Use of lights and siren: is there room for improvement?

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to analyse the use of lights and siren (L&S) during transport to the hospital by the prehospital severity status of the patient and the time saved by the time of day of the mission. METHODS: We searched the Public Health Services data of a Swiss state from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2010. All primary patient transports within the state were included (24 718). The data collected were on the use of L&S, patient demographics, the time and duration of transport, the type of mission (trauma vs. nontrauma) and the severity of the condition according to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) score assigned by the paramedics and/or emergency physician. We excluded 212 transports because of missing data. RESULTS: A total of 24 506 ambulance transports met the inclusion criteria. L&S were used 4066 times, or in 16.6% of all missions. Of these, 40% were graded NACA less than 4. Overall, the mean total transport time to return to the hospital was 11.09 min (confidence interval 10.84-11.34) with L&S and 12.84 min (confidence interval 12.72-12.96) without. The difference was 1.75 min (105 s; P<0.001). For night-time runs alone, the mean time saved using L&S was 0.17 min (10.2 s; P=0.27). CONCLUSION: At present, the use of L&S seems questionable given the severity status or NACA score of transported patients. Our results should prompt the implementation of more specific regulations for L&S use during transport to the hospital, taking into consideration certain physiological criteria of the victim as well as time of day of transport.

Measuring conduct and cost parameters in the Spanish air transport market

This paper estimates a model of airline competition for the Spanish air transport market. I test the explanatory power of alternative oligopoly models with capacity constraints. In addition, I analyse the degree of density economies. Results show that Spanish airlines conduct follows a price-leadership scheme so that it is less competitive than the Cournot solution. I also find evidence that thin routes can be considered as natural monopolies

Price differences between domestic and international air markets : an empirical application to routes from Gran Canaria

In this paper we examine whether airline prices on national routes are higher than those charged on international routes. Drawing on a database prepared specifically for this study, we estimate a pricing equation for all routes originating from Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain; differentiating between national and international routes. A key difference between these two route types is that island residents benefit from discounts on domestic flights. When controlling for variables related to airline characteristics, market structure and demand, we find that national passengers who are non-residents on the islands are paying higher prices than international passengers.

Evolution of the structural and fracture design of the ISS payloads due to the new launchers, specifically applied to Biolab IEC-2 projects

The relatively young discipline of astronautics represents one of the scientifically most fascinating and technologically advanced achievements of our time. The human exploration in space does not offer only extraordinary research possibilities but also demands high requirements from man and technology. The space environment provides a lot of attractive experimental tools towards the understanding of fundamental mechanism in natural sciences. It has been shown that especially reduced gravity and elevated radiation, two distinctive factors in space, influence the behavior of biological systems significantly. For this reason one of the key objectives on board of an earth orbiting laboratory is the research in the field of life sciences, covering the broad range from botany, human physiology and crew health up to biotechnology. The Columbus Module is the only European low gravity platform that allows researchers to perform ambitious experiments in a continuous time frame up to several months. Biolab is part of the initial outfitting of the Columbus Laboratory; it is a multi-user facility supporting research in the field of biology, e.g. effect of microgravity and space radiation on cell cultures, micro-organisms, small plants and small invertebrates. The Biolab IEC are projects designed to work in the automatic part of Biolab. In this moment in the TO-53 department of Airbus Defence & Space (formerly Astrium) there are two experiments that are in phase C/D of the development and they are the subject of this thesis: CELLRAD and CYTOSKELETON. They will be launched in soft configuration, that means packed inside a block of foam that has the task to reduce the launch loads on the payload. Until 10 years ago the payloads which were launched in soft configuration were supposed to be structural safe by themselves and a specific structural analysis could be waived on them; with the opening of the launchers market to private companies (that are not under the direct control of the international space agencies), the requirements on the verifications of payloads are changed and they have become much more conservative. In 2012 a new random environment has been introduced due to the new Space-X launch specification that results to be particularly challenging for the soft launched payloads. The last ESA specification requires to perform structural analysis on the payload for combined loads (random vibration, quasi-steady acceleration and pressure). The aim of this thesis is to create FEM models able to reproduce the launch configuration and to verify that all the margins of safety are positive and to show how they change because of the new Space-X random environment. In case the results are negative, improved design solution are implemented. Based on the FEM result a study of the joins has been carried out and, when needed, a crack growth analysis has been performed.

