In automotive dry clutch systems the cushion spring plays an important role in terms of gradually torque transmitted during the engagement phase. In fact, it strongly influences the clutch torque transmission from engine to driveline through its non-linear loaddeflection curve. Therefore, to improve the gearshift performance in automated manual transmission is fundamental the knowledge of the c...

BACKGROUND This study evaluated 3 new automated methods, based on a combination of speckle tracking and tissue Doppler, for the analysis of strain rate (SR) and strain. Feasibility and values for peak systolic strain rate (SR s ) and end-systolic strain (S es ) were assessed. METHODS Thirty patients with myocardial infarction and 30 normal subjects were examined. Customized software with auto...

Total body (TB) dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) can assess regional body composition, which may necessitate greater attention to patient positioning and analysis than required for whole body assessment. This report describes technical challenges experienced in performing TB DXA, explores the frequency with which autoanalysis inaccuracies occur, assesses their effect on regional body comp...

BACKGROUND Lateral turning of critical care patients receiving mechanical ventilation can adversely affect hemodynamic status. OBJECTIVE To study hemodynamic responses to lateral turning. METHOD A time-series design with automated signal processing and ensemble averaging was used to evaluate changes in heart rate, mean arterial pressure, and pulse pressure due to lateral turning in 13 adult...

Finding experts in academics as well as in enterprises is an important practical problem. Both manual and automated approaches are employed and have their own pros and cons. On one hand, the manual approaches need extensive human efforts but the quality of data is good, on the other hand, the automated approaches normally do not need human efforts but the quality of service is not as good as in...

Outgrowth of neurites in culture is used for assessing neurotrophic activity. Neurite measurements have been performed very slowly using manual methods or more efficiently with interactive image analysis systems. In contrast, medium-throughput and noninteractive image analysis of neurite screens has not been well described. The authors report the performance of an automated image acquisition an...

BACKGROUND Nucleated red blood cells (NRBCs) are present in small numbers in the cord blood of healthy fetuses at birth. Acute and chronic stimuli, such as fetal hypoxia, cause increased circulating levels of NRBCs. Manual counting is presently the only way to quantify NRBCs, but it is time-consuming and inaccurate. Recently, automated approaches have been developed in order to quantify NRBCs. ...