The role of A-site non-stoichiometry was investigated in lead-free piezoelectric ceramics based on compositions in the 1-x(Bi₀.₅Na₀.₅TiO₃)-xBaTiO₃ system near the morphotropic phase boundary where x = 0.055, 0.06 and 0.07. The samples were prepared by a conventional solid state mixed oxide route with the A- site stoichiometry modified to incorporate...
Desire for low-power, high performance computing has been at core of the symbiotic union between digital circuits and CMOS scaling. While digital circuit performance improves with device scaling, analog circuits have not gained these benefits. As a result, it has become necessary to leverage increased digital circuit performance to mitigate...
The function of a protein is defined by its three-dimensional structure, and in understanding the three-dimensional structure of a protein, we gain an understanding of its function and mechanism. Protein structures, especially at high resolution, can provide detailed insights into many elements of enzyme function and catalysis – identifying residues...
This research considers a combinatorial optimization scheduling problem in the assembly of printed circuit boards (PCBs) in electronic manufacturing. For the first time in this research, the preparation process, which is typically called kitting operation, is paid attention to and is performed along with the assembly operation, described in this...
Seed dormancy is defined as the inability of viable seeds to germinate under conditionsotherwise favorable for germination. Dormancy provides a strategy for seeds to germinateat an appropriate time. Abscisic acid (ABA) is a major hormone involved in the regulationof seed dormancy. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms of dormancy, the twoexperimental...
Polyoxometalates (POMs) are anions consisting of three or more early transition metals ™ (Gr V and VI) oxoanions (in their highest oxidation state) linked together by a shared oxygen bond to form a 3D framework. Polyoxometalates (POMs) are a rapidly growing class of metal oxo clusters with a wide range...
Analytical chemistry is an essential qualitative and quantitative tool to describe foods and biomaterials and their changes during production, processing and distribution. In this work, rapid analytical procedures for the extraction and quantification of components in fluid milk and diatom fermentation broth were developed. Analytical methods to measure the concentration...
Automation of computational chemistry, while only an engineering feat, has the potential to accelerating computational research be removing all by the science. The work in this thesis mainly discusses fundamental understanding of complex chemical systems. What is not obvious are the numerous tasks necessary for this fundamental understanding. Under the...
Understanding the impact of mitochondrial dysfunction on genome evolution has the potential not only to provide new insights on the basic evolutionary processes influencing mitochondrial and nuclear genomes, but may also reveal novel avenues for evolutionary adaptive recovery from harmful mutations. Aberrant mitochondrial activity is fundamental to the pathology of...
As the fifth generation of mobile communication systems (5G) is being deployed, massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) serves as one of its enabling technologies where reliable and ultra low latency communications are achieved while being power and spectrum efficient. This thesis studies the security aspect of massive MIMO system from the...