The influence of task load on situation awareness and control strategy in the ATC tower environment

The safe and efficient operation of air traffic is highly dependent on the performance of the Air Traffic Control Officer (ATCO). The ATCOs control the traffic within defined areas by monitoring the traffic and granting clearances. A key element in analyzing the ATCOs is their interaction with the environment through their workplace. Especially the influence of task load on their situation awareness (SA) and applied control strategy provides information on the quality of the workplace. As task load increases, controllers are able to maintain performance by using different management or compensation strategies. This article supports the evaluation of ATCO’s workplaces by focusing on whether probe techniques for assessing SA are applicable for tower control operation and for measuring the influences of increased task load on the control strategy. An experiment with nine ATCOs was conducted in a simulated real-time air traffic control environment. Different measurements for SA were applied and compared regarding their efficiency and validity. The manipulation of task load and visibility influenced the SA and control strategy at the same time. Performance metrics were selected in advance to evaluate the participant’s efficiency. SA was measured with a probe technique and an offline self-assessment method. Findings suggest that probe techniques increase the insight into the understanding of SA in comparison to self-assessment and that they are applicable to the air traffic control environment. Control strategies were derived from the information-gathering process via the eye-movement behavior and connected to task load. The results imply that SA is part of the individual performance and that increasing demand through task load is handled with an adaptation of the control strategy.     

Review of A2B2O7 pyrochlore response to irradiation and pressure

This article reviews recent research on swift heavy-ion irradiations and high-pressure studies on pyrochlores of the Gd₂Zr_2−xTi_xO₇ binary [1], [2], [3] and [4]. Applying three complementary analytical techniques (synchrotron X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy) allowed for the investigation of the response of pyrochlore to irradiation and/or pressure. The chemical composition of pyrochlore has a strong effect on the character and energetics of the type of structural modifications that can be obtained under pressure or irradiation: For Ti-rich pyrochlores, the crystalline-to-amorphous transition is the dominant process. When Zr is substituted for Ti, an order-disorder transformation to the defect-fluorite structure becomes the increasingly dominant process. Except for Gd₂Zr₂O₇, single ion tracks in pyrochlore consist of an amorphous core, surrounded by a crystalline, but disordered, defect-fluorite shell. This shell is surrounded by a defect-rich pyrochlore region. In contrast to similar effects observed when pressure or irradiation are applied separately, the response of the pyrochlore structure is significantly different when it is exposed simultaneously to pressure and irradiation. The combination of relativistic heavy ions with high pressure results in the formation of a new metastable pyrochlore phase. TEM and quantum-mechanical calculations suggest that these novel structural modifications are caused by the formation of nanocrystals and the modified energetics of nanomaterials.     

Mehraxiales mechanisches Ermüdungsmodell von Ultra‐Hochfestem Beton: Experimentelle und analytische Untersuchungen

Multiaxial Mechanical Model of Ultra‐High‐Performance Concrete The special and outstanding characteristics of ultra‐high‐performance concrete (UHPC) require the development of a multiaxial mechanical model for numerical investigations. With the three phases model it is possible to describe the behaviour of concrete from extremely brittle to more ductile using the characteristic development of the principal meridians, in particular the compressive meridian of the fracture surface. Furthermore, the anisotropic damage due to fatigue is considered in the principal‐stressarea by different grades of damage in relation to the tensile and the compressive meridian. In experimental investigations, the necessary parameters are determined to calibrate the three phases model for UHPC by specifying the principal meridians for static loading. In further dynamic investigations the parameters for an anisotropic damage model are determined for fatigue loading.     

Fast adaptive routing supporting mobile senders in Source Specific Multicast

IP multicast deployment recently progresses, but group services often remain restricted to limited domains and fail to comply with route-optimizing mobility management of the next generation Internet. Source Specific Multicast (SSM) facilitates transparent inter-domain routing and is expected to globally disseminate to many users and services. However, mobility support for Source Specific Multicast is still known to be a major open problem. In this paper, we propose the Enhanced Tree Morphing (ETM) protocol for extending SSM routing to mobile multicast sources. The scheme dynamically adapts SSM forwarding states to sender mobility, and transforms (morphs) source specific distribution trees into new, optimal trees rooted at a relocated source. ETM is simple, robust and secure, while it admits superior performance in packet forwarding at a low signaling overhead. Extensive evaluations based on a full protocol implementation, and simulations based on real-world topology data are performed, granting full insight into the properties of packet loss and delay stretch, protocol convergence times and router state evolution during single and rapidly repeated handovers. In a constant bit rate scenario, an ETM source handover typically leads to a slightly increasing delay of the first data packet, only. When operating on realistic network topologies, the protocol uniformly converges within less than 50 ms, thereby sustaining robustness under rapid source movement at all speeds common to our mobile world. Further optimizations are identified for FMIPv6 and for multihomed nodes.     

