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Purpose: Travel fatigue impacts cognitive and physiologic systems, but its association with elite soccer match performance is unclear. In this retrospective observational study, we aimed to explore the association between travel and match outcomes in elite North American soccer. Methods: Travel data and match outcomes (team points or goals scored and conceded) and physical performance outcomes from 26 elite professional soccer teams and their players were analyzed (148 matches [team-based data] and 1252 player matches from 297 players; age 22.7 [4.5] y). Player- and match-level correlations between performance measures and both acute and cumulated travel metrics were analyzed. Results: Cumulative travel metrics were positively associated with team (travel distance [r =.20; 95% CI,.03–.25], travel time [r =.20;.06–.37], and time away [r =.20;.06–.37]) and individual player (travel distance, [r =.14;.08–.19], travel time [r =.17–.23], and time away [r =.13;.07–.18]) high-intensity running. Cumulative time away was negatively associated with team points (r = −.14; −.28 to −.001) and positively associated with goals conceded (r =.14;.01–.27); no clear association between acute travel metrics and match outcomes or physical performance was observed. Conclusions: As travel cumulated, away teams and their players ran more but for less reward (team points), although the magnitude of these associations was small. These data are exploratory and do not imply a causal relationship; however, further research should consider cumulation of travel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The desire to use additively manufactured (AM) parts to ensure the availability of military aircraft, and to build limited‐life unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), coupled with the United States Air Force (USAF) approach to the airworthiness certification of AM parts has focused attention on durability analysis/assessment, and hence on the growth of small cracks in AM parts. Previous studies have shown that laser powder fusion built (LPBF) Scalmalloy® has: i) A yield stress and an ultimate strength that are greater than that of AA2024‐T3 and comparable to that of AA7075‐T6; ii) A resistance to crack growth that is better than that of AA7075‐T6 and comparable to that of AA2024‐T3. However, since the ability to predict the durability of a part is essential for its airworthiness certification, the present paper illustrates how to perform a linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM)‐based durability assessment of Boeing Space, Intelligence and Weapon System (BSIWS) LPBF Scalmalloy®. The durability study includes specimens with both machined surfaces and surfaces left in the as‐built condition. As a result, it would appear that BISWS AM LPBF Scalmalloy® is an ideal candidate for building limited‐life AM replacement parts for fixed and rotary wing aircraft and drones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer. While classical risk factors are well described, the literature debates whether specific subgroups in the community have an increased risk of developing the condition. These include those who work as aircrew or in the defence forces. While occupational skin cancer is increasingly recognised, it is likely still under-reported. This narrative literature review explores the published literature on melanoma, focusing on aircrew and Defence Force members, as results have potential implications for these workers' selection, protection and surveillance. Many but not all studies show that aircrew and Defence Force members may have an increased risk of melanoma, but gaps in the literature are highlighted. In particular, much of the data reviewed is from several years ago and primarily relates to Northern Hemisphere settings. The importance of exploring the current context in the Australian setting to inform future practice is outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we focus on the multi-target tracking (MOT) task in satellite videos. To achieve efficient and accurate tracking, we propose a transformer-distillation-based end-to-end joint detection and tracking (JDT) method. Specifically, (1) considering that targets in satellite videos usually have small scales and are shot from a bird's-eye view, we propose a pixel-wise transformer-based feature distillation module through which useful object representations are learned via pixel-wise distillation using a strong teacher detection network; (2) targets in satellite videos, such as airplanes, ships, and vehicles, usually have similar appearances, so we propose a temperature-controllable key feature learning objective function, and by highlighting the learning of similar features during distilling, the tracking accuracy for such objects can be further improved; (3) we propose a method that is based on an end-to-end network but simultaneously learns from a highly precise teacher network and tracking head during training so that the tracking accuracy of the end-to-end network can be improved via distillation without compromising efficiency. The experimental results on three recently released publicly available datasets demonstrated the superior performance of the proposed method for satellite videos. The proposed method achieved over 90% overall tracking performance on the AIR-MOT dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The civil aviation transportation has sustained rapid growth, which