Software Evaluation Research Articles

Investigation of the Hydroelectric Development Potential of Nonpowered Dams: A Case Study of the Buyuk Menderes River Basin

The adaptation of nonpowered dams (NPDs) to dams with hydroelectric generation units requires only minor interventions compared with the construction of a completely new dam and power plant. Thus, it is both more economical and has a minimal environmental impact, especially during construction. The aim of this study was to determine the environmental, technical, and economic feasibility of hydroelectric retrofitting projects in the Büyük Menderes basin in Turkey. For this purpose, the economic feasibility and retrofitting potential of 11 NPDs in the basin were investigated using Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) software. The results from the energy simulation revealed that the annual average hydropower generation potential and installed capacity for the selected 11 NPDs are 38.7 GWh/year and 4.4 MW, respectively. The total estimated capital investment cost of the 11 retrofit projects was found to be $7.9 million with a total NPV of $25.6 million. In addition, in this study, the leveled electricity cost for each retrofitting project was established and compared with the LCOE values of other renewable energy sources. The findings show that retrofitting NPDs may represent an as yet untapped opportunity to support the global energy transition by providing a cheaper and more environmentally friendly option to pioneer rural electrification.

Mobile System Design of Higher Vocational English Listening and Speaking Course Based on SPOC Integrated Online Evaluation Software Design

In this paper, the course design process from analysis to evaluation in blended teaching based on SPOC model will help college English teachers to update the content and structure of traditional courses under the background of information technology. First, a model of course ideological and political teaching based on SPOC teaching is constructed, and then the practice is carried out. activities to deepen college English teaching and optimize the educational value of English courses. Finally, the determination of the assessment and evaluation system and the online and offline teaching are designed, and the curriculum construction and teaching design of the online teaching of the course are elaborated. Under the new model of SPOC flipped classroom blended teaching, it is proposed to effectively eliminate these five types of negative motivational factors.

Effectiveness of Thoracic Spine Manipulation on the Management of Neck Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Control Trials.

There are contradicting findings regarding the effect of thoracic spine manipulation in decreasing pain and disability in patients with chronic mechanical neck pain. Hence, the purpose of this review was to evaluate the current evidence on the effectiveness of thoracic spine thrust manipulation in decreasing pain intensity, and neck disability among subjects with chronic mechanical neck pain. We made a comprehensive search of literature published between 2010 and 2020 from the electronic databases of PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Cochrane Library, and Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro). We adhered to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA). The methodological quality was assessed by the PEDro scale, and the level of evidence rated by Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) software. Finally, a meta-analysis was done using RevMan 5.3 with a random-effects model to calculate the mean difference (MD) and 95% confidence intervals for pain and disability. Eight eligible randomized controlled trials were identified with a total of 457 participants. The quality assessment of the included studies was found to be fair in quality (mean PEDro score of 6.63/10). The overall GRADE of the review showed low to moderate level of evidence. Effect size estimates of the studies showed modest differences in pain reduction, as it revealed a significant effect in Visual Analog Scale ((VAS) 0-100mm) (MD -12.46; 95% CI: -17.29, -7.64), and Pain Numeric Rating Scale ((PNRS) 0-10 pts) (MD -0.8; 95% CI: -1.60, -0.10). The thoracic manipulation also resulted in a significant effect in decreasing neck disability, in which the mean difference in Neck disability index (NDI) showed (MD -6.46; 95% CI: -10.43 -2.50). This review suggested that thoracic spine manipulation was effective in reducing pain and neck disability in all adults with chronic mechanical neck pain compared to other interventions.

Repeatability and reproducibility of various 4D Flow MRI postprocessing software programs in a multi-software and multi-vendor cross-over comparison study

