What Happened, and Why: Toward an Understanding of Human Error Based on Automated Analyses of Incident Reports

The objective of the Aviation System Monitoring and Modeling (ASMM) project of NASA s Aviation Safety and Security Program was to develop technologies that will enable proactive management of safety risk, which entails identifying the precursor events and conditions that foreshadow most accidents. This presents a particular challenge in the aviation system where people are key components and human error is frequently cited as a major contributing factor or cause of incidents and accidents. In the aviation "world", information about what happened can be extracted from quantitative data sources, but the experiential account of the incident reporter is the best available source of information about why an incident happened. This report describes a conceptual model and an approach to automated analyses of textual data sources for the subjective perspective of the reporter of the incident to aid in understanding why an incident occurred. It explores a first-generation process for routinely searching large databases of textual reports of aviation incident or accidents, and reliably analyzing them for causal factors of human behavior (the why of an incident). We have defined a generic structure of information that is postulated to be a sound basis for defining similarities between aviation incidents. Based on this structure, we have introduced the simplifying structure, which we call the Scenario as a pragmatic guide for identifying similarities of what happened based on the objective parameters that define the Context and the Outcome of a Scenario. We believe that it will be possible to design an automated analysis process guided by the structure of the Scenario that will aid aviation-safety experts to understand the systemic issues that are conducive to human error

What predicts change in pulmonary function and quality of life in asthma or COPD ?

Information about predictors of decline in pulmonary function (forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FE

Exclusion Performance in Dwarf Goats (Capra aegagrus hircus) and Sheep (Ovis orientalis aries)

Using a comparative approach, we investigated the ability of dwarf goats and sheep to use direct and indirect information about the location of a food reward in an object-choice task. Subjects had to choose between two cups with only one covering a reward. Before making a choice, subjects received information about the baited (direct information) or non-baited cup (indirect information). Both goats and sheep were able to use direct information (presence of food) in the object choice task. After controlling for local enhancement, we found that goats rather than sheep were able to use indirect information (i.e., the absence of food) to find a reward. The actual test setup could not clarify whether individual goats were able to inferentially reason about the content of the baited cup when only shown the content of the non-baited cup or if they simply avoided the empty cup in that situation. As browsing species, feral and wild goats exhibit highly selective feeding behaviour compared to the rather unselective grazing sheep. The potential influence of this species-specific foraging flexibility of goats and sheep for using direct and indirect information to find a food reward is discussed in relation to a higher aversion to losses in food acquisition in goats compared to sheep

Deep learning-based phenotyping reclassifies combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma.

Primary liver cancer arises either from hepatocytic or biliary lineage cells, giving rise to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICCA). Combined hepatocellular- cholangiocarcinomas (cHCC-CCA) exhibit equivocal or mixed features of both, causing diagnostic uncertainty and difficulty in determining proper management. Here, we perform a comprehensive deep learning-based phenotyping of multiple cohorts of patients. We show that deep learning can reproduce the diagnosis of HCC vs. CCA with a high performance. We analyze a series of 405 cHCC-CCA patients and demonstrate that the model can reclassify the tumors as HCC or ICCA, and that the predictions are consistent with clinical outcomes, genetic alterations and in situ spatial gene expression profiling. This type of approach could improve treatment decisions and ultimately clinical outcome for patients with rare and biphenotypic cancers such as cHCC-CCA

