By Dr. Chris Daft Engineering inventions to improve health date back at least to 1850, when the famous physicist Hermann von Helmholtz devised the ophthalmoscope. One of the first medical devices, it allows a doctor to look at the interior of a patient’s eye. In the latter part of the 20th century the pace of… read more
By Karen Reimers, MD Direct clinical examination of the testator is the basis for contemporaneous assessment of testamentary capacity. In retrospective assessments where the testator is deceased, experts rely on collateral evidence, i.e. alternative sources of data about a testator’s testamentary capacity and mental function. Retrospective Assessment In the majority of retrospective assessments of testamentary… read more
By Dr. Chris Daft What is Parallel Computing? Parallel computing is a simple concept: it is using more than one processor (or CPU) to complete a data processing task. A couple of decades ago, parallel computing was an arcane branch of computer science. Now, it is everywhere—in cell phones, web sites, laptops and even wearables. … read more
By Dr. Chris Daft What is an ASIC? An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) is a type of integrated circuit built for a specific application or purpose. This is in contrast to general-purpose integrated circuits, known in the industry as Standard Products, such as microprocessors or memory chips. Figure 1 shows the layout of an ASIC… read more
By Kenneth Manges, Ph.D. The brachial plexus is a group of nerves that originate in the cervical spine (neck) and travel down the arm (s). These nerves control the muscles of the shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand, as well as provide feeling in the arm. Some brachial plexus injuries are minor and will completely recover… read more
By Dr. Chris Daft What is Biometric Security? “Biometrics” refers to measurements related to human physical or physiological characteristics, such as a fingerprint. A Biometric Security system controls access to a location, computer system or account data by sensing an aspect of an individual and matching that measurement to a database of registered users of… read more
By Dr. Chris Daft What is ultrasound? “Ultra” is a Latin word meaning “beyond,” or “on the far side of,” so “ultrasound” simply means sound which is too high for humans to hear. This is typically considered to encompass frequencies above 20 kHz (20,000 cycles per second). The hearing of dogs and bats extends into… read more
By Dr. Chris Daft What is Signal and Image Processing? Signal Processing and Image Processing sound like arcane mathematics, but they only appear that way because they operate under the hood as “stealth” technologies. Both are used for many down-to-earth and practical jobs. While not as visible as self-driving cars or cell phones, they are… read more
By Dr. Chris Daft What are MEMS? “MEMS” is an acronym standing for Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems. These are tiny mechanical devices which are made in integrated circuit (IC) factories. When the technologies for electronic chips were developed, there was an unanticipated parallel benefit: the ability to precisely manufacture mechanical devices with very small features. The celebrated… read more
By Thomas G. Taliaferro, CIMA The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority—FINRA—was established in 2007 as a combination of the National Association of Securities Dealers—NASD and the member regulation, enforcement and arbitration functions of the New York Stock Exchange. Contrary to popular belief, FINRA is not an agency of the federal government. It is a private, non-profit… read more