BackgroundDifferent software programs are available for the evaluation of 4D Flow cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR). A good agreement of the results between programs is a prerequisite for the acceptance of the method. Therefore, the goal was to compare quantitative results from a cross-over comparison in individuals examined on two scanners of different vendors analyzed with four postprocessing software packages. MethodsEight healthy subjects (27 ± 3 years, 3 women) were each examined on two 3T CMR systems (Ingenia, Philips Healthcare; MAGNETOM Skyra, Siemens Healthineers) with a standardized 4D Flow CMR sequence. Six manually placed aortic contours were evaluated with Caas (Pie Medical Imaging, SW-A), cvi42 (Circle Cardiovascular Imaging, SW-B), GTFlow (GyroTools, SW-C), and MevisFlow (Fraunhofer Institute MEVIS, SW-D) to analyze seven clinically used parameters including stroke volume, peak flow, peak velocity, and area as well as typically scientifically used wall shear stress values. Statistical analysis of inter- and intrareader variability, inter-software and inter-scanner comparison included calculation of absolute and relative error (ER), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), Bland–Altman analysis, and equivalence testing based on the assumption that inter-software differences needed to be within 80% of the range of intrareader differences. ResultsSW-A and SW-C were the only software programs showing agreement for stroke volume (ICC = 0.96; ER = 3 ± 8%), peak flow (ICC: 0.97; ER = −1 ± 7%), and area (ICC = 0.81; ER = 2 ± 22%). Results from SW-A/D and SW-C/D were equivalent only for area and peak flow. Other software pairs did not yield equivalent results for routinely used clinical parameters. Especially peak maximum velocity yielded poor agreement (ICC ≤ 0.4) between all software packages except SW-A/D that showed good agreement (ICC = 0.80). Inter- and intrareader consistency for clinically used parameters was best for SW-A and SW-D (ICC = 0.56–97) and worst for SW-B (ICC = -0.01–0.71). Of note, inter-scanner differences per individual tended to be smaller than inter-software differences. ConclusionsOf all tested software programs, only SW-A and SW-C can be used equivalently for determination of stroke volume, peak flow, and vessel area. Irrespective of the applied software and scanner, high intra- and interreader variability for all parameters have to be taken into account before introducing 4D Flow CMR in clinical routine. Especially in multicenter clinical trials a single image evaluation software should be applied.

The use of non-functional clonotypes as a natural calibrator for quantitative bias correction in adaptive immune receptor repertoire profiling.

High-throughput sequencing of adaptive immune receptor repertoires is a valuable tool for receiving insights in adaptive immunity studies. Several powerful TCR/BCR repertoire reconstruction and analysis methods have been developed in the past decade. However, detecting and correcting the discrepancy between real and experimentally observed lymphocyte clone frequencies are still challenging. Here, we discovered a hallmark anomaly in the ratio between read count and clone count-based frequencies of non-functional clonotypes in multiplex PCR-based immune repertoires. Calculating this anomaly, we formulated a quantitative measure of V- and J-genes frequency bias driven by multiplex PCR during library preparation called Over Amplification Rate (OAR). Based on the OAR concept, we developed an original software for multiplex PCR-specific bias evaluation and correction named iROAR: immune Repertoire Over Amplification Removal (https://github.com/smiranast/iROAR). The iROAR algorithm was successfully tested on previously published TCR repertoires obtained using both 5' RACE (Rapid Amplification of cDNA Ends)-based and multiplex PCR-based approaches and compared with a biological spike-in-based method for PCR bias evaluation. The developed approach can increase the accuracy and consistency of repertoires reconstructed by different methods making them more applicable for comparative analysis.

Is low-cost motion capture with artificial intelligence applicable for human working posture risk assessment during manual material handling? A pilot study.

Assessing working posture risks is important for occupational safety and health. However, low-cost assessment techniques for human motion injuries in the logistics delivery industry have rarely been reported. To propose a novel approach for posture risk assessment using low-cost motion capture with artificial intelligence. A Kinect was adopted to obtain red-green-blue (RGB) and depth images of the subject with 24 postures, and the human joints were extracted using artificial intelligence. The images were registered to obtain the actual three-dimensional (3D) human joint angle. The root mean square error (RMSE) significantly decreased. Finally, two common methods for evaluating human working posture injuries-the Rapid Upper Limb Assessment and Ovako Working Posture Analysis System-were investigated. The outputs of the proposed method are consistent with those of the commercial ergonomic evaluation software.

DNN surrogates for turbulence closure in CFD-based shape optimization

A DNN-based surrogate for turbulence (and transition) closure of the Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations is presented. The DNN configuration, namely the hyperparameters (number of layers, number of neurons, type of activation functions) and the DNN input data result from a Metamodel-Assisted Evolutionary Algorithm (MAEA)-based optimization. The trained DNN replaces the numerical solution of the turbulence and/or transition model PDEs during the solution of the RANS equations, by estimating the necessary turbulent viscosity field in each pseudo-time step iteration. The gain from using such a computational tool becomes pronounced in cases in which many calls to the CFD tools are necessary; a typical example is CFD-based (shape) optimization. Thus, the new model (abbreviated to RANS-DNN) is used as the evaluation software in MAEA-based shape optimization problems. Three aerodynamic cases covering a wide gamut of applications from 2D to 3D, internal to external and compressible to incompressible flows are selected to demonstrate the capabilities of the RANS-DNN model. Using the RANS-DNN instead of the standard RANS solver a significant reduction in the optimization turnaround time is achieved in cases dealing with an isolated airfoil, a turbomachinery cascade and a car.

