Autonomic physiological data associated with simulator discomfort

The development of a physiological monitoring capability for the Army's advanced helicopter simulator facility is reported. Additionally, preliminary physiological data is presented. Our objective was to demonstrate the sensitivity of physiological measures in this simulator to self-reported simulator sickness. The data suggested that heart period, hypergastria, and skin conductance level were more sensitive to simulator sickness than were vagal tone and normal electrogastric activity

Application of Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) to compare legacy and future forces in Mine Warfare (MIW) missions

This capstone report describes the expected mine countermeasures (MCM) performance of the Avenger class MCM ship (MCM 1), landing helicopter deck (LHD) support ship, and MH-53E helicopter legacy systems and Increment 1 of the littoral combat ship (LCS) and MH-60S helicopter future systems. The study focused on two measures of effec-tiveness (MOEs): area coverage rate sustained (ACRS) and percent clearance of mines. The systems engineering (SE) approach used to address stakeholder needs identified foundational requirements and developed functional and physi-cal architectures for simulation in conducting the comparative technical analysis. A design of experiments (DOE) methodology was used to determine which factors have the greatest influence on the MOEs. The significant factors’ values were varied to develop a set of recommended improvements to the future MCM systems. The study found that maintaining a constant search speed of 10 knots, improving the stream and recover time to 15 minutes, and improving the sortie time to 24 hours for the remote minehunting system (RMS) would provide a future ACRS performance greater than that provided by the legacy systems. When factoring in risk and operating and sustainment (O&S) costs, the future capability and recommended improvements provide better performance per cost than the legacy capability.http://archive.org/details/applicationofmod1094544659Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Sleep in Persons With Frontotemporal Dementia and Their Family Caregivers

BACKGROUND: Dementia is associated with disruptions in sleep and sleep quality for patients and their family caregivers. Little is known about the impact of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) on sleep. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to characterize sleep in patients with frontotemporal dementia and their family caregivers. METHODS: Twenty-two patient-caregiver dyads were enrolled: Thirteen behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD) and nine semantic dementia (SD). Sleep and sleep quality data were collected for two weeks using diaries and Actiwatches. RESULTS: Patients with bvFTD and SD spent more time in bed at night compared to their caregivers. Nighttime behaviors were reported more frequently by caregivers for the bvFTD patients and strongly correlated with caregiver distress. Actigraphy data demonstrated normal sleep efficiency and timing of the nighttime sleep period for both patients and their caregivers. Caregivers of patients with bvFTD reported poorer sleep quality compared to the SD caregivers. A greater number of bvFTD caregivers compared to SD reported negative aspects of sleep quality for themselves and used sleep medications more frequently. CONCLUSION: The clinical manifestations of bvFTD appear to be associated with different and more distressing impacts on the caregiver sleep quality than SD

Sleep in Persons With Frontotemporal Dementia and Their Family Caregivers

BackgroundDementia is associated with disruptions in sleep and sleep quality for patients and their family caregivers. Little is known about the impact of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) on sleep.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to characterize sleep in patients with FTD and their family caregivers.MethodsTwenty-two patient-caregiver dyads were enrolled: Thirteen behavioral variant FTD (bvFTD) and nine semantic dementia (SD). Sleep and sleep quality data were collected for 2 weeks using diaries and Actiwatches.ResultsPatients with bvFTD and SD spent more time in bed at night compared to their caregivers. Nighttime behaviors were reported more frequently by caregivers for the bvFTD patients and strongly correlated with caregiver distress. Actigraphy data showed normal sleep efficiency and timing of the nighttime sleep period for both patients and their caregivers. Caregivers of patients with bvFTD reported poorer sleep quality compared to the SD caregivers. A greater number of bvFTD caregivers compared to SD reported negative aspects of sleep quality for themselves and used sleep medications more frequently.ConclusionThe clinical manifestations of bvFTD appear to be associated with different and more distressing impacts on the caregiver sleep quality than SD

Characterization of Apathy in Persons With Frontotemporal Dementia and the Impact on Family Caregivers

This study characterized daytime activity and apathy in patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and semantic dementia (SD) and their family caregivers. Twenty-two patient-caregiver dyads were enrolled: 13 bvFTD and 9 SD. Data were collected on behavior and movement. Patients and caregivers wore Actiwatches for 2 weeks to record activity. We predicted that bvFTD patients would show greater caregiver report of apathy and less daytime activity compared with patients diagnosed with SD. Patients with bvFTD spent 25% of their day immobile, whereas patients with SD spent 16% of their day inactive. BvFTD caregivers spent 11% of their day immobile and SD caregivers were immobile 9% of their day. Apathy was present in all of the patients with bvFTD and in all but one patient with SD; the severity of apathy was greater in bvFTD compared with SD. Apathy correlated with caregiver emotional distress in both groups. In conclusion, apathy has been defined as a condition of diminished motivation that is difficult to operationalize. Among patients with frontotemporal dementia, apathy was associated with lower levels of activity, greater number of bouts of immobility, and longer immobility bout duration. Apathy and diminished daytime activity appeared to have an impact on the caregiver. Objective measures of behavioral output may help in formulation of a more precise definition of apathy

Characterization of Apathy in Persons With Frontotemporal Dementia and the Impact on Family Caregivers

This study characterized daytime activity and apathy in patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and semantic dementia (SD) and their family caregivers. Twenty-two patient-caregiver dyads were enrolled,13 bvFTD and 9 SD.Data were collected on behaviors and movement. Patients and caregivers wore Actiwatches for 2 weeks to record activity. We predicted that bvFTD patients would show greater caregiver report of apathy and less daytime activity than patients diagnosed with SD. Findings: Patients with bvFTD spent 25% of their day immobile while patients with SD spent 16% of their day inactive. BvFTD caregivers spent 11% of their day immobile and SD caregivers 9%. Apathy was described as present in 100% of the patients with bvFTD and in all but one patient with SD, the severity of apathy was greater in bvFTD compared to SD. Apathy correlated with caregiver emotional distress in both groups. In conclusion, apathy has been defined as a condition of diminished motivation that is difficult to operationalize. Among patients with FTD, apathy was associated with lower levels of activity, greater number bouts of immobility and longer immobility bout duration. Apathy and diminished daytime activity appeared to have an impact on the caregiver. Objective measures of behavioral output may help in formulation of a more precise definition of apathy