In today's society, numerous situations arise in which sleep deprivation is a common occurrence. Subjective perceptions are a vital component to understanding the effects of sustained performance during sleep deprivation, as they may be the first indication of the effects of sustained performance or sleep deprivation on the individual. Using the theoretical framework of the Controlled Attention Model, this study examined the effects of 16 h of sustained performance under 28 h of acute sleep deprivation on perceived effort, motivation, and stress of 24 participants while completing a complex cognitive and a simple vigilance task. Perceived effort increased for both tasks, with higher effort reported on the cognitive than the vigilance task at the beginning of the experimental period, but with higher effort reported on the vigilance than the cognitive task at the end. Subjective motivation decreased for both tasks, with significantly higher levels of motivation on the cognitive than the vigilance task. Perceived stress did not change for either task. Results suggest that functioning under sustained performance and sleep-deprivation conditions affects subjective perceptions differently for cognitive versus vigilance tasks. The controlled attention model offers one means of understanding how different tasks could affect a person's subjective perceptions and ability to perform, in that different levels of controlled attention are required for the two tasks.

Forensic entomologists typically use either succession models for postmortem interval (PMI) estimates or development-based models for minimum PMI (PMI(MIN) estimates. Development-based age estimates are calculated with durations of immature stadia and can also include morphological data such as larval size. For developmental data, the first and second instar stages are typically brief with little variation in larval length. The third instar, a much longer stage by comparison, is prone to considerable variation. This variation is, in part, because of the nonlinear growth during the third instar. There is evidence that genetic and environmental factors influence growth curve divergence during this stage. We chose to investigate one genetic factor, sex, as numerous insect species exhibit sex-specific immature growth patterns. The development rate of Lucilia sericata (Meigen) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) males and females is considered here. We previously determined the genome sizes of L. sericata and found significant sexually dimorphic genome sizes. This difference can be exploited to identify larval sex to evaluate male and female immature growth curves. A preliminary development study encompassing the third larval instar was conducted to compare larval lengths for each sex. Results showed length (P < 0.0001) and sex (P < 0.01) were statistically significant predictors of age at two temperatures (30 and 33.5 degrees C), and that total male development was significantly shorter (P < 0.001). These results introduce a new tool, assessment of sex-specific growth, that has the potential to reduce noise in PMI(MIN) estimates when using third instar larvae.

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