A fast method to infer Nuclear Magnetic Resonance based effective porosity in carbonate rocks using machine learning techniques

A better estimation of the effective porosity of the reservoir rock is a critical task for petrophysicist and well logs analyst. A majority of the current approaches to estimate the effective porosity of the reservoir rocks from well logs are based on the information of the Density-Neutron logs. These approaches usually resulted in the inaccurate estimation of the rock porosity particularly in the naturally fractured carbonates or dolomite rocks. The Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) based effective porosity is independent of the rock matrix and mineralogy, on contrary it depends on the number of hydrogen nuclei in the pore spaces of the rock. In this study, we have used six machine learning (ML) techniques to predict the NMR based effective porosity in carbonate rocks. The ML models to predict the effective porosity includes deep neural networks (DNN), random forest regressor (RF), decision trees (DT), K-Nearest Neighbors algorithm (KNN), extreme gradient boosting (XGB), and adaptive gradient boosting (AdaBoost). These models were trained on the geophysical well logs such as Gamma ray log (GR), caliper log (Cali), neutron porosity log (NPHI), photoelectric factor log (PE), and bulk density log (RHOB). A total of 4002 data points were obtained from the five wells located in the carbonate field. The tuning of ML models hyperparameters were conducted using a ‘GridSearchCv’ method. Furthermore, the K-fold cross-validation criterion was implemented to improve the accuracy of the ML models. The ML models performances were evaluated using multiple graphical and goodness of fit tests including prediction cross-plots, average absolute percentage error (AAPE), root means square error (RMSE), and coefficient of determination (R2) methods. The prediction results showed that the DNN, RF, and XGB models performed better than the other implemented ML techniques. These methods resulted in a significantly low error and high (R2). The achieved accuracy was above 85% when validated on a blind dataset. This study also offered an empirical model that can be used to quickly estimate the NMR based effective porosity using afore-mentioned well logs. The model can also be used as a standalone package that can be coupled with any logging software for quick evaluation of NMR based effective porosity.

Three-dimensional evaluation of the dental arch in cleft lip and palate after prosthetic treatment.

This study aimed to evaluate the stability of the surface of the maxillary teeth and mucosa in cleft lip and palate (CLP) patients with a maxilla defect or tissue deficiency according to the duration of observation and cleft type. Pairs of maxillary casts taken from 18 patients at different time points after prosthodontic treatment were investigated in this study. All 36 casts were scanned with an intraoral scanner, and the acquired images were saved in standard tesselation language (STL) files. The two STL files for each patient were then superimposed using three-dimensional (3D) evaluation software, with 3D deviations shown as a color map. Areas with a 3D deviation within ±0.100 mm were defined as stable. The influence of cleft type and duration of observation on the ratio of stable areas to the entire maxillary surface comprising the teeth and mucosa was investigated using multiple regression analysis. Statistical significance was set at p <0.05. Multiple regression analysis showed that the duration of observation was significantly associated with the stable area ratio (B = -23.463, P<.001), whereas cleft type was not (β = 0.13, P = 0.301). The maxillary teeth and mucosa of CLP patients changed over time, with stable areas showing a negative correlation with the observation period. However, the stability of the dental arch was not significantly affected by the cleft type. 3D analysis of the casts of CLP patients allowed for measurements and to accurately assess relapse of the maxillary arch after prosthetic treatment.

