Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, May 2010. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on June 11, 2010). "College of Nursing." Includes bibliographical references (p. 70-83).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2010. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 125 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 66-77).

Thesis (M.S.) PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / Sleep has been associated with learning flexibility and memory enhancement in several domains, yet little evidence exists on the effects of sleep in early language learning. In our study, we asked whether two-year-old toddlers benefit from sleep when learning the meaning of words. We adapted a paradigm in which two-year-olds were taught novel words, specifically verbs, and were asked to map them to meaning (Arunachalam & Waxman, 2010). Toddlers were first familiarized with a novel verb used in transitive sentences (i.e., “Mary is going to moop the cat”). Next, we assessed whether they mapped the novel verb to a meaning by testing them twice, once immediately after familiarization, and once after a delay of 3-6 hours, during which toddlers either slept or remained awake. At test, they viewed two candidate referents for the novel verb: a causative scene and a synchronous scene. Note that causative events can be described with transitive verbs, but synchronous events cannot. Toddlers’ task was to assign the novel verb to one of the potential visual referents. If sleep promotes language learning, then toddlers will perform better at the second test if they had slept during the delay than if they had not. Specifically, we predicted that toddlers who slept would look more to the causative scene than those who remained awake. Results revealed that toddlers in both delay conditions and even at both tests were not above chance at choosing the causative scene. These results present an interesting paradigm that could be applied to other sleep research studies. / 2031-01-01

The thesis describes investigations into two contrasting aspects of Slow Wave Sleep (SWS). The first is a laboratory based study of the effects of passive heating on the subsequent SWS of six healthy subjects, and the second employs home sleep recording techniques to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of the 'alpha sleep anomaly' in volunteers from the local community.

Approved for public release, distribution unlimited / The purpose of this thesis is to analyze data related to sleep patterns of warfighters deployed to the Southwest Asia (SWA) Area of Operation. To this end, we collected subjective survey data from warfighters operating in Iraq and Kuwait from 25 August - 15 October 2003 (n = 273). Participants were asked about unit-level sleep planning, sleep/wake patterns, and lifestyle factors. Using the survey results, we are able to gain insight regarding the four primary research questions: 1) Is sleep deprivation a significant problem for forces in the SWA region; 2) Do current sleep logistics support a unit's ability to accomplish assigned missions; 3) Are there differences in sleep patterns between subset populations; and 4) Does the current survey method support the research objectives. To address these questions, we used analysis techniques such as principal components analysis, factor analysis, and parametric and nonparametric hypothesis testing. We tested the reliability of the subjective survey results by comparing self-reported survey data with actigraphy data corresponding to the same time period (n = 34 paired observations). This thesis also provides insight regarding the use of sleep logistics as a force multiplier during continuous/sustained operations by discussing known fatigue countermeasures and their role in improving individual and unit performance effectiveness.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / Fatigue due to sleep deprivation is a major factor in both mental and physical performance. Failure of Recruits to receive the proper quality and quantity of sleep can be detrimental to a Recruit’s safety and can diminish the amount of information learned during training. During the 1980s, the sleep regimen was decreased to 6 hours of sleep per night. In 2002, a decision was made to give U.S. Navy Recruits an additional two hours of sleep per night. This latest modification was selected to coincide with the acknowledged adolescent/young adult circadian rhythms. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the new eight-hour sleep regimen using standardized test scores as a performance measure. One year of data with the eight-hour sleep regimen is compared to two separate years when only six hours of sleep was allowed. There is a significant difference, F(2, 33) = 29.82, p < .0001, between the test scores of Recruits receiving 6-hours of sleep and 8-hours of sleep. On average test scores rose by 11 percent with the additional sleep. The odds of observing such a difference by chance is less than one in ten million. / Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy

Human Systems Integration Report / This study examined the effects of noise, temperature, humidity, motion and light on the sleep patterns of the crew of the HSV-2 SWIFT during Gulf of Mexico Exercise (GOMEX) 05-1. HSV-2 SWIFT was chosen for this study to examine crew sleep on an unconventional hull type manned with a small crew. Noise dosimeters, temperature and humidity monitors, actiwatches and questionnaires were used to quantify the data. With the exception of light, the independent variables did not have significant effect upon participant sleep. This is likely due to the limited range of the independent variables and the small number of participants in this study. There were two findings in this study; the relationship between the demographic variable sea time and participant sleep and the relationship between the independent variable light and participant sleep. Due to the limitations in the current study, it is recommended that further studies be conducted in more extreme operational environments. Additionally, studies such as the one discussed in this thesis, should be completed on different platforms to determine the differences in environmental factors that affect sleep between hull types so that the results can be applied to future vessel design.

The hypocretin peptides are two hypothalamic peptides known to be involved in both sleeping and feeding behavior, however their specific roles in these domains are not well understood. The present study sought to determine the effect of chronic (72-hour) sleep deprivation and (48-hour) food deprivation on preprohypocretin (PPH), which is the precursor for the hypocretin peptides. PPH levels were visualized and quantified via in situ hybridization. A three-factor ANOVA ( group x dorsal/ventral x medial/lateral) revealed a significant effect of subregion, specifically dorsal/middle and ventral/medial exhibited elevated PPH levels, however there was no effect of group. A between group one-way ANOVA revealed no effect of group on PPH levels. It is theorized that four possible domains may be responsible for these results: presence of hypothalamic neuronal subpopulations, role of circadian rhythm, role of hypocretins in locomotive behavior and inextricably confounded variables. These are discussed at length.

Most sleep deprivation studies show increased body mass, increased hypertension, increased Type 2 Diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular issues and even death. There is a paucity of research in sleeping patterns of first time Caucasian mothers of babies between six and twelve months old in South Africa. The objective was to determine the impact of long-term partial sleep deprivation on metabolism and mood in these mothers. A qualitative and quantitative study using a small sample of thirty one mothers was undertaken. Interviews assessed age, education, anthropometric data, family history, medication use, and baby sleeping habits. Participants were also asked to complete the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Becks Depression Inventory II (BDI-II)to assess the mothers sleep quality and depressive state. Medication use significantly decreased sleep quality. Oral contraceptive use and depression (BDI-II score 14-40) were associated with a significantly higher PSQI score and significantly decreased number of hours sleep and sleep efficiency. Oral contraceptive users were significantly more depressed. The six mothers on antidepressants had significantly higher PSQI scores than those not on antidepressants, but hours of sleep and sleep efficiency were not significantly different. This study showed that sleep deprivation did not impact mothers anthropometry. Interestingly medication use affected sleep quality more than baby arousals.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Science, 2013 / Unable to load abstract.