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Engine damage as a consequence of foreign object debris (FOD) during flight is frequently caused by birds. One approach to minimising disruption caused by this damage is to provide flight crew with accurate information relating to the continuing operational status of the aircraft's engines. Before designing such avionic systems however, understanding of current procedures is needed. Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA) and Systematic Human Error Reduction and Prediction Approach (SHERPA) were used to identify potential failures that flight crew may make when managing an engine bird strike. Workshops with commercial pilots generated insights into current practice and a commercial pilot SME reviewed outputs for accuracy. Over 200 potential failures were identified, most commonly related to communication. Remedial measures, considering future avionic systems, are proposed to mitigate identified failures. This analysis provides a starting point for future design concepts for assisting flight crew in dealing with engine malfunction due to FOD strikes. Practitioner summary: Hierarchical Task Analysis was conducted to show all tasks involved in dealing with an in-flight aircraft engine bird strike. Systematic Human Error Reduction and Prediction Approach analysis was performed and over 200 possible failures were identified when managing this event. Remedial measures are proposed to help mitigate possible failures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores western big mountain climbing practices in the Himalaya as 'secular' processes of identity formation with historical roots in Victorian efforts at sublimation. Such practices necessitate a series of social, embodied, and psychical distinctions structuring (and structured by) a white, western masculine identity. Looking to news and video documentary narratives by and about the late Swiss mountaineer Ueli Steck, this article works to situate big mountain climbing discourses as relevant to the academic study of religion through the notion of the sublime and its relationship to secularisation (broadly construed). It also situates big mountain climbing discourses in terms of contemporary postcolonial and critical whiteness scholarship on social identity. The notion of the subliminal is both the descriptive goal of many climbing pursuits, and also the means of denying the white masculine identity forged through such processes. Making use of critical social theoretic lenses as offered by both Pierre Bourdieu and Jean-François Bayart, big mountain climbing is shown as a space of white masculine identity formation supported by various appeals to 'sacred/profane' distinctions – both embodied and discursive. Through these distinctions, in big mountain climbing, colonial contact's impact on structural realities makes possible a salient white masculine identity that is forged and disavowed through twin confrontations with the land and the indigenous peoples inhabiting it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some aspects of the life cycle of the Southern Ocean diatom Fragilariopsis kerguelensis have been investigated previously, but many of its details have not been surveyed in nature. We investigated material from a two-year sediment trap time series by high-throughput imaging and image analysis, looking for morphometric signals of life cycle stages. Valve length distributions appeared close to unimodal but positively (right-) skewed. Size cohorts resulting from synchronized sexual reproduction events were not clearly distinguishable. Nevertheless, based on changes in valve length distributions, we found three general seasonal phases. These corresponded to periods of proliferation (with higher proportions of smaller cells during late spring/early summer), cessation of growth (relative loss of smaller cells during late summer/early autumn), and overwintering (little change in size distributions, with an increased proportion of large cells). We discuss possible causes of these signals, and their relevance to growth, sexual activity and adaption to environmental conditions, such as grazing pressures and the need for an overwintering strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While tensions between the sacred and the profane in tourism have been of long standing interest to tourism scholars, there is a dearth of literature on the growing influence of tourism on local residents' spirituality and religious practices in sacred landscapes. This paper examines how local residents' interpretations of sacred landscapes are influenced by tourism development, and whether tourism plays a role in influencing and reproducing sacred landscape and place-based spiritual values. This exploratory study is based on four months of fieldwork conducted in 2014 and 2015 in Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park in Nepal's Khumbu Region. Results of the 33 interviews conducted with ethnic Sherpa community indicate the Sherpa consider their homeland as a beyul (sacred, hidden valley), and its landscapes (i.e. mountains, forests and lakes) as the abode of local deities. Tourism's influence on local spiritual values is evident and reflected in changes in mountain deity worship, shift in human-environment relationship, and alterations in religious routines and practices. Although Sherpa still regard Khumbu as a sacred place and are actively involved in maintaining their spiritual values and cultural identity, the religious influence of beyul is slowly diminishing as reliance on tourism grows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines trekkers' perceptions of risk and death associated with high mountain adventure tourism based on their actual experience during the trek to the Everest Base Camp. The study is based on the authors' fieldwork conducted during April to May 2014. Interview questions focused on trekkers' perceptions of risks associated with their own activities, and the risks taken by professional mountaineers and Sherpa guides. Results show that trekkers realized the differences in risks associated with climbing and trekking, and celebrated the accounts of risk taken by the mountaineers. But when risk was self-experienced during the trek, celebration turned into fear and emotional distress. Trekkers generally held foreign mountaineers with much higher reverence than Sherpa climbers. The study concludes with the suggestion that more research is needed to examine the dynamic emotional state of adventure tourists, commodification of high mountain adventure, and understanding local perspectives of adventure tourists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Himalayas have been suggested as a natural barrier for human migrations, especially the northward dispersals from the Indian Subcontinent to Tibetan Plateau. However, although the majority of Sherpa have a Tibeto-Burman origin, considerable genetic components from Indian Subcontinent have been observed in Sherpa people living in Tibet. The western Y chromosomal haplogroups R1a1a-M17, J-M304, and F*-M89 comprise almost 17% of Sherpa paternal gene pool. In the maternal side, M5c2, M21d, and U from the west also count up to 8% of Sherpa people. Those lineages with South Asian origin indicate that the Himalayas have been permeable to bidirectional gene flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars of globalization and cultural theories have argued that tradition and modernity are negotiated concepts and not fixed points for cultural references. The transformation of Khumbu, a traditional mountain region, to Everest, as a tourism destination did not occur overnight, but Hillary's and Norgay's scaling of the summit of Mt Everest slowly but decidedly paved