Development and evaluation of a high-fidelity simulator training program for snowplow operators

Journal ArticleThe safe operation of a snowplow requires a high level of expertise. Drivers often operate in very stressful situations, maneuvering 30 tons of equipment in tight quarters in blizzard conditions. Drivers often work long shifts, negotiate their vehicle in heavy traffic, on slippery roads with very limited visibility. For safe and efficient snow removal in urban settings, drivers often plow in a tight tandem formation and communicate heavily between vehicles

The Human Factors of Algorithms and Sensor Design

Human-operated systems often suffer from designers’ limited consideration of user capacities and how they impact system performance. In many instances, technological capabilities and constraints drive design decisions. There is often a sense that if it can be done technologically, it will be done. However, this approach can prove to be an unwise appropriation of funds, time, and other resources. Justification should not simply rest on satiating a technology craving

Negative priming and stimulus repetition: a reply to Neill and Joordens

Journal ArticleNegative priming is reliably obtained with repeated items, but not with novel items. Here, we review why these stimulus repetition effects raise problems for memory based theories of negative priming. Furthermore, we provide empirical evidence casting doubt on Neill and Joordens's (2002) claimthat perceptual facilitation masks the effects of episodic retrieval with novel items. Finally, we discuss several theoretical and methodological issues raised in the reply by Neill and Joordens. We conclude that a more straightforward interpretation of these stimulus repetition effects is one based on activation-sensitive inhibition

Part task and variable priority training in first-year anesthesia resident education: a combined didactic and simulation-based approach to improve management of adverse airway and respiratory events

Journal ArticleBackground: Part task training (PTT) focuses on dividing complex tasks into components followed by intensive concentrated training on individual components. Variable priority training (VPT) focuses on optimal distribution of attention when performing multiple tasks simultaneously with the goal of flexible allocation of attention. This study explored how principles of PTT and VPT adapted to anesthesia training would improve first-year anesthesiology residents' management of simulated adverse airway and respiratory events. The authors hypothesized that participants with PTT and VPT would perform better than those with standard training

Does the shoe fit? Applying lessons learned in aviation to healthcare

pre-printAviation's successful use of Decision Support Systems (DSS) has not been replicated in the healthcare subset of DSS referenced as Clinical Decision Support (CDS). Here the domains of healthcare and aviation are compared and contrasted providing an overview of the adaptation of lessons learned in aviation to healthcare. We propose there are differences in characteristics inherent to the contexts of aviation and healthcare that affect the data necessary for efficient, effective CDS systems. Specifically, ten context characteristics are discussed that jointly and separately affect the availability, quantity, quality and temporal relevance of the data. By providing remedies for overcoming deficiencies and supporting accurate representation of the data perhaps then CDS systems will meet their potential for improved adoption, user satisfaction and patient outcomes

On the Fast Lane to Road Rage

Aggressive driving and road rage are increasing. The factors that trigger road rage are not well understood. The first goal of this study was to identify conditions likely to lead to aggressive driving/road rage. The second goal was to develop a paradigm that allows for the controlled study of road rage in the laboratory setting. A total of forty-five drivers participated in the study. Twenty-three drivers received non-contingent instructions that emphasized safely driving to a rest stop. The remaining drivers received contingent instructions that added a $10 monetary incentive if they arrived at the rest stop in the top 50% of all drivers. Participants drove in two scenarios (regular / irregular flow) in a high fidelity driving simulator. We recorded cardiovascular reactivity while driving, and measured driving-related anger after completing each scenario. Overall, the driving task evoked minimal changes in blood pressure. However, an incentive by gender interaction for systolic blood pressure (SBP) reactivity indicated that males in the contingent incentive condition displayed greater SBP responses than males in the noncontingent incentive condition or females in the contingent incentive condition. Contingent versus non-contingent incentives had no effect on females’ SBP response. We found no effect of incentive or traffic flow on anger, though analysis on an individual level indicated that some subjects were affected by the manipulation of driving condition. The present findings provide psychophysiological evidence that driving under time pressure and in irregular traffic flow may contribute to the genesis of road rage

Simulator Training Improves Driver Efficiency: Transfer from the Simulator to the Real World

