Digital manufacturing: what are we able to print?

In a rational exercise, in the present paper it is extrapolated how the development of ICTs (information and communication technologies) and the incipient technological development of additive manufacturing has the potential to change our society. In the following, it is analyzing the evolution of man over physical matter and how this has shaped our society. The main milestones or key stages in history that have marked a transcendental change in the human-machine-environment relationship have been identified and consequently have led us to ask ourselves: What is next, how far are we, and what are we capable of printing? In an attempt to identify the current state of the art, highlighting the possibilities those additive technologies can offerPostprint (published version

Study of the dollar-euro exchange rate

In this paper we broadly describe the changes in the dollar-euro exchange rate from the time the euro came into effect at the beginning of 1999 until the end of 2005, using daily data. We show how movements in this exchange rate can be presented in different ways, depending on the time scale we use. First, if we focus on periods of more than six months, the changes in the dollar-euro rate can be described using a succession of linear trends. Superimposed on this trend line are cycles lasting from one to three months. Lastly, on a daily scale, the exchange rate behavior is virtually unpredictable, very close to what econometricians call white noise. These patterns are not exclusive to the dollar-euro rate, but are shared by the dollar exchange rates of most free-floating currencies. Taking the exchange value of the dollar against a basket of currencies used by the Federal Reserve, we show that the patterns we observe may be attributed to changes in the "intrinsic" value of the dollar.Exchange rate; volatility; trade weighted exchange index; random walk;

An Exploration of Black National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) Sorority Membership as it Relates to Academic Achievement and Civic Engagement

The purpose of the study was to explore the experience of 13 Black, National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) sorority members as they relate to their academic achievement and civic engagement. Participants were female, upperclassmen students at four different Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), half private and the other public. Criterion, purposive, and snowball sampling were used to secure participants. Using the Community of Practice as a theoretical framework, which is comprised of five stages, participants’ experiences were described, analyzed, and interpreted to inform the study. Data were collected through individual phone interviews, using a semi-structured interview protocol, and were analyzed using inductive analysis. Four themes emerged from the inductive analysis and those themes derived subthemes: (a) Support- (1) academic support, (2) financial support, and (3) engaging and influence; (b) Academic Intention- (1) understanding academic achievement before sorority membership, and (2) understanding academic achievement after sorority membership; (c) Service- (a) civic engagement, (b) volunteering, and (c) filling a need; lastly, (d) Social Awareness- (a) personal service goals, (b) personal social responsibility, and (c) understanding civic engagement agents. The study provided implications for practitioners in higher education, such as the need to understand the historical significance, to advise these groups in a comprehensive manner, to conduct further research on the experiences of graduate chapter members caused by life experiences, and to identify sorority interests prior to membership for optimal outcomes. The study findings have implications for future support, research, and resources offered in helping these women navigate both student life and sorority membership. It is recommended that future researchers continue to examine the experiences of Black, NPHC sorority women, in order to inform higher education practitioners to better assist with their growth and development

Rational maps with Fatou components of arbitrarily large connectivity

We study the family of singular perturbations of Blaschke products . We analyse how the connectivity of the Fatou components varies as we move continuously the parameter λ. We prove that all possible escaping configurations of the critical point take place within the parameter space. In particular, we prove that there are maps which have Fatou components of arbitrarily large finite connectivity within their dynamical planes

Limited partners' perceptions of the Central Eastern European venture capital and private equity market

Growth expectations and institutional settings in Central Eastern Europe are assumed to be favorable for the establishment of a vibrant Venture Capital and Private Equity market. Despite this, there is a lack of risk capital. We examine the obstacles to institutional investments in the region through a questionnaire addressed to (potential) Limited Partners world-wide. The respondents provide information about their perceptions of the region. The protection of property rights is the dominant concern, followed by social criteria, such as the belief in the management quality of local people, and the lacking size and liquidity of the Central Eastern European capital markets. However, Limited Partners regard the growth expectations as attractive, and those with exposure in Central Eastern Europe are satisfied with the historical risk and return ratio, they have a good knowledge of the region, are attracted by other emerging regions, and they appreciate the region's entrepreneurial opportunities and the local General Partners. Overall, the region is ranked very favorable compared to other emerging regions, and especially with respect to its economic and entrepreneurial activity.Venture Capital; Private Equity; International Asset Allocation; Institutional Investors;

Implementation of intelligent manufacturing algorithms in agile architectures for production: world models for systems incorporating binary and continuous variables

Agile Manufacturing, Intelligent systems, AlgorithmsBuilding in previous works of the authors, the present paper focuses on the extension of the Algorithms described for the specific case study of binary systems (systems in which each variable can take one out of two values), to cases that also incorporate continuous variables (those which can take any continuous value within a range). This extension of the Algorithms makes possible the incorporation of new possibilities and functionalities for the treatment of the information received by the sensors of the manufacturing systems and in particular reduce the number of variables in which to monitor the states and costs of execution. The Construction of World Models based on this logical theory -that incorporates the knowledge derived from the results of a set of experiments conducted by the system utilizing a set of different algorithms- is applicable to a wide range of production systems topologies, which is also visited in the present work.Postprint (published version

Puntadas feministas a la historia de las mujeres

Fil: Gavrila, Canela Constanza. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación; Argentina