LED-transistor optical vascular measure: Calibration,replicability, and comparability to strain-gauge measures

Recently, a LED-transistor optoelectronic package (Sensor Technology 850A) has been used to measure peripheral vascular responses. This report examines the calibration and measurement replicability of this device and relates device output to flow measures derived from venous occlusion plethysmography. Measures were taken from the thumbnails of 11 male volunteers. A correlational analysis of sequential amplitude readings compared calibrated and uncalibrated values. Calibration failed to increase the sensitivity of the measures. Replicability of measurement was assessed by removing and replacing the device five times. A correlation of .87 suggested that the readings are replicable. Finally, the amplitude of the optical signal was correlated to concurrent flow measures. Only modest correlations were observed as computed across time within individuals or between individuals. The optical device does not appear to be a direct measure of flow as assessed by venous occlusion plethysmography, rather, it may be heavily influenced by the mechanical motion of the vessel wall.     

The effect of SpeechEasy on stuttering frequency, speech rate, and speech naturalness

The effects of SpeechEasy on stuttering frequency, stuttering severity self-ratings, speech rate, and speech naturalness for 31 adults who stutter were examined. Speech measures were compared for samples obtained with and without the device in place in a dispensing setting. Mean stuttering frequencies were reduced by 79% and 61% for the device compared to the control conditions on reading and monologue tasks, respectively. Mean severity self-ratings decreased by 3.5 points for oral reading and 2.7 for monologue on a 9-point scale. Despite dramatic reductions in stuttering frequency, mean global speech rates in the device condition increased by only 8% in the reading task and 15% for the monologue task, and were well below normal. Further, complete elimination of stuttering was not associated with normalized speech rates. Nevertheless, mean ratings of speech naturalness improved markedly in the device compared to the control condition and, at 3.3 and 3.2 for reading and monologue, respectively, were only slightly outside the normal range. These results show that SpeechEasy produced improved speech outcomes in an assessment setting. However, findings raise the issue of a possible contribution of slowed speech rate to the stuttering reduction effect, especially given participants' instructions to speak chorally with the delayed signal as part of the active listening instructions of the device protocol. Study of device effects in situations of daily living over the long term is necessary to fully explore its treatment potential, especially with respect to long-term stability. Educational objectives: The reader will be able to discuss and evaluate: (1) issues pertinent to evaluating treatment benefits of fluency aids and (2) the effects of SpeechEasy on stuttering frequency, speech rate, and speech naturalness during testing in a dispensing setting for a relatively large sample of adults who stutter.     

Semantics,experience and time

The computational hypothesis, with its inherent representationalism, and the dynamical hypothesis, with its apparent absence of representations and its commitment to continuous time, stand at an impasse. It is unclear how the dynamical stance can handle representational thought, or how computationalism can deal effectively with a tightly coupled, reciprocally causative agent–environment system in continuous transformation. Underlying this dilemma is the complex relation of mind to time, a relation encoded in the word experience. We must ask if any hypothesis describes a ‘device’ capable of experience? Yet what is an intelligence and its thought without experience? Is a computational device, whether supporting a symbolic processor or connectionist net, intrinsically condemned to a zero degree of experience? What is required of a dynamical device? It is argued here that ‘semantic’ intelligence and thought rests upon experience, fundamentally upon the invariance laws defined over time within conscious perception. The structure of experience is intrinsically unavailable to the computational device, limiting it to a ‘syntactic’ intelligence. An alternative conception of a device is offered, based on Bergson conjoined with Gibson, which supports the qualitative and structural aspects of experience and the semantic. It frames a dynamical model of perception and memory in which invariance laws are intrinsic, creates a deeper notion of situatedness, and supports a concept of semantically based, representative thought founded upon perception.     

Thought,thoughts, and deflationism

Philosophical Studies - Deflationists about truth embrace the positive thesis that the notion of truth is useful as a logical device, for such purposes as blanket endorsement, and the negative...     

