavior may not only have misrepresented facts but may also have ren-dered well-designed and analyzed studies difficult to execute. KEY WORDS: obstetric drugs; infant behavior. Strong claims have been made about adverse effects of obstetric drugs on the behavioral development of children (Brackbill, 1979). In some cases these claims have received wide coverage in the media. Yet there is growing skep-ticism about these claims (Kolata, 1979). The present paper focuses on two issues underlying skepticism: (a) problems of the confounding of obstetric drugs and various factors and (b) faulty statistical analysis.
Der Ruhrverband ist verantwortlicher Träger der umfassenden Wasserwirtschaft im gesamten Flussgeb... more Der Ruhrverband ist verantwortlicher Träger der umfassenden Wasserwirtschaft im gesamten Flussgebiet der Ruhr. Er betreibt ein System von Talsperren zur Bewirtschaftung der Wassermengen sowie ein flächendeckendes Netzwerk von Abwasserbehandlungsanlagen und Ruhrstauseen zur Reinhaltung der Gewässer für 60 Kommunen. Betreiber von Talsperren sind gesetzlich verpflichtet, ihre Talsperren ausreichend zu überwachen. Beim Ruhrverband betrifft dies 8 Talsperren, wovon die Möhnetalsperre in Bild 1 gezeigt wird, 5 Ruhrstauseen und einige Nebenbauwerke. Die Talsperrenüberwachung beinhaltet eine umfangreiche Messausstattung vor Ort, in regelmäßigen Abständen durchzuführende Überwachungsmessungen, eine sichere Archivierung der so gewonnenen Messdaten sowie umfangreiche Auswertungen, zum Beispiel in Form von Sicherheitsberichten. Herzstück all dieser Arbeiten ist eine Datenbank, in der die gewonnenen und weiter zu verarbeitenden Messwerte zentral gespeichert werden. Der Talsperrenbetrieb ist beim Ruhrverband dezentral organisiert, so dass die Messdaten der geologischen Überwachungsmessungen durch an den Talsperren vor Ort vorhandenes Talsperrenpersonal gewonnen werden können. Die weitere Bearbeitung der Messdaten erfolgt hingegen in der Zentrale des Ruhrverbands in Essen. Verformungsmessungen werden, wie auch die Aufbereitung der Ergebniswerte, durch eine zentrale Vermessungsgruppe durchgeführt. Die jährlichen Sicherheitsberichte aller Talsperren werden schließlich zentral in Essen durch die Gruppe Talsperrensicherheit erstellt. Es ist ersichtlich, dass sich insgesamt eine große Personenzahl mit unterschiedlichen Aufgabenstellungen mit Gewinnung und Bearbeitung der einzelnen Messwerte beschäftigt. Vor diesem Hintergrund ist eine umfassende Datenbank mit einem einheitlichen Datenbestand aller relevanten Messwerte der Bauwerksüberwachung von zentraler Bedeutung. Durch Vermeidung einer doppelten oder mehrfachen Datenhaltung kann die Wahrscheinlichkeit von Übertragungsfehlern minimiert werden. Des Weiteren verringern sich die Aufwände für Sicherung und Archivierung. Ein geeignetes Rechtesystem regelt für die Beteiligten die Bearbeitbarkeit der Daten auf unterschiedlichem Niveau und garantiert so eine zentrale Datensicherheit.
Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (Division 43), 2018
Household chaos has been linked with dysregulated family and individual processes. The present st... more Household chaos has been linked with dysregulated family and individual processes. The present study investigated linkages between household chaos and infant and parent sleep, a self-regulated process impacted by individual, social, and environmental factors. Studies of relations between household chaos and child sleep have focused on older children and teenagers, with little attention given to infants or parent sleep. This study examines these relationships using objective measures of household chaos and sleep while controlling for, respectively, maternal emotional availability at bedtime and martial adjustment, in infant and parent sleep. Multilevel modeling examined mean and variability of sleep duration and fragmentation for infants, mothers, and fathers when infants were 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months (N = 167). Results indicated infants in higher chaos homes experienced delays in sleep consolidation patterns, with longer and more variable sleep duration, and greater fragmentation. ...
Parenting behaviours play a major role in the evolution of infant sleep. Sleep problems in infanc... more Parenting behaviours play a major role in the evolution of infant sleep. Sleep problems in infancy have been associated with excessive parental involvement at night-time, and with shorter delays in response to infant night wakings and signalling. Infant crying and sleep problems are linked, yet little is known about the impact of parental responses to crying on infant sleep patterns. This study examined the hypothesis that lower parental tolerance for crying is associated with infant sleep problems. We studied 144 married couples divided into three groups: parents of infants suffering from night-waking problems (i.e. the clinical group), parents of infants without sleep problems and childless couples. Crying tolerance was assessed using questionnaires, audio recordings of crying infants and using a novel paradigm, in which participants were shown a video of a crying infant and asked when they would intervene. Parents in the clinical group demonstrated shorter intervention delays in ...
American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 2012
This study examined sleep, sleepiness, and daytime performance in 68 children with autism, 57 chi... more This study examined sleep, sleepiness, and daytime performance in 68 children with autism, 57 children with intellectual disability (ID), and 69 typically developing preschool children. Children in the autism and ID groups had poorer daytime performance and behaviors than the typically developing children. Children in the ID group also were significantly sleepier than children in both the autism and typically developing groups. These significant differences persisted over 6 months. Actigraph-defined sleep behaviors and problems did not relate to daytime sleepiness or daytime performance and behaviors for the children with autism or the typically developing group. For the ID group, longer night awakenings and lower sleep efficiency predicted more daytime sleepiness. For each group, parent-report sleep problems were associated with more daytime sleepiness and more behavior problems.
American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 2011
The present study examined daytime sleep patterns in 3 groups of preschool-aged children: childre... more The present study examined daytime sleep patterns in 3 groups of preschool-aged children: children with autism, children with developmental delay, and children who were developing typically. Sleep was assessed in 194 children via actigraphy and parent-report sleep diaries for 7 consecutive days on 3 separate occasions over 6 months. Children with autism napped less often and for shorter periods of time than children with developmental disability, with whom they were matched on chronologic age. Children with developmental disabilities napped more like children in the typically developing group, who were, on average, 6 months younger. Each group displayed an expected shift in daytime sleep as more children matured out of their naps.
Die Planung und der Betrieb von Wasserversorgungsanlagen sowie die Organisation der zugehörigen U... more Die Planung und der Betrieb von Wasserversorgungsanlagen sowie die Organisation der zugehörigen Unternehmen birgt seit jeher ein gewisses Maß an Risiken. So können sich im Laufe der Betriebszeit Planungs- und Betriebsgrundlagen wie das Wasserdargebot oder der Wasserbedarf infolge Änderungen des Klimas, der Demografie, der Bevölkerungszahlen und Wirtschaftsstruktur sowie Änderungen des Verbrauchsverhaltens stark ändern. Im Bereich der Wassergewinnung können Risiken dadurch entstehen, dass Verunreinigungen ins Rohwasser gelangen, die die Trinkwasserqualität beeinträchtigen und den Aufbereitungsaufwand deutlich erhöhen. Schließlich können wirtschaftliche und betriebliche Risiken dadurch entstehen, dass z.B. übergeordnete internationale Gesetzgebungen und Normungsänderungen Auswirkungen bis hin zur Ebene der einzelnen Wasserversorgungsunternehmen haben. Und schließlich nimmt aufgrund der zunehmenden Digitalisierung der Wasserversorgung das Risiko unbefugter Eingriffe in die IT-Infrastru...
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