Rediscovering the experimental robotic platform MASHI

This Bachelor’s Thesis about robotics works in the experimental robotic platform MASHI, created by the PhD student Dennys Paillacho, ESPOL, Ecuador. He designed and built a social robot for studying proxemics interactions between people and robot. The platform became an interesting opportunity as a robotic platform for another theses, and this is a clear example. In this thesis a new computational unit for the platform has been installed and programmed to replace the initial one without interfering negatively in any of its functionalities. During a semester, the robot has been analysed and reconstructed from almost the beginning, and a new implementation has been developed. The main objective is to improve easiness and accessibility to the platform such that future students will use the same platform to make research and to implement new subsystems and functions. The robotic platform has been designed with commercial components, so there is a huge number of ways of improving i

A Macro and Microeconomic Integrated Approach to Assessing the Effects of Public Policies

Most public policies have not only efficiency but also distributional effects. However, there is a kind of trade-off between modeling approaches suitable for calculating each one of these impacts on the economy. For the former, most of the studies have been conducted with general equilibrium models, whereas partial equilibrium models represent the main approach for distributional analysis. This paper proposes a methodology which enables us to carry out an analysis of the distributional and efficiency consequences of public policies. In order to do so, we have integrated a microeconomic household demand model and a computable general equilibrium model for the Spanish economy. We illustrate the advantages of this approach by simulating a revenue-neutral reform in Spanish indirect taxation, with a reduction of VAT and a simultaneous increase of energy taxes. The results show that the reform brings about significant efficiency and distributional effects, in some cases counterintuitive, and demonstrate the academic and social utility of this approximation.Taxes, general equilibrium, micro modeling, efficiency, distribution

A Residential Energy Demand System for Spain

Sharp price fluctuations and increasing environmental and distributional concerns, among other issues, have led to a renewed academic interest in energy demand. In this paper we estimate, for the first time in Spain, an energy demand system with household microdata. In doing so, we tackle several econometric and data problems that are generally recognized to bias parameter estimates. This is obviously relevant, as obtaining correct price and income responses is essential if they may be used for assessing the economic consequences of hypothetical or real changes. With this objective, we combine data sources for a long time period and choose a demand system with flexible income and price responses. We also estimate the model in different sub-samples to capture varying responses to energy price changes by households living in rural, intermediate and urban areas. This constitutes a first attempt in the literature and it proved to be a very successful choice.households, energy, demand, spain, location

The male of Leptothorax risi Forel, 1892 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

The male of the canarian species Leptothorax risi Forel is described. Eight localities are known for this endemic species. Differences from the males of L . hesperius are subtle.Se describe el macho de Leptothorax risi Forel, que difiere muy poco de 10s de L . hesperius. Se conocen ocho localidades para esta especie endémica de Gran Ganaria

Optimization of the anaerobic co-digestion of pasteurized slaughterhouse waste, pig slurry and glycerine

The feasibility of co-digestion of blends of two different animal by-products (pig manure and pasteurized slaughterhouse waste) and recovered glycerine was studied in mesophilic conditions. Experiments were performed in a lab-scale CSTR along 490 days, with a hydraulic retention time of 21–33 days and with a step-wise increased organic loading rate, by adding and/or changing the wastes ratio, from 0.8 to 3.2 kgCOD m-3 d-1. The best methane production rate (0.64 Nm3CH4 m-3 d-1) represented an increment of 2.9-fold the initial one (0.22 Nm3CH4 m-3 d-1 with pig manure solely). It was attained with a ternary mixture composed, in terms of inlet volatile solids, by 35% pig slurry, 47% pasteurized slaughterhouse waste and 18% glycerine. This blend was obtained through a stepwise C/N adjustment: this strategy led to a more balanced biodegradation due to unstressed bacterial populations through the performance, showed by the VFA-related indicators. Besides this, an improved methane yield (+153%) and an organic matter removal efficiency (+83%), regarding the digestion of solely pig slurry, were attained when the C/N ratio was adjusted to 10.3.Postprint (author's final draft

REGSOLexpert: Entrainer Selection Tool for waste solvent recovery by batch distillation processes

A general procedure to systematize the search of several alternatives enabling the separation of non-ideal binary mixtures such as pressure-swing distillation, azeotropic and extractive distillation is presented. The use of heterogeneous entrainers is specially highlighted

Construction and "worldmaking": the significance of Nelson Goodman's pluralism

In the present paper, I try to defend a coherent interpretation of Goodman s relativism by responding to the main objections of the critics. I also discuss the significance of his pluralism by relating it to the notion of construction. This will show the relevance of Goodman s philosophy for the present days