Efficacy of Body Ventilation System for Reducing Strain in Warm and Hot Climates

http://stinet.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA482453&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf

This study determined whether a torso-vest forced ambient air body ventilation system (BVS) reduced physiological strain during exercise-heat stress. Seven heat-acclimated volunteers attempted nine, 2-h treadmill walks at 200 W/sq m in three environments, -40 C, 20% rh (HD), 35 C, 75% rh (HW), and 30 C, 50% rh, (WW) wearing the Army Combat Uniform, interceptor body armor (IBA) and Kevlar helmet. Three trials in each environment were BVS turned on (BVS (On)), BVS turned off (BVS(Off)), and no BVS (IBA). In HD, BVS(On) significantly lowered core temperature (T(ak)), mean torso skin temperature (T(torso)), thermal sensation (TS), heat storage (S), and physiological strain index (PSI), versus BVS(off) and IBA (P < 0.05). For HW (n = 6), analyses were possible only through 60 min. Exercise tolerance time (min) during HW was significantly longer for BVS(On) (116 +/- 10 min) versus BVS(off) (95 +/- 22 min) and IBA (96 +/- 18 min) (P < 0.05). During HW, BVS(On) lowered HR at 60 min versus IBA T(sk) from 30 to 60 min. versus BVS(Off) and IBA, and PSI from 45 to 60 min versus BVS(Off) and at 60 min versus IBA (P < 0.05). BVS(On) changes in T(re) and HR were lower in HD and HW. During WW, BVS(On) significantly lowered HR, T( sk) and T(torso) versus BVS(Off) and IBA (P < 0.05) during late exercise. Sweating rates were significantly lower for BVS(On) versus BVS(Off) and IBA in both HD and WW (P < 0.05), but not HW. These results indicate that BVS(On) reduces physiological strain in all three environments by a similar amount; however, in hot-dry conditions the BVS(Off) increases physiological strain.

Implicit Learning of Complex Visual Contexts Under Non-Optimal Conditions

http://stinet.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA482416&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf

The human cognitive system is stunningly powerful in some respects yet surprisingly limited in others. We can recognize an object or a face in a single glimpse and type 70 words per minute, yet we cannot hold more than a few objects at a time in visual working memory or split our attention to several locations. Attention and working memory impose major capacity limitations in cognitive processing. This ARO funded project examines the role of implicit learning in overcoming cognitive limitations. It hinges on the observation that humans process a visual display more quickly when it is encountered for a second time. The project addresses three fundamental properties about spatial learning. First, does learning have a capacity limit? Second, is learning reduced when attention is tied up by a secondary load? Third, how much does the learning ability vary across individuals, and what are the cognitive and brain mechanisms that separate good learners from poor learners? We found that spatial context learning is automatic, flexible, has high capacity, and applies to most individuals. This mechanism can potentially overcome cognitive limitations in human attention and working memory, and may assist soldiers in spatial navigation.

A Randomized Trial of Musculoskeletal Pain Treatment in a Military Population

http://stinet.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA482286&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf

Musculoskeletal system conditions are the leading cause of hospitalization and disability for the U.S. Armed Forces. The Department of Defense pays over $1.5 billion per year to disabled service members, and musculoskeletal conditions account for 40-50% of this amount. This study investigates the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary functional restoration approach to the treatment of Active Duty military from all 4 branches suffering from chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP). The primary aims of this Functional and Occupational Rehabilitation Treatment (FORT) Program include restoring physical function, retaining soldiers on active duty, and increasing the participants abilities to effectively manage their pain. These outcomes, as well as socioeconomic variables, are evaluated immediately following treatment, and at 6, 12, and 18 months follow-up.

Field Survey on the Incidence and Severity of Motion Sickness in the Canadian Forces Enclosed light Armoured Vehicle

http://stinet.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA482346&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf


In the Advanced Vehicle Architecture for a Net-Enabled Combat Environment Technology Demonstrator Project (ADVANCE TDP), there is a need to define the requirements of the active suspension system and how the resulting motion affects performance and well-being (i.e. incidence and severity of motion sickness). At the request of the Director Armoured Vehicles Program Management (DAVPM), a study to investigate the effects of motion disturbance in the LAV III (light armoured vehicle) was completed. During a two-week mechanized platoon commander course held at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Gagetown, an anonymous questionnaire concerning the rating of 1) motion sickness symptoms and 2) mood and alertness was distributed daily to all of the course participants. Although the participants were encouraged to complete the questionnaire several times each day, compliance with instructions was adversely affected by the operational and physical demands of the course. In addition, uncontrolled variables such as noise, vibration, adverse weather, stress and fatigue likely affected the scores of diagnostic motion sickness symptoms and mood. The most frequently reported motion sickness symptoms were drowsiness, feeling warm and headaches. The most frequently reported mood parameters were weariness, sleepiness, and physical discomfort. Anecdotal reports suggested that the course participants, who were experienced infantry members, had habituated to the motion of the LAV III and were thus less susceptible to motion disturbance than less experienced members.

