bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Load management at home: advantages and drawbacks of some ‘active demand side' options
Authors: Darby Sarah J
Published: October 2012

The Supergen HiDEF (Highly Distributed Energy Future) project explores possibilities for decentralising five features of energy systems: resources, control, network infrastructure, participation and policy. This paper addresses issues of decentralised resources and participation (markets and commercial arrangements). It outlines some practicalities of an ‘active demand side’, supported by a brief overview of social and behavioural aspects of electricity use. Examples are derived from the international literature on behavioural aspects of energy use and residential load management programmes. Four potential active demand options are analysed in outline, in relation to customer involvement and likely enabling technologies. They are: overall demand reduction, static tariffs for peak reduction, dynamic tariffs for load management with variable supply, and continuous load-balancing through dynamic demand. Each of these can offer something to the utility; but what might it offer the customer, and what issues might it raise? The paper proposes development of a framework for evaluating ‘active demand’ options in terms of what they offer to small-scale end-users, to assist with planning for low-carbon energy transitions.
Affinities in the phenomenological perspective of schizophrenia and recent cognitive research: Towards mutual enrichment
Authors: García-Montes José Manuel , Pérez-Álvarez Marino , Perona-Garcelán Salvador
Published: October 2012

This work presents affinities existing between the phenomenological view of schizophrenia and recent cognitive research on this disorder. We postulate that the core abnormality in schizophrenia is a particular kind of disturbance of the sense of self, which has two main aspects, an enhanced sense of awareness or hyperreflexivity, and diminished self-affection. Noticeable parallels are shown between “hyperreflexivity” and some cognitive models and research that concentrate on attentional processes in schizophrenia patients. It is also argued that “diminished self-affection” may be related to certain factors recently dealt with in cognitive research, such as “beliefs about superstition and responsibility related to one’s own thoughts” and “dissociation.” Furthermore, certain points which, in our opinion, could be of mutual enrichment to both viewpoints are briefly analyzed. Finally, several limitations and problems that such mutual sharing may have are also described, and some possible lines of future research are suggested.
Mid-Holocene emergence of a low-frequency millennial oscillation in western Mediterranean climate: Implications for past dynamics of the North Atlantic atmospheric westerlies
Authors: Fletcher William J , Debret Maxime , Goñi Maria Fernanda Sanchez
Published: October 2012

The nature and tempo of Holocene climate variability is examined in the record of forest vegetation from western Mediterranean marine core MD95-2043. Episodes of forest decline occurred at 10.1, 9.2, 8.3, 7.4, 5.4–4.5 and 3.7–2.9 cal. ka BP, and between 1.9 cal. ka BP and the top of the record (1.3 cal. ka BP). Wavelet analysis confirms a ~900 yr periodicity prior to and during the early Holocene and the dominance of a ~1750 yr periodicity after 6 cal. ka BP. The ~900 yr periodicity has counterparts in numerous North Atlantic and Northern Hemisphere palaeoclimate records, and in solar irradiance proxies (Δ14C and 10Be), and may relate to a Sun–climate connection during the early Holocene. Comparisons between the MD95-2043 forest record and strategically located records from Morocco, Iceland, Norway and Israel suggest that the ~1750 yr mid- to late-Holocene oscillation reflects shifts between a prevailing strong and weak state of the zonal flow, with impacts similar to the positive and negative modes of the present-day North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The mid- to late-Holocene millennial oscillation in zonal flow appears closely coupled to North Atlantic surface ocean circulation dynamics, and may have been driven by an internal oscillation in deep-water convection strength. The findings suggest that the mid-Holocene transition in western Mediterranean climate was accompanied by a shift in the fundamental tempo of millennial-scale variability, reflecting contrasting sensitivity of the North Atlantic climate system to different forcing factors (solar versus oceanic) under deglacial and fully interglacial conditions.
Potential bias in ‘updating’ tree-ring chronologies using regional curve standardisation: Re-processing 1500 years of Torneträsk density and ring-width data
Authors: Melvin Thomas M , Grudd Håkan , Briffa Keith R
Published: October 2012

We describe the analysis of existing and new maximum-latewood-density (MXD) and tree-ring width (TRW) data from the Torneträsk region of northern Sweden and the construction of 1500 year chronologies. Some previous work found that MXD and TRW chronologies from Torneträsk were inconsistent over the most recent 200 years, even though they both reflect predominantly summer temperature influences on tree growth. We show that this was partly a result of systematic bias in MXD data measurements and partly a result of inhomogeneous sample selection from living trees (modern sample bias). We use refinements of the simple Regional Curve Standardisation (RCS) method of chronology construction to identify and mitigate these biases. The new MXD and TRW chronologies now present a largely consistent picture of long-timescale changes in past summer temperature in this region over their full length, indicating similar levels of summer warmth in the medieval period (MWP, c. ce 900–1100) and the latter half of the 20th century. Future work involving the updating of MXD chronologies using differently sourced measurements may require similar analysis and appropriate adjustment to that described here to make the data suitable for the production of un-biased RCS chronologies. The use of ‘growth-rate’ based multiple RCS curves is recommended to identify and mitigate the problem of ‘modern sample bias’.
Low cytotoxic elastic niosomes loaded with salmon calcitonin on human skin fibroblasts
Authors: Manosroi Aranya , Chankhampan C , Ofoghi H , Manosroi W , Manosroi J
Published: October 2012

