A spatial disorientation predictor device to enhance pilot situational awareness regarding aircraft attitude

An effort was initiated at the Armstrong Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory (AAMRL) to investigate the improvement of the situational awareness of a pilot with respect to his aircraft's spatial orientation. The end product of this study is a device to alert a pilot to potentially disorienting situations. Much like a ground collision avoidance system (GCAS) is used in fighter aircraft to alert the pilot to 'pull up' when dangerous flight paths are predicted, this device warns the pilot to put a higher priority on attention to the orientation instrument. A Kalman filter was developed which estimates the pilot's perceived position and orientation. The input to the Kalman filter consists of two classes of data. The first class of data consists of noise parameters (indicating parameter uncertainty), conflict signals (e.g. vestibular and kinesthetic signal disagreement), and some nonlinear effects. The Kalman filter's perceived estimates are now the sum of both Class 1 data (good information) and Class 2 data (distorted information). When the estimated perceived position or orientation is significantly different from the actual position or orientation, the pilot is alerted

The effects of acceleration stress on human workload and manual control

The effects of +Gz stress on operator task performance and workload were assessed. Subjects were presented a two dimensional maze and were required to solve it as rapidly as possible (by moving a light dot through it via a trim switch on a control stick) while under G-stress at levels from +1 Gz to +6 Gz. The G-stress was provided by a human centrifuge. The effects of this stress were assessed by two techniques; (1) objective performance measures on the primary maze-solving task, and (2) subjective workload measures obtained using the subjective workload assessment technique (SWAT). It was found that while neither moderate (+3 Gz) nor high (+5 Gz and +6 Gz) levels of G-stress affected maze solving performance, the high G levels did increase significantly the subjective workload of the maze task

Comparison of Allen Carr's Easyway programme with a specialist behavioural and pharmacological smoking cessation support service: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: A combination of behavioural and pharmacological support is judged to be the optimal approach for assisting smoking cessation. Allen Carr's Easyway (ACE) is a single-session pharmacotherapy-free programme that has been in operation internationally for 38 years. We compared the effectiveness of ACE with specialist behavioural and pharmacological support delivered to the national standard in England. DESIGN: A two-arm, parallel-group, single-blind, randomized controlled trial. SETTING: London, UK, between February 2017 and May 2018. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 620 participants (310 in ACE and 310 in the combined behavioural and pharmacological support condition) were included in the analysis. Adult (≥ 18 years) smokers wanting to quit were randomized in a 1 : 1 ratio. Mean age for the total sample was 40.8 years, with 53.4% being male. Participant baseline characteristics (ethnicity, educational level, number of previous quit attempts, nicotine dependence) were evenly balanced between treatment groups. INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR: The intervention was the ACE method of stopping smoking. This centres on a 4.5-6-hour session of group-based support, alongside subsequent text messages and top-up sessions if needed. It aims to make it easy to stop smoking by convincing smokers that smoking provides no benefits for them. The comparator was a specialist stop smoking service (SSS) providing behavioural and pharmacological support in accordance with national standards. MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome was self-reported continuous abstinence for 26 weeks from the quit/quit re-set date verified by exhaled breath carbon monoxide measurement < 10 parts per million (p.p.m.). Primary analysis was by intention to treat. Secondary outcomes were: use of pharmacotherapy, adverse events and continuous abstinence up to 4 and 12 weeks. FINDINGS: A total of 468 participants attended treatment (255 ACE versus 213 SSS, P < 0.05). Of those who did attend treatment, 100 completed 6-month measures (23.7% ACE versus 20.7% SSS). Continuous abstinence to 26 weeks was 19.4% (60 of 310) in the ACE intervention and 14.8% (46 of 310) in the SSS intervention [risk difference for ACE versus SSS 4.5% (95% confidence interval (CI) = -1.4 to 10.4%, odds ratio (OR) = 1.38)]. The Bayes factor for superiority of the ACE condition was 1.24. CONCLUSION: There was no clear evidence of a difference in the efficacies of the Allen Carr's Easyway (ACE) and specialist smoking cessation support involving behavioural support and pharmacotherapy

New converts and seasoned campaigners: the role of social identity at different stages in the addiction recovery journey

Social identities associated with recovery are protective of relapse from addiction. How such identities develop and differentially link to outcomes at different points of the recovery journey and across multiple recovery attempts is relatively unknown. The current study utilised a pre-existing cross-sectional dataset (n=237 Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) members, 50% male, 49.4% female and 0.6% female-to-male, aged between 19 and 71 years) to explore these issues. Relationships between AA identity, quit efficacy (a proxy for recovery maintenance) and AA meeting attendance (over the last month) were tested. The moderating effects of length of AA attendance during the current recovery episode and first vs subsequent quit attempts on the identity-efficacy link was also tested. Levels of social identity were stable amongst those in the early in their current recovery through to those who have more experience, but the relationships between identity and efficacy differed. While those early on in their current AA attendance showed a positive relationship between identities and frequency of attending meetings, those with more long-standing attendance reported social identification unrelated to involvement. Our results suggest that social identities may be particularly protective for those who are on their first quit, suggesting recovery formation and transition may be a priority

When ingroup identities “clash”: The influence of beliefs about incompatibilities between being a Christian and a drinker affect motivation to change drinking behaviour.

