This thesis explores how an agent can autonomously learn about its environment
just by interacting with it. This is not an easy task, since traditional
machine learning algorithms strongly depend on the user's intervention to define
the data to…

CMOS IC scaling has provided significant improvements in electronic circuit performance.
Advances in test methodologies to deal with new failure mechanisms and nanometer issues
are required. Interconnect opens are an important defect mechanism that requires detailed
knowledge of its physical…

In June 2008, the Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association (ABIA) and the Indian NGO SAHARA submitted a joint pre-grant opposition to the patent application of Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate in India. This joint action provides a pertinent case model of the potential…

Many asymptotic results for kernel-based estimators were established under some smoothness assumption on density. For cases where smoothness assumptions that are used to derive unbiasedness or asymptotic rate may not hold we propose a combined estimator that could lead to…

BACKGROUND:A variety of definitions of evidence-based practice (EBP) exist. However, definitions are in themselves insufficient to explain the underlying processes of EBP and to differentiate between an evidence-based process and evidence-based outcome. There is a need for a clear statement…

BACKGROUND:Primary prevention of breast cancer through prophylactic mastectomy can reduce the risk of malignancy in high-risk individuals. No type of mastectomy completely removes all breast tissue, but a subcutaneous mastectomy leaves more tissue in situ than does a simple mastectomy.CASE…

Four teachers & their eight classes of 179 5th-grade (10-11-year-old) students participated in this quasi-experimental classroom study, which investigated the effects of form-focused instruction (FFI) & corrective feedback on immersion students' ability to accurately assign grammatical gender in French. The…