Design,data, and theory regarding a digital hand inclinometer: a portable device for studying slant perception

Palm boards are often used as a nonverbal measure in human slant perception studies. It was recently found that palm boards are biased and relatively insensitive measures, and that an unrestricted hand gesture provides a more sensitive response (Durgin, Hajnal, Li, Tonge, & Stigliani, Acta Psychologica, 134, 182-197, 2010a). In this article, we describe an original design for a portable lightweight digital device for measuring hand orientation. This device is microcontroller-based and uses a micro inclinometer chip as its inclination sensor. The parts are fairly inexpensive. This device, used to measure hand orientation, provides a sensitive nonverbal method for studying slant perception, which can be used in both indoor and outdoor environments. We present data comparing the use of a free hand to palm-board and verbal measures for surfaces within reach and explain how to interpret free-hand measures for outdoor hills.     

A simple,inexpensive, constant-flow pump for delivering liquid reinforcers

A liquid reinforcer, controlled by a solenoid valve venting to atmospheric pressure, eliminates the chance of interrupted flow due to a clogged valve. The device maintains a constant flow at adjustable rates, and is inexpensive and easy to construct.     

An ultrasonic motion detector,with data on stare,restriction of movement,and startle

The ultrasonic motion detector can measure activity in free-ranging Ss; it may be useful in studies of arousal. This device records counts of activity per unit of time. Sixty Ss were run in three experiments to evaluate the convenience and usefulness of the technique.     

Transformations,basic operations and language acquisition

Errors in child speech show that some children initially formulate tense-hopping and subject-auxiliary inversion as copying without deletion. Other errors suggest that some children may formulate other movement rules as deletion without copying. A claim about the nature of the language acquisition device is made on the basis of our analysis of these errors: the language acquisition device formulates hypotheses about transformations in terms of basic operations. The basic-operations hypothesis predicts that for any transformation which is composed of more than one basic operation, there exists a class of errors in child speech correctly analyzed as failure to apply one (or more) of the operations specified in the adult formulation of the rule.     

Differences in the cognitive demands of word order,plural, and subject-verb agreement constructions

The syntactic devices of subject-verb-object word order, regular plurals, and subject-verb agreement differ in age of acquisition and susceptibility to error within language-disordered populations. In the present article, the performance of adults on a grammaticality judgment task is used to explore whether such differences are related to working memory (both in terms of an externally imposed load and individual differences in capacity) and phonological ability. The results show that word order, the earliest acquired and most resilient device, is not affected by load, memory span, or phonological ability. Plurals are affected marginally by load and significantly by phonological ability. Agreement, the last acquired and least resilient device, is affected by load, memory span, and phonological ability. Thus, consistent with a processing-based explanation, later acquired and less resilient devices have higher working memory and phonological demands.     

Apparative therapy of enuresis nocturna, experience and problems

Eleven patients aged 5 7/12 to 15 9/12 years were treated with the "pillow wakener" (a device developed by the author and his associates) within the framework of an exploratory study of apparatus-assisted treatment of bed-wetting. The critical analysis of this device and form of therapy has as its objective to encourage investigators to make further studies in the field of treatment of bed-wetting. Particular difficulties such as technical deficiencies, the need for the interruption stimulus immediately following the activity of the bladder the problem of deep sleep, etc. are pointed out.     

ENURESIS CONTROL THROUGH FADING,ESCAPE, AND AVOIDANCE TRAINING

A twin-signal device that provides both escape and avoidance conditioning in enuresis control is described involving a procedure documented by two case studies. In addition, a technique of fading as an adjunct to the process is utilized with one subject. The results indicate that a combination of operant and respondent conditioning involving escape and avoidance training may be an improvement over the more traditional conditioning procedure.     