the way for its turn as one of the most famous adventure destinations in the world. Applying concepts relevant to the dichotomies of tradition-modernity and local-cosmopolitan, and cultural competence, this paper explores the contrasts apparent in the touristic landscape of Khumbu: (1) in the physical realities of a place that is rugged and remote, yet friendly, cosmopolitan and familiar; (2) in how the Sherpa view themselves; and, (3) in tourists' imaginations and experiences with Sherpa society. Main data sources include 21 field-based interviews with Sherpa entrepreneurs and tourists, analysis of observations recorded in 13 student journals, and background literature on Khumbu based on the author's previous research and other major scholarly work on Sherpa society. Based on these observations, three main conclusions are made: (1) that the Sherpa are very successful in negotiating between tradition and modernity; (2) that successful negotiation is largely due to a higher level of cultural competence gained through involvement in tourism; and (3) that tourists are increasingly aware of the apparent discrepancy in their expectation and realities of Sherpa culture encountered during their trip. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accidents caused by human error are prominent in the medical field. The present study identified medical errors in the emergency triage area by assessing the tasks of all healthcare workers employed in the triage area of an educational hospital in Tehran, Iran in 2014. Data were collected using the systematic human error reduction and prediction approach (SHERPA). The tasks and sub-tasks were determined and analyzed using hierarchical analysis and the errors were extracted. A total of 199 human errors were identified in the different tasks. The rate of error for action was 46.8%, checking was 25.6%, retrieval was 8.5%, communication was 12.1% and selection was 7%. Rate of unacceptable and unfavorable risks were 21.1% and 38.6%, respectively. SHERPA was shown to be an appropriate technique for detecting medical errors. The establishment of control programs should be a high priority in the management and implementation of health facilities in triage areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the conditions and circumstances that led to the emergence of Nepalese women's mountaineering. It draws a comparison and shows parallels with the development of Western female mountaineering. The special focus here is on so-called ‘women's expeditions’ in the Himalayas. In the last 20 years, these expeditions have played an important role for Nepalese women in gaining access to high-altitude climbing. An overview of the historical developments from the 1950s to the present illustrates the transnational and global involvement of high-altitude mountaineering in Nepal, as well as the impact of political and social programmes to foster gender equality and diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Himalayas are among the world's youngest mountain ranges. In addition to the geologic processes of mountain building and erosion, they are also highly vulnerable to human influenced change, occurring at local, national, regional, and international scales. A photo-elicitation methodology is employed to show how residents perceive those changes from historical perspectives, as well as their current conditions and impacts on their daily lives. Nepal's Khumbu region has undergone major social and environmental transformations since the 1960s when international trekking first began to influence the area's economy. The current perceptions of Khumbu residents of these changes are assessed through photo-elicitation interviews. Their responses are placed in the historical context of: (1) institutional and political changes, most of which have been driven by national government policies; (2) social and economic changes, for which the tourism economy has been central; and (3) environmental changes, reflecting the impacts of resource management and climate change. The mostly positive perceptions of Khumbu residents toward how their region has changed reflects general improvements in the physical and cultural landscapes of the Khumbu over time, as well as its continuing geographic isolation, which has helped to slow the rate of globalization, while also keeping the region a dynamic and popular tourist destination. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Introduction. Studying human errors as a risk factor in the occurrence of accidents is necessary. Thus, the aim of this study was to identify, predict and control human errors in industrial control units. Method. This is a case study carried out using SHERPA in the first unit of Zagros Methanol of Asalooyeh, Iran, and its sub-units. To collect the required data, various methods were used: observing, interviewing processing specialists and control unit operators, and studying technical documents and records. Results. In total, 222 human errors were identified in various occupational tasks. This study showed that 48.62% of them were action errors, 31.97% were checking errors, 6.75% were retrieval errors, 11.70% were communication errors and 0.90% were selection errors. Conclusion. It can be inferred that this method is appropriate for different industries, and it is useful for identifying human errors leading to hazardous accidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attempting to harness the powers of literacy to improve his standing and opportunities in rapidly developing Nepal, Dil Bahadur Tamang, an ambitious uneducated man of the hill village of Charigaon, instead encounters a most unexpected book of power and magic. This article tells the story of his encounter and of my own attempts to understand it. What is it about a book of essays by Lenin that makes it magic? Village resources for interpreting the significance of written materials include secular, Nepali-language schooling with its contexts of development, bureaucracy and state power; Tibetan Buddhist textuality with its ritual and lamaic authority; and the seemingly effortless literacy of foreigners – as well as a variety of less obviously related domains such as street magic, love curses and possession. In the end, however, the major power that literacy carries into Dil Bahadur's life is its power to exclude him. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An integrated analysis of landscape change in the alpine zone of Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park, Nepal, is presented based on the results from five separate research expeditions conducted between 1984 and 2004. Research results indicate that alpine ecosystems (4,000–5,200 m) within the Imja and Gokyo valleys have been significantly impacted during the past twenty to thirty years as a result of poorly controlled tourism. Impacts within the alpine zone include the overharvesting of fragile alpine shrubs and plants for expedition and tourist lodge fuel, overgrazing, accelerated erosion, and uncontrolled lodge building. Evidence suggests that similar scenarios of landscape change in the alpine zone are occurring elsewhere around the Everest massif as the result of adventure tourism. This article stresses that the alpine zone is a comparatively neglected landscape that is in need of greater protection, conservation, and restoration involving integrated, applied research to the clarification of problems, the design of remedial projects, and monitoring of their impacts.“Community-based Conservation and Restoration of the Everest Alpine Zone,” a Sherpa-led project established in May 2004, is provided as an example of how the paper's research results are currently being utilized by local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]