Introduction to the special issue on IEEE NEWCAS 2017

A contactless detector is presented for evaluating hand tremors caused by exercise-induced fatigue and early Parkinson’s disease. The device consists of a spiral coil, a microcontroller, and an inductive sensor circuitry. Theory shows that the resonant frequency of the circuitry increases when the distance between the hand and the spiral coil decreases, thus small variations of distance from tremor can be detected from the changes of resonant frequencies. A mechanical hand was built for experiments to simulate human hand tremors with repeatability at a fixed frequency. The magnitudes and frequencies of the tremors in the mechanical hand were quantitatively identified using the inductive sensor. Hence, feasibility and accuracy of the contactless hand tremor detector were determined. A triaxial accelerometer was used for comparison. By comparing spectral distributions and magnitudes of the tremors, the inductive sensor performed better than the accelerometer. The detector was applied to evaluate actual hand tremors of three subjects who had undergone exercise to induce tremors. The tremor waveform amplitudes of the subjects were quantitatively analyzed by the standard deviations method. The increased signal energies of exercise-induced tremor within 8–12 Hz were confirmed. Then, a subject with early Parkinson’s disease was evaluated by the proposed hand tremor detector. The tremor magnitudes and frequencies of the patient hand were quantitatively identified within in 4–7 Hz. Therefore, the new contactless hand tremor detector can be developed as a clinical instrument for monitoring the fatigue symptoms of post-exercise and diagnosing the early Parkinson’s disease.     

Associations Between Message Features and Subjective Evaluations of the Sensation Value of Antidrug Public Service Announcements

The effective targeting of high sensation-seeking adolescents, who are most at risk for drug abuse, requires the creation of high sensation value messages. Whereas previous research has focused on subjective reactions of receivers as the primary way to define message sensation value (MSV), we conceptualize message sensation value as the formal and content features (audio, visual, and format) of a message that contribute to subjective message sensation evaluations. The three objectives of this study were (a) to identify message design features that would aid in the development of effective prevention messages targeting high sensation seekers, (b) to develop an objective measure of message sensation value based on formal and content features of messages, and (c) to determine whether high message sensation value messages were associated with higher subjective evaluations of message sensation value. In the present study, 418 undergraduates each viewed 10 PSAs selected at random from a pool of 109 PSAs that had been previously coded for message sensation value. Analyses provide support for the central hypothesis of the study, indicating that perceived message sensation value is at least in part a product of the formal and content features of a PSA.     

Multi‐Material Tissue Engineering Scaffold with Hierarchical Pore Architecture

Multi‐material polymer scaffolds with multiscale pore architectures are characterized and tested with vascular and heart cells as part of a platform for replacing damaged heart muscle. Vascular and muscle scaffolds are constructed from a new material, poly(limonene thioether) (PLT32i), which meets the design criteria of slow biodegradability, elastomeric mechanical properties, and facile processing. The vascular–parenchymal interface is a poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS) porous membrane that meets different criteria of rapid biodegradability, high oxygen permeance, and high porosity. A hierarchical architecture of primary (macroscale) and secondary (microscale) pores is created by casting the PLT32i prepolymer onto sintered spheres of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) within precisely patterned molds followed by photocuring, de‐molding, and leaching out the PMMA. Prefabricated polymer templates are cellularized, assembled, and perfused in order to engineer spatially organized, contractile heart tissue. Structural and functional analyses show that the primary pores guide heart cell alignment and enable robust perfusion while the secondary pores increase heart cell retention and reduce polymer volume fraction.     

An electron microprobe study of the influence of beam current density on the stability of detectable elements in mixed-salts (isoatomic) microdroplets

This paper shows that a means of accurately measuring beam current during microprobe analysis of inorganic fluid microdroplets is essential, since certain elements were sublimated from such specimens under easily achieved beam current densities, i.e. S at 1·8 nA/μm², K at 2·5 nA/μm², Na at 3·5 nA/μm², P at 5·3 nA/μm². In comparison, Cl was volatilized even under the mildest conditions used (0·35 nA/μm²), and Ca, Mg and Co were stable under the severest operating conditions (7·1 nA/μm²). Elements were less stable in large (3 μm diameter) droplets than in small (1 μm) droplets under identical irradiation conditions. The onset of volatilization is a direct function of the current delivered per unit area and not of the total integrated dose. The addition of 50 g/l of urea to the mixed-salts (isoatomic) solution, or (a) the mounting of the droplets so that the carbon-celloidin support film was interposed between them and the electron source, and (b) top-coating the droplets with carbon, did not, in general, raise the threshold of volatilization of a given element, but did effectively retard the rate of loss at current densities above the volatilization threshold. A literature survey confirmed that similar losses can occur from biological tissue specimens, albeit at higher beam current densities. Finally, the possibility that local specimen heating during electron/specimen interaction is a cause of element loss during microprobe analysis is discussed.