Here we report the results of a fuel management simulation study to quantify the improvement in fuel efficiency for CDL truck drivers. Forty drivers were selected from a local commercial trucking company that maintained precise records on drivers’ history, fuel efficiency, type of vehicles driven, and trucking routes. These drivers participated in a two-hour training program that focused on ways to optimize shifting to maximize fuel efficiency (e.g., progressive shifting, double clutching, timing, and appropriate gear selection). Transfer of training was assessed over a six-month interval using measures of fuel consumption obtained by drivers in their own vehicles driving their normal route. Training increased fuel efficiency by an average of 2.8% over the six-month interval. Analyses indicated that the benefits of training persisted throughout the posttraining interval. These training benefits were obtained even for the subset of drivers who changed vehicles after training, indicating that drivers learned a general skill that transferred from one vehicle to another. Additional analyses focused on which drivers benefited the most from training. We sorted the drivers into one of four groups, based on pre-training fuel efficiency. Our analysis indicated that those drivers with the lowest pre-training fuel efficiency benefited most from training (with over 7% improvement in fuel efficiency), while those with the highest pre-training fuel efficiency did not benefit significantly from training. Together, our data validated the transfer of simulator training to realworld driving, as drivers incorporated the methods of optimal shifting into their driving practices. Moreover, the benefits of training appear to be durable and tend to benefit most those drivers whose performance was initially below the median on fuel efficienc

Simulator Training Improves Driver Efficiency: Transfer from the Simulator to the Real World

Here we report the results of a fuel management simulation study to quantify the improvement in fuel efficiency for CDL truck drivers. Forty drivers were selected from a local commercial trucking company that maintained precise records on drivers’ history, fuel efficiency, type of vehicles driven, and trucking routes. These drivers participated in a two-hour training program that focused on ways to optimize shifting to maximize fuel efficiency (e.g., progressive shifting, double clutching, timing, and appropriate gear selection). Transfer of training was assessed over a six-month interval using measures of fuel consumption obtained by drivers in their own vehicles driving their normal route. Training increased fuel efficiency by an average of 2.8% over the six-month interval. Analyses indicated that the benefits of training persisted throughout the posttraining interval. These training benefits were obtained even for the subset of drivers who changed vehicles after training, indicating that drivers learned a general skill that transferred from one vehicle to another. Additional analyses focused on which drivers benefited the most from training. We sorted the drivers into one of four groups, based on pre-training fuel efficiency. Our analysis indicated that those drivers with the lowest pre-training fuel efficiency benefited most from training (with over 7% improvement in fuel efficiency), while those with the highest pre-training fuel efficiency did not benefit significantly from training. Together, our data validated the transfer of simulator training to realworld driving, as drivers incorporated the methods of optimal shifting into their driving practices. Moreover, the benefits of training appear to be durable and tend to benefit most those drivers whose performance was initially below the median on fuel efficienc

The Long Gestation of the Small Naked Mole-Rat (Heterocephalus glaber RÜPPELL, 1842) Studied with Ultrasound Biomicroscopy and 3D-Ultrasonography

The naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) is one of the two known mammalian species that live in a eusocial population structure. Here we investigate the exceptionally long gestation period of 70 days observed in the mole-rat queen. The course of seven successful pregnancies in two individuals was recorded in a colony of captive naked mole-rats using ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) and 3D-ultrasonography. We establish a catalogue of basic reference ultrasound data for this species by describing the ultrasonographic appearance of reproductive organs, calculating growth curves to predict gestational age and defining ultrasonographic milestones to characterize pregnancy stages. Mean litter size was 10.9±2.7, of which 7.2±1.5 survived the weaning period. Mean interbirth interval was 128.8±63.0 days. The reproductive success in our colony did not differ from previously published data. In the queen the active corpora lutea had an anechoic, fluid filled centre. Using UBM, pregnancy could be detected 53 days before parturition. The period of embryonic development is assumed to last until 30 days before parturition. Embryonic resorptions were detected frequently in the queen, indicating that this might be an ordinary event in this species. We discuss the extraordinary long gestation period of this small rodent and postulate that the long gestation is beneficial to both the eusocial structure and longevity. An increased litter size, twice as large as for other rodents of similar size, seemingly compensates for the doubling of pregnancy length. We demonstrate that the lifetime reproductive effort of a naked mole-rat queen is equivalent to the mass of offspring that would be produced if all of the females of a colony would be reproducing