The behavior of robotic manipulators with backlash is analyzed. Based on the pseudo-phase plane two indices are proposed to evaluate the backlash effect upon the robotic system: the root mean square error and the fractal dimension. For the dynamical analysis the noisy signals captured from the system are filtered through wavelets. Several tests are developed that demonstrate the coherence of th...

Use of composites for a range of structural application in aircrafts, space-crafts, automobiles, etc., has widely spread in the last few years. Other than weight reduction, cut-outs provide pathways to link different aircraft parts. In this paper, an experimental investigation was conducted to study the effect of a cut-out on the tensile strength of the fiber glass/ epoxy composite plate. Geome...

BACKGROUND Examining seasonal patterns of birth defects may help to identify environmental risk factors. Because the teratogenic window for most birth defects is during gestational weeks 3 to 8, investigating exposures closer to the timing of conception is important. However, studies are usually based on month of birth, which is not the biologically relevant exposure period and does not account...

Institutionally acquired pressure ulcers are used as outcome indicators to assess the quality of pressure ulcer prevention programs. Determining whether quality improvement projects that aim to decrease the proportions of institutionally acquired pressure ulcers lead to real changes in clinical practice depends on the measurement method and statistical analysis used. To examine whether nosocomi...

Statement Ideally, a random number generator used for a given simulation problem should pass statistical tests closely related to that problem. But tailoring special tests for each problem is impractical. General purpose generators must then be submitted to a wide range of varied statistical tests, sensitive to diierent types of defects in the generator. In this article, we study statistical te...

We propose robust tests as alternatives to the classical Wilks’ Lambda test in one-way MANOVA. The robust tests use highly robust and efficient multi-sample multivariate Sor MM-estimators instead of the empirical covariances. The properties of several robust test statistics are compared. Under the null hypothesis, the distribution of the test statistics is proportional to a chi-square distribut...

Results Two hundred and thirty six patients were submitted to contact test. Seventy five (31.8%) elderly (> 60 years) and 161 (68.2%) non-elderly (10-59 years). Among elderly, 46 (62.7%) had positive tests, and 29 (37.3%) negative tests. In non-elderly , 112 (69.6%) had positive and 49 (30.4%) negative tests. Despite the difference in positivity between elderly and non-elderly patients, the res...