Invisible Wounds of War: Summary of Key Findings on Psychological and Cognitive Injuries

http://stinet.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA482583&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf


My testimony will briefly discuss the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, as well as the incidence of traumatic brain injury among service members returning from Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom; the costs to society associated with these conditions and of providing care to those afflicted with these conditions, and the gaps in the care systems designed to treat these conditions among our nation's service members and veterans. These findings form the basis of several recommendations which will be presented in the testimony of my colleague, Terri Tanielian. Together, Ms. Tanielian and I co-directed more than 30 researchers at RAND in the completion of this study and our testimony is drawn from the same body of work.

This is the summary report the full report is available for the Rand website at:
www.rand.org

Individualized Biomathematical Modeling of Fatigue and Performance

http://stinet.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA482265&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf
Fatigue from sleep loss and circadian misalignment jeopardizes the cognitive performance and safety of individuals during sustained Air Force operations. Mathematical models of fatigue and performance provide a useful tool for the prediction of cognitive impairment resulting from sleep loss and circadian disruption. However, currently available models do not accurately predict the effects of chronic sleep restriction, and do not make reliable predictions at the level of persons or small teams. In this project, a new model for the sleep/wake homeostatic regulation of fatigue was developed to improve predictions of performance deficits under conditions of chronic sleep loss. Furthermore, Bayesian forecasting was implemented to predict performance responses to sleep loss and circadian displacement for individuals. This project resulted in significant advances in fatigue and performance modeling, addressing the Air Force's need to understand and help mitigate the effects of fatigue on cognitive capability.

SIHS TD Literature Review:Issues in Restorative Hearing

http://stinet.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA477128&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf

The auditory sense is a significant perceptual component of the dismounted infantry soldier’s situation awareness. However, battlefield noise hazards necessitate the use of perceptually isolating hearing protection. This report seeks to review the progress made and key issues identified in developing a system to restore hearing capabilities to the protected listener. The auditory needs of the dismounted infantry soldier are described, followed by a description of the noise hazards encountered by the soldier. The implications of hearing protection and additional issues in restoring hearing are discussed. Scientific studies of restorative hearing systems are then detailed, starting from the simplest passive level-dependent systems and culminating in the most sophisticated transparent hearing systems, using a common protection, detection, localization, and speech intelligibility framework. Conclusions and recommendations for test criteria for future restorative hearing systems are given.
DTIC

Airport Insecurity: the case of lost laptops

http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/services/dell_lost_laptop_study.pdf

Lost Laptop Study

Dell and the Ponemon Institute are pleased to release the findings of the first lost laptop and business traveler study of its kind. In the first half of 2008, the Ponemon Institute surveyed 106 United States airports and over 800 business travelers to understand the frequency with which laptops are lost in airports and the steps business travelers are taking to protect sensitive information on corporate systems. The results of the report are staggering:
Up to 12,000 laptops are lost in United States airports each week
Between 65 and 70 percent of lost laptops are never reclaimed
Most laptops are lost at security checkpoints
53 percent of business travelers surveyed carry sensitive corporate information on their laptop
65 percent of those who carry confidential information have not taken steps to protect it while traveling
42 percent of respondents say they do not back up their data

Virus Transfer from Personal Protective Equipment to Healthcare Employees’ Skin and Clothing

http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/14/8/pdfs/08-0085.pdf

We evaluated a personal protective equipment removal protocol designed to minimize wearer contamination with pathogens. Following this protocol often resulted in virus transfer to hands and clothing. An altered protocol or other measures are needed to prevent healthcare worker contamination

