The impact of sleep quality on cognitive functioning in Parkinson's disease

In healthy individuals and those with insomnia, poor sleep quality is associated with decrements in performance on tests of cognition, especially executive function. Sleep disturbances and cognitive deficits are both prevalent in Parkinson's disease (PD). Sleep problems occur in over 75% of patients, with sleep fragmentation and decreased sleep efficiency being the most common sleep complaints, but their relation to cognition is unknown. We examined the association between sleep quality and cognition in PD. In 35 non-demented individuals with PD and 18 normal control adults (NC), sleep was measured using 24-hr wrist actigraphy over 7 days. Cognitive domains tested included attention and executive function, memory and psychomotor function. In both groups, poor sleep was associated with worse performance on tests of attention/executive function but not memory or psychomotor function. In the PD group, attention/executive function was predicted by sleep efficiency, whereas memory and psychomotor function were not predicted by sleep quality. Psychomotor and memory function were predicted by motor symptom severity. This study is the first to demonstrate that sleep quality in PD is significantly correlated with cognition and that it differentially impacts attention and executive function, thereby furthering our understanding of the link between sleep and cognition.Published versio

The impact of sleep quality on cognitive functioning in Parkinson's disease

In healthy individuals and those with insomnia, poor sleep quality is associated with decrements in performance on tests of cognition, especially executive function. Sleep disturbances and cognitive deficits are both prevalent in Parkinson's disease (PD). Sleep problems occur in over 75% of patients, with sleep fragmentation and decreased sleep efficiency being the most common sleep complaints, but their relation to cognition is unknown. We examined the association between sleep quality and cognition in PD. In 35 non-demented individuals with PD and 18 normal control adults (NC), sleep was measured using 24-hr wrist actigraphy over 7 days. Cognitive domains tested included attention and executive function, memory and psychomotor function. In both groups, poor sleep was associated with worse performance on tests of attention/executive function but not memory or psychomotor function. In the PD group, attention/executive function was predicted by sleep efficiency, whereas memory and psychomotor function were not predicted by sleep quality. Psychomotor and memory function were predicted by motor symptom severity. This study is the first to demonstrate that sleep quality in PD is significantly correlated with cognition and that it differentially impacts attention and executive function, thereby furthering our understanding of the link between sleep and cognition.Published versio

DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENTIFIC AND METHODICAL APPROACHES TO ESTIMATE THE QUALITY OF THE INFORMATION RESOURCE OF A TRANSPORT AND LOGISTIC COMPANY

The article shows the use of the process approach for the development of scientific and methodological approaches to assessing the quality of the transport and logistics company’s information resource. The problems of formalization of the quality assessment of the information resource are considered. A method of formalization based on the decomposition of composite characteristics into simple elements is proposed. The information support for the business process and the composite characteristics of the reliability, usefulness and timeliness of the information resource, is considered, and the simple elements compiling them are identified. The use of the developed methodology for identifying problem areas in the information support of a transport and logistics company are considered. Scientific and methodological approaches to the assessment of the quality of information support for the company's market environment are considered. An example of a study of the effectiveness of information support for a transport and logistics company is given

INFORMATION SUPPORT FOR THE TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS COMPANY

The article describes the issues of information support activities of transport and logistics companies in connection with the peculiarities of their functioning. The analysis of the major databases characterizing the state of the external and internal environments of transport and logistics companies, which allowed to formulate the problems and trends of development of information security. Examples of public information databases and their impact on the performance of the transport and logistics companies. The study will serve as a basis for the development of recommendations to improve the quality of information support of the activities of transport and logistics companies

DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENTIFIC AND METHODICAL APPROACHES TO ESTIMATE THE QUALITY OF THE INFORMATION RESOURCE OF A TRANSPORT AND LOGISTIC COMPANY

The article shows the use of the process approach for the development of scientific and methodological approaches to assessing the quality of the transport and logistics company’s information resource. The problems of formalization of the quality assessment of the information resource are considered. A method of formalization based on the decomposition of composite characteristics into simple elements is proposed. The information support for the business process and the composite characteristics of the reliability, usefulness and timeliness of the information resource, is considered, and the simple elements compiling them are identified. The use of the developed methodology for identifying problem areas in the information support of a transport and logistics company are considered. Scientific and methodological approaches to the assessment of the quality of information support for the company's market environment are considered. An example of a study of the effectiveness of information support for a transport and logistics company is given

