Previous Flight Experience Research Articles

Identification of Factors Associated With the Development of Optic Disc Edema During Spaceflight

Approximately 70% of crew members who complete long-duration missions to the International Space Station develop signs of optic disc edema, a hallmark finding of spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome. The onset and magnitude of edema differ across individuals, and the reason for this variability remains unknown. Identifying risk factors for spaceflight-induced disc edema is important because this condition may become more severe during extended-duration missions to the moon and Mars and could be associated with irreversible vision loss. To assess whether preflight indicators of crowded optic nerve head morphology, other ocular measures (such as choroid thickness and axial length), body weight, body mass index, sex, age, and previous flight experience are associated with optic disc edema development. This cohort study analyzed ocular, body weight, and demographic data collected from 31 US and international crew members before, during, and after spaceflight at the NASA Johnson Space Center and International Space Station. Ocular factors assessed included preflight and in-flight peripapillary total retinal thickness, minimum rim width, optic cup volume, mean cup depth, mean cup width, cup-disc ratio, Bruch membrane opening area, retinal nerve fiber layer thickness, choroid thickness, axial length, and refractive error. In addition, body weight, body mass index, sex, age, and previous spaceflight experience were assessed for associations with optic disc edema development. The data were analyzed from August 2021 to June 2022. Approximately 6 to 12 months of spaceflight. In-flight increases in peripapillary total retinal thickness. Linear mixed models were used to assess for associations between a wide range of risk factors and in-flight increases in peripapillary total retinal thickness, which is a sensitive objective measure for detecting optic disc edema. This study included 31 International Space Station crew members with a mean (SD) age of 46.9 (6.0) years (25 men [80.6%]). During spaceflight, mean (SE) peripapillary total retinal thickness increased from 392.0 (5.8) μm to 430.2 (9.6) μm (P < .001), and greater individual changes were associated with smaller preflight cup volume (slope [SE], -62.8 [18.9]; P = .002), shallower preflight cup depth (slope [SE], -0.11 [0.03]; P < .001), and narrower preflight cup width (slope [SE], -0.03 [0.01]; P = .03). No associations were observed between changes in peripapillary total retinal thickness and any other variable evaluated. Findings of this cohort study suggest that smaller optic cup morphology may be associated with optic disc edema development during spaceflight. Crew members with this cup profile may benefit from enhanced ophthalmic monitoring during spaceflight and use of countermeasures against spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome.

Will you fly with this airline in the future? An empirical study of airline avoidance after accidents

ABSTRACTWhile safety is the paramount concern of the airline industry, accidents do happen. The subsequent media attention relating to an airline accident might lead potential passengers to avoid certain airline operators. This study examines factors potentially determining tendencies to avoid such airlines. A self-administered random survey was conducted with 230 respondents in a metropolitan area. Structural equation modelling was employed and the results highlight the significant role of consumer trust and service recovery. Consumer trust plays a mediating role in the relationships between the factors (i.e. previous flight experience, company image, stability attribution, controllability attribution) and the decision to avoid an airline.

Protective Effects of Emotional Intelligence and Proactive Coping on Civil Pilots' Mental Health.

Pilots' mental health is an issue of crucial importance that may endanger flight safety. As such, it is of profound significance to address the question of what characteristics are protective of mental health among pilots. The present study aimed to explore the indirect effects of emotional intelligence (EI) on depression and anxiety via proactive coping, and examine the moderating role of previous flight experience (PFE) in the conditional indirect effect of EI on depression through proactive coping. A cross-sectional regression design was used to measure EI (Trait Meta Mood Scale), proactive coping (Proactive Coping Scale), depression (The PHQ-9), and anxiety (The GAD-7) among 319 Chinese civil pilots from China Southern Airlines. Mediation and moderated mediation effects were explored using regression analyses and were confirmed by the bootstrapping approach. Pilots reported relatively low levels of depression (M = 0.39, SD = 0.24) and anxiety (M = 0.22, SD = 0.23). Married pilots had higher levels of depression (t = 2.46) and anxiety (t = 3.07) than single pilots. Proactive coping mediated the association between EI and depression (B = -0.25), as well as the relationship between EI and anxiety (B = -0.23). Moreover, conditional process analysis showed that PFE moderated the indirect effect of EI on depression through proactive coping (b3 = 0.005), in which simple slope analysis showed a stronger mediating effect for pilots with more PFE (simple slope = -0.14). The results showed that EI and proactive coping had protective potential in the prevention of depression and anxiety. Implications for the promotion of mental health and diminishing depression and anxiety among pilots are discussed.Guo Y, Ji M, You X, Huang J. Protective effects of emotional intelligence and proactive coping on civil pilots' mental health. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2017; 88(9):858-865.

Can a glass cockpit display help (or hinder) performance of novices in simulated flight training?

