Aerospace medicine and biology: A continuing bibliography, supplement 200

This bibliography lists 204 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in November 1979

The Bioarchaeology of Mortuary Practice at Marrquies Bajos, Spain.

The tension between living in groups and the maintenance of individual autonomy is a common anthropological thread that links human societies ranging from nomadic hunter-gathers to state societies and empires. The anthropological literature has addressed the maintenance of egalitarianism and the emergence of institutionalized inequalities, but the mechanisms underlying societies that fluctuate between levels of complexity are less well understood. This dissertation focuses on the Iberian Copper Age (c. 3100-2250 cal BC). In contrast with the preceding Neolithic, the Iberian Copper Age is characterized by agricultural intensification, population aggregation, political centralization and the appearance of large-scale “macro-villages” on the landscape. This suggests that managerial divisions of labor were needed to manage new social demands like establishing property ownership and organizing labor. At 113 hectares in size, the site of Marroquíes Bajos, in Jaén, Spain, is one of the largest settlements known for this period. This project’s bioarchaeological analysis of the mortuary variability at three different necropolises investigates whether Iberian Copper Age societies were collectively organized, with relatively equal access to social and symbolic resources for all individuals or whether there were significant disparities in health, diet or mortuary treatment between individuals and social units. This study tests the null hypothesis that that there are no significant differences in health, diet, or demographic representation (e.g. age, sex) between individuals or mortuary areas. This investigation of 280 individuals from Marroquíes Bajos provides a nuanced reconstruction of the ways that Copper Age societies were organized. Radiocarbon results suggest that Necropolis 1 and 4 date to the mid-third millennium, while Necropolis 2 were reused during the Early Bronze Age. Bioarchaeological analyses show that mortuary treatment included members of both sexes and a wide range of ages, most individuals were local, skeletal evidence of paleopathology is scarce, and there were no significant inter-group inequalities in health or diet. These results suggest that marked increases in inequality were not necessary to found a macro-village of this size, and that collective burials may have been used as a means of creating and reinforcing community identities that allowed for the emergence of these kinds of centers.PhDAnthropologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/133278/1/jessbeck_2.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/133278/2/jessbeck_1.pd

Service Dogs for Veterans with PTSD: Taxonomy, Work Stress Reduction, and Matching

Research suggests that many veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) struggle with reintegration (Sayer et al., 2010), but are unlikely to seek help or complete treatment (Schottenbauer et al., 2008). To make matters worse, available treatment options are often time consuming, challenging, and/or associated with negative side effects (Carafano & Hutchinson, 2017). Using animals as a treatment modality for veterans with PTSD is an emerging topic of interest and has shown promise (Owen, et al., 2016; Richie et al., 2016). However, several factors have hindered the advancement of this field. Obstacles include a lack of standard terminology and classification system, a need for empirical research to support the effectiveness of animal assisted interventions, and consideration of individual differences in response to animal assisted interventions. This investigation aims to fill these voids by proposing a novel taxonomy to promote research and development, describing an innovative investigation into whether the presence of a dog impacts veterans’ stress response to a task, and exploring whether the relationship between personality characteristics of service dogs and veterans impacts the success of the team. Results suggest that the demand for service dogs for veterans in the Unites States is growing and currently exceeds the supply. In addition, the inconsistent findings in the literature regarding therapeutic effects of assistance animals may be due to whether the team is compatible. This study found a potential correlation between veteran and service dog assertiveness and the benefits provided by the presence of the dog. Due to methodological concerns, results must be interpreted cautiously. More research in this area is needed, and future recommendations are provided

A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which the word “pet” provided valid results in the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale (LAPS) (Johnson, Garrity, & Stallones, 1992). A multiple-groups confirmatory factor analysis, using maximum likelihood (ML) estimation, was conducted to test the hypothesized factor structures in the specified measurement model. Respondents to the Original version (i.e. used the word pet) and the Personalized version (i.e. embedded the canine’s name as typed by participants) made up the two groups. Features of an electronic survey were necessary for this personalization and systematic alternative assignment to the two LAPS versions. A snowball sampling method utilized electronic mail to invite self-selected participants meeting the following criteria: 18 years or older; lived in the United States; and at least one dog living inside/outside their home and for whom they are responsible at least some of the time. According to collected human and canine demographics, the Original (n = 1,854) and Personalized (n =1849) groups appeared to be statistically equivalent (N = 3,703). The hypothesized measurement model generated a χ2 value of 4130.242, with 264 degrees of freedom and a probability of less than .001 (p \u3c.001), suggestive of a lack of fit. However, goodness-of-fit indices were a consideration. Comparing the CFI (.95 vs. .862), TLI (.95 vs. .840) and RMSEA (\u3c.05 vs. .063) cut off values with the results from this study respectively, reveals again, an inadequate fit. These results imply that the hypothesized measurement model was not consistent with the data and precluded specific tests of differential validity. While the results of this study made it inadvisable to further examine the differential validity associated with linguistic differences in the scale items, critical information was nonetheless identified. According to the data in the current study, the LAPS conceptualization of “pet attachment” (sic) may not be valid. Until further research provides stronger evidence, use of this scale could produce results that lead to invalid inferences. The original LAPS conceptualization and quantification of human and canine relationships is still a work in progress. Moreover, psychometric work is critically necessary before using the LAPS

Transforming Trauma

This book focuses on research developments, models, and practical applications of animal-assisted interventions for diverse populations who have experienced trauma. Physiological and psychological trauma is explored across three broad areas: 1) child maltreatment and family violence; 2) acute and post-traumatic stress, including that which is associated with military service, war, and developmental trauma; and 3) times of crisis, such as natural disasters and the ever-increasing risks associated with climate change, community violence, terrorism, and periods of personal loss and grief. Contributing authors, who include both national and international experts in the fields of human-animal connection and trauma, discuss how our relationships with animals can help build resiliency and foster healing to transform trauma and trauma response

Canine emotions: Guidelines for research

In the target article, I called for a discussion on the nature and extent of dogs’ emotions. The commentators generally agreed on the existence of dog emotions, but the diversity and quality of dog emotions, as well as the influence of human social cognition on perceiving dog emotions, raised more debate. To respond to the stimulating commentaries, I touch briefly on the philosophy of (canine) mind and discuss further the benefits of comparing cognition across species, secondary emotions, and the shaping of canine emotions by evolution, breeding and experience. I conclude with suggestions for future research guidelines on studies of canine emotion inspired by the discussion

Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 153)

This bibliography lists 175 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in March 1976

State Estimation of the Autonomic Nervous System from Heart Rate Variability Measurements

Heart rate variability (HRV) is an indicator of autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity. HRV is the time series of fluctuations in the intervals between subsequent heartbeats. An opportunity exists to establish real-time tracking of the ANS state based on real time measurements of HRV and predictions from a model of the ANS control of heart rate. We propose an ANS state estimator. A computational model of the ANS implements a state estimator that is robust to the nonlinear and nonstationary nature of cardiac control. We use a three-state model of the ANS validated in humans, canines, and non-human primates by Champeroux et al. (2018). The state variables are the set of the probabilities that the ANS is in a particular state: [P(S1), P(S2), P(S3)]’. S1 is the state of parasympathetic predominance. S2 is the state of parasympathetic and sympathetic coactivation, and S3 is the state of parasympathetic withdrawal and sympathetic activation. Other state estimation methods were rejected in favor of particle filtering, commonly used in robotics for navigational position estimation. The approach enables visualization of the ANS state based on HRV measurements that may be useful for diagnostic purposes. Given that the model of ANS regulation of HRV has been validated in pharmacological studies, there is strong qualitative confidence in estimating the ANS state based on HRV measurements. Using this model for long-term state estimation does not directly incorporate the time constants of the PNS and the SNS. Thus, the changes in states may be inaccurate by up to 5 seconds, which is the longest observable delay in ANS control of HRV. Future work to incorporate the dynamics of changes in the ANS state would improve the precision of estimation. Establishing a state tracking system for the ANS that captures the nature of such a complex physiological system will enable investigation into how the ANS becomes dysregulated in anxiety, depression and PTSD, as well as chronic diseases that, while not mental illnesses, may exacerbate or be exacerbated by ANS dysregulation and mental illness

Transforming Trauma

This book focuses on research developments, models, and practical applications of animal-assisted interventions for diverse populations who have experienced trauma. Physiological and psychological trauma is explored across three broad areas: 1) child maltreatment and family violence; 2) acute and post-traumatic stress, including that which is associated with military service, war, and developmental trauma; and 3) times of crisis, such as natural disasters and the ever-increasing risks associated with climate change, community violence, terrorism, and periods of personal loss and grief. Contributing authors, who include both national and international experts in the fields of human-animal connection and trauma, discuss how our relationships with animals can help build resiliency and foster healing to transform trauma and trauma response

MRI-Based Attenuation Correction in Emission Computed Tomography

The hybridization of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with positron emission tomography (PET) or single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) enables the collection of an assortment of biological data in spatial and temporal register. However, both PET and SPECT are subject to photon attenuation, a process that degrades image quality and precludes quantification. To correct for the effects of attenuation, the spatial distribution of linear attenuation coefficients (μ-coefficients) within and about the patient must be available. Unfortunately, extracting μ-coefficients from MRI is non-trivial. In this thesis, I explore the problem of MRI-based attenuation correction (AC) in emission tomography. In particular, I began by asking whether MRI-based AC would be more reliable in PET or in SPECT. To this end, I implemented an MRI-based AC algorithm relying on image segmentation and applied it to phantom and canine emission data. The subsequent analysis revealed that MRI-based AC performed better in SPECT than PET, which is interesting since AC is more challenging in SPECT than PET. Given this result, I endeavoured to improve MRI-based AC in PET. One problem that required addressing was that the lungs yield very little signal in MRI, making it difficult to infer their μ-coefficients. By using a pulse sequence capable of visualizing lung parenchyma, I established a linear relationship between MRI signal and the lungs’ μ-coefficients. I showed that applying this mapping on a voxel-by-voxel basis improved quantification in PET reconstructions compared to conventional MRI-based AC techniques. Finally, I envisaged that a framework for MRI-based AC methods would potentiate further improvements. Accordingly, I identified three ways an MRI can be converted to μ-coefficients: 1) segmentation, wherein the MRI is divided into tissue types and each is assigned an μ-coefficient, 2) registration, wherein a template of μ-coefficients is aligned with the MRI, and 3) mapping, wherein a function maps MRI voxels to μ-coefficients. I constructed an algorithm for each method and catalogued their strengths and weaknesses. I concluded that a combination of approaches is desirable for MRI-based AC. Specifically, segmentation is appropriate for air, fat, and water, mapping is appropriate for lung, and registration is appropriate for bone