A low cytotoxic elastic niosomal formulation loaded with salmon calcitonin was developed. The elastic niosomes were prepared from Tween 61 mixed with cholesterol at various concentrations of the edge activators (sodium cholate (NaC) and sodium deoxycholate (NaDC); 0.25, 0.5, 2.5, 5 and 10% mole) or ethanol (10–30% v/v). The effects of the niosomal concentrations (5, 10 and 20 mM) and phosphate buffer at pH 7.0 (5, 10, 20 and 30 mM) on the physical characteristics of niosomes were investigated. The 5 mM elastic niosomes in 5 mM phosphate buffer containing calcitonin 0.22 mg/mL gave the highest elasticity (deformability index (DI)) at 6.79 ± 2.03 determined by the extrusion method. The blank elastic niosomes comprised 2.5% mole NaDC, 5% mole NaC or 20% v/v ethanol showed the highest elasticity. The 5% mole NaC elastic niosomes loaded with calcitonin gave the highest DI (21.59 ± 0.91) and percentages of calcitonin entrapment efficiency (60.11 ± 4.98). This study has demonstrated that this NaC elastic niosome did not only reduce the cytotoxicity of the loaded calcitonin but also gave superior cell viability to the ethanolic elastic niosome as well.
Two cases of acute dexmedetomidine withdrawal syndrome following prolonged infusion in the intensive care unit
Authors: Kukoyi AT , Coker SA , Lewis LD , Nierenberg DW
Published: October 2012

Prolonged infusion of dexmedetomidine, an α2-adrenoreceptor agonist anesthetic used in the intensive care unit, produces a withdrawal syndrome of sympathetic over-activity, characterized by tachycardia, hypertension and agitation, but there is no recommended standard treatment for this syndrome. We describe two patients with a clinical diagnosis of acute dexmedetomidine withdrawal and its management with oral clonidine. We utilized the principle of managing acute drug withdrawal with longer acting medications. These two cases demonstrated the benefit of using oral, longer acting clonidine to manage acute withdrawal from shorter-acting, intravenous dexmedetomidine.
Nano-titanium dioxide induces genotoxicity and apoptosis in human lung cancer cell line, A549
Authors: Srivastava RK , Rahman Q , Kashyap MP , Singh AK , Jain G , Jahan S , Lohani M , Lantow M , Pant AB
Published: October 2012

The increased inhaled application of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) increases the potential pulmonary health risks. The present investigations were carried out to study the TiO2 NPs-induced apoptosis, oxidative stress and genotoxicity in the human lung cancer cell line, A549, a widely used cell system for pulmonary toxicity studies. Tetrazolium bromide salt and lactate dehydrogenase release assays were used to study the cytotoxicity. The genotoxicity studies were carried out using cytokinesis block micronucleus assay. Apoptosis was confirmed by the formation of apoptotic bodies and altered expression (messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein) of markers such as P53, P21, Bax, Bcl2 and cleaved caspase-3. Cells exposed to TiO2 NPs (10 and 50 μg/ml) for 6–24 h shows significant induction in oxidative stress, that is, the production of reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde and decrease in the activity of catalase and glutathione. TiO2 NPs exposure also induces the formation of apoptotic bodies and micronucleus as marker of genotoxicity. A significant up-regulation in the expression of apoptosis markers such as P53, P21 and cleaved caspase-3 was observed, while the levels were down-regulated for Bcl2 at both mRNA and protein levels. TiO2 NPs exposure could not pose significant effects on Bax expression. Data indicate that nano-TiO2 induces oxidative stress, genotoxicity and apoptosis in human lung cancer cell line, A549. Our result also identifies the mechanisms involved in TiO2 NP-induced changes in A549 cells. Perhaps, reporting for the first time, the association of TiO2 NPs-induced genotoxicity and apoptosis at transcriptional and translational level in the human lung cancer cell line, A549 cells.
Cytochrome P4501A1 genotypes and smoking- and hypertension-related ischemic stroke risk
Authors: Demirdöğen B. Can , Adali A.Ç. , Bek S. , Demirkaya Ş. , Adali O.
Published: October 2012

This study aimed to determine whether the coding (A4889G) and noncoding region (T6235C) polymorphisms of the gene coding for cytochrome P4501A1 (CYP1A1), a xenobiotic-metabolizing enzyme responsible for the metabolism of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, are involved in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke in Turkish population. Study group consisted of 226 ischemic stroke patients and 113 controls. Genotypes were attained by allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for A4889G and PCR/restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis for T6235C. Frequency of 6235C allele was significantly lower in patients (0.151) compared with controls (0.226, P = 0.015). Prevalence of hypertension and hypertension-associated ischemic stroke risk was lower for 6235C allele carriers. This allele decreased ischemic stroke risk twofold (adjusted odds ratio = 0.48, P = 0.005). There was almost no difference in 4889G allele frequencies in patients (0.445) and controls (0.425). However, prevalence of hypertension was lower in 4889G allele carriers when compared with the wild-type genotypes. In addition, risk of ischemic stroke for smoker and hypertensive individuals was lower when they have at least one 4889G allele. The present study demonstrated that CYP1A1 genetic variants contribute to interindividual variability in smoking- and hypertension-induced ischemic stroke risk.
Building Sustainable Values in Organizations with the Support of Human Resource Management: Evidence from One Firm Considered as the ‘Best Place to Work’ in Brazil
Authors: de Souza Freitas Wesley Ricardo , Jabbour Charbel José Chiappetta , Mangili Leandro Luis , Filho Walter Leal , de Oliveira Jorge Henrique Caldeira
Published: October 2012

Researchers and other professionals unanimously agree that companies should become more sustainable, but this will not happen without the support of human resource management. Paradoxically, there is a lack of information on the support human resource management offers to organizational sustainability applied to real cases. Therefore, this research presents a case study on this topic that was carried out in a leading Brazilian company, which is considered as a model and has been selected as ‘the best place to work in the country’. The results provide practical examples of how this family company has been working to guarantee an increasingly sustainable performance with the support of human resources, highlighting the achievements and challenges the company has faced. One of the main results indicates that companies seeking to achieve sustainability need the assistance of the human resource field in order to design a communication system which bridges the gap between practices and sustainable values.
Personal Construct Theory and Human Values
Authors: Horley James
Published: October 2012

Despite recognition as an important, potentially unifying construct within the social sciences and humanities, value lacks an overarching theoretical framework. One theory within the social sciences, personal construct theory, is suggested as a theoretical foundation for human values, and an attempt to situate values within this theory is presented. It is argued that human values are core constructs in the language of personal construct theory, while ordinary beliefs are peripheral constructs. Various implications and applications of this formulation are discussed.
Grameen and the Politics of Development in Bangladesh
Authors: Rashid Tahmina
Published: October 2012

Bangladesh is one of the countries with a thriving political culture, vibrant civil society and a huge development sector, yet struggling with the issues of persisting poverty as a substantial majority still lives below the poverty line. The development sector has largely maintained an apolitical posture focusing on expanding their outreach, commercial enterprises and access to donor assistance. As a consequence of new economic realities and dynamics of financial markets at local and global level, the sector is increasingly being pushed to expand its influence in the local power structures, thus shifting the nature of their relationship—from a non-engaged to an actively engaged relationship with the state. This article would argue that the increasing commercial/entrepreneurial activities are reshaping the development sector in Bangladesh, even overhauling the dynamics of the socio-economic and political scene. As these not-for-profit organisations are entering into a state-regulated sector, in which other actors (business houses) are already operating, lobbying to protect similar commercial interests, there are contestations around regulatory regimes and political agency in policy-making arenas. Recent controversy around Yunus’s role in the Grameen Bank is indicative of the shifting nature of developmental politics.
Defence Transformation in Nigeria
Authors: Magbadelo John Olushola
Published: October 2012

The quest to modernise the Nigerian armed forces has gone beyond mere declaration of policy intent by the Nigerian government. Processes for defence transformation have entailed the establishment of relevant committees to generate blueprints for actualising the initiative. The prospects of defence transformation can be seen in the efforts of the leadership of the armed forces to implement the various recommendations of the transformation committees as well as the incorporation of the requirements of the armed forces in the long-term perspective plan of the government, in addition to the palpable commitment of the country’s National Assembly to appropriate requisite financial resources to the defence sector. Regardless of these prospects, certain structural and institutional problems which could hinder the realisation of the objectives of defence transformation still exist. These include wrong deployment of personnel to the Ministry of Defence (MOD), the dichotomy between MOD and Defence Headquarters (DHQ), lack of transparency in procurement and project implementation, among others. However, the main goal of transforming Nigerian armed forces has regained renewed salience in the face of the challenging security concerns which the recent terrorist onslaught against the Nigerian state portends. Therefore, the issue is not the desirability or otherwise of defence transformation, but whether it is achievable in spite of all the odds against it.
Compulsory treatment and patient responsibility
Authors: Arya Dinesh
Published: October 2012

Objective:

Current legislative provisions for compulsory treatment of people with mental illness allow decisions to treat people under compulsion to be made on the basis of presence of a mental illness or mental disorder without consideration of whether the patient has the capacity to make decisions that are in his/her best interest. Issues of autonomy, equity, justice and beneficence in relation to treatment of people with mental illness are explored to determine decision-making rules that should be applied for compulsory mental health treatment.

Conclusions:

It is proposed that assessment of the capacity of the individual to make decisions in his/her best interest, rather than presence of diagnosable mental illness, should be the key consideration for compulsory mental health treatment.
The future of psychiatry
Authors: Kecmanovic Dusan
Published: October 2012

Objective:

The objective of this paper is to forecast the future of psychiatry in the first world in the next 20 years.

Conclusions:

There are no indications that psychiatry might significantly change in the near future. Yet two factors affecting today’s psychiatry will most likely become more pronounced in years to come, first, the shrinking of psychiatrists’ domain, and second, the declining interest in psychiatry among medical graduates.
Reclaiming the best of the biopsychosocial model of mental health care and ‘recovery’ for older people through a ‘person-centred’ approach
Authors: McKay Roderick , McDonald Regina , Lie David , McGowan Helen
Published: October 2012

Aim:

The ‘biopsychosocial’, ‘person-centred care’ (PCC) and ‘recovery’ models of care can be seen as distinct and competing paradigms. This paper proposes an integration of these valuable perspectives and suggestions for effective implementation in health services for the elderly.

Method:

An overview of PCC and recovery models, and their application for older people with mental health problems, is provided. Their overlap and contrast with the familiar ‘biopsychosocial’ model of mental health care is considered, together with obstacles to implementation.

Results:

Utilisation of PCC and recovery concepts allow clinicians to avoid narrow application of the biopsychosocial approach and encourages clinicians to focus on the person’s right to autonomy, their values and life goals.

Conclusions:

Service reform and development is required to embed these concepts into core clinical processes so as to improve outcomes and the quality of life for older people with mental health problems.
Integrating recovery-oriented practice into psychiatric registrar training
Authors: Stratford Anthony , Brophy Lisa , Castle David
Published: October 2012

Objective:

This paper describes a new initiative in training for psychiatry trainees in the ‘recovery’ paradigm.

Conclusions:

Supporting patients in their personal recovery and promoting wellbeing has become a key principle in the delivery of specialist mental health services. This requires psychiatrists to develop (or perhaps return to) a worldview that promotes a hopeful stance and acknowledges the importance of relationships when working with people experiencing mental ill health. In 2011, the authors developed and trialed training about personal recovery and wellbeing within psychiatry. A crucial factor was that the training was delivered by a person who has expertise both as a result of their own recovery journey and their experience in peer support work. The feedback from participants has supported further national and international developments and there are plans to extend this component of the program.
Children’s Folk Songs of America
Authors: Watts Sarah H. , Bartolome Sarah J.
Published: October 2012

Teachers of general music are tasked with the challenge of locating high-quality repertoire for classroom use and to incorporate that repertoire into meaningful music learning encounters for children and youth. This task may become all the more difficult when seeking out repertoire of substance from traditional sources, finding songs of folk origin that truly reflect their original context, and celebrating the people who kept these musical traditions alive. This article highlights the lives and works of John Langstaff and Ruth Crawford Seeger, two American musicians, folklorists, and preservationists who tirelessly transcribed, compiled, and shared the substantive music of America’s folk traditions. Their legacies of collections of American folk music for use with children live on into present day, representing a great wealth of high quality, age-appropriate, and contextually appropriate folk literature that deserves to be kept alive in classrooms today and beyond.
Arts Integration
Authors: May Brittany Nixon
Published: October 2012

Arts integration has been a popular topic for many years. Music educators often find arts integration to be challenging, because it requires a great deal of time, necessitates collaboration with other teachers, and can unfortunately promote bias of one subject over another. However, integrating music with other subjects can offer many benefits to both students and teachers. Music educators can overcome some of the challenges of arts integration and effectively integrate other subjects by engaging in integration activities in smaller stages, seeking opportunities to integrate other subjects to enhance learning in the music classroom, involving colleagues in the music curriculum, and channeling their creativity.
Voices of the Poor From the Margins of Bengal
Authors: Dutta Mohan J. , Dutta Uttaran
Published: October 2012

In opposition to the traditional approaches to health communication that treat the subaltern sectors as passive recipients of messages of enlightenment configured in top-down interventions, the culture-centered approach foregrounds the importance of listening to subaltern communities at the margins through dialogue. We build on earlier culture-centered projects in rural communities of West Bengal, India, to develop participatory research strategies for understanding the local processes through which the structural marginalization of the poor plays out in rural Bengal. Study results point toward the marginalization of the poor both communicatively and economically, attending to the ways in which communicative marginalization lies at the heart of economic oppressions. Through locally articulated concepts of “health as shortage” and “communication as shortage,” community members put forth alternative rationalities of health that highlight structural resources at the heart of health. These local articulations of shortage offer an alternative rationality for organizing health promotion efforts in the rural margins of Bengal through the foregrounding of discourses of shortage.
Product life cycle information and process analysis methodology: Integrated information and process analysis for product life cycle management
Authors: Kim Gun Y , Lee Ju Y , Park Yang H , Noh Sang D
Published: October 2012