poses significant challenges in ensuring airport safety and efficiency of use. Persons and vehicles are tiny targets in airport surveillance. Existing detection methods are difficult to detect accurately. Enhancing small target detection by only the method of adding enhancement modules inevitably leads to increased network parameters. To address the above issues, this article proposes a lightweight airport surveillance detection based on YOLOv7 named LAS-YOLO. Firstly, we design the lightweight basic module, which significantly reduces network parameters while retaining certain local features. Secondly, we replace the SPPCSPC module with the spatial pyramid pooling-fast module with fewer parameters, further reducing the quantity of network parameters. Finally, the attention mechanism and small object detection layer are introduced to enhance small object detection accuracy. The efficient channel attention module is selected among three attention methods by experiments. We simulate the application process of object detection methods in airport surveillance, training on high-performance computers and testing on lower-performance computer. This article verifies the performance of the proposed method on the public ASS dataset consisting of the airport surface surveillance dataset (ASS1) and panoramic surveillance dataset (ASS2). The experiment shows that the parameters of LAS-YOLO are 12.5 M, which is 34.2 % of the original model. The mean average precision is 89.8 % on the ASS1. This proposed method enhances the average precision for airplane and vehicle detection by 14.5 % and 22.7 % compared to YOLOv7 on the ASS2. In order to reflect the robustness of the model in airport surveillance, we conduct another experiment using airplane data from the ROSD. The experiment demonstrates the superiority of the proposed method over other models in airport surveillance. Code is available at https://zenodo.org/records/10969930. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human factors during aircraft maintenance have a significant impact on aviation safety. Human factors analysis, therefore, is an essential aspect in aviation. The researchers have analyzed human factors in detail. yet, the existing studies are mostly reactive in nature. In the present study, incidents during aircraft maintenance related to human factors were investigated using the HFACS-ME classification system. Critical human factors and their latent conditions were identified and mapped. Identification of active and latent human factors enables proactive mitigation of weaknesses in the system thus ensuring maintenance safety. Interventions to mitigate human factors and improve the maintenance setup at the shop floor, management, and organization levels were formulated. The proposed model validated that past incidents could be effectively utilized as predictors to identify and mitigate active and latent human factors during aircraft maintenance by implementing proactive interventions. KEY POINTS: A proactive approach to identify, prioritize, and mitigate active and latent human factors in maintenance tasks in aviation. Active and latent human factors in aircraft maintenance incidents were analyzed and mapped using HFACS-ME. Dependency of factors was established. interventions at all levels in the organization were proposed to mitigate human factors. The proposed model could be effectively utilized to mitigate human factors by implementing proactive interventions during aircraft maintenance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Helicopter EMS (HEMS) is a well-established mode of rapid transportation for patients with need for time-sensitive interventions, especially in patients with significant traumatic injuries. Traditionally in the setting of trauma, HEMS is often considered appropriate when used for patients with "severe" injury as defined by Injury Severity Score (ISS) >15. This may be overly conservative, and patients with a lower ISS may benefit from HEMS-associated speed or care quality. Our objective was to perform a meta-analysis of trauma HEMS transports to evaluate for possible mortality benefit in injured cases defined by an ISS score >8, lower than the customary ISS cutoff of >15. A broad search of the literature was performed including PubMed, EMBASE, SCOPUS, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Google Scholar from the years 1970 to 2022. The gray literature and reference lists of included publications were also examined. We included studies with the outcome of mortality in HEMS vs control in trauma transports from scene of injury for patients (adult or pediatric) with ISS > 8. Nine eligible studies were used in the final analysis: six in the primary analysis and three in sensitivity analysis due to patient overlap. All studies reported statistically significant survival benefit in HEMS compared to control group. The minimum survival odds ratio (OR) benefit observed was OR 1.15 (95% CI 1.06–1.25) and maximum was OR 2.04 (95% CI 1.18–3.57). Risk of bias tool (ROBINS-I) application yielded moderate to low risk of bias, mainly due to the observational nature of the studies included. There was a statistically significant survival benefit in patients with ISS > 8 when HEMS was used over traditional ground ambulance transportation, although novel and more inclusive trauma triage criteria may be more appropriate in the future to guide HEMS utilization decision-making. Restricting HEMS to trauma patients with ISS >15 likely misses survival