Investigation of possible causes for human-performance degradation during microgravity flight

The results of the first year of a three year study of the effects of microgravity on human performance are given. Test results show support for the hypothesis that the effects of microgravity can be studied indirectly on Earth by measuring performance in an altered gravitational field. The hypothesis was that an altered gravitational field could disrupt performance on previously automated behaviors if gravity was a critical part of the stimulus complex controlling those behaviors. In addition, it was proposed that performance on secondary cognitive tasks would also degrade, especially if the subject was provided feedback about degradation on the previously automated task. In the initial experimental test of these hypotheses, there was little statistical support. However, when subjects were categorized as high or low in automated behavior, results for the former group supported the hypotheses. The predicted interaction between body orientation and level of workload in their joint effect on performance in the secondary cognitive task was significant for the group high in automatized behavior and receiving feedback, but no such interventions were found for the group high in automatized behavior but not receiving feedback, or the group low in automatized behavior

Whole-body assessment tool for musculoskeletal disorders risk factors among road construction workers

In a bid to improve the health and well-being of road construction workers potentially exposed to the risk of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), there is a compelling narrative to have a concise assessment tool for the entire-body MSD Assessment. Most existing assessment tools are deficient in critical exposure factors for MSD assessment. This study reviews existing MSD assessment methods and tools towards the development of a concise and comprehensive novel tool. The existing tools each present a unique perspective on MSD assessment e.g. Ovako Working Posture Analysing System (OWAS), Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA), Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA), Quick Exposure Check (QEC) and Posture Activity Tools and Handling (PATH). However, the Quick Exposure Check was selected due to its unique features and strength, with a proposal for its extension to accommodate the lower body for a whole-body assessment and a further merger with the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ Body Map). This critical review proposes an enhanced merger of these two tools to create a more robust and comprehensive whole-body assessment tool. This paper contributes to advancing the health and well-being of road construction workers by proposing a holistic framework for entire-body MSD assessment

Effectiveness of bilateral task oriented training versus unilateral task oriented training to improve the motor functions of upper limb in stroke patients

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Upper extremity paresis in post stroke is an important contributor to disability and task oriented rehabilitation aims at compensating loss of function in the affected upper extremity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of bilateral task oriented training versus unilateral task oriented training to improve the motor functions of upper limb in stroke patients. AIM OF THE STUDY: This study aimed to demonstrate the effectiveness of bilateral task oriented training versus unilateral task oriented training to improve the motor functions of upper limb in stroke patients. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY: To improve the motor functions of Upper Limb. METHODS: 20 hemiplegic subjects have divided into two groups, the bilateral task oriented training group (10) and the unilateral task oriented training group (10). Duration of session is 60 minutes and 5 sessions per week over 12 weeks. Fugl – meyer assessment scale for upper extremity (FMA-UE), Chedoke arm and hand activity inventory (CAHAI) have used to quantify the treatment outcome. RESULTS: The inferential statistical results of Independent ‘t’ test for between the group comparison of post treatment ‘t’ value is 1.9 (p value 0.03 ) in fugl - meyer motor assessment for upper extremity and 2.53 (p value 0.01) in chedoke arm and hand activity inventory. CONCLUSION: Bilateral task oriented training improved motor functions of upper limb better than unilateral task oriented training in stroke patients

Human Factors Considerations in System Design

Human factors considerations in systems design was examined. Human factors in automated command and control, in the efficiency of the human computer interface and system effectiveness are outlined. The following topics are discussed: human factors aspects of control room design; design of interactive systems; human computer dialogue, interaction tasks and techniques; guidelines on ergonomic aspects of control rooms and highly automated environments; system engineering for control by humans; conceptual models of information processing; information display and interaction in real time environments

