This special issue of the Journal of Physical Agents is devoted to multi-robot systems. Some might perhaps argue that the term should have been ”multi-agent systems” or ”physical multi-agent systems”, in accordance with the title of the journal. In any…

This special issue of the Journal of Physical Agents is devoted to human interaction with domestic robots. The form, features and future, of domestic robotic devices, from entertainment-based agents through to robotic cleaners, companions, assistants and helpers, are considered and…

A second-order modified rational harmonic balance method is used for approximately solve the nonlinear differential equation that governs the oscillations of a system typified as a mass attached to a stretched elastic wire for which the restoring force for this…

An analytical approximate procedure for a class of conservative single degree-of-freedom nonlinear oscillators with odd non-linearity is proposed. This technique is based on the generalized harmonic balance method in which analytical approximate solutions have rational forms. Unlike the classical harmonic…

The analytical approximate technique developed by Wu et al for conservative oscillators with odd nonlinearity is used to construct approximate frequency-amplitude relations and periodic solutions to the dynamically shifted oscillator. This nonlinear oscillator is described by an equation of motion…

15-Deoxy-Δ12,14-prostaglandin J2 (15dPGJ2) has been recently proposed as a potent anti-inflammatory agent. However, the mechanisms by which 15dPGJ2 mediates its therapeutic effects in vivo are unclear. We demonstrate that 15dPGJ2 at micromolar (2.5–10 µM) concentrations induces the expression of heme…

Activated carbon/polyaniline composites have been prepared using different electrochemical methods: single-step potentiostatic polymerization, multiple-step potentiostatic polymerization, and potentiodynamic polymerization with the anodic potential limits being fixed at either 0.75 or 1 V (vs Ag/AgCl). The prepared composite samples were characterized…

Kogelnik's coupled-wave (CW) theory has been used for decades to predict the diffraction efficiency of volume diffraction gratings. Although this theory has been applied with success to volume diffraction gratings recorded under a great variety of experimental conditions, its predictions…

The templated growth of polyaniline through porous sol–gel films on ITO substrates has been performed. The polyaniline–silica composites have been synthesized by electrochemical reactive insertion in potentiodynamic and potentiostatic conditions. When the polymer is synthesized by potential step experiments, the…

3,3'-Bis(dialkylaminomethyl)-1,1'-binaphth-2-ols (Binolams) have emerged during the last five years as very efficient chiral ligands in many enantioselective processes. Enantiomerically pure Binolams are easily accessible by means of a variety of methods, the most widely used being the so-called chiral Binol…