Efficacy of Musical Interventions in Dementia: Methodological Requirements of Nonpharmacological Trials

The management of patients with Alzheimer\u27s disease is a significant public health problem given the limited effectiveness of pharmacological therapies combined with iatrogenic effects of drug treatments in dementia. Consequently, the development of nondrug care, such as musical interventions, has become a necessity. The experimental rigor of studies in this area, however, is often lacking. It is therefore difficult to determine the impact of musical interventions on patients with dementia. As part of a series of studies, we carried out randomized controlled trials to compare the effectiveness of musical activities to other pleasant activities on various functions in patients with severe Alzheimer\u27s disease. The data obtained in these trials are discussed in light of the methodological constraints and requirements specific to these clinical studies. Although the results demonstrate the power of music on the emotional and behavioral status of patients, they also suggest that other pleasant activities (e.g., cooking) are also effective, leaving open the question about the specific benefits of music in patients with dementia. All these findings highlight the promising potential for nonpharmacological treatments to improve the well-being of patients living in residential care and to reduce caregiver burden

Thérapies non médicamenteuses dans la maladie d'Alzheimer : comparaison d'ateliers musicaux et non musicaux.

International audienceLes th\é\rapies non m\é\dicamenteuses des d\é\mences, en particulier les interventions musicales, se sont consid\é\rablement d\é\velopp\é\es ces derni\è\res ann\é\es. Si diff\é\rents travaux sugg\è\rent un impact positif de ce type d'intervention sur le comportement, l'humeur ou le fonctionnement cognitif des patients, les \é\tudes m\é\thodologiquement rigoureuses sont rares. Peu d'\é\tudes ont compar\é\ l'effet de l'intervention musicale \à\ une autre activit\é\ plaisante, de telle sorte que la sp\é\cificit\é\ de l'impact de la musique reste \à\ pr\é\ciser. Afin de r\é\pondre \à\ cette question, deux \é\tudes contr\ô\l\é\es randomis\é\es ont \é\t\é\ conduites aupr\è\s de 33 patients souffrant d'une d\é\mence de type Alzheimer \à\ un stade mod\é\r\é\ment s\é\v\è\re \à\ s\é\v\è\re, comparant l'impact d'ateliers musicaux \à\ celui d'ateliers non musicaux (\é\tude 1 : peinture \backslash; \é\tude 2 : cuisine) sur l'\é\tat \é\motionnel des patients. Tous les ateliers propos\é\s am\é\lioraient, \à\ court terme, l'\é\tat \é\motionnel des patients. Toutefois, ce b\é\n\é\fice \é\tait plus important et durable suite \à\ l'intervention musicale s'observant chez la plupart des patients. Contrairement aux autres activit\é\s, l'am\é\lioration de l'\é\tat \é\motionnel persistait apr\è\s l'arr\ê\t de l'intervention musicale. Ces r\é\sultats sugg\è\rent un b\é\n\é\fice sp\é\cifique de la musique sur l'\é\tat \é\motionnel des patients, offrant des perspectives de prise en charge tr\è\s prometteuses

ALMASat-1 Power System Test Campaign

The microsatellite project ALMASat-1, started in 2003 at the university of Bologna, is scheduled for launch on-board the VEGA Maiden Flight, at present scheduled for the end of 2009. The design of the power system has been frozen and the flight hardware manufactured and assembled. The final step before spacecraft integration is a very severe test campaign in order to evaluate, as much as possible, the real performance of the power management board, battery packs and solar panels. The aim of this paper is to provide a brief description of the ALMASat-1 power system design, manufacturing and assembly, pointing out the results of the test campaign for the main components. In order to achieve a reliable system the testing phase needs to evaluate the behavior of the whole system both under nominal and critical operational conditions. On the ground, realistic operational conditions are quite hard to simulate unless a solar simulator chamber is available. The overall goal is to recreate typical working conditions through simulated orbital and attitude data. From these data, the power on each solar panel is estimated and supplied to the ALMASat-1 power system through a solar panels simulator. This simulation test-bed allows testing the power board flight hardware in order to evaluate the successful fulfillment of all functional and performance requirements. Finally, it allows spotting out potential functional limits, thanks to simulated system failures

Efficacy of Musical Interventions in Dementia: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial

Although musical interventions have recently gained popularity as a non-pharmacological treatment in dementia, there is still insufficient evidence of their effectiveness. To investigate this issue, a single-center randomized controlled trial was conducted with forty-eight patients with Alzheimer\u27s disease or mixed dementia to compare the effects of music versus cooking interventions in the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral domain, as well as on professional caregiver distress. Each intervention lasted four weeks (two one-hour sessions a week). Multi-component evaluations (with blind assessors) were conducted before, during, and after the interventions to assess their short and long-term effects (up to four weeks post interventions). Analyses revealed that both music and cooking interventions led to positive changes in the patients\u27 emotional state and decreased the severity of their behavioral disorders, as well as reduced caregiver distress. However, no benefit on the cognitive status of the patients was seen. While results did not demonstrate a specific benefit of music on any of the considered measures, the present study suggests the efficacy of two pleasant non-pharmacological treatments in patients with moderate to severe dementia. Our findings highlight the potential of such interventions in improving the well-being of patients living in residential care, as well as reducing caregiver distress

ALMASat Power System

This paper describes in detail the ALMASat-1 microsatellite electrical power system, with particular emphasis to the system main components: solar panels, on-board batteries and power management board. After a brief overview of ALMASat-1 main characteristics, the power budget, is introduced showing the spacecraft \u201cmodes\u201d defined for evaluation of the on-board instantaneous power consumption and the method for evaluation of the instantaneous generated power. Next, the solar arrays assembly procedures and technologies as well as solar cells classification results are presented. In the next section the battery testing campaign is described, highlighting the results of the vacuum tests performed on the commercial Li-Ion battery packs selected for the ALMASat-1 mission, and the low-temperature performance obtained in temperature-controlled charge-discharge battery cycles. The power management board is next described, highlighting the level of redundancy obtained and the different logical blocks managing the solar arrays, the battery packs, the bus voltage regulation and the telemetry data handling