EEG Pattern Analysis for Physiological Indicators of Mental Fatigue in Simulated Air Traffic Control Tasks

Objective: This study was designed to identify potential neurophysiologic markers and patterns of mental fatigue among air traffic controllers in their work environment.Background: The monitoring of mental fatigue in air traffic controllers has been of interest as their tasks involve high cognitive workload and are also critical to the safety of the public.Method: High-density electroencephalogram (EEG) was used to record 2-hour long air traffic control studies in eleven participants. Participants were asked to perform realistic tasks in a simulation, to operate a virtual air traffic control system. Fourier Transforms were used to estimate EEG power spectrum, statistical tests were implemented to reveal EEG spatial pattern changes caused by the time-on-task. The concept of mental state transition was introduced to study the development of certain mental states which are related to the mental fatigue. Results: The observation of EEG spectral data over a period of time revealed statistically significant changes spatially localized to central and parietal cortices. Rhythmic EEG activity within theta, alpha, and beta bands indicates transitions among mental states, which appear to be promising indicators for the development of mental fatigue. Mental fatigue indicated by the transition of mental states was estimated to approximately 70 minutes after the time on task. Application: This study can build the foundation to develop promising technologies for real time monitoring of mental fatigue, which will increase public safety and proper human resource planning.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

ICA-Derived EEG Correlates to Mental Fatigue, Effort, and Workload in a Realistically Simulated Air Traffic Control Task

Electroencephalograph (EEG) has been increasingly studied to identify distinct mental factors when persons perform cognitively demanding tasks. However, most of these studies examined EEG correlates at channel domain, which suffers the limitation that EEG signals are the mixture of multiple underlying neuronal sources due to the volume conduction effect. Moreover, few studies have been conducted in real-world tasks. To precisely probe EEG correlates with specific neural substrates to mental factors in real-world tasks, the present study examined EEG correlates to three mental factors, i.e., mental fatigue [also known as time-on-task (TOT) effect], workload and effort, in EEG component signals, which were obtained using an independent component analysis (ICA) on high-density EEG data. EEG data were recorded when subjects performed a realistically simulated air traffic control (ATC) task for 2 h. Five EEG independent component (IC) signals that were associated with specific neural substrates (i.e., the frontal, central medial, motor, parietal, occipital areas) were identified. Their spectral powers at their corresponding dominant bands, i.e., the theta power of the frontal IC and the alpha power of the other four ICs, were detected to be correlated to mental workload and effort levels, measured by behavioral metrics. Meanwhile, a linear regression analysis indicated that spectral powers at five ICs significantly increased with TOT. These findings indicated that different levels of mental factors can be sensitively reflected in EEG signals associated with various brain functions, including visual perception, cognitive processing, and motor outputs, in real-world tasks. These results can potentially aid in the development of efficient operational interfaces to ensure productivity and safety in ATC and beyond

Catalytic soot oxidation activity of Cr-doped ceria (Ce1-xCrxO2-δ) synthesized by sol-gel method with organic additives

Cr-doped ceria catalysts (Ce1-xCrxO2-δ: x = 0.05 to 0.25) were prepared by sol-gel synthesis using glucose and fructose as organic additives. The structural and morphological properties were investigated by XRD, BET surface area, Raman and SEM analysis. Catalytic soot oxidation activity of the samples was analyzed by thermogravimetric analysis. XRD results established the evidence for the formation of Ce1-xCrxO2-δ solid solutions and Cr2O3 formation had taken place when the dopant level is x ≥ 0.15. Pure ceria possessed higher surface area when compared to Cr-doped samples due to agglomeration as evidenced by SEM analysis. Raman analysis proved the formation of fluorite phase and also oxygen vacancies. Among the synthesized catalysts pure and Cr-doped exhibited superior catalytic activities when compared to uncatalysed soot. These materials can be used for fabricating effective DPF regeneration systems which require lesser energy consumption. Keywords: Ce1-xCrxO2-δ, Oxygen vacancies, Soot oxidatio

SGLT1 inhibition boon or bane for diabetes-associated cardiomyopathy

Chronic hyperglycaemia is a peculiar feature of diabetes mellitus (DM). Sequential metabolic abnormalities accompanying glucotoxicity are some of its implications. Glucotoxicity most likely corresponds to the vascular intricacy and metabolic alterations, such as increased oxidation of free fatty acids and reduced glucose oxidation. More than half of those with diabetes also develop cardiac abnormalities due to unknown causes, posing a major threat to the currently available marketed preparations which are being used for treating these cardiac complications. Even though impairment in cardiac functioning is the principal cause of death in individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D), reducing plasma glucose levels has little effect on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. In vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that inhibitors of sodium glucose transporter (SGLT) represent a putative therapeutic intervention for these pathological conditions. Several clinical trials have reported the efficacy of SGLT inhibitors as a novel and potent antidiabetic agent which along with its antihyperglycaemic activity possesses the potential of effectively treating its associated cardiac abnormalities. Thus, hereby, the present review highlights the role of SGLT inhibitors as a successful drug candidate for correcting the shifts in deregulation of cardiac energy substrate metabolism together with its role in treating diabetes‐related cardiac perturbations

SGLT1 inhibition boon or bane for diabetes-associated cardiomyopathy

Chronic hyperglycaemia is a peculiar feature of diabetes mellitus (DM). Sequential metabolic abnormalities accompanying glucotoxicity are some of its implications. Glucotoxicity most likely corresponds to the vascular intricacy and metabolic alterations, such as increased oxidation of free fatty acids and reduced glucose oxidation. More than half of those with diabetes also develop cardiac abnormalities due to unknown causes, posing a major threat to the currently available marketed preparations which are being used for treating these cardiac complications. Even though impairment in cardiac functioning is the principal cause of death in individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D), reducing plasma glucose levels has little effect on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. In vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that inhibitors of sodium glucose transporter (SGLT) represent a putative therapeutic intervention for these pathological conditions. Several clinical trials have reported the efficacy of SGLT inhibitors as a novel and potent antidiabetic agent which along with its antihyperglycaemic activity possesses the potential of effectively treating its associated cardiac abnormalities. Thus, hereby, the present review highlights the role of SGLT inhibitors as a successful drug candidate for correcting the shifts in deregulation of cardiac energy substrate metabolism together with its role in treating diabetes‐related cardiac perturbations

Knowledge, awareness, and behavior study on HIV/AIDS among engineering students in and around Guntur, South India

Background: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is one of the important contagion issues in the world. It poses serious challenges not only to health professionals but professionals across industries. In India, in general, studies on HIV are carried out among medical and paramedical students and least among non- medical students, whose awareness is of prime importance. Aim: This study was designed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and behavior regarding HIV/AIDS among engineering students in and around Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 400 engineering college students in and around Guntur. A self-administered questionnaire was given and the results were tabulated and analyzed. Statistical Analysis Used: The data was entered in excel sheet and analyzed using SPSS v. 20.0 software. Data was analyzed using student's t-test and Chi-square test. Results: Out of 400 students, 257 (64.2%) were males and 143 (35.7%) were females. Maximum students (97.2%) indicated they know about HIV/AIDS. Eighty-nine percent (89.7%) of the students responded that needle prick injury can transmit HIV infection, whereas 82.5% of the responders knew that HIV/AIDS affects immune systems. A total of 66.5% of individuals agreed that there is no cure for HIV/AIDS and 72.0% of individuals responded that HIV/AIDS cannot be transmitted through saliva and 20.5% of the students felt that it is necessary to isolate the infected individuals from general public. Conclusions: In addition to medical and para medical students, it is very important for the youth to be aware of HIV/AIDS and its social implications