In the manufacturing industry, collaborations between various departments, from planning, to the development and production phases, are becoming more and more important. Product life cycle management is the integrated management of information related to all phases of the product life cycle, from the analysis of customer requirements and product planning, to the maintenance and recycle phases. This makes product life cycle management one of the emerging strategies for organizing production information that is able to satisfy the various requirements of the manufacturing industry, such as a rapid product development and collaboration. Today, manufacturing companies are introducing a variety of data management systems, such as product data management and manufacturing process management. Business process reengineering is an essential process in the construction of these systems. It analyzes existing task procedures and work environments through “as-is” process analysis and defines “to-be” processes. However, existing task analysis methodologies, such as unified modeling language, architecture of integrated information systems, and computer-integrated manufacturing open system architecture, cannot address the required characteristics of product life cycle management as the purpose of those methodologies is to analyze and model specific attributes such as workflow and information. The aim of this research is to develop a methodology that can be applied in the business process reengineering phase for the effective construction of a product life cycle management system. We analyzed the objectives and characteristics of product life cycle management based on the existing product life cycle management definition analysis. Through this, we analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of the existing process modeling methodology. Finally, we developed the product life cycle information and process analysis methodology to integrate the analysis and design of task procedures, information, and work environments.
Caregiver Needs from Elder Care Assistive Smart Homes: Nursing Assessment
Authors: Zulas A. Leah , Crandall Aaron S. , Schmitter-Edgecombe Maureen , Cook Diane J.
Published: October 2012

With the elderly population on the rise, assistive smart technology is positioned to help the assisted living community take on the upcoming age wave. Even with the notable volume of sensor data collected and medical applications of these systems, there are few researchers formally evaluating the needs of caregivers and how that data can help them. This study attempts to inform researchers and engineers building smart technologies to better understand the needs of nurses as caregivers to the elderly. Interviews suggest that nutrition, sleep length and quality, cleanliness of the individual, safety, and elopement by cognitively impaired individuals are of central concern. It is also important for programmers to make graphs with axis that have real world reliability. Sensor “events” are not relevant to nursing staff, and should not be presented in their raw form. Time increments are more appropriate for this population than number of sensor events. With a little extra care to the needs of caregivers during the design of user-facing tools, assistive smart homes can truly become helpful to keep our aging population independent for longer.
Working Late: strategies to enhance productive and healthy environments for the older workforce
Authors: Haslam Cheryl , Haslam Roger , Clemes Stacy , Kazi Aadil , Duncan Myanna , Twumasi Ricardo , Kerr Lois
Published: October 2012

Aims and objectives: Working Late is a 4 year multidisciplinary research project addressing practice and policy issues associated with later life working. The project is funded by the New Dynamics of Ageing (NDA) Programme. Methods: The Working Late research adopts a mixed method research approach of focus groups, interviews, surveys, interventions and the development of a design resource to enhance health and quality of working life across the life span. Results: This paper describes findings from the surveys and physical activity interventions along with the development of the design resource which captures the needs of the older workforce. Discussion: This research unites key policy themes: the need to maintain workforce capacity and flexibility; the need to retain older people in the workforce; and the need to support active healthy ageing. Conclusion: This project brings together the policy domains of employment dynamics, work systems design and health and the outputs will inform policies and practices aiming to remove barriers to later life workforce participation, and promote the health and well-being of older workers.
Age-Related Balance Among Soldiers
Authors: Boykin Gary L. , Rice Valerie J. , Alfred Petra E.
Published: October 2012

Postural degradation can begin as early as age forty men and women, but little information is available regarding postural stability among the ‘younger-old’ working population. The purpose of this research was to examine younger (≤ 38 yrs, n=14) and older (≥ 39 yrs, n=14) Soldiers’ balance using a biomechanical orthogonal balance platform. Twenty-Eight active duty Soldiers between the ages of 28-56 years (mean = 40.62, median = 38.8) participated. Soldiers assumed a tandem stance for 22 seconds, with their dominate foot forward for two trials, first with eyes open, then with eyes closed. T-test results (p < .05) indicate significant Center of Pressure displacement differences in Average Displacement Y axis (ADY- fore and aft) with eyes open (t(26) = -2.46, p=.021) and Average Velocity eyes open (t(26) = -2.30, p=.030), but not for Average Displacement X axis (ADX – medial-lateral) (t(26) = -1.62, p=.117) eyes open, (t(26) = -.463, p= .647) eyes closed. These findings may provide relevant information to military leaders responsible for physical training and combat initiatives that involve balance efficacy, and to build a case for the need to develop normative balance data based on age.
Classifying Workload with Eye Movements in a Complex Task
Authors: Halverson Tim , Estepp Justin , Christensen James , Monnin Jason
Published: October 2012