The analog dials in traditional GA aircraft cockpits are being replaced by integrated electronic displays, commonly referred to as glass cockpits. Pilots may be trained on glass cockpit aircraft or encounter them after training on traditional displays. The effects of glass cockpit displays on initial performance and potential transfer effects between cockpit display configurations have yet to be adequately investigated. Flight-naïve participants were trained on either a simulated traditional display cockpit or a simulated glass display cockpit. Flight performance was measured in a test flight using either the same or different cockpit display. Loss of control events and accuracy in controlling altitude, airspeed and heading, workload, and situational awareness were assessed. Preferences for cockpit display configurations and opinions on ease of use were also measured. The results revealed consistently poorer performance on the test flight for participants using the glass cockpit compared to the traditional cockpit. In contrast the post-flight questionnaire data revealed a strong subjective preference for the glass cockpit over the traditional cockpit displays. There was only a weak effect of prior training. The specific glass cockpit display used in this study was subjectively appealing but yielded poorer flight performance in participants with no previous flight experience than a traditional display. Performance data can contradict opinion data. The design of glass cockpit displays may present some difficulties for pilots in the very early stages of training.

Passive magnetic attitude stabilization system of the EduSAT microsatellite

Passive magnetic attitude stabilization systems are simple, easy to realize, cheap, and do not require software development and on-board energy consumption. Owing to these features, passive magnetic attitude stabilization systems were selected for the EduSAT (Educational Satellite) microsatellite, a student-built satellite funded by the Italian Space Agency, scheduled to be launched in the last quarter year of 2010. The passive magnetic attitude stabilization system is based on a permanent magnet, which provides a restoring torque to align an oriented axis of the satellite with the Earth's magnetic field direction, and an energy dissipation system, which can consist of a set of permeable rods magnetized by the oscillation of the geomagnetic field along their axis. UNISAT-3 attitude determination results after 1 year from its launch demonstrated the necessity of an accurate design and manufacturing process of soft magnetic strips. Predicting system performance in orbit and evaluating the obtainable accuracy are not trivial: the main problem is knowing the effective magnetization of the permeable rods. The paper deals with sizing, choice of material, manufacturing process, and arrangement of a set of permeable rods on board the EduSAT microsatellite on the basis of previous flight experience.

Anxiety in adult fixed-wing air transport patients

Introduction: Critically ill patients may experience anxiety because of the method of transport, possibly having an impact on both patients and their health care providers. The purpose of this research was to study the presence and degree of anxiety in fixed-wing air transport patients. Methods: Subjects were 41 patients 25 to 79 years of age. Self-ratings of anxiety were obtained and vital signs were recorded at five predesignated points before, during, and after the flight. Additional questions addressed current and previous experiences and perceptions of flying. Results: Anxiety ratings were generally low, averaging approximately 1.9 on a 1 (“worry-free”) to 10 (“completely terrified”) scale. Anxiety was greatest in anticipation of the flight. Fourteen percent of patients had never flown before; patients with little or no flight experience had significantly higher anxiety ratings. However, in all cases anxiety declined steadily as the flight progressed. Most patients (82%) reported greater worry about their medical condition than about the flight. Conclusion: Anxiety is generally low among adult fixed-wing air transport patients and decreases further over time. This decrease was true even for patients who initially reported high levels of anxiety before the flight. The data suggest that previous flight experience can be used to predict anxiety during air medical transport.

Effectiveness of PC-Based Flight Simulation

PC-based flight-simulation effectiveness was analyzed through a transfer-of-learning study. Sixty college students with no previous flight experience performed a designated-aircraft maneuver. Thirty of the subjects were trained in a computer-based training device (CBTD) before flying; the remaining 30 were taken directly to the aircraft. Chi-square and t test analyses on the data revealed a statistical advantage at the .01 level of confidence for the CBTD-trained experimental group, which performed significantly better than the control group. The CBTD chosen for this study was AzureSoft's Electronic Instrument Flight Rules Environment (ELITE™), run on a Zenith personal computer. Cessna 150 and 152 aircraft were used for the flight portion of the study. The incorporation of CBTDs in flight training is recommended because they have the potential for reducing the amount of hours spent in the airplane.

MATERIALI PER LA CONOSCENZA DEGLI SCIDMENIDI AFRICANI (COLEOPTERA)

SUMMARY A study of some African Scydmaenidae (Coleoptera) collected in Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya is presented. Six species, new to science, are described: Euconnus bremeri, E. rossii, E. bordonii, E. autem, E. uncus, E. obstipus; a new subspecies is also described: Scydmaenus pseudotschadensis lagoena.

The time ambiguity

The analog dials in traditional GA aircraft cockpits are being replaced by integrated electronic displays, commonly referred to as glass cockpits. Pilots may be trained on glass cockpit aircraft or encounter them after training on traditional displays. The effects of glass cockpit displays on initial performance and potential transfer effects between cockpit display configurations have yet to be adequately investigated. Flight-naïve participants were trained on either a simulated traditional display cockpit or a simulated glass display cockpit. Flight performance was measured in a test flight using either the same or different cockpit display. Loss of control events and accuracy in controlling altitude, airspeed and heading, workload, and situational awareness were assessed. Preferences for cockpit display configurations and opinions on ease of use were also measured. The results revealed consistently poorer performance on the test flight for participants using the glass cockpit compared to the traditional cockpit. In contrast the post-flight questionnaire data revealed a strong subjective preference for the glass cockpit over the traditional cockpit displays. There was only a weak effect of prior training. The specific glass cockpit display used in this study was subjectively appealing but yielded poorer flight performance in participants with no previous flight experience than a traditional display. Performance data can contradict opinion data. The design of glass cockpit displays may present some difficulties for pilots in the very early stages of training.