Aim  The goal of this registry study was to compare open surgery with planned laparoscopy and then with laparoscopic to open conversion for rectal cancer surgery.

PurposeThe paper aims to present the development of a detection scheme for pilot fatigue using fuzzy logic. Evaluation parameters based on the dynamic response of the pilot/aircraft system are to be defined and criteria for online fatigue detection to be formulated.Design/methodology/approachThe approach is based on the idea that, while performing the same task, under otherwise identical conditions, the dynamic signatures of the pilot/aircraft system are different depending on the pilot condition, “rested” or “tired.” Tests performed on a 6 degrees‐of‐freedom (DOF) flight simulator with pilots at two extreme levels of alertness are used to define parameters based on aircraft states and pilot input measurements that can serve as pilot fatigue detectors at steady state flight conditions. These parameters are computed using the statistics of the tracking errors (TE), state and control time histories, and the Fourier transforms of the TE. Fuzzy logic is used to evaluate the pilot condition based on composite detection parameters.FindingsValidation tests on a 6 DOF flight simulator showed that the proposed detection scheme has promising capabilities for safety monitoring purposes and design of control laws that can accommodate for pilot abnormal conditions.Research limitations/implicationsThe pilot fatigue detection algorithm presented in this paper can be used as a starting point for future research in the following directions: development of safety monitoring systems for warning and/or triggering of automatic control compensation; development of pilot fault‐tolerant control laws; development of human pilot models for simulation, handling qualities assessment, and control laws design.Practical implicationsThe approach for pilot fatigue detection proposed in this paper is a viable alternative to existing methods based on physiological measurements such as electrical activity of the brain, pulse, body temperature, etc. which imply direct and permanent connection of the pilot to the measurement system and interfere adversely with pilot comfort and his/her ability to perform the task. The proposed approach eliminates this drawback and does not require on‐board additional heavy equipment.Originality/valuePilot fatigue assessment from measurements of pilot/aircraft dynamic parameters has not yet been investigated as an alternative to the physiological approach.

Abstract- Automated planning systems (APS) are gaining,Expressing the Property of Interest .................... 6 acceptance for use on NASA missions as evidenced by APS($, ............................................................. spicecraft executes. The system mustbe verified to ensure BIOGRAPHY,10

Automated planning systems (APS) are gaining acceptance for use on NASA missions as evidenced by APS flown on missions such as Earth Orbiter 1 and Deep Space 1, both of which were commanded by onboard planning systems. The planning system takes high level goals and expands them onboard into a detailed plan of action that the spacecraft executes. The system must be verified to ensure that the automatically generated plans achieve the goals as expected and do not generate actions that would harm the spacecraft or mission. These systems are typically tested using empirical methods. Formal methods, such as model checking, offer exhaustive or measurable test coverage which leads to much greater confidence in correctness. This paper describes a formal method based on the SPIN model checker. This method guarantees that possible plans meet certain desirable properties. We express the input model in Promela, the language of SPIN (Holzmann, 1997 and Holzmann, 2003) and express the properties of desirable plans formally. The Promela model is then checked by SPIN to see if it contains violations of the properties, which are reported as errors. We have applied this approach to an APS and found a defect

Deep Space One (DS1) will be the first spacecraft to be controlled by an autonomous closed loop system potentially capable of carrying out a complete mission with minimal commanding from Earth. A major component of the autonomous flight software is an onboard planner/scheduler. Based on generative planning and temporal reasoning technologies, the planner/scheduler transforms abstract goals into detailed tasks to be executed within resource and time limits. This paper discusses the knowledge acquisition issues involved in transitioning this novel technology into spacecraft flight software, developing the planner in the context of a large software project and completing the work under a compressed development schedule. Our experience shows that the planning framework used is adequate to address the challenges of DS1 and future autonomous spacecraft systems, and it points to a series of open technological challenges in developing methodologies and tools for knowledge acquisition and validation.

This viewgraph presentation reviews work on model checking, and specifically the SPIN model checker. The goal of this work is to retire a significant class of risks associated with the use of Artificial Intelligence (Al) Planners on Missions. This effort must provide tangible testing results to a mission using Al technology. It is hoped that the work should be possible to leverage the technique and tools throughout NASA

Quality of life is an important consideration in the treatment of early prostate cancer. Laboratory and clinical data suggest that higher radiation doses delivered to the bulb of penis and proximal penile structures correlates with higher rates of post-radiation impotence. The goal of this investigation was to determine if intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) spares dose to the penile bulb while maintaining coverage of the prostate. 10 consecutive patients with clinically organ confined prostate cancer were planned with 3D conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT) or IMRT to give a dose of 74 Gy without specifically constraining the plans to spare the penile bulb. All 10 patients were ultimately treated with IMRT. Dose-volume histograms were evaluated and the doses to prostate, rectum, bladder and penile bulb were compared. IMRT reduced the mean penile bulb doses compared with 3D-CRT (33.2 Gy vs 48.9 Gy, p<0.001), the percentage of penile bulb receiving over 40 Gy (37.7% vs 67.2%, p<0.001) and the dose received by >95% of penile bulb (5.3 Gy vs 11.7 Gy, p=0.003). Maximum penile bulb doses were higher with IMRT (81.2 Gy vs 73.1 Gy, p<0.001) although the volume of this high dose region was small. Both methods resulted in similar coverage of the prostate. The volume of rectum receiving 70 Gy was significantly reduced with IMRT (18.4% vs 21.9%, p=0.003) but the volumes of bladder receiving 70 Gy were similar (p=0.3). IMRT may potentially reduce long term sexual morbidity by reducing the dose to the majority of the penile bulb.

UTOMATED PLANNING AND scheduling technology-we’ll call it automated planning systems, for the sake of brevity-is applicable to a wide spectrum of spaceflight missions, from those with limited onboard computational capabilities, such as Lunar Prospector, to those with highly sophisticated software, such as Cassini In all cases, the goal is for the rmssion scientist to command the spacecraft directly, with no need for mission operations specialists to perform routine activities. Routine use of automated planning systems for both ground and onboard operations can greatly benefit spacecraft missions in several ways.