(cont.) updates. It produces plan-ready information, by exploiting the self-serving and opportunistic pursuit of instant return-on-investment by frontline offices. Thanks to its emergent qualities, City Knowledge engenders unexpected plan-demanding situations, where the ability to conduct second-order analyses leads to deeper…

This thesis explores a novel approach to visual speech modeling. Visual speech, or a sequence of images of the speaker's face, is traditionally viewed as a single stream of contiguous units, each corresponding to a phonetic segment. These units are…

(cont.) outlined. 2. Demonstration that computer systems can use the discovered relations among data items to help users search for relevant information, prioritize the data exchange between collaborating users, and visualize data in various ways. This investigation looks at how…

Oligomeric mini-proteins, short peptides with protein-like features, constitute valuable minimal models for the study of oligomeric proteins. Oligomerization is a common feature of cellular proteins that may confer structural and functional advantages. Oligomerization is proposed to have arisen by several…

(cont.) visualize complex geometric arrangements. Finally, the tools developed represent an alternative to what learning technology has always done; transmit academic knowledge to the student. These tools are an example of how IT can be used to go beyond the…

We report the creation of strained silicon on silicon (SSOS) substrate technology. The method uses a relaxed SiGe buffer as a template for inducing tensile strain in a Si layer, which is then bonded to another Si handle wafer. The…

(cont.) which is expected, given their additional knowledge resources. The respondents' urgency in looking for the relevant knowledge is the primary explanation for this difference between the two networks. This difference in knowledge networking among the different groups did not…

Conversational interfaces have received much attention as a promising natural communication channel between humans and computers. A typical conversational interface consists of three major systems: speech understanding, dialog management and spoken language generation. In such a conversational interface, speech recognition…

This thesis examines the evolution of Internet based knowledge networks (e-knowledge networks) in the domain of sustainable development. The objective of this thesis is to use an engineering systems approach to understand knowledge networks, identify the barriers to their sustainability…

I shall describe a model of the evolution of the rule-structured knowledge that serves as a cornerstone of our development of computer-based coaches. The key idea is a graph structure whose nodes represent rules, and whose links represent various evolutionary…