Relationship between operator situation awareness and physiological states during complex and critical offshore well control scenarios

PresentationIncident reviews of oil spill events (both large and small) suggest that human error, or more appropriately “systems error”, is a contributor to 50% of well control incidents (primarily kicks). The purpose of this study was to examine operator situation awareness (SA) and associated physiological load, using heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV), during simulated offshore well control scenarios that differed in their complexity and criticality levels. Ten trained participants completed four scenarios (simple non-failure, simple failure, complex non-failure, and complex-failure) in an experimental session, lasting ~6 hours. Measures were obtained for each scenario, including speed and accuracy of the task performance, composite scores obtained from the Situational Awareness Rating Technique (SART), and operator heart rate and HRV measures. Greater errors were found in kick-related failure events, and complex scenarios were associated with longer reaction times. Participants perceived lower SA levels during complex scenarios, and a trend was observed for lowest SA during complex failure scenarios. Finally, physiological responses did not differ for any of the four scenarios, however, a trend of increasing physiological ‘load” was observed with more complex and critical scenarios. High variability in participant covert and overt responses may increase the challenges associated with classifying high-risk well control scenarios. It is critical that scenario planners understand and recognize the variability in driller situation awareness and associated physiological load such scenario planners can then begin to start planning for alternative future scenarios

The Interaction of Phylogeny and Community Structure: Linking the Community Composition and Trait Evolution of Clades

Aim Community phylogenetic studies use information about the evolutionary relationships of species to understand the ecological processes of community assembly. A central premise of the field is that the evolution of species maps onto ecological patterns, and phylogeny reveals something more than species traits alone about the ecological mechanisms structuring communities, such as environmental filtering, competition, and facilitation. We argue, therefore, that there is a need for better understanding and modelling of the interaction of phylogeny with species traits and community composition. Innovation We outline a new approach that identifies clades that are ecophylogenetically clustered or overdispersed and assesses whether those clades have different rates of trait evolution. Ecophylogenetic theory would predict that the traits of clustered or overdispersed clades might have evolved differently, in terms of either tempo (fast or slow) or mode (e.g., under constraint or neutrally). We suggest that modelling the evolution of independent trait data in these clades represents a strong test of whether there is an association between the ecological co‐occurrence patterns of a species and its evolutionary history. Main conclusions Using an empirical dataset of mammals from around the world, we identify two clades of rodents whose species tend not to co‐occur in the same local assemblages (are phylogenetically overdispersed) and find independent evidence of slower rates of body mass evolution in these clades. Our approach, which assumes nothing about the mode of species trait evolution but instead seeks to explain it using ecological information, presents a new way to examine ecophylogenetic structure

Entanglement of a Pair of Quantum Bits

The ``entanglement of formation'' of a mixed state of a bipartite quantum system can be defined in terms of the number of pure singlets needed to create the state with no further transfer of quantum information. We find an exact formula for the entanglement of formation for all mixed states of two qubits having no more than two non-zero eigenvalues, and we report evidence suggesting that the formula is valid for all states of this system.Comment: 10 page

Development of an Effective Procedure Writer’s Guide using a Human Factors and Regulatory Compliance Approach

PresentationWell-written procedures are an integral part of any industrial organization for safe operation, managing risks, and continuous improvement. Regulatory bodies around the world require industries to have current, accurate, and appropriate procedures for most processes. Although the importance of procedures is recognized by all industries in general, significant incidents have occurred in the past due to procedural breakdowns. Some of the procedural breakdowns come from obvious problems such as the procedure not being available or the procedure being wrong. However, some incidents have occurred when correct procedures were available and the operator used those procedures. In these instances, the reason why operators do not follow procedures correctly may be attributable to many factors, one of them being that the procedure is presented or designed in a manner that does not sufficiently communicate to the operators the information that is needed in a manner that is easily and quickly understood. The work presented here is focused on the latter circumstance and is part of a program of research that will ultimately lead to the development of a writer’s guide for procedures that supports operators’ comprehension and compliance with all types of industrial procedures. The writer’s guide is based on empirical findings from human factors and human performance studies and provides writers with information on how to present procedures in a manner that is clear, thorough, and (if necessary) implementable with short notice. For the first phase of the project, a sample of the regulations and standards from several industries were used to identify procedure writing practices necessary for ensure regulatory compliance. Regulations and industrial standards from around the world were organized to reflect common ideas and the implications in terms of human factors needs were identified with regard to procedure design. Any human factors (HF) that had implications for the writer’s guide that had empirical support, were included in the writer’s guide (with the reference) with an explanation of the HF implication and empirical support. The writer’s guide developed is structured to allow procedure writers access to guidance on various types of procedures they are writing, the type of information they are trying to communicate, and methods for maintaining accurate and current procedures. As mentioned, the current project is the beginning of a program of research and then next phase will include feedback from operators regarding the challenges they face when using procedures

