An international survey on the incidence and modulating factors of carsickness

About two in three people have experienced carsickness at some point in their life (Reason & Brand, 1975). Little is known about current numbers of sufferers, cultural differences, or which modulating factors are being perceived as most relevant. Therefore, given a global increase of interest in carsickness driven by the development of automated vehicles, this survey intended to assess the status quo of carsickness in different parts of the world. We conducted an online survey with N = 4,479 participants in Brazil, China, Germany, UK and USA. 46% of participants indicated they had experienced some degree of carsickness in the past five years as a passenger in a car. When including childhood experiences, this rate increased to 59%, comparable to the 1975 findings by Reason and Brand. The highest and lowest incidence of carsickness was reported in China and Germany, respectively. In all countries, men and older participants reported a lower incidence of carsickness as compared to females and younger participants. The main modulating factors were found to be driving dynamics, visual activities, and low air quality. This study showed that carsickness still affects about 2/3 of passengers and discusses how its occurrence relates to in-transit activities and other modes of transport. The research provides a sound basis to further study how carsickness develops and to investigate countermeasures to potentially reduce it.     

中国古代医德教育对现代医学生医德教育的启示

医德医风已成为全社会普遍关注的焦点,特殊职业要求医务工作者应具有高尚的医德,而高尚医德的培养应从医学生教育阶段开始,努力提高医学生的医德素养。我国传统的医德教育方法,如医学生人品的选拔,老师言传身教,徒弟满师传统等等对于培养现代医学生关爱病人、救死扶伤的医德风范仍具有积极的借鉴意义。     

A correlation between sickness or injury within two weeks,chronic diseases and fatigue among adults aged 18–45 years

To investigate the prevalence of fatigue, the relationship between sickness or injury within two weeks, chronic diseases and fatigue among adults aged 18–45 years. Thousand five hundred and seventy nine individuals were included in this cross-sectional study. The Chalder Fatigue Scale (CFS) was used to assess fatigue defined as CFS score ≥4. The prevalence of fatigue was 25% in this study. Our results showed that only sickness or injury within two weeks (odds ratio [OR]: 2.440) and chronic diseases (OR: 1.727) were significantly related to fatigue. Moreover, their ORs for fatigue remained the same in all models (binary logistic regression models with adjusting for demographic and health-related characteristics one by one). In conclusion, fatigue was prevalent among adults aged 18–45 years. Sickness or injury within two weeks and chronic diseases were the risk factors for fatigue independent of demographic and health-related characteristics.     

Comparing simulator sickness in younger and older adults during simulated driving under different multisensory conditions

Driving simulators are valuable tools for traffic safety research as they allow for systematic reproductions of challenging situations that cannot be easily tested during real-world driving. Unfortunately, simulator sickness (i.e., nausea, dizziness, etc.) is common in many driving simulators and may limit their utility. The experience of simulator sickness is thought to be related to the sensory feedback provided to the user and is also thought to be greater in older compared to younger users. Therefore, the present study investigated whether adding auditory and/or motion cues to visual inputs in a driving simulator affected simulator sickness in younger and older adults. Fifty-eight healthy younger adults (age 18–39) and 63 healthy older adults (age 65+) performed a series of simulated drives under one of four sensory conditions: (1) visual cues alone, (2) combined visual + auditory cues (engine, tire, wind sounds), (3) combined visual + motion cues (via hydraulic hexapod motion platform), or (4) a combination of all three sensory cues (visual, auditory, motion). Simulator sickness was continuously recorded while driving and up to 15 min after driving session termination. Results indicated that older adults experienced more simulator sickness than younger adults overall and that females were more likely to drop out and drove for less time compared to males. No differences between sensory conditions were observed. However, older adults needed significantly longer time to fully recover from the driving session than younger adults, particularly in the visual-only condition. Participants reported that driving in the simulator was least realistic in the visual-only condition compared to the other conditions. Our results indicate that adding auditory and/or motion cues to the visual stimulus does not guarantee a reduction of simulator sickness per se, but might accelerate the recovery process, particularly in older adults.     