benefit that could be afforded to the subset of trauma patients with serious injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Interest in post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) syndrome following COVID-19 infection has been increasing. Maintaining quality of life (QoL) is vital for airline crews because they work in a special environment, where they are responsible for the passengers' safety. This study aims to closely investigate factors affecting the QoL of airline crews, including post-COVID-19 syndrome. Methods : This study was designed as a cross-sectional survey, comprising 167 crews. Findings : Age-specific significant differences were observed in social, overall, and total QoL scores. The physical domain QoL was significantly higher in the cockpit crews than that in the cabin crews. Significant differences were found in psychological and overall QoL depending on years of continuous service. Social domain and environmental QoL were lower in those who had no symptoms after being diagnosed with COVID-19 than in those who were symptomatic. Among the participants, 4.2% had post-COVID-19 syndrome, indicating significant differences in the physical domain, depending on whether they exhibit post-COVID-19 syndrome. Conclusion : It is urgent to develop measures to increase the QoL of airline crews, investigate post-COVID-19 syndrome before returning to work, and develop strategies to manage it. Application to practice : The QoL among airline crews differed not only by the demographic characteristics of the participants but also by the presence of symptoms during COVID-19 diagnosis and post-COVID-19 syndrome. Higher QoL among airline crews is associated with the safety of both airline crews and passengers. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a systematic management protocol for airline crews returning to work after following COVID-19 infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) has seen increasing use in the prehospital environment over the last decade, primarily with the extended focused assessment with sonography in trauma (eFAST) exam. Previous studies have shown prehospital eFAST exams are feasible in the helicopter transport environment but have yet to demonstrate effects on clinical care. This retrospective case series identified 655 patients with blunt thoraco-abdominal trauma or concern for pneumothorax due to penetrating injury transported by a single helicopter EMS (HEMS) program over a two-year period after introducing POCUS. Of those patients, 258 received prehospital ultrasound which was reported to change clinical care in seven cases (2.7%, 95%-CI [1.1–5.5]). This was primarily through preventing unnecessary needle thoracostomy and initiating blood transfusion for treatment of hemorrhagic shock in cases where the degree of shock was unclear due to inconsistent vital signs. This study highlights the improvements in clinical care that may result from the introduction of eFAST exams in the prehospital environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paediatric supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is a common arrhythmia of great clinical significance. If not treated promptly, it can cause heart failure and cardiogenic shock. Depending on the patient's condition, SVT treatment involves vagal manoeuvres, pharmacological, or direct current cardioversion. The goal of acute SVT management is to immediately convert SVT to a normal sinus rhythm (NSR) and prevent its recurrence. Adenosine is recommended as the first-line treatment for stable SVT by the European Resuscitation Council (ERC) and American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines, when vagal manoeuvres have proven ineffective. The ERC and AHA guidelines recommend the intravenous route of administration. The intraosseous (IO) administration technique is also possible, but still relatively unknown. The aim of this paper is to describe a 3.5-year-old child with SVT that was converted to NSR following IO administration of adenosine. Successful conversion was achieved after the second attempt with the adenosine dose. In the described case, there was no recurrence of SVT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Double-propeller compound high-speed unmanned helicopter, which is currently one of the hottest research topics in high-speed aircraft, has the advantages of both helicopter and fixed wing aircraft. In this paper, the flight-dynamics related analysis and manipulation strategy research of the double-propeller compound high-speed unmanned helicopter are carried out. The aerodynamic interference model of rotor to wing is constructed by using the interference factor, and the fuselage model is based on the wind tunnel test data. Then, the nonlinear flight dynamics model of double-propeller compound high-speed unmanned helicopter is presented. In view of the problem of control redundancy, a manipulation strategy is proposed, which allocates the control channel with the weight coefficient, and controls the forward flight speed by the longitudinal channel of the mean propeller pitch. On this basis, the smooth transition of each rod between the three modes is realized, which verifies the rationality of the control strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article examines how emotion is built into the television coverage of airplane disasters in the form of narratives, language and sound. It shows that the reporting embeds emotional content within a set