Modelling dynamic decision making with the ACT-R cognitive architecture

This paper describes a model of dynamic decision making in the Dynamic Stocks and Flows (DSF) task, developed using the ACT-R cognitive architecture. This task is a simple simulation of a water tank in which the water level must be kept constant whilst the inflow and outflow changes at varying rates. The basic functions of the model are based around three steps. Firstly, the model predicts the water level in the next cycle by adding the current water level to the predicted net inflow of water. Secondly, based on this projection, the net outflow of the water is adjusted to bring the water level back to the target. Thirdly, the predicted net inflow of water is adjusted to improve its accuracy in the future. If the prediction has overestimated net inflow then it is reduced, if it has underestimated net inflow it is increased. The model was entered into a model comparison competition-the Dynamic Stocks and Flows Challenge-to model human performance on four conditions of the DSF task and then subject the model to testing on five unseen transfer conditions. The model reproduced the main features of the development data reasonably well but did not reproduce human performance well under the transfer conditions. This suggests that the principles underlying human performance across the different conditions differ considerably despite their apparent similarity. Further lessons for the future development of our model and model comparison challenges are considered

Sustainability of thermal energy production at the flooded mine workings of the former Caphouse Colliery, Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Abandoned, flooded, coal mine workings are an artefact of fossil fuel exploitation that can be repurposed as a renewable energy resource. The warm subsurface waters that fill former workings can be developed to provide efficient and low-carbon heat generation using ground source heat pumps. In order to determine the long-term suitability of flooded mine workings as a sustainable thermal resource we have to understand the hydrological components of the system and how they interact in response to exploitation-related disturbance. We investigate pump induced mixing dynamics at the former Caphouse Colliery, which has been pumped since 1996 for regional water level management but only recently started to be explored as a thermal resource. Initial findings from the first 6 months of study show virtually no variation in physiochemical, major ion or stable isotope values. However, placed in context with archived values from 2004 to the present, we see a general pattern of mine water quality recovery punctuated by a doubling of Cl− values (150 mg/l to > 300 mg/l) which may suggest recent ingress of deeper-sourced saline waters. This is supported by O and H isotopic values, which are indicative of ancient, perhaps Late Pleistocene, confined waters. Sulphur isotope values (19.7–23.8‰) are abnormally high as compared to typical values for Carboniferous Coal Measures (0–10‰). There is no simple explanation, so further data collection and investigation are required, though we note that these values are similar to Lower Carboniferous seawater values. The relative stability of recent parameters suggests that Caphouse waters represent a dependable thermal resource. However, much about the hydrogeology of the Caphouse system is still uncertain, so further work is required to check the persistence of recent trends

How do students learn critical thinking? Challenging the osmosis model

In teaching Conceptual and Historical Issues in Psychology (CHIP), it is often assumed that students learn critical thinking by being exposed to it, as if absorbing it through osmosis. Moreover, assessment guidelines tend to consider this ability only for higher marks. The authors of this paper believe, however, that critical thinking should be trained as a central skill: in this contribution, they share their experiences in teaching critical thinking directly. Specifically, they lecture on critical thinking and argumentative writing in a secondyear module that also includes research methods training. Several journal articles are discussed in class, and the exam itself consists of critiquing two research reports. In this course, quantitative and qualitative research are discussed by two different lecturers. However, co-teaching is not framed as a debate: the lecturers aim to avoid both providing a stale compromise and presenting the two approaches as irreconcilable. The authors’ experience with this module supported their initial worries about the osmosis model. Most students were capable of pertinent critical observations on research, arguably because they absorbed this skill from their previous courses. However, integrating isolated comments into a coherent critique was challenging to many, and it took much effort and guidance from the lecturers

