Examining firefighter decision making process and choice in virtual reality

Firefighting is an inherently dangerous occupation, with over 100 fatalities and 85,000 injuries in the United States annually (National Fallen Firefighter Foundation, 2005). Though poor decision making may contribute to this high prevalence, surprisingly few studies exist of how emergency responders make decisions. The objective of this study was to utilize the virtual reality environment to identify relationships among firefighter experience, decision-making processes, and acute stress. Broadly, the research questions asked what were the effects of tradeoff values, time pressure, and experience on decision-making characteristics in firefighters; as well as, what were the associations of physiological responses to stress with firefighter decision making? The rationale for this research was that, once decision-making processes by firefighters are better understood, and the relationships among decision-making quality, stress, and firefighting experience are identified, decision-making quality may be enhanced. Interventions could lead to the acceleration of the development of expertise in novices. Utilizing the highest-resolution computerized virtual reality system in the world on the campus of Iowa State University, participants were exposed to realistic scenarios varying in the stressors of time pressure and tradeoff values. Decision-making processes and final decision choice were assessed in real-time, while heart rate and blood pressure were used to characterize participants\u27 stress state. A total of 62 career firefighters from fire departments throughout central Iowa participated in this study. Several important findings in this study included the identification of two previously unclassified decision strategies: diminished expectations (DE) and poliheuristic to diminished expectations (POLI2DE). Other findings showed that decision tasks under high tradeoff resulted in significantly less time, required the processing of less information, and were significantly more alternative-based in the search review process. Novices took less time to reach a decision and utilized dimension-based information search patterns more frequently. When time pressure was high, the time to decision decreased significantly and may have been perceived less as a challenge-related task, than under low time pressure. Between 48 - 55% of participants utilized recognition primed decision-making strategy while under time pressure. Lastly, novices seemed to best recognize the scenario, in that none misidentified the scenario under both low and high time pressure

Opportunities and challenges of high-level visualization technology in process operations and safety

PresentationThe rapid development in high-level visualization technology in recent years has created tremendous opportunities for enhancing all facets of industry. Augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and virtual reality (VR) can be harnessed to support efforts in various stages of a life cycle of a facility. For example, AR technology can be utilized in the fabrication stage as well as in the validation and operation stages of the life cycle. MR can support efforts during fabrication, operation, and decommissioning stages. VR can be used in various dimensions of all stages of the life cycle. This paper will review the forefront of technology of high-level visualization and will discuss the opportunities and challenges associated with this technology with respect to its implementation in the process operations and safety arena

A method of beam–couch intersection detection

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134785/1/mp8509.pd

WIDESPREAD SHALLOW MASS WASTING DURING HURRICANE MARIA: LONG-TERM SIGNIFICANCE OF SEDIMENTATION IN THE TROPICS

Hurricane María was an extreme atmospheric event that impacted Puerto Rico in 2017. As a result of the passage of hurricane María over the island more than 70,000 landslides were triggered, with the highest density of mass wasting found in the mountainous center of the island. This area is highly susceptible to slope failure given the local soils that form as a result of continuous tropical chemical weathering of the bedrock material. Copious amounts of sediment from these soils were mobilized and transported by the landslide-triggering event. The results of our study reveal the soil types that are most susceptible to mass wasting loss in order to better understand their susceptibility to failure and contribution to sedimentation across the rugged interior of the island. A preliminary analysis of area volume scaling statistics for thousands of landslide sites in the important Lago Dos Bocas basin reveals that Hurricane María likely liberated at least 1.7 million cubic meters of mostly superficial sediment in the lake’s contributing area (not including the Caonillas sub-basin). In an effort to determine the efficiency of the fluvial system to transport these sediments during and after the catastrophic hurricane event, bathymetric surveying was carried out in Lago Dos Bocas, where much of the sediment is hypothesized to have been deposited. This reservoir is a vital piece of infrastructure in the island as it supplies water to the San Juan metropolitan area. Based on the 2021 bathymetric survey and the historical data, the excess sediment deposition to the reservoir related to Hurricane María is estimated at approximately 2.1 million cubic meters. When compared with data from 1999-2010, this volume represents the equivalent of 18 years of background sedimentation. At present, the reservoir capacity loss since construction is at 64%. These analyses are pertinent to understand how the local sediment budget has been affected and to re-calculate the useful life of the reservoir and highlight the vulnerability of Caribbean infrastructure systems, given the forecasted likelihood of increased tropical cyclone activity in the years to come.&nbsp

Conhecimento médico no manejo terapêutico das interações medicamentosas / Medical knowledge in the therapeutic management of drug interactions

Os profissionais da saúde, médicos em particular, lidam com as interações medicamentosas a todo momento, podendo estas ocorrerem em variados grupos de pacientes. É importante que os prescritores conheçam além do mecanismo de ação de cada fármaco, levando em consideração sua influência sobre outros medicamentos, seus efeitos no organismo e possíveis variações de acordo com o processo de metabolização individual de cada paciente. Nesse estudo objetivou-se verificar o nível de conhecimento, preocupação e conduta por parte dos médicos e profissionais da saúde acerca dessas interações no dia a dia. Os dados serão coletados a partir de questionários online com perguntas diretas sobre o assunto, esperando-se assim, um certo grau de desconhecimento dos profissionais quanto às interações e o seu manejo. Após a coleta, os dados serão processados e divulgados por meio de gráficos, permitindo uma avaliação e alarme quanto a ocorrência de interações medicamentosas por parte dos profissionais também. Além disso, após o processamento também espera-se conscientizar os profissionais quanto aos riscos passíveis das interações e propor meios de checagem e manejo das mesmas para que se consiga prevenir a ocorrência de casos

Responses to the 2017 ‘1 Million Gray Question’: ASTRO membership’s opinions on the most important research question facing radiation oncology

At the American Society for Radiation Oncology's (ASTRO's) 2017 annual meeting in San Diego, CA, attendees were asked, “What is the most important research question that needs to be answered in the next 3 to 5 years?” This request was meant to start a dialogue, promote thoughtful discussion within our professional community, and help inform topics for ASTRO workshops and focus meetings. Nearly 100 people responded while in attendance at the meeting, with questions that ranged from “How can we remove barriers so low- and middle-income countries can have radiation oncology facilities?” to “What is the exact role of radiation in stage IV disease in combination with immunotherapy or targeted agents to combat resistance development?” to “How can personalized care be better integrated into the oncology and radiation oncology clinical space?