Development of Apparel Using Blocks of Phulkari Pattern

India is truly a land of wonders blessed with a myriad of cultures, customs and religions. These cultures have given us some of the best art and craft forms. One such craft is the Indian embroidery, every region in India has its own style of embroidery. A diverse yet distinct testimony of our rich cultural heritage is Phulkari of Punjab. Phulkari is considered as an important part of the trousseau in Punjab. Traditionally Phulkari embroidery were done by hand on a special type of coarser fabric known as ‘khaddar’ with untwisted silk floss called ‘Pat’, but due to some of the reasons like, time consumption &amp; tedious process of manufacturing, usage of coarse fabric, lack of skilled labour, etc., it is not spreading &amp; growing at a broader range. Hence in the present study an attempt was made to develop blocks of phulkari motif for printing of apparels like saree, dupatta, blouse &amp; skirt. The motifs were collected from various sources like internet, books, etc. Selected motifs were developed into blocks by professional artists. The developed Phulkari motifs used for placement on the apparels by using Corel draw software for visual evaluation. All the developed placement of designs were coded &amp; judged by a panel of 30 members. Four most preferred designs from each apparel are selected for final product development. Developed products were evaluated by same panel of members and ranked the product according to obtaining scores. All the developed products were highly accepted &amp; appreciated in the evaluation.

Development of Beat Analysis Software for the Non-invasive Evaluation of Cardiac Constructs Fabricated with a Three-dimensional Bioprinter

Development of Beat Analysis Software for the Non-invasive Evaluation of Cardiac Constructs Fabricated with a Three-dimensional Bioprinter

ЦИФРОВІЗАЦІЯ ПРОЦЕСУ ОЦІНЮВАННЯ ПЕРСОНАЛУЯК СТРАТЕГІЧНИЙ НАПРЯМ ВДОСКОНАЛЕННЯ УПРАВЛІННЯ ПЕРСОНАЛОМ КОМПАНІЇ

The scientific article has proved the importance of personnel evaluation process automation in Ukrainian enterprises. The approaches of personnel evaluation by business entities (selection of new employees; assessment of the professional development of the company's employees) have been re-vealed. The research has also provided the comparative characteristics of methods and tools for per-sonnel evaluation at the enterprise. The advantages and disadvantages of automation (digitalization) of enterprise personnel evaluation have been identified. There are two types of software products presented on the Ukrainian market that allow personnel evaluation by the enterprise (complex software products and digital personnel management systems (DHMS), where personnel evaluation blocks are one of the components; specialized software products that allow personnel evaluation). The author also provides the advantages and disadvantages of implementing each type. A comparative description of software for personnel evaluation presented on the Ukrainian market has been provided. The procedure for selecting personnel evaluation software for business entities from Ukraine has been developed.The comparative characteristic of the methods of personnel assessment at an enterprise allows us to note: significant variability in their use; the presence of large differences between the methods, which requires appropriate training of HR specialists; the presence of advantages and disadvantages for each assessment method, which requires their consideration when conducting personnel assessment when re-cruiting or hiring employees of an enterprise; the need to use acombination of assessment methods to obtain objective, reliable and sufficient management information; the need for In these conditions, it is necessary to automate (digitalise) the processes of assessing the company's personnel, both within the search and attraction of new employees (specialists) and in relation to the company's employees.

Knowledge and awareness of polycaprolactone and its applications as provisional material in prosthodontic practice: A questionnaire-based survey.

The present study was done to evaluate the knowledge and awareness of different provisional materials, especially polycaprolactone (PCL) and their application in prosthodontic practice. A questionnaire based survey was carried out to assess the knowledge and awareness of PCL and its applications as provisional material in prosthodontic practice. A questionnaire-based descriptive study consisting of 10 questions related to different provisional materials and their applications in prosthodontic practice was formulated on Google Forms. The link was created and circulated among the prosthodontist faculty members of various dental institutes and private practitioners of India with the use of digital platforms such as E-mail and social media. The data were collected and examined using Microsoft Excel software for statistical evaluation. For this descriptive type of study, knowledge and awareness among prosthodontists across India was evaluated using Microsoft Excel software. The use of PCL was known only to 20.75% of prosthodontists. Moreover, its application and indications are known to only <1% of the study participants. Autopolymerizing resin was most commonly used for the custom tray and temporary base fabrication as well as temporization in crown and bridge prosthesis, while muscle deprogrammer and surgical template were commonly fabricated in heat-cure and clear acrylic resin, respectively. Pattern resin was found to be commonly used in splinting implant impression copings. The use of PCL as a temporary denture base, custom tray, muscle deprogrammer, implant impression splinting, and provisional for crown and bridge and templates should be encouraged and incorporated to get benefits of its characteristic properties. Considering the overall performance of PCL, its use should be incorporated into prosthodontic research and practice.

