Honeywell Enhancing Airplane State Awareness (EASA) Project: Final Report on Refinement and Evaluation of Candidate Solutions for Airplane System State Awareness

The loss of pilot airplane state awareness (ASA) has been implicated as a factor in several aviation accidents identified by the Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST). These accidents were investigated to identify precursors to the loss of ASA and develop technologies to address the loss of ASA. Based on a gap analysis, two technologies were prototyped and assessed with a formative pilot-in-the-loop evaluation in NASA Langleys full-motion Research Flight Deck. The technologies address: 1) data source anomaly detection in real-time, and 2) intelligent monitoring aids to provide nominal and predictive awareness of situations to be monitored and a mission timeline to visualize events of interest. The evaluation results indicated favorable impressions of both technologies for mitigating the loss of ASA in terms of operational utility, workload, acceptability, complexity, and usability. The team concludes that there is a feasible retrofit solution for improving ASA that would minimize certification risk, integration costs, and training impact

The independence and interdependence of coacting observers in regard to performance efficiency, workload, and stress in a vigilance task

Objective We investigated performance, workload, and stress in groups of paired observers who performed a vigilance task in a coactive (independent) manner. Background Previous studies have demonstrated that groups of coactive observers detect more signals in a vigilance task than observers working alone. Therefore, the use of such groups might be effective in enhancing signal detection in operational situations. However, concern over appearing less competent than one's cohort might induce elevated levels of workload and stress in coactive group members and thereby undermine group performance benefits. Accordingly, we performed the initial experiment comparing workload and stress in observers who performed a vigilance task coactively with those of observers who performed the vigilance task alone. Method Observers monitored a video display for collision flight paths in a simulated unmanned aerial vehicle control task. Self-reports of workload and stress were secured via the NASA-Task Load Index and the Dundee Stress State Questionnaire, respectively. Results Groups of coactive observers detected significantly more signals than did single observers. Coacting observers did not differ significantly from those operating by themselves in terms of workload but did in regard to stress; posttask distress was significantly lower for coacting than for single observers. Conclusion Performing a visual vigilance task in a coactive manner with another observer does not elevate workload above that of observers working alone and serves to attenuate the stress associated with vigilance task performance. Application The use of coacting observers could be an effective vehicle for enhancing performance efficiency in operational vigilance

PET Imaging of Soluble Yttrium-86-Labeled Carbon Nanotubes in Mice

The potential medical applications of nanomaterials are shaping the landscape of the nanobiotechnology field and driving it forward. A key factor in determining the suitability of these nanomaterials must be how they interface with biological systems. Single walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) are being investigated as platforms for the delivery of biological, radiological, and chemical payloads to target tissues. CNT are mechanically robust graphene cylinders comprised of sp(2)-bonded carbon atoms and possessing highly regular structures with defined periodicity. CNT exhibit unique mechanochemical properties that can be exploited for the development of novel drug delivery platforms. In order to evaluate the potential usefulness of this CNT scaffold, we undertook an imaging study to determine the tissue biodistribution and pharmacokinetics of prototypical DOTA-functionalized CNT labeled with yttrium-86 and indium-111 ((86)Y-CNT and (111)In-CNT, respectively) in a mouse model.The (86)Y-CNT construct was synthesized from amine-functionalized, water-soluble CNT by covalently attaching multiple copies of DOTA chelates and then radiolabeling with the positron-emitting metal-ion, yttrium-86. A gamma-emitting (111)In-CNT construct was similarly prepared and purified. The constructs were characterized spectroscopically, microscopically, and chromatographically. The whole-body distribution and clearance of yttrium-86 was characterized at 3 and 24 hours post-injection using positron emission tomography (PET). The yttrium-86 cleared the blood within 3 hours and distributed predominantly to the kidneys, liver, spleen and bone. Although the activity that accumulated in the kidney cleared with time, the whole-body clearance was slow. Differential uptake in these target tissues was observed following intravenous or intraperitoneal injection.The whole-body PET images indicated that the major sites of accumulation of activity resulting from the administration of (86)Y-CNT were the kidney, liver, spleen, and to a much less extent the bone. Blood clearance was rapid and could be beneficial in the use of short-lived radionuclides in diagnostic applications

Survival and major neurodevelopmental impairment in extremely low gestational age newborns born 1990–2000: a retrospective cohort study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It is important to determine if rates of survival and major neurodevelopmental impairment in extremely low gestational age newborns (ELGANs; infants born at 23–27 weeks gestation) are changing over time.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Study infants were born at 23 to 27 weeks of gestation without congenital anomalies at a tertiary medical center between July 1, 1990 and June 30, 2000, to mothers residing in a thirteen-county region in North Carolina. Outcomes at one year adjusted age were compared for two epochs of birth: epoch 1, July 1, 1990 to June 30, 1995; epoch 2, July 1, 1995 to June 30, 2000. Major neurodevelopmental impairment was defined as cerebral palsy, Bayley Scales of Infant Development Mental Developmental Index more than two standard deviations below the mean, or blindness.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Survival of ELGANs, as a percentage of live births, was 67% [95% confidence interval: (61, 72)] in epoch 1 and 71% (65, 75) in epoch 2. Major neurodevelopmental impairment was present in 20% (15, 27) of survivors in epoch 1 and 14% (10, 20) in epoch 2. When adjusted for gestational age, survival increased [odds ratio 1.5 (1.0, 2.2), p = .03] and major neurodevelopmental impairment decreased [odds ratio 0.54 (0.31, 0.93), p = .02] from epoch 1 to epoch 2.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The probability of survival increased while that of major neurodevelopmental impairment decreased during the 1990's in this regionally based sample of ELGANs.</p