INFORMATION SUPPORT FOR THE TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS COMPANY

The article describes the issues of information support activities of transport and logistics companies in connection with the peculiarities of their functioning. The analysis of the major databases characterizing the state of the external and internal environments of transport and logistics companies, which allowed to formulate the problems and trends of development of information security. Examples of public information databases and their impact on the performance of the transport and logistics companies. The study will serve as a basis for the development of recommendations to improve the quality of information support of the activities of transport and logistics companies

Pension fund of the Russian Federation : challenges and prospects of the development under modern conditions

The article states that it is necessary to develop new, flexible basis to introduce digital technologies into the Russian Pension Fund activity. Openness, subordination and results of the social services implementation provided by the Pension Fund of The Russian Federation must ensure transparency, accessibility for the Russian citizens to get services of the Pension Fund of The Russian Federation electronically as well as transparent activity of the bodies of the Pension Fund of The Russian Federation. The goal of the article is to research the Pension Fund of The Russian Federation activity in terms of the effective management of its financial resources through introduction of the new automated information system. To meet this objective the following tasks are set: to reveal historic aspects of the Pension Fund of The Russian Federation creation and development; single out current challenges and propose the directions to improve activity of the bodies of the Pension Fund of The Russian Federation. The conclusions about the necessity of the Pension Fund of The Russian Federation active work in the frame of interdepartmental electronic interaction with key federal agencies and executive authorities of all subjects of the Russian Federation to improve the management quality and control over the Russian Pension Fund’s financial resources.peer-reviewe

Cluster observes formation of high-beta plasma blobs

Late in a sequence of four moderate substorms on 26 July 2001, Cluster observed periods of a few minutes durations of high-beta plasma events (<i>B</i><10nT, β=2-30), connected with dipolarizations of the magnetic field. Cluster was located near 02:45 MLT, at <i>R</i>=19<i>R<sub>E</sub></i> and at about 5°N GSM. These events began late in the recovery phase of the second and about 5min before onset of the third substorm and lasted for three hours, way beyond the recovery phase of the fourth substorm. The most remarkable observation is that the onset coincided with the arrival of energetic (<i>E</i>~7keV) O<sup>+</sup> ions and energetic electrons obviously from the ionosphere, which tended to dominate the plasma composition throughout the remaining time. The magnetic flux and plasma transport is continuously directed equatorward and earthward, with oscillatory east-west movements superposed. Periods of the order of 5-10min and strong correlations between the magnetic elevation angle and log β (correlation coefficient 0.78) are highly reminiscent of the high-beta plasma blobs discovered with Equator-S and Geotail between 9 and 11<i>R<sub>E</sub></i> in the late night/early morning sector (Haerendel et al., 1999). <P style="line-height: 20px;"> We conclude that Cluster observed the plasma blob formation in the tail plasma sheet, which seems to occur predominantly in the recovery and post-recovery phases of substorms. This is consistent with the finding of Equator-S and Geotail. The origin is a pulsed earthward plasma transport with velocity amplitudes of only several tens of km/s

Intelligent sampling for the measurement of structured surfaces

Uniform sampling in metrology has known drawbacks such as coherent spectral aliasing and a lack of efficiency in terms of measuring time and data storage. The requirement for intelligent sampling strategies has been outlined over recent years, particularly where the measurement of structured surfaces is concerned. Most of the present research on intelligent sampling has focused on dimensional metrology using coordinate-measuring machines with little reported on the area of surface metrology. In the research reported here, potential intelligent sampling strategies for surface topography measurement of structured surfaces are investigated by using numerical simulation and experimental verification. The methods include the jittered uniform method, low-discrepancy pattern sampling and several adaptive methods which originate from computer graphics, coordinate metrology and previous research by the authors. By combining the use of advanced reconstruction methods and feature-based characterization techniques, the measurement performance of the sampling methods is studied using case studies. The advantages, stability and feasibility of these techniques for practical measurements are discussed