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Objective: To assess the characteristics of campus populations who were opposed to a vape-free campus policy and examine factors associated with opposition to a vape-free campus policy among those who indicated support for a tobacco-free policy. Participants: Faculty, staff, and students (N=2210) in a Midwestern university participated. Methods: Individuals were invited to a campus-wide online survey about the tobacco-free policy on campus in spring 2018. Pearson's X[subscript 2], t-test, and binary logistic regression were used for analysis. Results: Age, gender, current tobacco use, perceived harmfulness of e-cigarettes, and perceived harmfulness of secondhand smoke were significantly associated with opposition to the vape-free campus policy. Conclusions: Our data highlight the importance of various demographic factors that are associated with opposition to the vape-free policy. The current field needs to use informative approaches to improve knowledge of overall tobacco in health campaigns and public health programs on campus and within community outreach programs.

Soft material actuation is a promising field that can potentially solve several limitations of traditional robotic systems. These systems comprise soft and flexible materials to achieve high degrees of freedom and compliance with their surroundings. One method to actuate such structures is to vaporize liquid that is embedded inside the soft material. The soft elastomers are inflated since the generated vapor occupies a much larger volume after phase transformation. The simplest and widely used design to vaporize such liquids is installing a heating element near the liquid. Heating the system beyond the boiling point rapidly boils the liquid and deforms the structure. However, this technique possesses several limitations, such as the heating element must be in the liquid's vicinity, and boiling the liquid requires high temperatures. In addition, embedding a small amount of liquid for faster boiling prevents the use of valves to exhaust the vapor. Instead, the structure is slowly cooled until it returns to its original position. In this study, these limitations are addressed by combining heating with vibrating mesh atomization. The atomizer disperses the liquid into small droplets, which vaporize much faster as compared with simply heating the bulk liquid. Actuation through vibrating mesh atomization was first characterized and compared with other techniques. Then, the introduced method was used to demonstrate cyclic actuation, and a bistable structure was designed and fabricated to demonstrate gripping motion.

This study aims to validate the large-scale application of self-sensing concrete in airport runway pavements and to use electrical resistance tomography (ERT) for characterizing spatially distributed damage during accelerated pavement testing. This self-sensing concrete not only retains the expected mechanical properties of typical airport pavements, but it can also sense deformation and strain. First, sensing properties were encoded in concrete pavements by modifying the cement-aggregate interface with multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) thin films. MWCNT thin films were spray-coated onto dried fine and coarse aggregates, and the film-coated aggregates were directly used for concrete casting. Second, an ERT algorithm was implemented for spatial conductivity mapping of self-sensing concrete pavements. Extensive laboratory tests were conducted on different sized specimens for characterizing their spatial damage detection performance. Last, a full-scale concrete airport pavement slab was cast with self-sensing concrete patches at locations where damage was expected. A heavy vehicle simulator was employed for accelerated pavement testing to induce cracks, while ERT measurements were collected at periodic intervals during testing. The results confirmed that the severities, locations, and patterns of cracks could be identified from the reconstructed ERT conductivity maps. Furthermore, subsurface damage features were identified prior to these cracks propagated and became visible on the surface.

Abstract Soft robotic systems that are inspired by nature utilize soft materials to perform various tasks in diverse environments. One promising method to control their movement is by utilizing liquid vaporization. In most cases, liquid with high vapor pressure is injected into hollow cavities inside the elastomer. Heating the system vaporizes the liquid, and the structure is inflated by the generated gas. However, there is a significant time lag between powering the system and structural actuation due to the slow increase in temperature that is exacerbated by heat loss. Simply using materials with low thermal conductivity can improve actuation, but the reduced heat loss concurrently increases cooling time during the reversing process. Furthermore, underwater actuation through vaporization remains a challenge, since heat loss becomes even more significant. To address these issues, this study aims to develop a system that can actively control heat loss to enhance both actuation and cooling while performing consistently even in extreme environments. First, double-walled structures were fabricated with silicone elastomer to drastically lower thermal conductivity. Next, a thermoelectric device was installed on the bottom layer to heat and cool the sealed liquid by reversing current flow. The low thermal conductivity of the double-walled structure enhanced actuation performance, while actively cooling the system with the thermoelectric device accelerated the reversing process. Structures with single- and double-layered walls were tested underwater to validate their performance. Finite element models verified the effects of wall designs on heat transfer and structural mechanics. Demonstration of enhanced reversible actuation of the system was performed using a soft anemone-like structure operated underwater.

Soft actuation through droplet evaporation has significantly improved the actuation speed of methods that utilize liquid vaporization. Instead of boiling bulk liquid, this method implements atomization to disperse small droplets into a heater. Due to the large surface area of the droplets, the liquid evaporates much faster even at small temperature changes. However, further analysis is required to maximize the performance of this complex multi-physics method. This study was conducted to provide further insight into the atomizer and how it affects actuation. Numerical simulations were used to inspect the vibration modes and determine how frequency and voltage affect the atomization process. These results were used to experimentally control the atomizer, and the droplet growth on the heater surface was analyzed to study the evaporation process. A cuboid structure was inflated with the actuator to demonstrate its performance. The results show that simply maximizing the atomization rate creates large droplets on the surface of the heater, which slows down the vaporization process. Thus, an optimal atomization rate should be determined for ideal performance.

