Functional description of a command and control language tutor

The status of an ongoing project to explore the application of Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) technology to NASA command and control languages is described. The primary objective of the current phase of the project is to develop a user interface for an ITS to assist NASA control center personnel in learning Systems Test and Operations Language (STOL). Although this ITS will be developed for Gamma Ray Observatory operators, it will be designed with sufficient flexibility so that its modules may serve as an ITS for other control languages such as the User Interface Language (UIL). The focus of this phase is to develop at least one other form of STOL representation to complement the operational STOL interface. Such an alternative representation would be adaptively employed during the tutoring session to facilitate the learning process. This is a key feature of this ITS which distinguishes it from a simulator that is only capable of representing the operational environment

Near-Term Nextgen and Class 2 EFBS

This study is based on data collected at the Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) Advanced Software and Authorization Workshop for US operators currently involved in EFB software evaluation or implementation for their own fleets. With most US operators not taking delivery of new, larger aircraft in the next few years, they are considering ways of displaying near-term NextGen data on board existing aircraft through systems such as the EFB. The workshop collected operator near-term needs in the areas of EFB user interface and standardization and EFB advanced software applications. The analysis of the data collected during the workshop provided a prioritized list of operator needs over the next few years with an emphasis on runway safety and related NextGen systems. The study reports on those needs in the context of near-term NextGen systems and Class 2 EFBs

Creative extraction: Black towns in white space

This article interrogates the “anomalous” case of Black-founded towns, so-called because of their relative absence from discourse on Black place, their unique struggles for self-determined development, and their externally ascribed narratives of absent or dysfunctional governance, frequently invoked to explain their lack of access to basic infrastructure. We propose illuminating some of these so-called anomalies through Charles Mills’ “racial contract,” which we argue structures space at a deeper level than traditional legal arrangements and allows us to look relationally at Black towns in “white space.” We also rely on Cedric Robinson’s “racial capitalism” to demonstrate how white space develops through extraction of value from places racialized as nonwhite. Through the case of Tamina, Texas, we argue that Black towns specifically, and Black places more generally, experience racially predatory governance and resource extraction, often by nearby white places, under the guise of following mundane rules of legal jurisdiction, standard economic planning, and development. To illustrate this, we focus on three overlapping mechanisms of “creative extraction” that reinforce white spatial, political, and economic power at the expense of Black places: theft, erosion, and exclusion. These mechanisms are tied to the environmental harms inflicted on Black towns, as some of the existential threats they face

Analyzing AQP Data to Improve Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) Operations and Training

Key points include: Initiate data collection and analysis early in the implementation process. Use data to identify procedural and training refinements. Use a de-identified system to analyze longitudinal data. Use longitudinal I/E data to improve their standardization. Identify above average pilots and crews and use their performance to specify best practices. Analyze below average crew performance data to isolate problems with the training, evaluator standardization and pilot proficiency

Quantitative measurements and modeling of cargo–motor interactions during fast transport in the living axon

Author Posting. © IOP Publishing, 2012. This article is posted here by permission of IOP Publishing for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Physical Biology 9 (2012): 055005, doi:10.1088/1478-3975/9/5/055005.The kinesins have long been known to drive microtubule-based transport of sub-cellular components, yet the mechanisms of their attachment to cargo remain a mystery. Several different cargo-receptors have been proposed based on their in vitro binding affinities to kinesin-1. Only two of these—phosphatidyl inositol, a negatively charged lipid, and the carboxyl terminus of the amyloid precursor protein (APP-C), a trans-membrane protein—have been reported to mediate motility in living systems. A major question is how these many different cargo, receptors and motors interact to produce the complex choreography of vesicular transport within living cells. Here we describe an experimental assay that identifies cargo–motor receptors by their ability to recruit active motors and drive transport of exogenous cargo towards the synapse in living axons. Cargo is engineered by derivatizing the surface of polystyrene fluorescent nanospheres (100 nm diameter) with charged residues or with synthetic peptides derived from candidate motor receptor proteins, all designed to display a terminal COOH group. After injection into the squid giant axon, particle movements are imaged by laser-scanning confocal time-lapse microscopy. In this report we compare the motility of negatively charged beads with APP-C beads in the presence of glycine-conjugated non-motile beads using new strategies to measure bead movements. The ensuing quantitative analysis of time-lapse digital sequences reveals detailed information about bead movements: instantaneous and maximum velocities, run lengths, pause frequencies and pause durations. These measurements provide parameters for a mathematical model that predicts the spatiotemporal evolution of distribution of the two different types of bead cargo in the axon. The results reveal that negatively charged beads differ from APP-C beads in velocity and dispersion, and predict that at long time points APP-C will achieve greater progress towards the presynaptic terminal. The significance of this data and accompanying model pertains to the role transport plays in neuronal function, connectivity, and survival, and has implications in the pathogenesis of neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's, Huntington and Parkinson's diseases.This work was supported in part by NINDS RO1 NS046810 and RO1 NS062184 (ELB), NIGMS RO1 GM47368 (ELB), the Physical Sciences in Oncology Center grant U54CA143837 (VC), NIGMS K12GM088021 (JP), and NSF IGERT DGE-0549500 (PES). ELB and VC also received pilot project funds from the UNM Center for Spatiotemporal modeling, funded by NIGMS, P50GM08273, which also supported AC.2013-09-2

Optimizing EFB Use Through Training, Standards, and Best Practices

The Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) provides an integrated information management system that promises new capabilities and benefits to pilots, but information access and display differs substantially from traditional paper documents. Pilots must understand what information is available and where it is located, how data is accessed and entered, and how this system interacts with other aircraft systems. Operators must develop standards, best practices and training that will optimize the EFB capabilities and ensure safe and effective crew performance. This paper presents how key training and procedural enhancements as well as the identification of best practices can be identified during the EFB operational evaluation for incorporation into ongoing line operations

Human Factors Design of Electronic Documents

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), working with the Master Minimum Equipment List (MMEL) Industry Group, is developing a new MMEL electronic format. The MMEL refers to a series of documents controlled by the FAA that lists equipment that may be inoperative under certain conditions while still allowing the aircraft to be airworthy. Each aircraft model has an MMEL, and operators must work with that master document to determine the relief items for their specific aircraft. The resulting Minimum Equipment List (MEL) for an operator\u27s aircraft is used by both ground personnel and pilots to determine the procedures for maintaining airworthiness. Currently, the MMEL is available in text format, and the industry needs an electronic format that is more efficient and that will be compatible with key aspects of future data standards. Members of the MMEL Industry Group were surveyed to determine the main user needs and human factors considerations for the development and evaluation of the MMEL electronic format. This study identifies key operator needs that can direct the development of not only the new MMEL format but also the broader category of aviation electronic documents

Beyond Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) Approval: Improving Crew Performance

As operators evaluate and implement Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs), the emphasis has been on their operational approval and certification. This research provides data that demonstrate how an operator can aim beyond the limited objectives of the EFB approval process to improving crew performance. This paper reports on evaluation results that show how crews working with an EFB can not only equal, but can exceed the performance of those working with traditional paper documents