A simple,inexpensive, liquid-tight swivel connection for use in chronic infusion systems

This note describes the fabrication of a simple, inexpensive, liquid-tight swivel joint for twist-free coupling of small, freely moving animals to infusion systems. The device uses a disposable hypodermic needle and syringe as the main components, and fabrication requires only readily available hand tools and minimal mechanical expertise.     

Living together, feeding apart: How to measure individual food consumption in social house mice

In many studies with animals kept in groups, scientists need information about each individual’s food access without disturbance or separation of the animals. We developed an automatic feeding device that allows measurement of individual food consumption and experimental manipulation of individual food availability in small social mammals, such as house mice. The feeding device is based on radio frequency identification that triggers access to a motor-driven metal arm filled with food pellets and is mediated with the help of subcutaneously implanted transponders.     

A portable,solid-state anomaloscope

Various methods of assessing color vision are discussed. The anomaloscope is concluded to be the best of these, but it is not widely used because of complexity and cost considerations. The design of a portable, solid-state anomaloscope that uses tristate light-emitting diodes is described. This device has many of the desirable features of the standard Nagel-type anomaloscope and can be constructed at a fraction of the price.     

But doctor, it's my hip!: the fate of failed medical devices

It is difficult to study failed medical devices because of a lack of data. Routine device retrieval and analysis (DRA) is essential to performance evaluation, which, in turn, is essential to good patient care. We argue for the development of a national DRA program and medical device database and discuss the major ethical and policy issues associated with this proposal.     

A self-contained,regulated, burst-firing constant-current ac shock generator

A line- and load-regulated constant-current ac shock generator has been designed for animal behavior experiments. The self-contained unit has four operating modes, amplitude adjustment, and a leakage current detection circuit. A unique feature of this generator is that the good load regulation achieved by using a high-voltage source is preserved without such problems as arcing and high current density effects. Circuit schematics, along with a discussion of selected circuits, are included. Experimental data are presented to demonstrate the utility of the device.     

The Ethics of Smart Pills and Self-Acting Devices: Autonomy,Truth-Telling,and Trust at the Dawn of Digital Medicine

Digital medicine is a medical treatment that combines technology with drug delivery. The promises of this combination are continuous and remote monitoring, better disease management, self-tracking, self-management of diseases, and improved treatment adherence. These devices pose ethical challenges for patients, providers, and the social practice of medicine. For patients, having both informed consent and a user agreement raises questions of understanding for autonomy and informed consent, therapeutic misconception, external influences on decision making, confidentiality and privacy, and device dependability. For providers, digital medicine changes the relationship where trust can be verified, clinicians can be monitored, expectations must be managed, and new liability risks may be assumed. Other ethical questions include direct third-party monitoring of health treatment, affordability, and planning for adverse events in the case of device malfunction. This article seeks to lay out the ethical landscape for the implementation of such devices in patient care.     

Reinventing the algometer: Synopsis of the literature and presentation of a reliable,inexpensive model

This article summarizes the historical development of the algometer in scientific investigations and notes hallmarks in the evolution of the device. The algometer has served as a safe nociceptive stimulus for more than a century. Although the earliest renditions were inexpensive, they were often unreliable and difficult to operate. More modern versions have brought reliability, but at increased expense and complexity. Newer versions have failed to make the device easy enough to use to be practical. The “reinvented” algometer is reliable, less expensive than commercial devices, and easy to build and use. These improvements should allow greater application of the algometer in empirical research and assessment of pain.     

An inexpensive circuit for beta,alpha, theta,or delta EEG biofeedback

An inexpensive circuit is described for EEG biofeedback or measurement. The circuit is designed to interface easily with most basic EEG machines. It taps the output from a single recording channel of the basic EEG instrument and provides the following for each EEG band (beta, alpha, theta, and delta): (a) very selective bandpass discrimination, (b) variable center frequency, (c) variable threshold at which feedback will be provided, or the measurement made, and (d) use with any biofeedback stimulus or measurement device that one wishes to switch contingent with S’s EEG rhythms.