14 research outputs found
Price discrimination and patent policy
Patent and antitrust policy are often presumed to be in conflict. As an
important example, there is ongoing controversy about whether price discrimination by a
patent holder is an illegal or socially undesirable exploitation of monopoly power. In this
article. we show that no conflict exists in many price discrimination cases. Even ignoring
the (dynamic) effects on incentives for innovation, third-degree price discrimination by
patent holders can raise (static) social welfare. In fact, Pareto improvements may well
occur. Welfare gains occur because price discrimination allows patent holders: (a) to open
new markets and (b) to achieve economies of scale or learning. Further, even in cases where
discrimination incurs static welfare losses, it may be efficient relative to other mechanisms,
such as length of patent life, for rewarding innovators with profits.Center for Energy Policy Research of the MIT Energy Laborator
Price discrimination and patent policy
"September, 1986. Current version: March 15, 1988."--3rd prelim. page.Includes bibliographical references.Financial support from the Center for Energy Policy Research of the MIT Energy Laboratory.by Jerry Hausman and Jeffrey K. MacKie-Mason
Enhanced stiffness modeling of manipulators with passive joints
The paper presents a methodology to enhance the stiffness analysis of serial
and parallel manipulators with passive joints. It directly takes into account
the loading influence on the manipulator configuration and, consequently, on
its Jacobians and Hessians. The main contributions of this paper are the
introduction of a non-linear stiffness model for the manipulators with passive
joints, a relevant numerical technique for its linearization and computing of
the Cartesian stiffness matrix which allows rank-deficiency. Within the
developed technique, the manipulator elements are presented as pseudo-rigid
bodies separated by multidimensional virtual springs and perfect passive
joints. Simulation examples are presented that deal with parallel manipulators
of the Ortholide family and demonstrate the ability of the developed
methodology to describe non-linear behavior of the manipulator structure such
as a sudden change of the elastic instability properties (buckling)
Transversal Entanglements; Research-Creation and the design process for Inflexions
Transversal Entanglements: Research Creation and the design process for Inflexions
Leslie Plumb
This thesis or more appropriately, this written component of my thesis, is a continuation of the agency Research-Creation brought to the design process of Inflexions. ÂÂInflexions is an open source interdisciplinary journal for Research-Creation, sponsored by SenseLab . Research-Creation -as it is engaged by this journal- “should be understood as a method of intuition, a technique for expanding perception that puts it into immediate contact with sensation” (Thain 2008, 3). Here, I work to foreground what Alanna Thain is here calling a technique and what Andrew Murphie elsewhere calls a “technics” of distributed agency (Murphie 2009: 2). I suggest that such a technics provoked a transversal and relational design process. This is explored through the Deleuzian and Guittarian concepts of “the relation”, “inflection”, “rhythm”, “becoming”, and the virtual and actual. Further elaborations are made expanding on Erin Manning’s
concept of the “elasticity of the almost” and “preacceleration”. The exploration is invested in bringing new methods of viewing and experiencing to works online that are activated by the relational movements and milieus of the Web
Porous structures for the purification of biopharmaceuticals
This work aimed at the development of a (bio)polymeric monolithic support for biopharmaceuticals purification and/or capture. For that, it was assured that functional groups on its surface were ready to be involved in a plethora of chemical reactions for incorporation of the desired and most suitable ligand. Using cryogelation as preparation method a screening on multiple combinations of materials was performed in order to create a potentially efficient support with the minimal footprint, i.e. a monolithic support with reasonable mechanical properties, highly permeable, biocompatible, ready to use, with gravitational performance and minimal unspecific interactions towards the target molecules, but also biodegradable and produced from renewable materials. For the pre-selection all monoliths were characterized physico-chemically and morphologically; one agarose-based and two chitosan-based monoliths were then subjected to further characterizations before and after their modification with magnetic nanoparticles. These three specimens were finally tested towards adenovirus and the recovery reached 84% for the chitosan-GMA plain monolith prepared at -80°C.