Burden of community-acquired and nosocomial rotavirus gastroenteritis in the pediatric population of Western Europe: a scoping review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Rotavirus affects 95% of children worldwide by age 5 years and is the leading cause of severe dehydrating diarrhea. The objective of this review was to estimate the burden of rotavirus gastroenteritis (RVGE) in the Western European pediatric population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A comprehensive literature search (1999-2010) was conducted in PubMed and other sources (CDC; WHO, others). Data on the epidemiology and burden of RVGE among children < 5 years-old in Western Europe --including hospital-acquired disease--were extracted.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>76 studies from 16 countries were identified. The mean percentage of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) cases caused by rotavirus ranged from 25.3%-63.5% in children < 5 years of age, peaking during winter. Incidence rates of RVGE ranged from 1.33-4.96 cases/100 person- years. Hospitalization rates for RVGE ranged from 7% to 81% among infected children, depending on the country. Nosocomial RVGE accounted for 47%-69% of all hospital-acquired AGE and prolonged hospital stays by 4-12 days. Each year, RVGE incurred $0.54-$53.6 million in direct medical costs and $1.7-$22.4 million in indirect costs in the 16 countries studied. Full serotyping data was available for 8 countries. G1P[8], G2P[4], G9P[8], and G3P[8] were the most prevalent serotypes (cumulative frequency: 57.2%- 98.7%). Serotype distribution in nosocomial RVGE was similar.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This review confirms that RVGE is a common disease associated with significant morbidity and costs across Western Europe. A vaccine protecting against multiple serotypes may decrease the epidemiological and cost burden of RVGE in Western Europe.</p

Genetic aspects of control of anaemia development in trypanotolerant N'Dama cattle

A study undertaken to evaluate the degree of genetic determination in the control of development of anaemia in N'Dama post-weaner cattle exposed to a medium natural trypanosome challenge during a short term test for trypanotolerance. The heritabilities of average pcv, lowest pcv reached, and growth on test, and the genetic correlation between the two pcv measures and growth, were estimated to indicate whether selection for control of development of anaemia could be a feasibile undertaking

Utilisation des mesures de bruit pour la détermination du photocourant primaire dans les photodiodes à avalanche N+Pπ P+ au silicium

L'utilisation d'un photodétecteur nécessite la connaissance de sa puissance équivalente de bruit qui est une fonction du facteur de multiplication des porteurs de charges. Dans une photodiode au Si du type N+PπP +, l'extension de la zone de charge d'espace et l'ionisation par impact des porteurs entraînent simultanément une augmentation du photocourant initial. L'objet de cet article est de dissocier les deux effets, le premier ayant pour conséquence l'augmentation du photocourant primaire qui sera alors multiplié pour donner le courant résultant. Les mesures de bruit de fond permettent d'atteindre le photocourant non multiplié. Les auteurs montrent dans le cas particulier de ces dispositifs que l'augmentation du photocourant primaire due à l'extension de la charge d'espace peut atteindre un facteur 2. (La non-connaissance de cette valeur entraînant naturellement d'importantes erreurs sur la détermination de la puissance équivalente de bruit de la photodiode en régime de fonctionnement)

Utilisation des mesures de bruit pour la détermination du photocourant primaire dans les photodiodes à avalanche N+Pπ P+ au silicium

The use of a photodetector requires a satisfactory knowledge about the noise equivalent power which is a function of the multiplication of the charge carriers. In a silicon diode of the type N+PπP+, the extension of the space charge and the impact ionisation together cause an increase in the initial photocurrent. It is the purpose of this paper to make a distinction between these two effects. The former increases the primary photocurrent whereas the latter multiplies it. Noise measurements are used to mark this transition. The authors show in particular that the increase of the primary photocurrent due to the extended space charge region can attain a factor of two (if this value is unknown, the errors in the determination of the noise equivalent power of the photodiode can be substantial).L'utilisation d'un photodétecteur nécessite la connaissance de sa puissance équivalente de bruit qui est une fonction du facteur de multiplication des porteurs de charges. Dans une photodiode au Si du type N+PπP +, l'extension de la zone de charge d'espace et l'ionisation par impact des porteurs entraînent simultanément une augmentation du photocourant initial. L'objet de cet article est de dissocier les deux effets, le premier ayant pour conséquence l'augmentation du photocourant primaire qui sera alors multiplié pour donner le courant résultant. Les mesures de bruit de fond permettent d'atteindre le photocourant non multiplié. Les auteurs montrent dans le cas particulier de ces dispositifs que l'augmentation du photocourant primaire due à l'extension de la charge d'espace peut atteindre un facteur 2. (La non-connaissance de cette valeur entraînant naturellement d'importantes erreurs sur la détermination de la puissance équivalente de bruit de la photodiode en régime de fonctionnement)