Innovative Man Machine Interfaces In Aeronautics

The research activity focused on the study, design and evaluation of innovative human-machine interfaces based on virtual three-dimensional environments. It is based on the brain electrical activities recorded in real time through the electrical impulses emitted by the brain waves of the user. The achieved target is to identify and sort in real time the different brain states and adapt the interface and/or stimuli to the corresponding emotional state of the user. The setup of an experimental facility based on an innovative experimental methodology for “man in the loop" simulation was established. It allowed involving during pilot training in virtually simulated flights, both pilot and flight examiner, in order to compare the subjective evaluations of this latter to the objective measurements of the brain activity of the pilot. This was done recording all the relevant information versus a time-line. Different combinations of emotional intensities obtained, led to an evaluation of the current situational awareness of the user. These results have a great implication in the current training methodology of the pilots, and its use could be extended as a tool that can improve the evaluation of a pilot/crew performance in interacting with the aircraft when performing tasks and procedures, especially in critical situations. This research also resulted in the design of an interface that adapts the control of the machine to the situation awareness of the user. The new concept worked on, aimed at improving the efficiency between a user and the interface, and gaining capacity by reducing the user’s workload and hence improving the system overall safety. This innovative research combining emotions measured through electroencephalography resulted in a human-machine interface that would have three aeronautical related applications: • An evaluation tool during the pilot training; • An input for cockpit environment; • An adaptation tool of the cockpit automation.

Not for Designers: On the Inadequacies of EU Design Law and How to Fix It

Design rights represent an interesting example of how the EU legislature has successfully regulated an otherwise heterogeneous field of law. Yet this type of protection is not for all. The tools created by EU intervention have been drafted paying much more attention to the industry sector rather than to designers themselves. In particular, modern, digitally based, individual or small-sized, 3D printing, open designers and their needs are largely neglected by such legislation. There is obviously nothing wrong in drafting legal tools around the needs of an industrial sector with an important role in the EU economy, on the contrary, this is a legitimate and good decision of industrial policy. However, good legislation should be fair, balanced, and (technologically) neutral in order to offer suitable solutions to all the players in the market, and all the citizens in the society, without discriminating the smallest or the newest: the cost would be to stifle innovation. The use of printing machinery to manufacture physical objects created digitally thanks to computer programs such as Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software has been in place for quite a few years, and it is actually the standard in many industrial fields, from aeronautics to home furniture. The change in recent years that has the potential to be a paradigm-shifting factor is a combination between the opularization of such technologies (price, size, usability, quality) and the diffusion of a culture based on access to and reuse of knowledge. We will call this blend Open Design. It is probably still too early, however, to say whether 3D printing will be used in the future to refer to a major event in human history, or instead will be relegated to a lonely Wikipedia entry similarly to ³Betamax² (copyright scholars are familiar with it for other reasons). It is not too early, however, to develop a legal analysis that will hopefully contribute to clarifying the major issues found in current EU design law structure, why many modern open designers will probably find better protection in copyright, and whether they can successfully rely on open licenses to achieve their goals. With regard to the latter point, we will use Creative Commons (CC) licenses to test our hypothesis due to their unique characteristic to be modular, i.e. to have different license elements (clauses) that licensors can choose in order to adapt the license to their own needs.”

Air cargo potentials between the U.S. and Paraguay /

At head of title: Inquiry Reference Service.

Review of defense-related vertical and short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) aircraft programs : a staff study for the Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives, Ninety-sixth Congress, first session /

Mode of access: Internet.

Guided missiles and rockets, a bibliography, 1946-1956.

Mode of access: Internet.

Civil Aeronautics Board planning study : STOL/VTOL air transportation systems /

Cover title.

Airline airports : locations designated for airports for air carrier scheduled operations and related information.

"April 1958."

Design and construction of continously reinforced concrete airport pavements : final report /

Final report; August 1977.

Systems Research and Development Service, progress report, August 8-9, 1978.

Issued Aug. 1978.

Chord-wise air load distribution : War Dept., Army Air Forces : Navy Dept., Bureau of Aeronautics : Dept. of Commerce, Civil Aeronautics ... /

Tables.

Report to the President to investigate an unadjusted dispute between American Airlines, inc. : a carrier, and certain of its employees represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, International, a labor organization.

Sign: James Healy, Maynard E. Pirsig, Benjamin C. Roberts.