On the Development of an Automated Design Procedure to Design Optimal Robots

The objective in this work is to build a rapid and automated numerical design method that makes optimal design of robots possible. In this work, two classes of optimal robot design problems were specifically addressed: (1) When the objective is to optimize a pre-designed robot, and (2) when the goal is to design an optimal robot from scratch. In the first case, to reach the optimum design some of the critical dimensions or specific measures to optimize (design parameters) are varied within an established range. Then the stress is calculated as a function of the design parameter(s), the design parameter(s) that optimizes a pre-determined performance index provides the optimum design. In the second case, this work focuses on the development of an automated procedure for the optimal design of robotic systems. For this purpose, Pro/Engineer© and MatLab© software packages are integrated to draw the robot parts, optimize them, and then re-draw the optimal system parts.

Corporate governance as social responsibility : a meta-regulation approach to raise social responsibility of corporate governance in a weak economy

Corporate governance (CG) denotes the rules of business decision-making and directs the internal mechanism of companies to follow the output of the rules. It includes the customs, policies, laws and institutions as a set of processes that affects the way in which a corporation is directed, administered or controlled.

Premonolayer oxidation of nanostructured gold : an important factor influencing electrocatalytic activity

The study of the electrodeposition of polycrystalline gold in aqueous solution is important from the viewpoint that in electrocatalysis applications ill-defined micro- and nanostructured surfaces are often employed. In this work, the morphology of gold was controlled by the electrodeposition potential and the introduction of Pb(CH3COO)2•3H2O into the plating solution to give either smooth or nanostructured gold crystallites or large dendritic structures which have been characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The latter structures were achieved through a novel in situ galvanic replacement of lead with AuCl4−(aq) during the course of gold electrodeposition. The electrochemical behavior of electrodeposited gold in the double layer region was studied in acidic and alkaline media and related to electrocatalytic performance for the oxidation of hydrogen peroxide and methanol. It was found that electrodeposited gold is a significantly better electrocatalyst than a polished gold electrode; however, performance is highly dependent on the chosen deposition parameters. The fabrication of a deposit with highly active surface states, comparable to those achieved at severely disrupted metal surfaces through thermal and electrochemical methods, does not result in the most effective electrocatalyst. This is due to significant premonolayer oxidation that occurs in the double layer region of the electrodeposited gold. In particular, in alkaline solution, where gold usually shows the most electrocatalytic activity, these active surface states may be overoxidized and inhibit the electrocatalytic reaction. However, the activity and morphology of an electrodeposited film can be tailored whereby electrodeposited gold that exhibits nanostructure within the crystallites on the surface demonstrated enhanced electrocatalytic activity compared to smaller smooth gold crystallites and larger dendritic structures in potential regions well within the double layer region.

Gold nanospikes formed through a simple electrochemical route with high electrocatalytic and surface enhanced Raman scattering activity

We demonstrate a simple electrochemical route to produce uniformly sized gold nanospikes without the need for a capping agent or prior modification of the electrode surface, which are predominantly oriented in the {111} crystal plane and exhibit promising electrocatalytic and SERS properties.

Probing the effect of charge transfer enhancement in off resonance mode SERS via conjugation of the probe dye between silver nanoparticles and metal substrates

The charge transfer-mediated surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of crystal violet (CV) molecules that were chemically conjugated between partially polarized silver nanoparticles and optically smooth gold and silver substrates has been studied under off-resonant conditions. Tyrosine molecules were used as a reducing agent to convert silver ions into silver nanoparticles where oxidised tyrosine caps the silver nanoparticle surface with its semiquinone group. This binding through the quinone group facilitates charge transfer and results in partially oxidised silver. This establishes a chemical link between the silver nanoparticles and the CV molecules, where the positively charged central carbon of CV molecules can bind to the terminal carboxylate anion of the oxidised tyrosine molecules. After drop casting Ag nanoparticles bound with CV molecules it was found that the free terminal amine groups tend to bind with the underlying substrates. Significantly, only those CV molecules that were chemically conjugated between the partially polarised silver nanoparticles and the underlying gold or silver substrates were found to show SERS under off-resonant conditions. The importance of partial charge transfer at the nanoparticle/capping agent interface and the resultant conjugation of CV molecules to off resonant SERS effects was confirmed by using gold nanoparticles prepared in a similar manner. In this case the capping agent binds to the nanoparticle through the amine group which does not facilitate charge transfer from the gold nanoparticle and under these conditions SERS enhancement in the sandwich configuration was not observed.