Physical modeling of CCT diagram of tool steel 1.2343

The article deals with phase transformations and austenitizing behavior of the 1.2343 tool steel. Dilatation analyses of a series of samples were performed at various cooling rates, chosen in the range from 10°C·s−1 to 0.05°C·s−1. Acquired experimental data were used for evaluation of dilatometric curves in order to map the temperature ranges of phase transformations of the austenite to pearlite, bainite or martensite. All experimental samples from dilatometric analyses were then subjected to microstructural analyses and hardness measurements to characterize the microstructure and hardness for every tested heat treatment regime. At the end of the paper, the resulting CCT diagram was compared with the JMatPro software for accuracy evaluation.

Does Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) Improve Students’ Writing? Focus on Technical Aspects and Readability

Automated Writing Evaluation (AWE) software has gained popularity in the field of writing related research. Most studies focused on perception and acceptance of AWEs and improvements in writing. However, this study was carried out based on the technicality of the writing which are often discussed as readability. The objectives of the study are to investigate the improvement in writing and to compare the results between the control and the experimental groups. The study employed a descriptive research design with two groups (control (n=49) and experimental n=72)) undergoing two tests (pre-test and post-test). The gap between these tests was 10 weeks where the control group went on the traditional teaching and learning method while the experimental group were exposed and trained to use AWE. Using the Flesch Reading Ease Scale and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, the readability of the writings as well as the grade level required to understand the writings were tested. The findings revealed that the improvement of the readability in the experimental group fared slightly less compared to the control group. However, it is still safe to conclude that AWE does help to improve writings.

Validation of non-radiographic APECS software in comparison with standard radiographic measurement of full-length lower limb hip-knee-ankle angle in elderly obese women

IntroductionEvidence suggests that obesity and ageing in women are linked to angular knee abnormalities. The hip-knee-ankle (HKA) angle on a full-limb radiograph is the gold standard measure of lower limb alignment. The AI Posture Evaluation and Correction System (APECS) software is a non-radiographic mobile application designed for whole-body posture assessment. Since exposure to X-ray is associated with harmful effects, there is a need to find a safe and valid alternative for measuring HKA angle. The objective of this research was to determine the validity of the non-radiographic APECS software in comparison with standard radiographic measurement of HKA angle.MethodsThe present cross-sectional diagnostic accuracy study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital of Belagavi, Karnataka, India. Overall, 45 elderly obese females aged 60–80 years with a body mass index of 25 were included. HKA angle was marked bilaterally. Full-limb radiographs were taken and angles were marked with 2.0 version software, DXM model. For the APECS software, full-limb photographs were taken with landmarks indicated with radiant markers and angles were autogenerated by the software.ResultsThe Pearson correlation coefficient between the APECS application and the gold standard (X-ray) was 0.9874 (98.74% of matching). The agreement between standard radiograph and the average of all examiners’ APECS Pro measurements (including right and left sides) equalled 94.64% (kappa = 0.8323; &lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; = 0.001), which suggests very good agreement.ConclusionsThe APECS application demonstrated a high percentage of matching (98.74%) and agreement (94.64%), indicating its excellent validity in measuring HKA angle.

Synthesis of a Co/Ni-MOF-74@PDI Z-scheme photocatalyst as a highly efficient photo-assisted Fenton-like catalyst for the removal of chlortetracycline hydrochloride.

In this paper, ultra-thin nanofiber PDI was obtained by self-assembly dispersion of commercial PDINH. A novel Co/Ni-MOF-74@PDI Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst material was constructed by a simple solvothermal method. XRD, SEM, TEM, FT-IR and other characterization techniques proved the successful preparation of the Co/Ni-MOF-74@PDI Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst material. By degrading chlortetracycline hydrochloride, it was found that the photocatalytic activity of Co/Ni-MOF-74@PDI was much higher than that of pure Co/Ni-MOF-74 and PDI. Subsequently, Co/Ni-MOF-74@PDI was used to activate H2O2 to further improve the degradation efficiency of chlortetracycline hydrochloride. It was found that the photocatalytic performance was greatly improved after the addition of 19.6 mM H2O2 to the system, and the degradation rate of chlortetracycline hydrochloride was 87% within 90 min. The electron transfer pathway and H2O2 activation mechanism of the Co/Ni-MOF-74@PDI composite photocatalyst were proved by free radical quenching experiments, electron paramagnetic resonance analysis and X-ray electron spectroscopy. Finally, the easy exfoliation point and degradation pathway of chlortetracycline hydrochloride were studied using density functional theory, UPLC-MS and toxicity evaluation software. It was found that the main active substances were h+, ˙O2, 1O2 and ˙OH, and the toxicity of chlortetracycline hydrochloride and its intermediates was evaluated.