Whilst research has demonstrated the influence of individual and social identities on drinking-related beliefs and behaviours, none evaluates how identities’ incompatibilities are associated with mental health, current drinking status nor intentions and motivations to change drinking behaviour. The current study explored how variability in incompatibilities between the social identities of being a drinker and a Christian related to mental health, alcohol use behaviour and intentions to change drinking behaviour. A cross-sectional online survey (via a recruitment platform, Prolific) recruited n = 180 US resident Christians who drank alcohol (56.4% male, 46.6% female, mean age = 37 years). Increased incompatibility between identities moderated the effect of current Christian identity on drinking change motivations – with the strongest links amongst those with the highest levels of incompatibility. A similar effect was also shown for increasing incompatibility between perceptions of the self as an individual and drinking behaviour (self/drinker incompatibility). The relationship between Christian identity on current drinking behaviour was also shown to be moderated by decreased Christian/drinker identity incompatibility but not self/drinker incompatibility. No effects were shown for general mental well-being. The study highlights that differences in the protective role of religious identities likely depend on how they relate to others, and the key role of identity incompatibility

The Dynamics of Social Systems

My intent is to explain the how of this framework, not in extensively difficult terms, but as I understand its application. Since I am blessed with very little mathematical bent, acceptance of the part of this which relies on a computer, was for me, a leap of faith. This was not a major problem for me, as I am convinced of the feasability and applicability of this particular mode of study. I ask you to appreciate this acceptance and proceed with me from this point, believing that understanding the innermost technical workings of this method is not integral to understanding its value and application

The intoxicated co-witness: effects of alcohol and dyadic discussion on memory conformity and event recall.

Co-witness discussion is common and often witnesses are under the influence of alcohol. As such, it is important to understand how such factors may influence eyewitness testimony. We combined a co-witness memory paradigm with an alcohol administration paradigm to examine the influence of alcohol and dyadic discussion on remembering a mock crime. Intoxicated and sober dyads discussed a previously seen video, whilst in a control condition sober and intoxicated individuals recalled the event on their own. Unknown to the dyads, each discussion partner saw a different version of the video including unique details not present in the other video version. All participants then engaged in a second individual recall attempt. Dyads were more likely to recall misleading details in their individual recall attempts compared to the control group. Intoxicated and sober dyads were equally likely to report misleading information. Alcohol intoxication had no negative impact on individuals' ability to correctly identify the source of their responses. Intoxicated participants recalled fewer details under free recall conditions. Alcohol had a detrimental effect on participants' confidence in their free recall accounts. Possible alcohol-related and social-cognitive mechanisms are discussed which may contribute to the current findings as well as applied implications for interviewing intoxicated witnesses

Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of Allen Carr's Easyway programme versus Lambeth and Southwark NHS for smoking cessation.

INTRODUCTION: Smoking is a major cause of ill health and is associated with several diseases including cancer, coronary heart disease and stroke. Many psychological and pharmacological smoking cessation treatments are available and although they are undoubtedly the most cost-effective health interventions available, many people still fail to maintain cessation in the longer term. Recently, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence called for comparative studies to determine the short-term and long-term effectiveness of Allen Carr's Easyway (ACE) method of stopping smoking. This study will compare the efficacy of the ACE programme and a 1-1 counselling service available via the National Health Service. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A two-arm, parallel-group, blinded, randomised controlled trial will be conducted with people who smoke tobacco cigarettes, are aged ≥18 years and are motivated to quit. Exclusion criteria comprise self-reported mental health condition, pregnancy or respiratory disease such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or emphysema. The primary treatment outcome is smoking cessation 26 weeks after treatment. Participants will be analysed on an intention to treat basis at the point of randomisation. Before being randomised, the research team will not inform participants which two treatments are being compared. Once randomised researchers will be blinded to participant condition, and participants will be blinded to the condition they are not assigned to. Logistic regression will be used to estimate the effectiveness of the treatment condition on smoking cessation at 26 weeks. The following covariates will be included: baseline quit efficacy (at inclusion), age (at inclusion), gender and baseline nicotine dependency. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Approval was granted by London-Fulham Research Ethics Committee (ref: 16/LO/1657). The study's findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals and disseminated at national and international conferences. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier number: NCT02855255. ISRCTN registration number: ISRCTN23584477; Pre-results

Components of Identity Expression in Problem and Non-Problem Gamblers.

Few studies have examined whether specific aspects of group identification predict problematic and non-problematic addictive behaviours and none have focused on gambling. Applying Leach et al.’s (2008) hierarchical model of in-group identification, we tested the associations between components of self-investment (satisfaction, solidarity, and centrality) and components of self-definition (individual self-stereotyping, in-group homogeneity) on distinguishing between problem and non-problem gambling (n = 10,157) and on the severity of problematic gambling behaviour (n = 2,568). Results showed that (i) in-group-based identities are important in predicting problematic vs. non-problematic gambling behaviours; (ii) in-group-based identities are important in predicting the severity of problematic gambling; (iii) how self-invested an individual is with their in-group and aspects associated with self-definition processes are both important predictors; (iv) perceptions related to how chronically salient one’s group membership is for the self (centrality) are essential features of the self-investment mechanism; and (v) self-stereotypical beliefs about one’s essential similarities to the prototypical gambling group member norm are fundamental for the defining oneself as a gambler