by Gregory K. Clancey., Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Science, Technology and Society, 1999., Includes bibliographical references.

IntraCavity Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (ICLAS) is a high-resolution, high sensitivity spectroscopic method capable of measuring line positions, linewidths, lineshapes, and absolute line intensities with a sensitivity that far exceeds that of a traditional multiple pass absorption cell or Fourier Transform…

In this paper an adaptive fuzzy decentralized
control algorithm for trajectory tracking of robot manipulators is developed. The proposed decentralized control algorithm allows the overall closed-loop system to be stabilized while making the tracking error to be uniformly ultimately bounded…

Purpose – Information and communication technologies have became pervasive in people’s lives and in this changing world education cannot remain anchored in old-fashioned models which ignore the evolution through which society is going. This paper seeks to present the gamble…

The ambiguity, robustness and performance of systems becomes increasingly evident as the complexity and size increase in industrial processes. Under these circumstances, conventional control techniques such as PID control, nonlinear feedback control, LQG control and H∞ control have several disadvantages…

This paper develops a conceptual framework and offers new statistical evidence on the access to credit by micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Guatemala and Nicaragua. To this end, and after reviewing the existing literature on the topic, it…

Corallus annulatus (Northern Annulated Tree-boa) is a little-studied tropical Boid occurring disjunctively throughout Central America and tropical South America in mostly lowland tropical moist and wet forests (Holdridge, 1967; Stafford & Henderson, 1996; Smith & Acevedo, 1997; Henderson et al.,…

We propose a vision of the structure of knowledge and processes of learning based upon the particularity of experience. Highly specific cognitive structures are constructed through activities in limited domains of experience. For new domains, new cognitive structures develop from…

Genomic and darwinian medicine deal with the application of hereditary and evolutionary principles for the understanding of health and disease. The progress in molecular and bioinformatic knowledge is making possible through a holistic
approach to biological phenomena and one aspect…

This paper proposes a process management system that enables new dynamic manufacturing models to be implemented. This system facilitates the automation of process modelling, thus reducing the workload for process engineers. To this end, it focuses on the incorporation of…