Changes in Debt Patterns and Financial Structure of Farm Businesses: A Double Hurdle Approach

This paper uses a double hurdle model to help explain one aspect of the changing capital structure of U.S. production agriculture--the increase in the number of debt free farms. Our findings suggest that nonfinancial factors, such as operator age, region, risk aversion, and financial factors such as debt service ability and the cost of capital play significant roles in distinguishing borrowers from non borrowers

Changes in Debt Patterns and Financial Structure of Farm Businesses: A Double Hurdle Approach

This paper uses a double hurdle model to help explain one aspect of the changing capital structure of U.S. production agriculture--the increase in the number of debt free farms. Our findings suggest that nonfinancial factors, such as operator age, region, risk aversion, and financial factors such as debt service ability and the cost of capital play significant roles in distinguishing borrowers from non borrowers.farm debt, farm credit, double-hurdle model, farm businesses, Agricultural Finance,

The SART Task Does Not Promote Mindlessness in Vigilance Performance

Vigilance tasks typically require observers to respond to critical signals on their monitored displays and withhold responding to neutral events. The Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) features the opposite response requirements which supposedly lead it to promote a mindless, non-thoughtful approach to the vigilance task that lacks attentional focus. To test that possibility, this study compared the SART to the standard vigilance task in terms of perceived mental workload – indexed by the Multiple Resource Questionnaire (MRQ) – and eye tracking activity – reflected via the Nearest Neighbor Index (NNI) – in the performance of a simulated air-traffic control assignment. Observers with both types of tasks identified a subset of identical MRQ dimensions as being highly involved in their monitoring assignment. The NNI scores indicated that observers with both types of tasks experienced higher workload than controls who viewed the display without a work imperative. Evidently, the SART does not promote mindlessness in vigilance performance

The Sustained Attention To Response Task (Sart) Does Not Promote Mindlessness During Vigilance Performance

Objective: In this study, we evaluated the validity of the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) as a means for promoting mindlessness in vigilance performance

Effects of Event Rate on Cerebral Blood Flow Velocity During Vigilance Performance

Transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD) was used to assess the effects of event rate on cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV). Fast (30 events/minute) and slow (5 events/minute) event rates were employed in a 40-minute vigilance task that simulated the control of remotely piloted aircraft. As is typical in vigilance tasks, signal detection declined over time but there was no performance difference in conjunction with the two event rate conditions. Nevertheless, CBFV was greater in the fast than in the slow event rate condition and declined significantly with time on task. These outcomes support previous findings of a close tie between CBFV and the vigilance decrement and suggest the possibility that in regard to event rate, CBFV is a more sensitive index of task demand than performance itself

Transfer of training and the role of mental workload in expert performance

There is a need to understand how to maximize skill development when training operators to undertake vital operational assignments (e.g., flying aircraft). At present, there is much debate in the training community over how to best train these operators and achieve maximum skill transfer, such as whether training should focus on recreating the target task or whether there are benefits to training with subcomponents of the target task. Training with subcomponents can be simpler, cheaper, and therefore more accessible than training with a complex target task, and researchers have found performance gains when training with subcomponents (Ash & Holding, 1990; Gopher, Weil, & Bareket, 1994; Whaley & Fisk, 1993). Instead of utilizing subcomponents of a complex target task, the present study investigated the mental resources required to perform a target task - termed resource training. Given that there are established inventories for breaking down the demand a target task places on different resources, such as the Multiple Resources Questionnaire (Boles & Adair, 2001a, b), this is a logical endeavor. Participants alternated back and forth between a training task and a complex video game, Everyday Shooter, four times a day over two days. The training tasks were previously shown to heavily tax a specific resource, and participants either trained a task sharing many critical resources, or few critical resources, with the video game. In addition to assessing the feasibility of resource training, the present study also assessed the effect of providing metacognitive instructions and examined the role of expertise by including video game experts. Successful transfer was noted for those training the task that shared more critical resources with the target task, providing an instance of transfer via resource training. Superior performance may have been achieved via maintained critical workload, as the group that improved over days also maintained critical workload over days while noncritical workload declined. Importantly, this improvement was only noted when standard instructions were provided. The additional instructions, which pointed out both structural and resource-based similarities between the training task and the target task, Everyday Shooter, were found to be detrimental to performance. From a methodological standpoint, this suggests that participants do not need to be explicitly instructed why certain tasks are being trained in tandem. The alternating design required participants to alternate between the training task and target task, instead of massing together consecutive training sessions before performing the target task. The alternating design is apparently a powerful means of producing transfer, as it led to better performance on the target task and likely removed the need for additional instructions regarding task similarities. Also, recent investigations in our laboratory finding evidence of transfer have employed this alternating design (e.g., Boles & Penn, 2010), while studies have struggled to find consistent evidence of transfer when massing the training sessions together. This successful implementation of resource training with an alternating design suggests that a practical way to achieve skill transfer is to select a training task that shares resources with a complex target task, and alternate training between the two. Finally, expert video game players provided higher critical workload ratings than novices. Instead of narrowing down the resources necessary to perform the video game, experts sustained higher levels of critical workload over days. This could be a major factor in superior expert performance. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries