Oral History Interview: Arnold Starr

This interview is one of a series conducted concerning rural life in West Virginia. The main focus is farm life. A native of Martin County, Kentucky, Mr. Arnold Starr had moved to Mingo County, West Virginia, by the mid 1930\u27s. At the time of the interview he was residing in Williamson, West Virginia. Mr. Starr discusses his childhood experiences on a school farm, education, neighborhood gatherings, and coon and fox hunting.https://mds.marshall.edu/oral_history/1603/thumbnail.jp

Integrating Fatigue Management with Safety Management Systems for Commercial Flightcrew Operations

Fatigue remains a significant hazard in commercial aviation and has been a major concern among all stakeholders for decades. This review of the literature explores the current prescriptive structure of the regulatory environment (Part 117) and its effect on fatigue management. To illustrate the impact of fatigue on flight operations, this article includes a brief analysis of two National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident reports where fatigue was indicated as a factor. Current research in fatigue management and efforts by the Federal Aviation Administration point to the benefits of using a Safety Management Systems (SMS) methodology to manage fatigue. Using the framework of an organization’s functioning SMS, various solutions are discussed, including using existing reporting systems to gather data and the development of potential performance indicators, with an emphasis on the need for research into commuting habits of flight crews and establishing a safety culture based upon fitness for duty

Flight Simulator Fidelity, Training Transfer, and the Role of Instructors in Optimizing Learning

Simulators have been integrated into flight training at various levels for decades, increasing in utility as they increased in fidelity. Today, practically all levels of qualification in passenger-carrying commercial airliners can be obtained entirely in the simulator, with the first experience in the aircraft on a revenue-producing flight. Flight training in the U.S. is a tightly controlled, highly regulated process overseen by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It is also a very successful one; commercial aviation maintains a remarkable safety record. To that end, pilot training has been studied and analyzed extensively over the years, and as to the focus of this paper, the efficacy of simulator training has generated as much debate as consensus with regards to the utility of the devices. Much of this research, to include experiments, has focused on simulator fidelity – how well the device replicates the actual aircraft – and to what extent that training transfers to the aircraft. Very little research has focused on the role and interaction of the simulator instructor with the student(s) and what impact he/she has upon the final training result nor has elements of current instructional design methodology been considered. This paper analyzes vital simulator training concepts, examines accidents and incidents where the investigation revealed potential deficiencies in the training devices used by the crews of these airplanes, and then considers the role of the simulator instructor through the lens of modern instructional design concepts. The authors provide suggestions as to the direction of further research into the vitality of this role in maximizing the potential of training with flight simulators to further safety goals

CEREBRAL SOMATOSENSORY POTENTIALS EVOKED BY MUSCLE STRETCH, CUTANEOUS TAPS AND ELECTRICAL STIMULATION OF PERIPHERAL NERVES IN THE LOWER LIMBS IN MAN

Somatosensory cerebral evoked potentials were recorded in man to natural forms of somatosensory stimulation of the lower extremity including stretching of the muscle tendons, tapping on muscle bellies and tapping on cutaneous surfaces. These potentials were compared with those evoked by electrical stimulation of peripheral nerves measuring the amplitudes and latencies of the evoked potential components and defining the effects of stimulus variables on these parameters. Spinal cord potentials could only be detected to electrical stimuli. Mechanical stimulation of tendons and muscle bellies evoked scalp potentials at latencies earlier than those evoked by electrical stimulation of the peripheral nerve and by cutaneous stimulation at the same level of the leg. Muscle receptors, most probably muscle spindles, are the source of the short latency components obtained by the stretching of tendons and tapping on muscle bellies. The proximal location of these receptors as well as very rapid spinal conduction account for the latency difference. The potentials were larger to electrical stimulation of nerve trunks than to mechanical stimulation of tendons or skin, suggesting the asynchronous activation of a smaller number of fibres by the latter. Individuals with the largest potentials to one form of stimulation usually had the largest potentials to the other modes of stimulation. The use of physiological stimuli such as muscle stretch to test the transmission in specific neural pathways might be useful in investigating the processing of relatively selective afferent volleys using noninvasive evoked potential recordings