We study a weighted maximal weak-type inequality for Haar multipliers that can be regarded as a dual problem of Muckenhoupt and Wheeden. More precisely, if Tε is the Haar multiplier associated with the sequence ε with values in [−1, 1], and is the r-maximal operator, then for any weight w and any function f on [0, 1) we have

for some constant Cr depending only on r. We also show that the analogous result does not hold if we replace by the dyadic maximal operator Md. The proof rests on the Bellman function method; using this technique we establish related weighted Lp estimates for p close to 1, and then deduce the main result by extrapolation arguments.

We prove that the extremal sequences for the Bellman function of the dyadic maximal operator behave approximately as eigenfunctions of this operator for a specific eigenvalue. We use this result to prove the analogous one with respect to the Hardy operator.

Singularity-free workspace is a very important criterion for the design of manipulators, especially for parallel manipulators which are well known for their limited workspace and complex singularities. This paper studies geometric parameters and dexterity measures that affect the size of a singularity-free joint space and proposes methods for the development of 6-DOF Stewart–Gough parallel manipulators that have better singularity-free joint space. With a local dexterity measure as the objective function, a systematic method is employed to search for the design with a maximal singularity-free joint space. The related workspaces are also investigated. It is shown that the workspace is not proportional to the size of the joint space and that manipulators with a larger singularity-free workspace usually have relatively poor dexterity.

Let Y be a fixed nonempty subset of a set X and let T(X,Y ) denote the semigroup of all total transformations from X into Y. In 1975, Symons described the automorphisms of T(X,Y ). Three decades later, Nenthein, Youngkhong and Kemprasit determined its regular elements, and more recently Sanwong, Singha and Sullivan characterized all maximal and minimal congruences on T(X,Y ). In 2008, Sanwong and Sommanee determined the largest regular subsemigroup of T(X,Y ) when |Y |≠1 and Y ≠ X; and using this, they described the Green’s relations on T(X,Y ) . Here, we use their work to describe the ideal structure of T(X,Y ) . We also correct the proof of the corresponding result for a linear analogue of T(X,Y ) .