Waste cement dusts as activating agents for rubber compounds

The possibility of substitution of an expensive zinc oxide by the waste cement dusts used in the character of the rubber compound activators were shown. The chemical constitution and the physico-chemical properties of the used cement dusts were investigated, as well as the physico-mechanical parameters of the vulcanizates which had these cement dusts, were determined. Some good strength properties were found for the vulcanizates which had the cement dusts. The results show a real possibility of the elimination of zinc oxide as an activating agent of the rubber compounds, and of substitution of one of the waste cement dusts.     

Tribological testing of sliders on discrete track media and verification with numerical predictions

“Flyability” tests were conducted with sliders designed for discrete track recording disks. Laser Doppler vibrometry and acoustic emission were used to characterize the dynamics of the sliders as a function of discrete track parameters. Lubricant depletion was observed depending on the slider nominal flying height. Comparison of experimental results with numerical predictions showed good qualitative agreement.     

Pathophysiological In Vitro Profile of Neuronal Differentiated Cells Derived from Niemann-Pick Disease Type C2 Patient-Specific iPSCs Carrying the NPC2 Mutations c.58G>T/c.140G>T

Niemann-Pick type C2 (NP-C2) disease is a rare hereditary disease caused by mutations in the NPC2 gene. NPC2 is a small, soluble protein consisting of 151 amino acids, primarily expressed in late endosomes and lysosomes (LE/LY). Together with NPC1, a transmembrane protein found in these organelles, NPC2 accomplishes the exclusion of cholesterol; thus, both proteins are essential to maintain cellular cholesterol homeostasis. Consequently, mutations in the NPC2 or NPC1 gene result in pathophysiological accumulation of cholesterol and sphingolipids in LE/LY. The vast majority of Niemann-Pick type C disease patients, 95%, suffer from a mutation of NPC1, and only 5% display a mutation of NPC2. The biochemical phenotype of NP-C1 and NP-C2 appears to be indistinguishable, and both diseases share several commonalities in the clinical manifestation. Studies of the pathological mechanisms underlying NP-C2 are mostly based on NP-C2 animal models and NP-C2 patient-derived fibroblasts. Recently, we established induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), derived from a donor carrying the NPC2 mutations c.58G>T/c.140G>T. Here, we present a profile of pathophysiological in vitro features, shared by NP-C1 and NP-C2, of neural differentiated cells obtained from the patient specific iPSCs. Profiling comprised a determination of the NPC2 protein level, detection of cholesterol accumulation by filipin staining, analysis of oxidative stress, and determination of autophagy. As expected, the NPC2-deficient cells displayed a significantly reduced amount of NPC2 protein, and, accordingly, we observed a significantly increased amount of cholesterol. Most notably, NPC2-deficient cells displayed only a slight increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS), suggesting that they do not suffer from oxidative stress and express catalase at a high level. As a site note, comparable NPC1-deficient cells suffer from a lack of catalase and display an increased level of ROS. In summary, this cell line provides a valuable tool to gain deeper understanding, not only of the pathogenic mechanism of NP-C2, but also of NP-C1.     

Selective binding of dye molecules and CdSe nanocrystals on nanostructures generated by AFM lithography of silicon surfaces

Anchoring optically active molecules or semiconductor nanocrystals on nanostructured surfaces is one of the first steps for building complex structures with variable properties and functions. Electrostatic interactions have been used for selective binding of cationic molecular species on lithographically generated and negatively charged nanostructures. Semiconductor nanocrystals, covered by amphiphilic molecules, have been bound via hydrophobic interactions. Selective binding of cationic Rhodamin 6G molecules to freshly prepared silicon oxide nanostructures as well as the CdSe/ZnS nanocrystals to the surrounding hydrophobic alkyl monolayer could be identified both by optical methods and by atomic force microscopy. The adsorption of CdSe/ZnS nanoparticles was accompanied by self-organization phenomena of the surfactant tri octyl phosphine oxide (TOPO).