Eye movements and pupil size have been used to assess workload in previous research. However, the results presented in the literature vary, and the tasks have been too simple at times or the experimental conditions (e.g. lighting) too tightly controlled to determine if the use of eye data to assess workload is useful in real-world contexts. This research investigates the use of ten eye movement, eyelid, or pupil related metrics as input to support vector machines for classifying workload in a complex task. The results indicate that both pupil size and percentage of eye closure are useful for predicting workload. Further, the combination of the two metrics increases the robustness and accuracy of the workload predictions.
Comparative Effects of First-Person Shooter Video Game Experience and Brain Stimulation on Threat Detection Learning
Authors: Falcone Brian , Parasuraman Raja
Published: October 2012

We have previously shown that 2 mA of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) of the right inferior cortex improved sensitivity ( d’) during learning and 24-hour retention of a complex visual perceptual learning task, independent of changes in response bias ( ß) (Falcone et al., 2012). Because some participants in that study had video game experience, the current study investigated the effect of three different levels of video game experience on the learning rate for the same perceptual task: non-video game players (NVGPs), gamers with low 1st person shooter gaming expertise (Low-1stVGPs), and gamers with high 1st person shooter gaming expertise (High-1stVGPs). There were graded group differences in d’ but not in ß by the end of the training: NVGPs had the lowest sensitivity, Low-1stVGPs intermediate, and High-1stVGPs the highest. The High-1stVGPs group had significantly higher perceptual sensitivity than the NVGPs group and, while not statistically significant, there was a clear trend of a higher perceptual sensitivity for the High-1stVGPs group over the Low-1stVGPs. In addition, the rate of learning in the High-1stVGP was comparable to that of the group receiving 2 mA tDCS. While the High-1stVGP group had a slightly lower d’ value by the end of training, it was not significantly different from that of the 2 mA tDCS group. The results indicate that 1st person shooter videogame experience and brain stimulation have comparable beneficial effects on complex perceptual learning. Both types of effects have been attributedto enhancement of visual attention. Thus, even greater benefits for augmenting learning might be possible by administering tDCS to individuals with 1st person shooter videogame experience.
Empirical Evaluation of the Emotiv EPOC BCI Headset for the Detection of Mental Actions
Authors: Taylor Grant S. , Schmidt Christina
Published: October 2012

This study evaluated the detection accuracy of one of the first brain-computer interfaces intended for personal use by normal, healthy users: the Emotiv EPOC. This system allows the user to directly interact with computer software through thoughts alone. The system was evaluated on its ability to accurately detect and classify six sets of paired mental actions over three evaluation phases. Results found the system to perform significantly better than chance for all mental actions, and improve over time with additional training data. The system detected all actions with equivalent accuracy. Additional investigation of individual differences revealed that a user’s gender, age, handedness, attentional control, vividness of visual imagery, and mental rotation ability all had no bearing on the detection accuracy of the system. These results indicate the Emotiv EPOC system performs its function as a brain-computer interface with an acceptable level of accuracy, yielding many new possibilities for human-computer interaction.
Analysis of New Proposed Air Traffic Control Alerts in the NextGen Midterm
Authors: Sawyer Michael W. , Berry Katherine A. , Austrian Edward M.
Published: October 2012

In an effort to modernize the National Airspace System (NAS) the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has introduced the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). The introduction of new systems and procedures as described in NextGen offers the potential for significant changes to the daily activities of air traffic controllers. Along with the many proposed NextGen capabilities and improvements comes the need for new controller alerts and notifications. This research presents fourteen potential new alerts directly or indirectly proposed by literature describing NextGen midterm operations. Each new alert along with the potential positive and negative implications of providing the controller with the alert is discussed. This high-level survey of alerts should serve to inform researchers and system designers as they develop research and design requirements.
Human Factors issues for Interaction with Bio-Inspired Swarms
Authors: Lewis Michael , Goodrich Michael , Sycara Katia , Steinberg Mark
Published: October 2012

Robotic systems composed of a large number of entities, often called robot swarms, are envisioned to play an increasingly important role in applications such as search, rescue, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations. Nowadays, many mobile robots that are deployed for such applications are still tele-operated by a single or multiple operators. While these platforms are individually very capable, the development of cheaper hardware allows the consideration of swarm systems composed of many more robots but with each individual being far less powerful. Examples from biology indicate that such systems can be collectively more powerful than any individual robot within the team and also more than many larger, more sophisticated individual robots. Enabling a human to control such bio-inspired systems is a considerable challenge due to the limitations of each individual robot and the sheer number of robots that need to be coordinated to successfully complete a mission. Autonomous algorithms provide an opportunity to mitigate some of the complexity an operator faces in controlling such swarms, but it is not clear either (a) which tasks will ultimately need to be executed by the operator rather than by the swarm, or (b) what kinds of interactions would be needed.
Identifying Support Requirements for Airport Departure Management
Authors: Fernandes Alicia B. , Smith Philip J. , Weaver Kristen , Durham Ken , Evans Mark , Johnson Dustin
Published: October 2012