Oceanographic observations at the Amundsen sea shelf break

Introduction: The continental shelf environment of the Amundsen and Bellingshausen seas differs markedly from that of the other circumpolar seas, where water temperatures are close to the surface freezing point throughout. In the Amundsen/Bellingshausen sector near-freezing temperatures are encountered only in the upper few hundred metres of the water column. Below this surface layer a broad thermocline trends towards upper Circumpolar Deep Water (uCDW), which is found in a form that is almost unmodified from its off-shelf manifestation (Giulivi and Jacobs, 1996). This means that the ice shelves of the Amundsen and Bellingshausen seas experience ocean temperatures some three degrees warmer than those experienced by the other Antarctic ice shelves, and the rates of basal melting are correspondingly high (Jacobs et al., 1996)

Influence of optical standing waves on the femtosecond laser-induced forward transfer of transparent thin films

The effects of the formation of an optical standing wave during femtosecond laser-induced forward transfer of transparent films is analyzed using a numerical interference model. The dependence of the intensity distribution on a number of easily controllable experimental parameters is investigated. Results of the model are compared to experimental studies of the transfer of gadolinium gallium oxide (GdGaO) with a polymer sacrificial layer. The model allows us to explain the observed variation in deposit morphology with the size of the air gap, and why forward transfer of the GdGaO was possible below the ablation thresholds of polymer and oxide

TDP-43 is a culprit in human neurodegeneration, and not just an innocent bystander

In 2006 the protein TDP-43 was identified as the major ubiquitinated component deposited in the inclusion bodies found in two human neurodegenerative diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. The pathogenesis of both disorders is unclear, although they are related by having some overlap of symptoms and now by the shared histopathology of TDP-43 deposition. Now, in 2008, several papers have been published in quick succession describing mutations in the TDP-43 gene, showing they can be a primary cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. There are many precedents in neurodegenerative disease in which rare single-gene mutations have given great insight into understanding disease processes, which is why the TDP-43 mutations are potentially very important

A combined pumping test and heat extraction/recirculation trial in an abandoned haematite ore mine shaft, Egremont, Cumbria, UK

A pumping test at rates of up to 50 L s⁻¹ was carried out in the 256 m-deep Florence Shaft of the Beckermet–Winscales–Florence haematite ore mine in Cumbria, UK, between 8th January and 25th March 2015. Drawdowns in mine water level did not exceed 4 m and the entire interconnected mine complex behaved as a single reservoir. Pumping did, however, induce drawdowns of around 1 m in the St. Bees Sandstone aquifer overlying the Carboniferous Limestone host rock. During a second phase of the pumping test, a proportion of the 11.3–12 °C mine water was directed through a heat pump, which extracted up to 103 kW heat from the water and recirculated it back to the top of the shaft. Provided that an issue with elevated arsenic concentrations (20–30 µg L⁻¹) can be resolved, the Florence mine could provide not only a valuable resource of high-quality water for industrial or even potable uses, it could also provide several hundred to several thousand kW of ground sourced heating and/or cooling, if a suitable demand can be identified. The ultimate constraint would be potential hydraulic impacts on the overlying St Bees Sandstone aquifer. The practice of recirculating thermally spent water in the Florence Shaft produced only a rather modest additional thermal benefit

Advancing ACTA: Developing Socio-Cognitive Competence/Insight

ABSTRACT Accelerating the cognitive expertise of engineering professionals is a critical challenge for many high reliability, international organizations. This paper reports a collaborative, longitudinal, academic practitioner project which aimed to elicit, document and accelerate the cognitive expertise of engineering professional working with the manufacture and management of petroleum additives. 25 engineering experts were trained by three academic psychologists to use applied cognitive task analysis (ACTA) interview techniques in order to document the cognition of their expert peers. Results had high face validity for practitioners who elicited hot/sensory based cognition, a number of perceptual skills and mental models, highlighting undocumented context specific expertise. We conclude from a peer review of findings combined with experienced CTA analysts that ACTA techniques can be advanced in context by the explicit recognition and development of socio-cognitive competence /insight