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Vision, audition, olfactory, tactile and taste are five important senses that human uses to interact with the real world. As facing more and more complex environments, a sensing system is essential for intelligent robots with various types of sensors. To mimic human-like abilities, sensors similar to human perception capabilities are indispensable. However, most research only concentrated on analyzing literature on single-modal sensors and their robotics application.

This study presents a systematic review of five bioinspired senses, especially considering a brief introduction of multimodal sensing applications and predicting current trends and future directions of this field, which may have continuous enlightenments.

This review shows that bioinspired sensors can enable robots to better understand the environment, and multiple sensor combinations can support the robot’s ability to behave intelligently.

The review starts with a brief survey of the biological sensing mechanisms of the five senses, which are followed by their bioinspired electronic counterparts. Their applications in the robots are then reviewed as another emphasis, covering the main application scopes of localization and navigation, objection identification, dexterous manipulation, compliant interaction and so on. Finally, the trends, difficulties and challenges of this research were discussed to help guide future research on intelligent robot sensors.

Porous silicon (Si) was fabricated by using three different wet etching methods, namely, direct current photo-assisted electrochemical (DCPEC), alternating CPEC (ACPEC) and two-step ACPEC etching. This study aims to investigate the structural properties of porous structures formed by using these etching methods and to identify which etching method works best.

Si n(100) was used to fabricate porous Si using three different etching methods (DCPEC, ACPEC and two-step ACPEC). All the samples were etched with the same current density and etching duration. The samples were etched by using hydrofluoric acid-based electrolytes under the illumination of an incandescent lamp.

Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) images showed that porous Si etched using the two-step ACPEC method has a higher porosity and density than porous Si etched using DCPEC and ACPEC. The atomic force microscopy results supported the FESEM results showing that porous Si etched using the two-step ACPEC method has the highest surface roughness relative to the samples produced using the other two methods. High resolution X-ray diffraction revealed that porous Si produced through two-step ACPEC has the highest peak intensity out of the three porous Si samples suggesting an improvement in pore uniformity with a better crystalline quality.

Two-step ACPEC method is a fairly new etching method and many of its fundamental properties are yet to be established. This work presents a comparison of the effect of these three different etching methods on the structural properties of Si. The results obtained indicated that the two-step ACPEC method produced an etched sample with a higher porosity, pore density, surface roughness, improvement in uniformity of pores and better crystalline quality than the other etching methods.

This study seeks to provide a robust piece of evidence of forest depletion in Ghana and its associated driver intensities to inform national policy decisions towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15 and beyond.

Using a representative sample size of 733 households, which was obtained with the aid of a structured questionnaire, a descriptive analysis is used to show the evidence of forest depletion. For robustness purposes, the geographic information system (GIS) is used to provide a piece of remote sensing evidence to substantiate the claim. In addition, an ordered probit regression model is estimated given the ranked nature of the responses to determine the drivers of forest depletion.

The results provide evidence that the urban forests in the Greater Accra Region (GAR) of Ghana have been depleted. Overall, 44% argued that the depletion of the forests is high, 30% indicated that the depletion is moderate, while 26% indicated that the depletion is low. Consistent with the literature, the ordered probit regression results show that human behaviour, climate change and institutional failure are the driver intensities of forest depletion in the Region. Besides, the authors find an increasing order effect for all three drivers. Using a descriptive analysis, majority of the respondents posited that human behaviour is the main driver intensity, followed by climate change and then institutional failure. This study recommends the need for education and advocacy, community participation, law enforcement, resource mobilization, modern adaptation strategies and internalization of externalities as a way of controlling the drivers of forest depletion.

The study uses remote sensing techniques to provide empirical evidence of protected forest depletion in the GAR, Ghana. In addition, an ordered probit regression is used to identify the driver intensities that explain the depleted protected forests in the region.

“The unexamined life is not worth living” (Socrates). That is, without critically inquiring into the knowledge of life which is well-being and valuable, life is not worth living. Critical thinking questions existing theories and their unexamined and obsessive assumptions and generalizations, constraints, and “best” practices of the prevailing system of management and tries to replace them with more valid assumptions and generalizations that uphold the dignity, uniqueness, and inalienable rights of the individual person and the community. Better outcomes result from asking the right questions than from having the right answers. In the diverse, pluralist cultural environment of today, the promise of a truly generative dialog among Occidental (Western) and Oriental (Eastern) cultures and civilizations holds great hope for the future. Critical thinking (CT) is an “inclusive” thinking system that can facilitate this dialog such that all of us have a meaningful space and place in this universe. After defining CT and arguing its importance for executives, this chapter introduces CT in two parts: Part 1: Various Approaches to Critical Thinking; Part 2: Major Theories of Critical Thinking. Several contemporary business cases will be invoked to illustrate the need, nature, and scope of corporate CT.