ARTS IIIA Terminal Baseline Research Report

This report provides baseline measurements on the Automated Radar Terminal System (ARTS) IIIA. Researchers developed a set of measurements useful for evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of terminal air traffic control automation systems. These measurements followed six high-level operational constructs: Safety, Capacity, Performance, Workload, Usability, and Simulation Fidelity. To collect these measurements for the ARTS IIIA, we conducted an air traffic control simulation using four sectors of Boston Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) airspace with a traffic volume representing a 90th percentile day. Twelve controllers from Boston TRACON served as participants in the 3-week study. Recordings from the Target Generation Facility and Continuous Data Recording (CDR) systems provided objective data for measures such as the average number of aircraft controlled and the average number of data entries. Questionnaires and expert observer rating forms provided subjective data for measures such as the average controller workload and controller performance. This report provides statistics at several levels of specificity: aggregated across all sectors and runway configurations, by individual sector and runway configuration, and by 15-min intervals. Data from the study are intended to provide a meaningful representation of the TRACON controller position. We provide guidance on using these baseline measurements to examine the effectiveness and efficiency of future terminal automation systems. This guidance includes recommendations for merging quantitative statistics with controller opinion. We also include recommendations regarding the appropriate and inappropriate use of these data

Effect of Free Flight Conditions on Controller Performance, Workload, and Situation Awareness

Free flight represents a major change in the way that aircraft are handled in the National Airspace System. It has the potential to significantly increase airspace utilization and, by doing so, improve aircraft throughput. The degree to which these objectives can be met without compromising aircraft safety will depend on appropriate changes in the air traffic control system. This study provides an evaluation of some of the potential effects of free flight on controllers\u2019 ability to maintain an accurate and complete picture of the traffic situation. This picture or mental representation is essential for monitoring and separation functions. The study revealed that, using current technology, some aspects of free flight may adversely influence the situation awareness and performance of controllers. The results provide information on some possible consequences of free flight that should be explored in future research

Transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells from young donors delays aging in mice

Increasing evidence suggests that the loss of functional stem cells may be important in the aging process. Our experiments were originally aimed at testing the idea that, in the specific case of age-related osteoporosis, declining function of osteogenic precursor cells might be at least partially responsible. To test this, aging female mice were transplanted with mesenchymal stem cells from aged or young male donors. We find that transplantation of young mesenchymal stem cells significantly slows the loss of bone density and, surprisingly, prolongs the life span of old mice. These observations lend further support to the idea that age-related diminution of stem cell number or function may play a critical role in age-related loss of bone density in aging animals and may be one determinant of overall longevity

Application of Research Techniques for Documenting Cognitive Processes in Air Traffic Control: Sector Complexity and Decision Making

Air traffic controller decision making is a key contributor to safety in the National Airspace System (NAS). Little systematic attention has been paid. however, to investigating the parameters of controller decision making or the factors that affect decision making in the air traffic control (ATC) environment Because controller decision making takes place within the context of controlled airspace, it is necessary to understand the elements of that context as potential influences on decision-making outcomes. Previous research was conducted on sector complexity in the Great Lakes Region. The research documented in this report was designed to further investigate the elements of en route sector complexity in the Southeast Region and to examine the effects of those elements on controller decision making. Nineteen candidate factors were generated through the use of direct and indirect methods. Of these 19 factors, 11 had significant product-moment correlations, with overall ratings of sector complexity. The results suggested that the use of indirect approaches for knowledge elicitation did not prove to have any distinct advantage in terms of information yield over directly asking controllers for candidate complexity factors