In Southeast Asia alpha-thalassemia, beta-thalassemia, hemoglobin (Hb) E and Hb Constant Spring are prevalent. The gene frequencies of alpha-thalassemia reach 30-40% in Northern Thailand and Laos. beta-Thalassemia gene frequencies vary between 1 and 9%. Hb E is the hallmark of Southeast Asia attaining a frequency of 50-60% at the junction of Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. Hb Constant Spring gene...

A nonlinear parameter estimation method has been developed to extract the separation-dependent surface force and cantilever spring constant from atomic force microscope data taken at different speeds for the interaction between a silica colloidal probe and plate in aqueous solution. The distinguishing feature of this approach is that it exploits information from the velocity dependence of the f...

Neural networks are often used as a powerful discriminating estimator for tasks in system identification. This paper describes a neural-network-based method relies on the Radial Basis Function Network (RBF network), for estimating the variable damping factor C (n) and spring constant K (n) of a weighting platform. Firstly, the RBF network learns key properties of the step response of the weight...

In this paper, a simplified spring-dashpot model is proposed to represent the complicated nonlinear response of some viscoelastic materials. Recently, the viscoelastic modeling has been adopted by many researchers to characterize some parts of the human body in bioengineering and to simulate many material properties in mechanical engineering, electronic engineering and construction engineering....

Atomic force microscopes typically require knowledge of the cantilever spring constant and optical lever sensitivity in order to accurately determine the force from the cantilever deflection. In this study, we investigate a technique to calibrate the optical lever sensitivity of rectangular cantilevers that does not require contact to be made with a surface. This noncontact approach utilizes th...

We present a micrograting-based force sensor integrated with a surface micromachined silicon-nitride probe for penetration and injection into Drosophila embryos. The probe is supported by springs of a known spring constant, and the penetration force is determined from displacement measurements using a high-resolution, miniaturized optical encoder that is designed to only be sensitive to axial d...

BACKGROUND Hemoglobin Constant Spring (Hb CS) is an abnormal Hb caused by a mutation at the termination codon of α2-globin gene found commonly among Southeast Asian and Chinese people. Association of Hb CS with α°-thalassemia leads to a thalassemia intermedia syndrome commonly encountered in the region. We report chromosome background and addressed genetic origins of Hb CS observed in a large c...

Commercially available prosthetic hands are simple grippers with one or two degrees of freedom; these pinch type devices have two rigid fingers in opposition to a rigid thumb. This paper focuses on an innovative approach for the design of a myoelectric prosthetic hand. The new prosthesis features underactuated mechanisms in order to achieve a natural grasping behavior and a good distribution of...

A simple analytical model is developed for the design of a particular compressor vane-spring in this paper. The model permits the calculation of the stresses due to both static and fatigue loads, and also checks for possible material failure. In addition, a :finite element analysis, using a commercially available finite element method (FEM) computer software, was carried out to determine the sp...

This report makes a case for the need to examine the methodological foundations of AI. Many aspects of AI have not yet developed to a point of general agreement. The goals of AI work, the methods for acheiving these goals, the presentation of results, and the assessment of claims are all highly contentious issues. All aspects of AI methodology are subject to debate The Workshop on the Foundatio...