Monoliths based on chitosan and PVA were prepared in the presence and absence of magnetic particles, and tested for the isolation of GFP directly from crude cellular extracts. The affinity ligand A4C7 previously selected for GFP purification was synthesized on the monolith. The results indicated that the solid-phase synthesis of the ligand directly onto the monolith might require optimization and that the large pores of the monoliths are unsuitable for the purification of small proteins, such as GFP.project PTDC/EBB-BIO/118317/201
The feasibility of using virtual prototyping technologies for product evaluation
With the continuous development in computer and communications technology the use of
computer aided design in design processes is becoming more commonplace. A wide range of
virtual prototyping technologies are currently in development, some of which are commercially
viable for use within a product design process. These virtual prototyping technologies range
from graphics tablets to haptic devices. With the compression of design cycles the feasibility of
using these technologies for product evaluation is becoming an ever more important
consideration.
This thesis begins by presenting the findings of a comprehensive literature review defining
product design with a focus on product evaluation and a discussion of current virtual
prototyping technologies. From the literature review it was clear that user involvement in the
product evaluation process is critical. The literature review was followed by a series of
interconnected studies starting with an investigation into design consultancies' access and
use of prototyping technologies and their evaluation methods. Although design consultancies
are already using photo-realistic renderings, animations and sometimes 3600 view CAD
models for their virtual product evaluations, current virtual prototyping hardware and software
is often unsatisfactory for their needs. Some emergent technologies such as haptic interfaces
are currently not commonly used in industry. This study was followed by an investigation into
users' psychological acceptance and physiological discomfort when using a variety of virtual
prototyping tools for product evaluation compared with using physical prototypes, ranging from
on-screen photo-realistic renderings to 3D 3600 view models developed using a range of
design software. The third study then went on to explore the feasibility of using these virtual
prototyping tools and the effect on product preference when compared to using physical
prototypes. The forth study looked at the designer's requirements for current and future virtual
prototyping tools, design tools and evaluation methods.
In the final chapters of the thesis the relative strengths and weaknesses of these technologies
were re-evaluated and a definitive set of user requirements based on the documentary
evidence of the previous studies was produced. This was followed by the development of a
speculative series of scenarios for the next generation of virtual prototyping technologies
ranging from improvements to existing technologies through to blue sky concepts. These
scenarios were then evaluated by designers and consumers to produce documentary
evidence and recommendations for preferred and suitable combinations of virtual prototyping
technologies. Such hardware and software will require a user interface that is intuitive, simple,
easy to use and suitable for both the designers who create the virtual prototypes and the
consumers who evaluate them
Elementary Scattering Theory
The opportunities for doing scattering experiments at synchrotron and neutron facilities have grown rapidly in recent years and are set to continue to do so into the foreseeable future. This text provides a basic understanding of how these techniques enable the structure and dynamics of materials to be studied at the atomic and molecular level. Although mathematics cannot be avoided in a theoretical discussion, the aim has been to write a book that most scientists will still find approachable. To this end, the first two chapters are devoted to providing a tutorial background in the mathematics and physics that are implicitly assumed in other texts. Thereafter, the philosophy has been one of keeping things as simple as possible
Elementary Scattering Theory
The opportunities for doing scattering experiments at synchrotron and neutron facilities have grown rapidly in recent years and are set to continue to do so into the foreseeable future. This text provides a basic understanding of how these techniques enable the structure and dynamics of materials to be studied at the atomic and molecular level. Although mathematics cannot be avoided in a theoretical discussion, the aim has been to write a book that most scientists will still find approachable. To this end, the first two chapters are devoted to providing a tutorial background in the mathematics and physics that are implicitly assumed in other texts. Thereafter, the philosophy has been one of keeping things as simple as possible
Trends in Statistical Codicology
The application of statistical techniques to the study of manuscript books, based on the analysis of large data sets acquired through the archaeological observation of manuscripts, remains to this day one of the most original trends in codicological research. This volume aims to present, in English translation, a series of recent and significant papers by means of which the statistical approach continues to demonstrate its vast potential