by Shawn W. Ritchie., Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 1999., Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-81).

This thesis will explore the design and optimization of a peer-to-peer network application as a solution to complex content management problems. Currently, most content management systems are expensive, cumbersome and inflexible custom solutions that require knowledge workers to change their…

It has been noticed that during the initial semesters of Computing Engineering that the amount of human tutors is insufficient. The students/tutors ratio is very high and there is a great difference in the acquired knowledge and backgrounds. The idea…

In this work we present an approach to model an action-oriented system controlled by BDI agents using a defeasible argumentation formalism to represent its knowledge. Here, our main concern will be modelling the software agents that drive the physical robots.

Knowledge of how groups of people interact is important in many disciplines, e.g. organizational behavior, social network analysis, knowledge management and ubiquitous computing. Existing studies of social network interactions have either been restricted to online communities, where unambiguous measurements about…

This thesis focuses on the search for a more equitable urban environment. In Western Europe, the hope that cities are relevant forms of living and interacting, still exists. In Brussels, in the last fifteen years, the inhabitants formed a unique…

Understanding the biological signals encoded in a genome is a key challenge of computational biology. These signals are encoded in the four-nucleotide alphabet of DNA and are responsible for all molecular processes in the cell. In particular, the genome contains…

This thesis explores how doctors and nurses use documents to share their knowledge within and across healthcare settings. In addressing this question I draw on a 15-month, multi-sited ethnographic study in several pediatric health care settings, following patients from primary…

Diabetes mellitus is a syndrome which affects more and more people in all countries over the world. In Mexico, it is commonly treated with herbal extracts. Such treatment may be of considerable benefit especially during the early stages of the…

BACKGROUND:Global health research is essential for development. A major issue is the inequitable distribution of research efforts and funds directed towards populations suffering the world's greatest health problems. This imbalance is fostering major attempts at redirecting research to the health…