Creating gold nanoprisms directly on quartz crystal microbalance electrodes for mercury vapor sensing

A novel electrochemical route is used to form highly {111}-oriented and size-controlled Au nanoprisms directly onto the electrodes of quartz crystal microbalances (QCMs) which are subsequently used as mercury vapor sensors. The Au nanoprism loaded QCM sensors exhibited excellent response–concentration linearity with a response enhancement of up to ~ 800% over a non-modified sensor at an operating temperature of 28 °C. The increased surface area and atomic-scale features (step/defect sites) introduced during the growth of nanoprisms are thought to play a significant role in enhancing the sensing properties of the Au nanoprisms toward Hg vapor. The sensors are shown to have excellent Hg sensing capabilities in the concentration range of 0.123–1.27 ppmv (1.02–10.55 mg m − 3), with a detection limit of 2.4 ppbv (0.02 mg m − 3) toward Hg vapor when operating at 28 °C, and 17 ppbv (0.15 mg m − 3) at 89 °C, making them potentially useful for air monitoring applications or for monitoring the efficiency of Hg emission control systems in industries such as mining and waste incineration. The developed sensors exhibited excellent reversible behavior (sensor recovery) within 1 h periods, and crucially were also observed to have high selectivity toward Hg vapor in the presence of ethanol, ammonia and humidity, and excellent long-term stability over a 33 day operating period.

Gold nanospikes based microsensor as a highly accurate mercury emission monitoring system

Anthropogenic elemental mercury (Hg0) emission is a serious worldwide environmental problem due to the extreme toxicity of the heavy metal to humans, plants and wildlife. Development of an accurate and cheap microsensor based online monitoring system which can be integrated as part of Hg0 removal and control processes in industry is still a major challenge. Here, we demonstrate that forming Au nanospike structures directly onto the electrodes of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) using a novel electrochemical route results in a self-regenerating, highly robust, stable, sensitive and selective Hg0 vapor sensor. The data from a 127 day continuous test performed in the presence of volatile organic compounds and high humidity levels, showed that the sensor with an electrodeposted sensitive layer had 260% higher response magnitude, 3.4 times lower detection limit (,22 mg/m3 or ,2.46 ppbv) and higher accuracy (98% Vs 35%) over a Au control based QCM (unmodified) when exposed to a Hg0 vapor concentration of 10.55 mg/m3 at 1016C. Statistical analysis of the long term data showed that the nano-engineered Hg0 sorption sites on the developed Au nanospikes sensitive layer play a critical role in the enhanced sensitivity and selectivity of the developed sensor towards Hg0 vapor.

Turquía: puente, escudo o punta de lanza de occidente?

Turquía es el resultado exitoso de la implementación de un esquema en principio ajeno a sus características históricas tradicionales, que ha dado como resultado un modelo de gobierno laico y basado en un sistema Occidental

Assessing teamwork competence

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

Motor de cerca iSAC (Servei Intel·ligent d'Atenció Ciutadana Via Web)

El projecte iSAC (Servei Intel·ligent d’Atenció Ciutadana via web) es va iniciar el mes de gener de 2006 amb l’ajut del nou coneixement científic en agents intel·ligents, junt amb l’aplicació de les Tecnologies de la Informació i la Comunicació (TIC) i els cercadors. Actualment, el servei actual d’atenció al ciutadà està composat per dues àrees: l’atenció directa a les oficines i l’atenció telefònica a través del Call Center. Les limitacions de personal i horari d’atenció fan que aquest servei perdi eficàcia. Es vol desenvolupar un producte amb una tecnologia capaç d’ampliar i millorar la capacitat i la qualitat de l’atenció ciutadana en les administracions públiques, sigui quina sigui la seva dimensió. Tot i això, aquest projecte l’explotaran especialment els ajuntaments, als quals la ciutadania s'acosta amb tot tipus de preguntes i dubtes, habitualment no restringides a l'àmbit local. Més concretament, es vol automatitzar a través d’un portal web l’atenció al ciutadà per tal d’obtenir un servei més efectiu