of stylistic features. These features include the outsourcing of emotions, detailed descriptions, juxtapositions, contrasts, conditional perfect as well as technical features such as emotional language and sounds. Based on the findings, we argue that there are layers of complexity in emotional storytelling, which build on a variety of narrative, linguistic and technical features that journalists can draw on. Although we link these to the coverage of airplane disasters, our findings have broader implications for the study of emotionality in journalism studies and disaster communication. As such, these features show the distinctive ways in which emotions may be used in other forms of media coverage, establishing a broad repertoire of emotional practices in journalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reactions to the Wright brothers' achievement of the first sustained, controlled powered flight in December 1903 ranged from complete indifference to voluble celebration and evolved into convictions that ranged from a belief that war would be rendered impossible to confident predictions of invasion and widespread destruction. The policies and perceptions of institutions, governments and individuals were subject to constant revision and often abrupt reversal. When war came, the aeroplane, which began as an instrument of reconnaissance, rapidly became one more hazard among many for those at the front and a further point of division between combatants and civilians, for whom airships and air raids tended to loom larger. The first dynamic phase in the story of the aeroplane overlaps with the major early modernist period. This essay seeks to map, within that wider context, the experiences and responses of Ford Madox Ford. He began, like many others, with images of beauty and the natural world in that early stage when a functioning range of descriptive or comparative terms had yet to emerge. He encountered them next in the theatre of war during his service in France. His ambivalence towards aeroplanes was both similar to and different from his earlier responses to trains, cars and telephones. Their relative rarity, as well as their both physical and metaphorical distance, and Ford's own apparent immunity to the glamour and dynamism of aviation enabled him to view them retrospectively and employ them in anecdote, autobiography and fiction as both threat and saviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safety in General Aviation has been a continuous concern. About 12% of all airplane accidents in General Aviation involve nose-overs and nose-down events. A total of 134 accidents reported by the National Transportation Safety Board that include nose-overs and nose-downs were analyzed for their main causes. It was found that 35% of the defining events involved a loss of control on the ground while 58% of the total dataset involved tailwheel-type aircraft. A relatively high proportion of aircraft built before 1950 were found, which are also aircraft that have tailwheel-type landing gear, and thereby a higher propensity for ground loops and nose-overs. It is shown that the high accident rate in General Aviation, especially for accidents that did not result in a fatality, was, to an important extent, explained by tailwheel and older aircraft in the US General Aviation airplane fleet struggling with controlling the aircraft on the ground. Attention to this group of aircraft in future studies may help to more effectively address the relatively high accident rates in General Aviation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: We investigate the transmission of aerosol particles in an airplane cabin with a joint approach using experiments and simulation. Experiments were conducted in a realistic aircraft cabin with heated dummies acting as passengers. A Sheffield head with an aerosol generator was used to emulate an infected passenger and particle numbers were measured at different locations throughout the cabin to quantify the exposure of other passengers. The same setting was simulated with a computational fluid dynamics model consisting of a Lagrange continuous phase for capturing the air flow, coupled with a Lagrange suspended discrete phase to represent the aerosols. Virtual measurements were derived from the simulation and compared with the experiments. Our main results are: the experimental setup provides good measurements well suited for model validation, the simulation does correctly reproduce the fundamental mechanisms of aerosol dispersion and simulations can help to improve the understanding of aerosol transmission for example by visualizing particle distributions. Furthermore, with findings from the simulation it was possible to crucially improve the experimental setup, proving that feedback between the numerical and the hardware world is indeed beneficial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using VR in the airplane cabin is appealing, primarily because of the enhanced entertainment value, increased privacy, and improved recreational opportunities provided by higher levels of immersion. However, VR applications in aircrafts contain the risk of passengers developing cybersickness. The particular environment of a moving aircraft in interaction with visual representation of movements in VR could lead to severe cybersickness, especially during turbulence. We had 129 participants experience VR in a full flight simulator with different content (static or dynamic VR clips) and during varying phases