Desktop widget engines have emerged as an alternative for completing simple tasks without the need for a full-blown application or constant user interaction. Widgets can simply display data in a compact and visually appealing manner (such as stock tickers, weather forecasts, and news notifications), or go so far as to...
Alteration of natural areas in attempts to support increasing human populations has been a crucial yet less publicized contributor to the fall of many of the world's greatest civilizations, since healthy ecosystems can help maintain stable societies and economies. Given this unhappy fact and the ancient relationship between people and...
Parallel solutions for two classes of linear programs are
presented. First we parallelized the two-phase revised simplex
algorithm and showed that it is possible to get linear improvement in
performance. The simplex algorithm is the best known algorithm for
solving linear programs, and we claim our result is the best...
Moisture loss from fresh fruits results in lost revenue to producers, storage/packing companies, distributors, and increased prices for the consumer. Improved methods of storage and handling are necessary to help prevent moisture loss and retard spoilage. A literature review was conducted to improve knowledge on past and current studies involving...
Variability in circuit performance due to process defects is a major concern in integrated circuit (IC) fabrication. Advanced IC manufacturing processes employ Chemical-Mechanical Polishing (CMP) for planarization of oxide and metal layers. CMP defects result in variations in the oxide and metal topographical profile. To reduce these topographical variations, electrically...
The development of amorphous metal alloys with high glass forming ability allows the fabrication of amorphous samples with thickness greater than 1mm, known as bulk metallic glasses(BMGs). Outstanding mechanical properties and ease in processing due to low melting points, low solidification shrinkage and higher supercooled liquid region make BMG a...
This dissertation incorporates coalition formation and probabilistic planning towards a domain-independent automated planning solution scalable to multiple heterogeneous robots in complex domains. The first research direction investigates the effectiveness of Task Fusion and introduces heuristics that improve task allocation and result in better quality plans, while requiring lower computational cost...
With increasing transistor operating frequencies, interconnects and passive devices are becoming performance limiters in integrated circuit (IC) designs. To combat this, the interconnect layers above the active silicon are trending toward low-κ dielectrics and Cu metallization. The use of these new materials has popularized chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) to planarize...
Several methods for estimation of the potential
shelf-life of pasteurized fluid milk products were evaluated
for their efficacy in this investigation. These methods
were evaluated and compared to sensory, biochemical and
bacteriological indices through a series of experiments
conducted on different brands of commercially pasteurized
fluid milk. The methods evaluated...