Cockpit data management

This study is a continuation of an FAA effort to alleviate the growing problems of assimilating and managing the flow of data and flight related information in the air transport flight deck. The nature and extent of known pilot interface problems arising from new NAS data management programs were determined by a comparative timeline analysis of crew tasking requirements. A baseline of crew tasking requirements was established for conventional and advanced flight decks operating in the current NAS environment and then compared to the requirements for operation in a future NAS environment emphasizing Mode-S data link and TCAS. Results showed that a CDU-based pilot interface for Mode-S data link substantially increased crew visual activity as compared to the baseline. It was concluded that alternative means of crew interface should be available during high visual workload phases of flight. Results for TCAS implementation showed substantial visual and motor tasking increases, and that there was little available time between crew tasks during a TCAS encounter. It was concluded that additional research should be undertaken to address issues of ATC coordination and the relative benefit of high workload TCAS features

Test and evaluation of a multifunction keyboard and a dedicated keyboard for control of a flight management computer

A flight management computer (FMC) control display unit (CDU) test was conducted to compare two types of input devices: a fixed legend (dedicated) keyboard and a programmable legend (multifunction) keyboard. The task used for comparison was operation of the flight management computer for the Boeing 737-300. The same tasks were performed by twelve pilots on the FMC control display unit configured with a programmable legend keyboard and with the currently used B737-300 dedicated keyboard. Flight simulator work activity levels and input task complexity were varied during each pilot session. Half of the points tested were previously familiar with the B737-300 dedicated keyboard CDU and half had no prior experience with it. The data collected included simulator flight parameters, keystroke time and sequences, and pilot questionnaire responses. A timeline analysis was also used for evaluation of the two keyboard concepts

Resource Partitioning Among Three Mesoconsumers at a Marsh Mangrove Ecotone: a Response to a Seasonal Resource Pulse Subsidy

Pulse subsidies account for a substantial proportion of resource availability in many systems, having persistent and cascading effects on consumer population dynamics, and the routing of energy within and across ecosystem boundaries. Although the importance of resource pulses is well-established, consumer responses and the extent of resource partitioning is not well understood. I identified a pulse of marsh cyprinodontoid, invertebrate, and sunfish prey, entering an estuary, which was met by an influx of both marsh and estuarine predators. In response to the pulse, consumers showed marked diet segregation. Bass consumed significantly more cyprinodontoids, bowfin consumed significantly more invertebrates, and snook almost exclusively targeted sunfishes. The diversity of the resource pulse subsidizes multiple consumers, routing pulsed production through various trophic pathways and across ecosystem boundaries. Preserving complex trophic linkages like those of the Everglades ecotone may be important to maintaining ecosystem function and the provisioning of services, such as recreational fisheries

Shift in recreational fishing catches as a function of an extreme cold event

There is an increasing recognition that the influence of extreme climate events (ECE) can be more significant in structuring ecosystem dynamics than the gradual effects of climate change. Still, our understanding of the effects of climate extremes on ecosystem services such as marine fisheries lags behind those of effects of gradual change. The significance of ECEs depends on the severity of the disturbance event and the resilience of a fish community. South Florida experienced an extreme cold spell in 2010 that provided the opportunity to study recreational fisheries resilience to ECEs. Our main goal was to examine how recreational fishing catch structures responded to the cold spell, and illustrate any spatial-specific recovery trajectory dynamics after extreme ecological responses. To address this, we implemented multivariate and nonlinear statistics on fishing guide reports for 20 recreational species. A significant shift in the catch structure occurred after the event, suggesting a high sensitivity of fish populations and fisheries in the region to ECEs. All fishing regions considered were affected, but the trajectory of the response and recovery varied across study areas. While some fish species experienced an expected decline (due to mortality), other species manifested an increase in catch. Of the main seven species considered in nonlinear models, three experienced a decline (bonefish, snook, goliath grouper), two experienced an increase (red drum, gray snapper), and the two had various weak trends (tarpon, spotted seatrout). Three years after the event, the catch structure has not returned to the original state, indicating a possible state shift, whose stability needs to be determined in future tracking of affected populations. Future work should also address the extent to which harvest may interfere with resilience to ECEs. Our work highlights the need to account for rare environmental forcing induced by ECEs to ensure the ecological and economical sustainability of key services such as recreational fisheries

Perioperative renal failure in pediatric heart transplant recipients: Outcome and risk factors

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90192/1/j.1399-3046.2010.01445.x.pd

Explaining Tory factionalism: why Johnson’s Conservative majority has proved more vulnerable than expected

In December 2019, Boris Johnson gained a majority of 80 Tory MPs apparently united behind a strong Brexit strategy, and coming after many liberal ‘remainers’ had been forced out of Conservative ranks. Yet expectations of a re-unified party enjoying electoral dominance have both faded quickly in the COVID-19 crisis, with a Labour fightback coinciding with strongly renewed Tory factionalism. Françoise Boucek cautions that the Conservatives’ internal tensions now pose a similar threat to Johnson as to his predecessors

Analytical technology aided optimization and scale-up of impinging jet mixer for reactive crystallization process

Reactive crystallization is widely used in the manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Since APIs often have low solubility, traditional stirred tank reactors and the route of process operation and control using metastable zone width are not effective. The current work investigated the integration of an impinging jet mixer and a stirred tank crystallizer that can take advantage of both the reaction and crystallization characteristics, the focus being on design optimization and scale-up using process analytical techniques based on the Fourier transform Infrared spectroscopy and Focused Beam Reflectance Measurement, as well as X-ray diffraction and particle imaging Morphologi G3. The parameters for process operation and design of the impinging jet mixer were optimized. The research was carried out with reference to the manufacture of an antibiotic, sodium cefuroxime, firstly in a 1L reactor, then a 10L reactor. The crystals produced showed higher crystallinity, narrower size distribution, higher stability and purity