The Comparison of Platelet‐Rich Plasma Versus Injectable Platelet Rich Fibrin in Facial Skin Rejuvenation

Background/Objective. Platelet‐rich plasma (PRP) has a widespread use in various indications including dermatological conditions. Injectable platelet‐rich fibrin on the other hand is prepared without anticoagulants and seems to have a sustained action. This study aimed to compare PRP and PRF injection treatments for facial skin rejuvenation in terms of efficacy, patient satisfaction, and side effects. Patients and Methods. Patients who received facial intradermal injections of PRP or PRF for skin rejuvenation were included in this study. Patients received three injections one month apart and evaluated at follow‐up visits for cosmetic results using a high‐resolution UVA‐light video camera and a surface evaluation software at three regions (frontal, nasolabial, and canthal) as well as for patient satisfaction and side effects. Results. A significant marginal superiority of PRF over PRP was only evident for some canthal cosmetic parameters (canthal smoothness and wrinkles); however, the two groups did not differ in terms of other cosmetic regional parameters. For canthal smoothness, the difference was significant at three months. The two groups did not differ in terms of side effects, pain, and patient satisfaction. Conclusion. This study obtained slightly better outcomes with PRF injections when compared to PRP for facial rejuvenation only at canthal region and only at three months, which disappeared later during the treatment. PRF may represent a viable alternative to PRP for that indication owing to its easier preparation, absence of anticoagulants, and possibly its sustained effect. Further large studies are warranted.

Reconsidering the olfactory and brain structures in Kallmann's syndrome: New findings in the analysis of volumetry.

Kallmann's syndrome (KS) is characterized by hypogonadotropic hypogonadism and olfactory disorders. The complementary exams for evaluating of patients with hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism are important for the diagnosis and management of these patients. We performed a well-established olfactory Sniffin' Stick test (SST) on 17 adult patients with KS and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to evaluate olfactory structures and further analysis by Freesurfer, a software for segmentation and volumetric evaluation of brain structures. We compared the Freesurfer results with 34 healthy patients matched for age and sex and performed correlations between the data studied. More than half of the patients with KS reported preserved smell but had olfactory disorders in the SST. In the MRI, 16 patients showed changes in the olfactory groove, the olfactory bulb-tract complex was altered in all of themand 52% had symmetrical structural changes. Interestingly, the pituitary gland was normal in only 29%. Regarding correlations, symmetrical changes in the olfactory structures were related to anosmia in 100%, while asymmetric changes induced anosmia in only 50% (p = .0294). In Freesurfer's assessment, patients with KS, compared to controls, had lower brainstem volume. In those with aplastic anterior olfactory sulcus, the brainstem volume was lower than in hypoplasia (p = .0333). Olfactory assessment and MRI proved to be important auxiliary tools for the diagnosis and management of patients with KS. New studies are needed to confirm the decrease in brainstem volume found by the Freesurfer software in patients with KS. Further studies are needed to confirm the decrease in brainstem volume found by the Freesurfer software in patients with KS.

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING OF ROBOTIC SYSTEMS BY SOLIDWORKS

"The modern design studies involve many aspects of product development starting from the concept-zero, continuing with the evaluation and optimization of the structure designed according to many criteria (kinematics, dynamics, strength of materials of mechatronic systems) and ending with specifications for prototype execution. This article evidences design methodologies used in engineering practice in all the design phases, assisted by the professional CAD program, Solidworks. CAD performances of professional software, by modelling and simulation, contribute to a better evaluation of the research results and to the integration of design into manufacturing phases. These aim to reduce the time from product concept up to it is launched in the market. In the case of robots and complex mechatronic systems, special attention is focused on the mechanical components concept and design so that they enable required motions – trajectory, speed, acceleration. Results of kinematic analysis for two new robotic systems obtained by modelling and simulation using SolidWorks software are presented. There were considered specific phases that are: fully study of requirements; set constraints; concept; 3D CAD model; kinematic analysis; simulation; interpretation of results and conclusion. Finally, relevant benefits of the research for the real case studied are enhanced. By using professional software for evaluations, it is efficient to make video presentations at an outstanding level which summarizes the evaluation of the studied phenomena and enlightens the research results. "