Airport departure demand that exceeds capacity can lead to longer departure queues than necessary. Departure metering is one approach to managing the flow of aircraft to the departure queue so as to build an appropriate inventory of departures on the surface. The Departure Reservoir Coordinator (DRC) is an envisioned role that will be responsible for managing a departure metering procedure. This paper describes a functional analysis of the DRC role and requirements for supporting a person or team in that role that were derived from the functional analysis. Results of the functional analysis were used to develop display concepts that were evaluated by air traffic controllers.
Variance as a Method for Objectively Assessing Pilot Performance
Authors: McClernon Christopher K. , Miller James C. , Christensen James C.
Published: October 2012

The advent of high-precision GPS navigation and digital attitude/heading reference instruments creates opportunities for researchers to obtain objective aircraft attitude data now in actual flight as well as simulation. With this wealth of data, appropriate analyses and interpretation are critical to efficiently and accurately assessing pilot performance. A combined (constant plus variable) error measure applied to attitude is a common approach to determining pilot performance. However, a variable error measure has previously proven effective in various contexts. This paper will report results obtained from twenty novice participants performing a simulated flight training and test task. Attitude data were analyzed using both common root mean square error (combined error) and a variable error measure. Results indicated that the variable error approach was sensitive, precise, and efficient when measuring pilot performance. Characteristics of flight operations are discussed that render this approach particularly useful in an aviation context.
Shifts in air traffic controllers’ situation awareness during high altitude mixed equipage operations
Authors: Gregg Sarah , Martin Lynne , Homola Jeffrey , Lee Paul , Mercer Joey , Brasil Connie , Cabrall Christopher , Lee Hwasoo
Published: October 2012

Studies of future airspace design often predict that automated tools will be available to assist the controller and sometimes complete tasks independently of controller intervention. How this redistribution of functions will change the role of the controller needs to be considered, as does its impact on the controller’s awareness of aircraft movement in their sector. In a study of high altitude operations in future airspace where aircraft were equipped with different levels of data communications capabilities, it was found that about half of the participants positively attributed the contribution of the automation as assisting their own level of situation awareness (SA) – and hence perceived themselves as being in a better position in terms of SA under more automated / equipped conditions. Whereas the other half of the participants, who did not consider the automation to assist their situation awareness, perceived themselves as having higher SA under conditions that were closer to the current day. With increased reliance on automation and higher expected traffic volume in the future, controllers will need to rethink what constitutes as their SA since they will no longer be able to have a complete awareness of their airspace as they do now. Insights into new SA strategies that can factor automation’s contribution and integrate it into controllers’ awareness could be helpful in future training and tool design.
Cognitive Workload and Visual Attention Analyses of the Air Traffic Control Tower Flight Data Manager (TFDM) Prototype Demonstration
Authors: Lokhande Kiran , Reynolds Hayley J. Davison
Published: October 2012

This paper presents two methods of analyzing air traffic controller activity: cognitive workload measurement through the novel comparison of controller-pilot verbal communications, and visual attention quantification through manual eye gaze analysis. These analyses were performed as part of an evaluation of the Tower Flight Data Manager (TFDM) prototype system. Cognitive workload analyses revealed that, when comparing participant controllers utilizing TFDM to a control group utilizing existing air traffic control (ATC) equipment, participants issued commands sooner than the control, and thus were perceived to have a lower workload. While visual attention data were not available for the control group, analyses of participant gaze data revealed 81.9% of time was spent in a head-down position, and 17.2% of time was spent head-up. Results are related back to system inefficiencies to find potential areas of improvement in design.
The Impact of Spatialized Communications on Team Navigation
Authors: Hampton Andrew , Shalin Valerie L. , Robinson Eric , Simpson Brian , Finomore Victor , Cowgill Jeffery , Moore Thomas , Rapoch Terry , Gilkey Robert
Published: October 2012

A team navigation task allowed the evaluation of spatialized communications to help ground soldiers maintain awareness of each other’s locations in complex environments. Subjects had to rendezvous as quickly as possible from unknown starting locations in large, unfamiliar, urban virtual environments. Traditional monaural and 3D audio communication channels were compared. In the 3D audio condition, talkers could make their communications sound like they arose from their own location or from the location of another object in the environment (audio annotation). Some conditions included additional prominent landmarks. Rendezvous times were significantly shorter in the 3D audio condition, but the presence or absence of additional landmarks did not impact performance. The results are compared to previous research on spatialized auditory displays and on team navigation.
Tactile Language Design
Authors: Riddle Dawn L. , Chapman Roger J.
Published: October 2012