Attention, awareness and occupational stress

http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr644.pdf


This HSE Research report looks at occupational stress. Symptoms associated with occupational stress, such as muscular pain and fatigue (termed idiopathic), are common in the workforce, but it is often hard to link these to a definite physical cause. Also, these symptoms are often associated with psychological concerns such as anxiety and depression.
Despite these difficulties, these symptoms represent an important index of occupational health however the underlying reasons for these symptoms are not particularly well understood regarding the influence of psychological factors.
This report examines the affect of attentional factors on the perception of idiopathic symptoms associated with occupational stress and discusses the fact that occupational stress may inflate symptom perceptions in two ways:
the psychological route by creating a negative bias and amplifying symptoms by directing attention to the body
the physiological route whereby awareness of symptoms is magnified and intensified by elevated autonomic activity.
The role of attention and awareness during the perception of stress-related symptoms was examined through a laboratory study to investigate the influence of stress on the physiological process of interoception. It was predicted that exposure to stress would increase participants’ accuracy on the heartbeat detection task. It was also believed that participants who exhibited higher levels of interoceptive sensitivity on this task would report a higher frequency of symptoms (due to a higher level of awareness of bodily activity). These hypotheses were not supported by the findings. Exposure to stress resulted in poorer performance on the heartbeat detection task for females and there was no evidence of an association between performance on the heartbeat detection task and symptom reporting.
A longitudinal study on the influence of naturalistic stress on symptom reporting was also undertaken. Self-rated anxiety and symptom reports were collected from 147 participants over five months, which included a stressful event during the fourth month. Symptom frequency tended to decline throughout the study period. Subjective anxiety rose during the fourth month but there was no evidence for any systematic influence on the frequency of self-reported symptoms.
The main hypothesis explored by the project was the influence of individual differences in body consciousness on the perception of stress-related symptoms. It was proposed that high body consciousness would be associated with increased frequency of stress-related symptoms. A pilot survey and occupational survey were undertaken and it was found that body consciousness tended to increase the frequency of stress-related symptoms. There was a strong association between body consciousness and negative affectivity (the tendency to experience negative emotion).
The occupational survey supported a positive link between occupational stress (job demands) and stress-related symptoms. Exposure to occupational stress and high body consciousness increased the frequency of stress-related symptoms, but both effects were independent of one another. There was no evidence that exposure to occupational stress had any influence on body consciousness.
The project concluded that psychological characteristics associated with body consciousness represent a significant influence on self-reported symptoms of stress and psychological distress. It was recommended that body consciousness be an important addition to future studies of self-reported health.

The nature, causes and consequences of harm in emotionally-demanding occupations

http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr610.pdf

Traditional approaches to understanding psychosocial job characteristics and well-being have been quite general in that they explore links between general job characteristics such as workload and control on workers in many different sorts of occupations. One example of a more specific approach can be found in research into emotional labour - the requirement to regulate both feelings and the expression of feelings for organizational goals. Early research into emotional labour focused on customer service workers (CSW) but has more recently also considered human service workers (HSW) such as nurses and social workers. A more specific approach to thinking about the outcomes of demanding psychosocial job characteristics can be found in research on burnout which is thought to have three elements: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization (also labelled cynicism), and (low) accomplishment (also called professional efficacy). Much recent research has started to explore the links between emotional demands and burnout. The main aim of this project is therefore to explore the nature of such links through undertaking three distinct tasks. The first is a literature review of evidence and theory while the second two tasks comprise two empirical studies examining several key issues in burnout research.

Evaluating the protection afforded by surgical masks against influenza bioaerosols

http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr619.pdf


Health Improvement and Human Factors Groups, Health and Safety Laboratory and Health and Safety Executive
The UK is preparing for a potential influenza pandemic. The main route of transmission of influenza is believed to be via direct contact with large droplets. The relative importance of aerosols in transmission is considered to be minor, but it cannot be ruled-out. The current UK Pandemic Influenza Infection Control Guidance recommends that workers who are in close contact with patients should wear surgical masks to reduce exposure to large droplets. However, surgical masks are not intended to provide protection against infectious aerosols. The guidance recommends that procedures that are likely to generate aerosols should be minimised, or where unavoidable, workers should wear appropriate respiratory protection. There is a common misperception amongst workers and employers that surgical masks will protect against aerosols. This study aims to evaluate the relative levels of protection provided by both surgical masks and respirators against aerosols.
This study focussed on the effectiveness of surgical masks against a range of airborne particles. Using separate tests to measure levels of inert particles and live aerosolised influenza virus, our findings show that surgical masks provide around a 6-fold reduction in exposure. Live viruses could be detected in the air behind all surgical masks tested. By contrast, properly fitted respirators could provide at least a 100-fold reduction.

Whole-body vibration of ground preparation activities in forestry

http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr636.pdf


The Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 (CoVWR 2005) place duties on employers to assess and control the risks from exposures to whole-body vibration. Long-term exposures to high levels of whole-body vibration have been associated with lower back injury. Exposure to vibration shocks is believed to be particularly damaging. Lower-back injuries are also associated with other ergonomic issues that may be present when workers are exposed to vibration, such as poor seating postures and manual handling. When considering whole-body vibration it is important that these other factors are also investigated.
Earlier work on whole-body vibration funded by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Forestry Commission (FC) had studied the vibration exposure from forwarders and harvesters [Pitts 2006] and the ergonomics of harvesters [Milne et al 2002]. The work reported here follows on from that earlier work, but looks at a different aspect of forestry work, ground preparation activities, where vehicles are used on a variety of off-road surfaces where exposures are likely to be high.