In this paper, a new formulation along with numerical solution for the problem of finding a point-to-point trajectory with maximum load carrying capacities for flexible manipulators is proposed. For rigid manipulators, the major limiting factor in determining the Dynamic Load Carrying Capacity (DLCC) is the joint actuator capacity. The flexibility exhibited by light weight robots or by robots o...

BACKGROUND Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I variation influences the progression of untreated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease; however, it is not known whether HLA class I variation may influence clinical outcomes after initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). METHODS Associations between HLA class I genotypes and pretherapy clinical parameters were investig...

Forming limit diagrams (FLDs) are calculated based on both the Marciniak and Kuczynski (M-K)  model and the analysis proposed by Jones and Gillis (J-G). J-G analysis consisted of plastic deformation approximation by three deformation phases. These phases consisted of homogeneous deformation up to the maximum load (Phase I), deformation localization under constant load (phase II) and local necki...

BACKGROUND The aim is to define the role of single nucleotide polymorphism on the progress of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. We evaluated polymorphisms of TNF-α-308, Vitamin D receptor Apa I and Taq I gene in patients with HBV infection. METHODS All subjects included were older than 18 years old. Sixty three patients had chronic HBV infection, 61 were HBsAg positive carriers and 59 were p...

The present research deals with the flexural-torsional buckling analysis of sandwich web and/or flanges tapered doubly-symmetric I-beam. All section walls are composed of two metal face layers and a functionally graded (FG) porous core. It is assumed that the material properties of the porous core vary gradually in the longitudinal direction according to the simple power-law function considerin...

To evaluate the human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) proviral DNA load among asymptomatic HTLV-I-infected carriers and patients with HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), real time PCR using TaqMan probes for the pol gene was performed in two million peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). The albumin gene was the internal genomic control and MT2 cel...