of flight including turbulence. The employed simulator is equipped with a cabin module, creating an economically valid environment. VR induced significant but mild symptoms of cybersickness. Nausea and dizziness symptoms were most severe during turbulence and especially with dynamic VR content being presented. More anxious participants tended to report more symptoms. In addition, there was an association with video game use and attitudes toward new technologies. While mild content and short exposure times only led to fairly low expressions of cybersickness, a long-term use of VR under turbulence could possibly become a concern. Airlines should especially address passengers’ negative attitudes toward new technologies, and VR in particular, to reduce fears and the risk of low tolerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces an airborne object dataset comprising 22,516 images categorizing four classes of airborne objects: airplanes, helicopters, drones, and birds. The dataset was compiled from YouTube-8 M, Anti-UAV, and Ahmed Mohsen's dataset hosted on Roboflow. Videos were sourced from the first two platforms and converted into individual frames, whereas the latter dataset already consisted of images. Following collection, the dataset underwent labelling and annotation processes utilizing Roboflow's annotation tool, resulting in 7,900 annotations per class. Researchers can leverage this dataset to develop and refine algorithms for airborne object detection and tracking, with potential applications spanning military surveillance, border security, and public safety.

This article examines descriptions of women and airplanes in the pages of American and French interwar fashion magazines. Samples from Femina, La Gazette du Bon Ton, Harper's Bazaar, Ladies Home Journal, Vogue (American and Paris editions), and Women's Wear Daily illustrate how the relationship between women and transportation technology evolved to promote messages of female independence, illustrated by aviatrix ensembles from Madeleine Vionnet and Elsa Schiaparelli. These designs and representations of them in transatlantic media fused the body with the machine, presenting what Jessica Burstein describes as "cold modernism." But these same publications also played on an imperialist sense of superiority, trafficking in racial slurs and cultural bigotry, a preponderant phenomenon described by Anne McClintock in her book Imperial Leather. Ultimately, the spectacularization of aviation and style in fashion media exposed borders that represented either freedom or confinement for women: borders between the nimble body and the clothing that restricted it, between sedentary flesh and flying machine, between the stationary present and the fast-moving future, between the familiar "I" and the unknown other. This article uncovers those technological thresholds and the fashionable women who dared to cross them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aerotoxic Syndrome may develop as a result of chronic, low-level exposure to organophosphates (OPs) and volatile organic compounds in the airplane cabin air, caused by engine oil leaking past wet seals. Additionally, acute high-level exposures, so-called "fume events," may occur. However, air quality monitoring studies concluded that levels of inhaled chemicals might be too low to cause adverse effects. The presence of aerosols of nanoparticles (NPs) in bleed air has often been described. The specific hypothesis is a relation between NPs acting as a vector for toxic compounds in the etiology of the Aerotoxic Syndrome. These NPs function as carriers for toxic engine oil compounds leaking into the cabin air. Inhaled by aircrew NPs carrying soluble and insoluble components deposit in the alveolar region, where they are absorbed into the bloodstream. Subsequently, they may cross the blood-brain barrier and release their toxic compounds in the central nervous system. Olfactory absorption is another route for NPs with access to the brain. To study the hypothesis, all published in-flight measurement studies (2003–2023) of airborne volatile (and low-volatile) organic pollutants in cabin air were reviewed, including NPs (10–100 nm). Twelve studies providing data for a total of 387 flights in 16 different large-passenger jet aircraft types were selected. Maximum particle number concentrations (PNC) varied from 104 to 2.8 × 106 #/cm3 and maximum mass concentrations from 9 to 29 μg/m3. NP-peaks occurred after full-power take-off, in tailwind condition, after auxiliary power unit (APU) bleed air introduction, and after air conditioning pack failure. Chemical characterization of the NPs showed aliphatic hydrocarbons, black carbon, and metallic core particles. An aerosol mass-spectrometry pattern was consistent with aircraft engine oil. It is concluded that chronic exposure of aircrew to NP-aerosols, carrying oil derivatives, maybe a significant feature in the etiology of Aerotoxic Syndrome. Mobile NP measuring equipment should be made available in the cockpit for long-term monitoring of bleed air. Consequently, risk assessment of bleed air should include monitoring and analysis of NPs, studied in a prospective cohort design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay explores airplane manufacturing in twentieth-century Seattle to trace the correspondence between major developmental moments in the city's history and broader transitional moments in American empire. In doing so, it argues that Seattle is best understood