Perspectiva da reabilitação cardíaca em indivíduos submetidos a angioplastia

Introdução: As doenças cardiovasculares são as principais causas de mortalidade no mundo. As cirurgias cardíacas são amplamente utilizadas como tratamento, porém por ser um procedimento invasivo gera alterações físicas e psicológicas significativas, suscitando em investigações sobre métodos preventivos para minimizar o número de procedimentos cirúrgicos cardíacos. A angioplastia transluminal coronariana surge como um principal remediador de cirurgias cardíacas. Após intervenção minimamente invasiva, torna-se relevante abordagem fisioterapêutica que propicia otimizar condicionamento cardiovascular promovendo melhora da capacidade funcional e uma interessante otimização do aspecto morfológico cardíaco, trazendo consequente melhora a qualidade de vida dos indivíduos. Método: Foi realizada uma revisão bibliográfica de artigos científicos indexados nas bases de dados Pubmed, Scielo, PEdro, Cochrane e Medline. Resultados: Houve destaque na comparação da AIT com métodos invasivos e na eficácia da reabilitação cardíaca para promoção da saúde, melhora das variáveis fisiológica pós-intervenções, na morfologia cardíaca e da fração de ejeção do VE (preditor de mortalidade cardíaca). Discussão: A angioplastia coronariana é um procedimento minimamente invasivo, que promove menos prejuízos aos indivíduos. Contudo, a sua crescente utilização faz com que seja necessária a identificação precoce para que o tratamento seja mais eficiente nesse grupo de indivíduos. Os protocolos de reabilitação cardíaca apresentaram resultados significativos culminando de forma positiva na qualidade de vida, gerando menores índices de mortalidade e melhor qualidade de vida pós-intervenção quando comparado a cirurgia convencional. Conclusão: A angioplastia comprovou-se eficaz quando comparado às cirurgias cardíacas, promoveu uma recuperação mais rápida e reduziu os prejuízos inerentes à procedimentos invasivos. A reabilitação cardíaca nestes casos comprovou-se segura e eficaz, logo, destacando também a relevância da fisioterapia nos indivíduos angioplastados

Efeitos da mobilização precoce no pós-operatório de transplante cardíaco

Introdução: Tendo em vista que a insuficiência cardíaca (I.C.) grave ou sem sucesso no tratamento é uma das maiores indicações do transplante cardíaco, no entanto, também existem potenciais contraindicações.  O primeiro transplante cardíaco foi realizado em 1967, sem resultados satisfatórios e alta taxa de mortalidade, porém, em 1980 foi descoberta a Ciclosporina, inaugurando a era da imunossupressão. Dessa forma, com avanços em aprimoramentos, imunossupressão e tecnologia, a expectativa de vida de pacientes transplantados aumentou e taxa de rejeição diminuíram. Pacientes transplantados apresentam uma melhora na qualidade de vida, porém na maioria das vezes podem-se observar complicações associada ao tempo prolongado de internação, denervação do coração, inatividade física.  A pesquisa evidência o efeito do transplante cardíaco e a repercussão gerada, observando os benefícios da mobilização precoce nesses pacientes. Para isso, é necessário comparar estudos de pacientes mobilizados e não mobilizados. Método: Foi realizada uma busca de artigos científicos publicados no período de 2012-2022, nas bases de dados Pubmed, Scielo e BVS. Resultados: A mobilização precoce em pacientes em pós-operatório cardíaco e na UTI e trazem como um dos principais benefícios a redução no tempo de internação, ganho de força muscular inspiratória e expiratória, melhora da capacidade funcional, redução no delirium e ganho de força muscular periférica. Discussão: Observamos que os autores abordam a mobilização precoce como alta importância em pós-operatório cardíaco e trazem como principal benefício a redução no tempo de internação. Outro benefício importante também exposto, é o ganho de força muscular inspiratória e expiratória e a melhora da capacidade funcional. Conclusão: Diante do exposto, observaram-se com este estudo que pacientes submetidos a transplante cardíaco estão sujeitos a imobilidade prolongada no leito, essa restrição resulta em alterações musculoesqueléticas e dos demais sistemas, evidenciando-se que tais pacientes mobilizados precocemente obtém diversos benefícios, tais como aumento da força muscular periférica, inspiratória e expiratória, prevenção do delirium pós-operatório, aumento da capacidade funcional, diminuição do tempo de internação, entre tantos outros, sendo, portanto considerado indispensável esta estratégia

Radiative Hydrodynamic Models of the Optical and Ultraviolet Emission from Solar Flares