Software Defined Networks based Smart Grid Communication: A Comprehensive Survey

The current power grid is no longer a feasible solution due to ever-increasing user demand of electricity, old infrastructure, and reliability issues and thus require transformation to a better grid a.k.a., smart grid (SG). The key features that distinguish SG from the conventional electrical power grid are its capability to perform two-way communication, demand side management, and real time pricing. Despite all these advantages that SG will bring, there are certain issues which are specific to SG communication system. For instance, network management of current SG systems is complex, time consuming, and done manually. Moreover, SG communication (SGC) system is built on different vendor specific devices and protocols. Therefore, the current SG systems are not protocol independent, thus leading to interoperability issue. Software defined network (SDN) has been proposed to monitor and manage the communication networks globally. This article serves as a comprehensive survey on SDN-based SGC. In this article, we first discuss taxonomy of advantages of SDNbased SGC.We then discuss SDN-based SGC architectures, along with case studies. Our article provides an in-depth discussion on routing schemes for SDN-based SGC. We also provide detailed survey of security and privacy schemes applied to SDN-based SGC. We furthermore present challenges, open issues, and future research directions related to SDN-based SGC.Comment: Accepte

Quality assessment technique for ubiquitous software and middleware

The new paradigm of computing or information systems is ubiquitous computing systems. The technology-oriented issues of ubiquitous computing systems have made researchers pay much attention to the feasibility study of the technologies rather than building quality assurance indices or guidelines. In this context, measuring quality is the key to developing high-quality ubiquitous computing products. For this reason, various quality models have been defined, adopted and enhanced over the years, for example, the need for one recognised standard quality model (ISO/IEC 9126) is the result of a consensus for a software quality model on three levels: characteristics, sub-characteristics, and metrics. However, it is very much unlikely that this scheme will be directly applicable to ubiquitous computing environments which are considerably different to conventional software, trailing a big concern which is being given to reformulate existing methods, and especially to elaborate new assessment techniques for ubiquitous computing environments. This paper selects appropriate quality characteristics for the ubiquitous computing environment, which can be used as the quality target for both ubiquitous computing product evaluation processes ad development processes. Further, each of the quality characteristics has been expanded with evaluation questions and metrics, in some cases with measures. In addition, this quality model has been applied to the industrial setting of the ubiquitous computing environment. These have revealed that while the approach was sound, there are some parts to be more developed in the future

Does Speech-To-Text Assistive Technology Improve the Written Expression of Students with Traumatic Brain Injury?

Traumatic Brain Injury outcomes vary by individual due to age at the onset of injury, the location of the injury, and the degree to which the deficits appear to be pronounced, among other factors. As an acquired injury to the brain, the neurophysiological consequences are not homogenous; they are as varied as the individuals who experience them. Persistent impairment in executive functions of attention, initiation, planning, organizing, and memory are likely to be present in children with moderate to severe TBIs. Issues with sensory and motor skills, language, auditory or visual sensation changes, and variations in emotional behavior may also be present. Germane to this study, motor dysfunction is a common long-term sequelae of TBI that manifests in academic difficulties. Borrowing from the learning disability literature, children with motor dysfunction are likely to have transcription deficits, or deficits related to the fine-motor production of written language. This study aimed to compare the effects of handwriting with an assistive technology accommodation on the writing performance of three middle school students with TBIs and writing difficulties. The study utilized an alternating treatments design (ATD), comparing the effects of handwriting responses to story prompts to the use of speech-to-text AT to record participant responses. Speech-to-text technology, like Dragon Naturally Speaking converts spoken language into a print format on a computer screen with a high degree of accuracy. In theory, because less effort is spent on transcription, there is a reduction in cognitive load, enabling more time to be spent on generation skills, such as idea development, selecting more complex words that might be otherwise difficult to spell, and grammar. Overall, all three participants showed marked improvement with the application of speech-to-text AT. The results indicate a positive pattern for the AT as an accommodation with these children that have had mild-to-moderate TBIs as compared to their written output without the AT accommodation. The findings of this study are robust. Through visual analysis of the results, it is evident that the speech-to-text dictation condition was far superior to the handwriting condition (HW) with an effect size that ranged + 3.4 to + 8.8 across participants indicating a large treatment effect size. Perhaps more impressive, was 100 percent non-overlap of data between the two conditions across participants and dependent variables. The application of speech-to-text AT resulted in significantly improved performance across writing indicators in these students with a history of TBIs. Speech-to-Text AT may prove to be an excellent accommodation for children with TBI and fine motor skill deficits. The conclusions drawn from the results of this study indicate the Speech-to-Text AT was more effective than a handwriting condition for all three participants. By providing this AT, these students each improved in the quality, construction, and duration of their written expression as evidenced in the significant gains in TWW, WSC, and CWS