Mathias Basner

Bio: Mathias Basner is an academic researcher from University of Pennsylvania. The author has contributed to research in topics: Noise & Sleep deprivation. The author has an hindex of 41, co-authored 183 publications receiving 8052 citations. Previous affiliations of Mathias Basner include Harvard University & German Aerospace Center.

Dubious bargain: trading sleep for Leno and Letterman.

Abstract: CURRENT ESTIMATES INDICATE THAT 20%1 TO 40%2 OF THE ADULT US POPULATION SLEEP LESS ON WEEKDAY NIGHTS THAN THE 7 TO 8 HOURS THOUGHT TO be needed by the majority of people to maintain behavioral alertness and avoid sleepiness-related risks of errors and accidents.3,4 The percentage of short sleepers may be even higher than self-report surveys suggest, because physiological sleep duration has been found to be as much as an hour or more below habitual sleep duration as reported in population studies.5,6 The issue of how much sleep people are obtaining nightly and what factors influence the habitual duration of sleep are important because reduced sleep duration has frequently been associated with a higher prevalence of obesity,7 morbidity, and mortality,8,9 although it is unclear whether these relationships are causal. This report focuses on lifestyle factors associated with shorter sleep times, in an effort to identify waking activities under discretionary control that may be a source for increasing sleep time in those who need to do so. Reduced sleep time in industrialized societies is primarily related to lifestyle. In a recent analysis of time use in the US, we found that work time was the primary activity that had a reciprocal relationship to sleep time.10 It suggests that Americans perceive sleep as a flexible commodity that can be exchanged for waking activities considered more essential or of greater value. If this is the case, reducing work time and its economic benefits in order to increase sleep time may not be feasible for most of the population. This prompted us to ask whether waking activities under discretionary control and adjacent to the sleep period may be a better source for increasing sleep time.

Effects of nocturnal aircraft noise on cognitive performance in the following morning: dose-response relationships in laboratory and field.

Abstract: Nocturnal aircraft noise disturbs sleep and impairs recuperation. We investigated in laboratory and field studies whether noise-induced sleep fragmentation is associated with performance impairments in a psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) and a memory search task. In the laboratory, 112 participants were exposed to aircraft noise during 9 consecutive nights. In the field, 64 participants were examined during 9 consecutive nights in the vicinity of Cologne/Bonn airport. Reaction time, signal detection performance and subjective task load were recorded. Dose–response relationships showed significant, linear impairments in reaction times. In the laboratory, reaction time in PVT increased with 0.13 ms/dB equivalent noise level (LAeq) plus 0.02 ms/noise event. In the field study, reaction time increased with 0.3 ms/dB LAeq. Participants worked significantly less accurate after nocturnal noise exposure. Influences of LAeq and number of noise events on daytime performance were small but consistent and significant, stressing the potential public health impact of nocturnal noise exposure.

Nocturnal Wakefulness as a Previously Unrecognized Risk Factor for Suicide.

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: Suicide is a major public health problem and the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. The identification of modifiable risk factors is essential for reducing the prevalence of suicide. Recently, it has been shown that insomnia and nightmares significantly increase the risk for suicidal ideation, attempted suicide, and death by suicide. While both forms of sleep disturbance may independently confer risk, and potentially be modifiable risk factors, it is also possible that simply being awake at night represents a specific vulnerability for suicide. The present analysis evaluates the frequency of completed suicide per hour while taking into account the percentage of individuals awake at each hour. METHODS: Archival analyses were conducted estimating the time of fatal injury using the National Violent Death Reporting System for 2003-2010 and the proportion of the American population awake per hour across the 24-hour day using the American Time Use Survey. RESULTS: The mean ± SD incident rate from 06:00-23:59 was 2.2% ± 0.7%, while the mean ± SD incident rate from 00:00-05:59 was 10.3% ± 4.9%. The maximum incident rate was from 02:00-02:59 (16.3%). Hour-by-hour observed values differed from those that would be expected by chance (P CONCLUSIONS: Being awake at night confers greater risk for suicide than being awake at other times of the day, suggesting that disturbances of sleep or circadian neurobiology may potentiate suicide risk.© Copyright 2016 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc. Language: en

Effects of Nocturnal Aircraft Noise on Sleep Structure

Abstract: Question of the study To systematically investigate the influence of nocturnal aircraft noise on sleep structure.

Multiple Imputation for Nonresponse in Surveys

Abstract: 25. Multiple Imputation for Nonresponse in Surveys. By D. B. Rubin. ISBN 0 471 08705 X. Wiley, Chichester, 1987. 258 pp. £30.25.

Of Theory and Practice

Abstract: Much has been written about theory and practice in the law, and the tension between practitioners and theorists. Judges do not cite theoretical articles often; they rarely "apply" theories to particular cases. These arguments are not revisited. Instead the Essay explores the working and interaction of theory and practice, practitioners and theorists. The Essay starts with a story about solving a legal issue using our intellectual tools - theory, practice, and their progenies: experience and "gut." Next the Essay elaborates on the nature of theory, practice, experience and "gut." The third part of the Essay discusses theories that are helpful to practitioners and those that are less helpful. The Essay concludes that practitioners theorize, and theorists practice. They use these intellectual tools differently because the goals and orientations of theorists and practitioners, and the constraints under which they act, differ. Theory, practice, experience and "gut" help us think, remember, decide and create. They complement each other like the two sides of the same coin: distinct but inseparable.

Reliability and validity

Abstract: Definition: To what extent does the study allow us to draw conclusions about a causal effect between two or more constructs? Issues: Selection, maturation, history, mortality, testing, regression towrd the mean, selection by maturation, treatment by mortality, treatment by testing, measured treatment variables Increase: Eliminate the threats, above all do experimental manipulations, random assignment, and counterbalancing.