The objective of this study was to develop a noncontact, noninvasive, imaging system for monitoring the strain and deformation states of osseointegrated prostheses. The proposed sensing methodology comprised of two parts. First, a passive thin film was designed such that its electrical permittivity increases in tandem with applied tensile loading and decreases while unloading. It was found that patterning the thin films could enhance their dielectric property's sensitivity to strain. The film can be deposited onto prosthesis surfaces as an external coating prior to implant. Second, an electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) measurement technique and reconstruction algorithm were implemented to capture strain-induced changes in the dielectric property of nanocomposite-coated prosthesis phantoms when subjected to different loading scenarios. The preliminary results showed that ECT, when coupled with strain-sensitive nanocomposites, could quantify the strain-induced changes in the dielectric property of thin film-coated prosthesis phantoms. The results suggested that ECT coupled with embedded thin films could serve as a new noncontact strain sensing method for scenarios when tethered strain sensors cannot be used or instrumented, especially in the case of osseointegrated prostheses.

The article offers information on the critical recovery period following major pediatric surgery, focusing on the first weeks at home. Topics include pain experience post-discharge, emphasizing the need for a better understanding of pain during this period to identify factors associated with adverse outcomes and intervention opportunities.

Tic suppression is the primary target of tic disorder treatment, but factors that influence voluntary tic inhibition are not well understood. Several studies using the Tic Suppression Task have demonstrated significant inter-individual variability in tic suppressibility but have individually been underpowered to address correlates of tic suppression. The present study explored patterns and clinical correlates of reward-enhanced tic suppression in youth with tic disorders using a large, pooled dataset. Individual-level data from nine studies using the Tic Suppression Task were pooled, yielding a sample of 99 youth with tic disorders. Analyses examined patterns of tic suppressibility and the relationship between tic suppressibility and demographic and clinical characteristics. A large majority of youth demonstrated a high degree of tic suppression, but heterogeneous patterns of tic suppressibility were also observed. Better tic suppressibility was related to older age and more frequent tics but unrelated to other clinical variables, including presence of psychiatric comorbidity, psychotropic medication status, tic and premonitory urge severity, and self-rated tic suppressibility. The mechanisms underlying the observed heterogeneity in reward-enhanced tic suppressibility warrant further investigation. The Tic Suppression Task is a promising method for testing mechanistic hypotheses related to tic suppression.

Tics associated with Tourette syndrome and other chronic tic disorders (CTDs) often draw social reactions and disrupt ongoing behavior. In some cases, such tic-related consequences may function to alter moment-to-moment and future tic severity. These observations have been incorporated into contemporary biopsychosocial models of CTD phenomenology, but systematic research detailing the nature of the relationship between environmental consequences and ticcing remains scarce. This study describes the development of the Tic Accommodation and Reactions Scale (TARS), a measure of the number and frequency of immediate consequences for ticcing experienced by youth with CTDs. Thirty eight youth with CTDs and their parents completed the TARS as part of a broader assessment of CTD symptoms and psychosocial functioning. The TARS demonstrated good psychometric properties (i.e., internal consistency, parent-child agreement, convergent validity, discriminant validity). Differences between parent-reported and child-reported data indicated that children may provide more valid reports of tic-contingent consequences than parents. Although preliminary, results of this study suggest that the TARS is a psychometrically sound measure of tic-related consequences suited for future research in youth with CTDs.

Introduction: Parents of children in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) experience substantial stress; a parent's perception of their child's illness severity, more than objective measures, predicts psychological outcomes. No tools exist to assess parents' real-time experiences. This pilot study evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of a text-based tool to measure parental experience. Methods: Inclusion criteria included PICU stay >48 h, physician approval, smartphone access, and English-speaking caregiver. Eligible parents received a text-based baseline survey and surveys every other day while hospitalized regarding their mood/experiences and optional open-ended questions regarding stressors. They received post-discharge follow-up surveys at 1 week and 1, 3, and 6 months. Follow-up surveys assessed mood and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. Interviews and surveys about the interface were conducted 1 week and 3 months following discharge. Feasibility was assessed by descriptive statistics (eg, response rates), and acceptability was assessed by descriptive statistics (survey results) and thematic analyses of interviews. Results: Of 20 enrolled participants, the first 5 were excluded due to technical issues. Of the 15 included, results demonstrated feasibility and acceptability. Most participants (86%) completed all surveys during the PICU stay and continued to complete surveys at a high rate: 79%–94% 3 months post-discharge. All participants agreed that the system was easy to use and were satisfied with the system at discharge, and 91% remained satisfied 3 months post-discharge. Additionally, 76% reported comfort, and 69% reported benefit. From the interviews, participants lauded the system's convenience and applicability of content. Some proposed changes to improve ergonomics. Many suggested this interface could help teams better support families. Conclusions: A text-based interface for measuring experience in the PICU is feasible and acceptable to parents. Further research can explore how this could identify parents most at risk of adverse psychological sequelae and lead to earlier supportive interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]