In plasma etching process it is critical to know when the film being etched has cleared to the underlying film, i.e. to detect endpoint, in order to achieve the desired device performance in the resulting integrated circuit. The most highly…

Most studies on Japanese supplier-automaker relationships have focused on the nature of
the dyadic inter-firm relationship and the performance of the assembler. We examine the
relationship between a Japanese supplier's "customer scope strategy" (i.e. number of
customers) and the supplier's…

El desarrollo de sistemas de diálogo prácticos, orientados a aplicaciones específicas,
requiere un esfuerzo de diseño muy elevado. La práctica en el desarrollo, manejo y refinamiento
de sistemas concretos nos ha hecho ver que una de las razones de este…

Most neural network learning algorithms cannot use knowledge other than what is provided in the training data. Initialized using random weights, they cannot use prior knowledge such as knowledge stored in previously trained networks. This manuscript thesis addresses this problem.…

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Cultural resources like traditional medicinal knowledge need to be recognized in their role tied to important regional practices in Zimbabwe. This is especially as a nexus of legal definitions for biological, intellectual and cultural resources will inform a National Sui…

This dissertation addresses the issues pertaining to composite products (CPs). CPs are defined as products formed by combining knowledge from two distinct domains, for example, digital cameras, which combine knowledge from digital products and cameras. The three research questions addressed…

This thesis is a theoretical and practical investigation of the role played by informal learning and teaching in the development of identity and applied knowledge. With the advent of mass schooling, there came to be a distinction between formal and…

Searching for information pervades a wide spectrum of human activity, including learning and problem solving. With recent changes in the amount of information available and the variety of means of retrieval, there is even more need to understand why some…

In this thesis, I investigate the nature of geometric knowledge and its relationship to spatial intuition. My goal is to rehabilitate the Kantian view that Euclid's geometry is a mathematical practice, which is grounded in spatial intuition, yet, nevertheless, yields…