The objective of this thesis is to clarify the ways that organizational factors influence nuclear power plant performance in order to improve performance. Therefore, this thesis studied the nuclear power plant organizational environment by identifying and detailing its important work…

Continued advances in the semiconductor industry will require the introduction of new materials and processes concurrent with shrinking device dimensions. These simultaneous demands drastically reduce margins for error and necessitate an increasingly quantitative understanding of semiconductor processes. Leaders of the…

All intelligence relies on search - for example, the search for an intelligent agent's next action. Search is only likely to succeed in resource-bounded agents if they have already been biased towards finding the right answer. In artificial agents, the…

Two-electron mixed-valence complexes of rhodium may be supported by diphosphazane ligands (RN(PY2)2). Whereas diphosphazane ligands with strongly [pi]-acidic phosphine groups (Y = F, OCH2CF3) react with RhI starting materials to afford binuclear Rh20,II complexes, Rh20,II(MeN(PY)2)3X2(L) or Rh2"II(MeN(PY),)3X2 (X = Cl,…

Modem society requires reliable and safe operation of its infrastructure. Policymakers believe that, in many industries, competitive markets and regulatory incentives will result in system performance superior to that under command-and-control regulation. Analytical techniques to evaluate the reliability and safety…

This study offers a detailed case study of how Toyota facilitates interorganizational knowledge transfers among within its production network. In particular, we identiify and examine six key institutionalized knowledge sharing routines developed by Toyota and its suppliers. By examining how…

This paper describes the connection memory, a machine for concurrently manipulating knowledge stored in semantic networks. We need the connection memory because conventional serial computers cannot move through such networks fast enough. The connection memory sidesteps the problem by providing…

Work on Expert Systems has received extensive attention recently, prompting growing interest in a range of environments. Much has been made of the basic concept and the rule-based system approach typically used to construct the programs. Perhaps this is a…

Heavily used in the manufacture of integrated circuits, chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) is becoming an enabling technology for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). To reliably use CMP in the manufacturing process, designers must be able to accurately predict the CMP process and control…

Nature and Gnosticism are problematic terms. With the discovery of a library of so called heretical Gnostic texts in 1945, theologians, historians, and believers the world over have been exposed to Christian texts that call into question the liturgical lineage…

The thesis comprises three essays on various aspects of the development and diffusion of pharmaceutical innovations, woven together by the idea that the production of clinical knowl- edge influences organizational design, pricing, and advertising decisions in the pharmaceutical industry -…

To take further steps along the path toward true artificial intelligence, systems must be built that are capable of learning about the world around them through observation and explanation. These systems should be flexible and robust in the style of…