A simulation sickness study on a driving simulator equipped with a vibration platform

Simulator sickness is a well-known side effect of driving simulation which may reduce the passenger well-being and performance due to its various symptoms, from pallor to vomiting. Numerous reducing countermeasures have been previously tested; however, they often have undesirable side effects. The present study investigated the possible effect of seat vibrations on simulator sickness. Three configurations were tested: no vibrations, realistic ones and some that might affect the proprioception. Twenty-nine participants were exposed to the three configurations on a four-minute long automated driving in a simulator equipped with a vibration platform. Simulator sickness was estimated thanks to the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ) and to a postural instability measure. Results showed that vibrations help to reduce the sickness. Our findings demonstrate that some specific vibration configurations may have a positive impact on the sickness, thus confirming the usefulness of devices reproducing the road vibrations in addition to creating more immersion for the driver.     

How the Free Spirit Became Free: Sickness and Romanticism in Nietzsche's 1886 Prefaces

This paper explores Nietzsche's account of the free spirit's genesis, as primarily given in the 1886 prefaces written for the works of his ‘free spirit trilogy’. In particular, it will focus on how what will be argued is the free spirit's distinguishing capacity for radical questioning is created out of the process described there. That is, it will examine how what Nietzsche calls, ‘the experience of sickness’, in enabling the free spirit's liberation, helps forge a mode of philosophical awareness which is not otherwise attainable. However, the second half of this paper goes on to explore how the success of this process is endangered by a certain psychological tendency to which free spirits are susceptible. In other words, the free spirit's chance of enduring those painful depths of sickness necessary for liberation is threatened by the appeal of ‘romantic pessimism’; a perspective which offers consolation by idealizing the sufferer's state. As such, then, in our final section, we will examine Nietzsche's efforts to combat this phenomenon. In particular, we will look at his advocacy of a specific kind of asceticism for this purpose, and with it his attempt to show how a true liberation of the spirit can be achieved.     

Nietzsche on the health of the soul

Abstract

Health (particularly of the soul [Seele]) is a central concept in Nietzsche’s work. Yet in the most philosophically sophisticated secondary literature on Nietzsche, there has been fairly little sustained treatment of just what Nietzschean health consists in. In this paper, I aim to provide an account of some of the central marks of this health: resilience, discipline, vitality, a certain positive condition of the will to power, a certain tendency toward integration, and so on. This exposition and discussion will be the main task of the paper. Then in the concluding section of the paper, I consider a line taken in some related secondary literature, which would suggest that health might ultimately be understood in formal or dynamic terms, relating to one’s will to power and/or the unity of one’s drives. I will present the beginnings of an argument against such an account of health. In focusing on the formal and dynamic side exclusively, it cannot get the full story. In particular, it seems to me to miss the substantive dimension that is essential if we are to understand health properly. As I shall suggest, the core concept of Nietzschean health is not fully explicable except by reference to normative terms.     

On the connection between sickness and sin: a commentary.

In response to the articles by Eibach and Groenhut in this issue, I argue that there is a general connection between sickness and the entrance of sin into the world. There are times when there is a causal link between more specific sin and sickness, though often the patient is the one who has been sinned against. Illness can also expose sin in a patient's life. Integrating the reality of illness into the life history of a patient is a significant pastoral care issue and can be done with humility and sensitivity if done in accordance with the teaching of Job and Ecclesiastes. These books argue that "under the sun" or this side of eternity, human beings can't grasp the coherence of life, including the "why" of illness. Rather, God provides His loving presence, through His people as a comfort to those suffering from illness.     

Can driving condition prompt systems improve passenger comfort of intelligent vehicles? A driving simulator study

The main trend in the development of intelligent vehicles has been on ensuring comfort, safety, efficiency, and environmental sustainability. However, current research focuses primarily on the safety and energy saving of intelligent vehicles, and a comfortable driving experience through a human–machine interaction system has not been sufficiently investigated. This study used a high-fidelity 6-degree-of-freedom driving simulator to evaluate the impact of an independently-designed vehicle driving condition prompt (DCP) systems on subjective passenger comfort and motion sickness. The experiment showed that when future driving information is obtained through the vehicle DCP systems, the passengers' subjective comfort is improved, motion sickness is alleviated, and the degree of passenger posture instability is reduced. These conclusions contribute toward improving the comfort of autonomous vehicles and providing a reference for the future design of human–machine interaction systems for intelligent vehicles.