The Tactile Language Design Methodology takes a systematic approach to the design of tactile communication. The methodology leverages the systems engineering lifecycle, research on human perception and the cognition of touch, and practical considerations for fielding a usable tactile communication system. Application of the methodology to the development of squad level tactile communications is presented to illustrate the use of the methodology.
Prosodic cues that signal non-understandings to power control operators during radio communication
Authors: Auton Jaime C. , Wiggins Mark W. , Loveday Thomas
Published: October 2012

The readback/hearback procedure is a radio protocol implemented in many technical environments to minimize communication errors. This protocol requires the receiver of a verbal instruction to repeat or read back the instruction to the sender, allowing the sender to monitor and remedy any inaccuracies if required. Although this protocol ensures that the receiver has accurately heard the instruction, it does not ensure that the receiver has necessarily understood the instruction. Using a sample of Australian power control operators, the present research investigated whether the prosodic cues that listeners attend to when judging levels of uncertainty, are also used by power control operators when judging the degree to which a receiver has understood an instruction during a simulated readback/hearback radio exchange. Intonation, inter-turn delays and fillers were identified as important prosodic cues that allow listeners to detect different levels of understanding of a receiver during a readback response. The practical and theoretical implications of the outcomes are discussed.
Four Key Challenges in Disaster Response
Authors: Oden Razia V.N. , Militello Laura G. , Ross Karol G. , Lopez Christen E.
Published: October 2012

This paper summarizes a project to explore challenges associated with information sharing in disaster response and identify innovative solutions. Challenges associate with domestic disaster response such as volunteer organizations are well-documented (Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, 2011; Militello, Patterson, Bowman, Wears, 2007). To obtain a deeper understanding of these problems, we conducted several site visits to experience the environment in which these decisions are made. We identified four key challenges across these domains that must be addressed in order to improve training and operations: coordination among groups involved in the response, communication among these groups, timely information exchange, and effective information technology support for emergency responders in the field. As a potential solution, we conceptualized an integrated software package that combines the flexible capabilities of mobile applications for personnel with desktop software to be used in static planning to allow individuals to gather and distribute information, as well as query for specific information when needed. The envisioned tool would allow the State Emergency Operations Center to gather data from multiple sources. The software would organize information according to functional needs, providing easy access on demand for use by responders in a range of roles and settings.
Discussion Panel: Collaborative Automation Across Varying Time Scales of Interaction: What’s the Same? What’s Different?
Authors: Roth Emilie M. , Cummings Missy , Miller Christopher , Smith Philip , Schreckenghost Debra , Scott Ron
Published: October 2012

Automated systems, ranging from robots to intelligent planning aids, are increasingly part of the cognitive landscape. A pressing question facing the human factors community is how to design the automation to foster effective collaboration between the human and automated agents. This panel brings together leading researchers actively engaged in design of decision-support systems that involve some element of ‘cognitive work’ automation. They represent a variety of domains and a variety of approaches to design of collaborative automation. Panel members will discuss unique challenges of their respective domains, including differences in temporal rhythm, and how these have shaped their perspective on ‘collaborative aiding’.
The World is not Enough: Trust in Cognitive Agents
Authors: de Visser Ewart J. , Krueger Frank , McKnight Patrick , Scheid Steven , Smith Melissa , Chalk Stephanie , Parasuraman Raja
Published: October 2012

Researchers have assumed a dichotomy between human-human trust (HHT) and human-automation trust (HAT). With the advent of cognitive agents, entities that are neither machine nor human, it is important to revisit this theory. Some claim that HHT and HAT are the same concept and propose that people respond socially to more human automation. Others say that HHT and HAT are fundamentally different and propose models that indicate differences in initial perception, automation monitoring performance, and judgments that lead to differences in trust. In this study, we varied humanness on a cognitive spectrum and investigated trust and performance with these different types of cognitive agents. Results showed that increasing the humanness of the automation increased trust calibration and appropriate compliance with an automated aid leading to better overall performance and trust, especially during unreliable conditions. Automated aids that exhibit human characteristics may be more resilient to human disuse in the face of sub-optimal machine performance.
Approaches to Cognitive Bias in Serious Games for Critical Thinking
Authors: Flach John M. , Hale Christopher R. , Hoffman Robert R. , Klein Gary , Veinott Beth
Published: October 2012

This Panel discusses decision and learning theory and application in the design of serious games to train people for bias-free critical thinking, particularly in analytical domains. The theoretical understanding of cognitive bias will determine the shape of the cognitive work that is entrained by the games. Panelists will describe an approach to bias mitigation training that is premised on a notion that reasoning strategies can have heuristic value depending on circumstances.