We report on radiative hydrodynamic simulations of moderate and strong solar flares. The flares were simulated by calculating the atmospheric response to a beam of non-thermal electrons injected at the apex of a one-dimensional closed coronal loop, and include heating from thermal soft X-ray, extreme ultraviolet and ultraviolet (XEUV) emission. The equations of radiative transfer and statistical equilibrium were treated in non-LTE and solved for numerous transitions of hydrogen, helium, and Ca II allowing the calculation of detailed line profiles and continuum emission. This work improves upon previous simulations by incorporating more realistic non-thermal electron beam models and includes a more rigorous model of thermal XEUV heating. We find XEUV backwarming contributes less than 10% of the heating, even in strong flares. The simulations show elevated coronal and transition region densities resulting in dramatic increases in line and continuum emission in both the UV and optical regions. The optical continuum reaches a peak increase of several percent which is consistent with enhancements observed in solar white light flares. For a moderate flare (~M-class), the dynamics are characterized by a long gentle phase of near balance between flare heating and radiative cooling, followed by an explosive phase with beam heating dominating over cooling and characterized by strong hydrodynamic waves. For a strong flare (~X-class), the gentle phase is much shorter, and we speculate that for even stronger flares the gentle phase may be essentially non-existent. During the explosive phase, synthetic profiles for lines formed in the upper chromosphere and transition region show blue shifts corresponding to a plasma velocity of ~120 km/s, and lines formed in the lower chromosphere show red shifts of ~40 km/s.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figures. Will appear in 2005 September 1 issue of the Ap

Quantum Nonlocality without Entanglement

We exhibit an orthogonal set of product states of two three-state particles that nevertheless cannot be reliably distinguished by a pair of separated observers ignorant of which of the states has been presented to them, even if the observers are allowed any sequence of local operations and classical communication between the separate observers. It is proved that there is a finite gap between the mutual information obtainable by a joint measurement on these states and a measurement in which only local actions are permitted. This result implies the existence of separable superoperators that cannot be implemented locally. A set of states are found involving three two-state particles which also appear to be nonmeasurable locally. These and other multipartite states are classified according to the entropy and entanglement costs of preparing and measuring them by local operations.Comment: 27 pages, Latex, 6 ps figures. To be submitted to Phys. Rev. A. Version 2: 30 pages, many small revisions and extensions, author added. Version 3: Proof in Appendix D corrected, many small changes; final version for Phys. Rev. A Version 4: Report of Popescu conjecture modifie

Mixed State Entanglement and Quantum Error Correction

Entanglement purification protocols (EPP) and quantum error-correcting codes (QECC) provide two ways of protecting quantum states from interaction with the environment. In an EPP, perfectly entangled pure states are extracted, with some yield D, from a mixed state M shared by two parties; with a QECC, an arbi- trary quantum state $|\xi\rangle$ can be transmitted at some rate Q through a noisy channel $\chi$ without degradation. We prove that an EPP involving one- way classical communication and acting on mixed state $\hat{M}(\chi)$ (obtained by sharing halves of EPR pairs through a channel $\chi$) yields a QECC on $\chi$ with rate $Q=D$, and vice versa. We compare the amount of entanglement E(M) required to prepare a mixed state M by local actions with the amounts $D_1(M)$ and $D_2(M)$ that can be locally distilled from it by EPPs using one- and two-way classical communication respectively, and give an exact expression for $E(M)$ when $M$ is Bell-diagonal. While EPPs require classical communica- tion, QECCs do not, and we prove Q is not increased by adding one-way classical communication. However, both D and Q can be increased by adding two-way com- munication. We show that certain noisy quantum channels, for example a 50% depolarizing channel, can be used for reliable transmission of quantum states if two-way communication is available, but cannot be used if only one-way com- munication is available. We exhibit a family of codes based on universal hash- ing able toachieve an asymptotic $Q$ (or $D$) of 1-S for simple noise models, where S is the error entropy. We also obtain a specific, simple 5-bit single- error-correcting quantum block code. We prove that {\em iff} a QECC results in high fidelity for the case of no error the QECC can be recast into a form where the encoder is the matrix inverse of the decoder.Comment: Resubmission with various corrections and expansions. See also http://vesta.physics.ucla.edu/~smolin/ for related papers and information. 82 pages latex including 19 postscript figures included using psfig macro

Wildlife Trade and Global Disease Emergence

The global trade in wildlife provides disease transmission mechanisms that not only cause human disease outbreaks but also threaten livestock, international trade, rural livelihoods, native wildlife populations, and the health of ecosystems. Outbreaks resulting from wildlife trade have caused hundreds of billions of dollars of economic damage globally. Rather than attempting to eradicate pathogens or the wild species that may harbor them, a practical approach would include decreasing the contact rate among species, including humans, at the interface created by the wildlife trade. Since wildlife marketing functions as a system of scale-free networks with major hubs, these points provide control opportunities to maximize the effects of regulatory efforts