as an imperial city characterized by four ongoing features: extensive connections beyond the city's nominal borders; sustained alliance between private commercial interests and the state that made such connections possible; a built environment of technological infrastructure made to serve that alliance; and labor forces, segmented by race, subject to the evolving needs of empire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The articles in this special section employ histories of cities to examine the relationship between human ambitions and the transformation of space, the development of power discrepancies, and unequal access to material and natural resources. They also reveal the relevance of this quintessential human creation to global dynamics on our planet by unveiling the complex and often messy intersection between urban trajectories, local, imperial, or national histories and longue durée global developments. More than a case study, each article delves into the details of the materiality of the urban history they examine to explain how cities exist in the world, or in Richard Harris's words, "how cities matter" to our shared planetary past and present. In this manner, they answer the call for new conversations about the historical relationship between our urban past and our broader global reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When he explained the types of gratitude in the Surah, he mentioned gratitude with types of compounded things, and he referred to his gratitude for compounded things that were not created and that those who existed in the time of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, did not know about, by saying: (And He creates what you do not know) coupled with the type of compounded things, which indicates that it is of the type of what is compounded with significance. Coupling, and this was seen in God's blessings upon His servants with vehicles that were not known at the time the verse was revealed, such as airplanes and the like. Therefore, riding them is permissible because God does not tolerate anything forbidden, and if it is permissible and the time for prayer enters in it, then the Qur'an, Sunnah, and consensus indicate that God does not burden a person except Its energy, so if a person prays in it, he has activated his energy [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is preferentially treated by prompt endovascular coiling, which is not available in Guadeloupe. Subsequently, patients are transferred to Paris, France mainland, by commercial airplane (6751 km flight) after being managed according to guidelines. This study describes the characteristics, management and outcomes related to these patients. Methods: Retrospective observational cohort study of 148 patients admitted in intensive care unit for a suspected aSAH and transferred by airplane over a 10-year period (2010–2019). Results: The median [interquartile range] age was 53 [45–64] years and 61% were female. On admission, Glasgow coma scale was 15 [13–15], World Federation of Neurological Surgeons (WFNS) grading scale was 1 [1–3] and Fisher scale was 4 [2–4]. External ventricular drainage and mechanical ventilation were performed prior to the flight respectively in 42% and 47% of patients. One-year mortality was 16% over the study period. By COX logistic regression analysis, acute hydrocephalus (hazard ratio [HR] 2.34, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.98–5.58) prior to airplane transfer, WFNS grading scale on admission (HR 1.53, 95% CI 1.16–2.02) and age (OR 1.03, 95% 1.00–1.07) were associated with one-year mortality. Conclusion: When necessary, transatlantic air transfer of patients with suspected aSAH after management according to local guidelines seems feasible and safe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the skies have become a battleground against time in a world where eveiy second counts. Since its inception in 1978, a revolution has occurred in emergency medical services, with LifeFlight Helicopters soaring to new heights in emergency treatment and transport. This article will explore the transformation of helicopter emergency medical services through the decades, where every rotor blade spins with a mission to save lives and rewrite the rules of survival. Allegheny Health Network's LifeFlight is a rotor-wing (helicopter) aeromedical transport service that provides rapid emergent transport for critically ill and injured persons. The program hub of operations is primarily in Western Pennsylvania. Since its inception in 1978, the program has grown and transformed into the sophisticated, highly technical, expanded scope of practice, critical care transport service it is today. The crews spend a significant portion of clinical care focusing on preparing the patient to survive the transport and ensure stability during transit; this phase of transport is equally crucial as the patient care during the actual flight. This article introduces the evolution and innovations that LifeFlight's medical crews and aviation practices have undergone since the program started. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Militaries have historically utilised generic physical fitness tests to assess physical readiness, but there has been a recent shift to develop physical employment standards (PES) based on actual job demands. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this investigation was to characterise the physical demands of critical tasks performed by Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) personnel to inform PES development. METHODS: Job task analysis were performed for 27 RAAF trades. Criterion tasks were identified through a systematic approach involving workshops and field-observations. The identified tasks were assessed for dominant physical capacity and grouped into movement-based clusters. Psychophysiological measures were collected from personnel performing the tasks. RESULTS: Of 87 criterion tasks, 92% were characterised as manual handling dominant. Across these 87 tasks the principal physical capacities were: muscular strength (59%), muscular endurance (52%) and cardiorespiratory endurance (39%). The most common movement clusters were Lift to Platform (44%) and Lift and Carry (38%). Lift to Platform tasks required lifting to a median height of 1.32 m (1.20 –1.65 m) and a median mass of 25.0 kg (21.0 –28.9 kg) per person. Median carry mass was 25.0 kg (22.4 –36.1 kg) per person and distance was 26.0 m (17.5 –50.0 m). Median task mean 'Vdot;O2, HR and RPE were 1.8 L.min- 1 (1.5–2.2 L.min- 1), 137 b.min- 1 (120–144) and 13 (12–14). CONCLUSIONS: The high proportion of manual handling criterion tasks emphasises the importance of these activities and the underlying physical capacities for RAAF personnel. Current fitness assessments are unlikely to predict job task performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the group TA of rearrangements of the airplane limit space introduced by Belk and Forrest (2019). We prove that TA is generated by a copy of Thompson's group F and a copy of Thompson's group T, hence it is finitely generated. Then we study the commutator subgroup [TA; TA], proving that the abelianization of TA is isomorphic to Z and that [TA; TA] is simple, finitely generated and acts 2-transitively on the so-called components of the airplane limit space. Moreover, we show that TA is contained in T and contains a natural copy of the basilica rearrangement group TB studied by Belk and Forrest (2015). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrically powered airplanes can cope with global warming by reducing the use of fossil fuels and reduce airplane costs in the long run through the efficient use of energy. For this reason, advanced aviation countries such as the United States and several countries in the European Union are leading the development of innovative technologies to realize a fully electric airplane in the future. Currently, research and development efforts are underway domestically to convert existing two-seater airplanes into electric-powered airplanes. In this study, the KLA-100X, which was developed by converting the existing two-seat lightweight sport airplane KLA-100 into an electric propulsion airplane, was introduced. In this text, the main specifications, design characteristics, and performance of KLA-100X are examined. In addition, the performance of the major components of the propulsion system, in this case the propulsion motor, inverter, and battery developed for application to KLA-100X are assessed, and the control system, additionally altered according to electric propulsion modification, is explained. Finally, the applicability of the developed major components to an electric propulsion airplane is confirmed by conducting ground and flight tests on the KLA-100X and presenting the results. In the future, the expansion of research aimed at improving the performance of current electric propulsion airplanes can be reviewed through the development of a dedicated platform for an electric propulsion airplane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate whether high cognitive task load (CTL) for aircraft pilots can be identified by analysing heart-rate variability, electrocardiograms were recorded while cadet pilots (n = 68) performed the plane tracking, anti-gravity pedalling, and reaction tasks during simulated flight missions. Data for standard electrocardiogram parameters were extracted from the R–R-interval series. In the research phase, low frequency power (LF), high frequency power (HF), normalised HF, and LF/HF differed significantly between high and low CTL conditions (p <.05 for all). A principal component analysis identified three components contributing 90.62% of cumulative heart-rate variance. These principal components were incorporated into a composite index. Validation in a separate group of cadet pilots (n = 139) under similar conditions showed that the index value significantly increased with increasing CTL (p <.05). The heart-rate variability index can be used to objectively identify high CTL flight conditions. Practitioner summary: We used principal component analysis of electrocardiogram data to construct a composite index for identifying high cognitive task load in pilots during simulated flight. We validated the index in a separate group of pilots under similar conditions. The index can be used to improve cadet training and flight safety. Abbreviations: ANOVA: a one-way analysis of variance; AP: anti-gravity pedaling task; CTL: cognitive task load; ECG: electrocardiograms; HR: heart rate; HRV: heart-rate variability; HRVI: heart-rate variability index; PT: plane-tracking task; RMSSD: root-mean square of differences between consecutive R–R intervals; RT: reaction task; SDNN: standard deviation of R-R intervals; HF: high frequency power; HFnu: normalized HF; LF: low frequency power; LFnu: normalized LF; PCA: principal component analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]