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Στην παρούσα διατριβή παρουσιάζονται μεθοδολογίες σχεδιασμού που επιτρέπουν την μείωση την κατανάλωση ενέργειας σε υλοποιήσεις ασύρματων εφαρμογών πολυμέσων. Οι προτεινόμενες μεθοδολογίες βελτιστοποιούν την διαχείριση της μνήμης, η κατανάλωσης της οποίας είναι η κυρίαρχη συνιστώσα της συνολικής κατανάλωσης ισχύος στις εφαρμογές πολυμέσων. Επιπλέον, η διατριβή πραγματεύεται τεχνικές για χαμηλής κατανάλωσης διαμερισμό, ο οποίος είναι απαραίτητος για την εκτέλεση σε πραγματικό χρόνο των υψηλής υπολογιστικής πολυπλοκότητας εφαρμογών πολυμέσων. Στόχο της παρούσας διατριβής αποτελεί και η βελτιστοποίηση, όσον αφορά την κατανάλωση ισχύος, των κυκλωμάτων ασύρματης μετάδοσης των πολυμέσων. Στο πλαίσιο αυτό η διατριβή ασχολείται με τεχνικές διαχείρισης ισχύος, και προτείνει υλοποιήσεις που χρησιμοποιούν τις τεχνικές αυτές. Οι μεθοδολογίες και τεχνικές λαμβάνουν υπόψη και την επιφάνεια ολοκλήρωσης και ταχύτητα εκτέλεσης. Τα ισοζύγια (trade-offs) αναγνωρίζονται, και όπου αυτά υπάρχουν προτείνονται μέθοδοι για την αποδοτική τους επίλυση. / In this Ph.D. dissertation, design methodologies that enable energy minimization of wireless multimedia application realizations are presented. The proposed methodologies mainly optimize the management of the memory subsystem, which role is dominant as far as energy dissipation of multimedia application is concerned. Furthermore, techniques for the low-power partitioning, which is required for the real-time implementation of the highly computational complex multimedia applications, are proposed. Apart from the multimedia processing itself the dissertation, also focuses on the transmition of the multimedia content. To this end, power management techniques applicable for the design of wireless receivers are proposed. The proposed techniques are employed for the design of real-life implementation of low and medium rate receivers. Apart from energy minimization The proposed methodologies and techniques take into account constraints regarding the integration area as well as the processing time. The involved trade-offs are identified, and methods for their efficient exploration are proposed

A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine. / Objective: Effective physician‐patient communication is critical to the clinical decision making process. The informed consent process for any intervention can be one of the most important moments for effective physician‐patient communication in regards to outcome and liability. We studied parental recall of information provided during an informed consent discussion process prior to performance of emergency medical procedures in a pediatric emergency department of an inner city hospital with a large bi‐lingual population. Methods: Parent/child dyads undergoing emergency medical procedures were surveyed prospectively in English/Spanish, post‐procedure for recall of informed consent information. Logistic regression analysis was used; outcome variables were the ability to name a risk, a benefit, and an alternative to the procedure and predictors were language, education, and acculturation. Results: Fifty‐five parent/child dyads completed the survey. Logistic regression analysis showed that respondents with less than high school education were approximately 80% less likely to be able to name a risk or a benefit, while respondents with a high school education were approximately 24 times more likely to be able to name an alternative procedure. Conclusion: A gap in communication exists between physicians and patients during the consent taking; it is significantly impacted by socio‐demographic factors like education level, language and acculturation.

In copper chemical mechanical planarization (CMP), in situ detection of barrier to dielectric layer transition is typically done using an optical reflectance technique. The introduction of carbon doped oxides (CDOs) as low-dielectric constant (k) materials for dielectric layers has opened up the possibility of using spectroscopic techniques for detecting such transitions more efficiently. The vibrational frequencies of the bonds between C, H, O, and Si in these low-k materials may be readily detected by spectroscopic techniques such as Raman and infrared (IR) spectroscopies. Since CMP is carried out in aqueous media, IR spectroscopy is not very desirable due to strong absorption of water in the same region as C-H vibrations (2800 cm⁻¹ to 3300 cm⁻¹). In contrast, Raman spectroscopy shows minimal water interference and can be used to efficiently monitor the signal from CDO films even in aqueous environments that prevail under CMP conditions. The research reported in this dissertation concerns the use of Raman spectroscopy in detecting the transition from tantalum (Ta) barrier layer to CDO dielectric layer, insitu. Intensities of Raman peaks characteristic of Si-Si vibrations from silicon substrates and C-H vibrations from low-k materials were used for monitoring CDO thickness and detecting removal of Ta layer. An abrasion cell was integrated with a Raman spectrometer to demonstrate the feasibility of Raman monitoring in-situ. Additionally, an alternative method was investigated for monitoring transitions in highly fluorescent low-k materials where Raman can not be used. The fluorescence intensity was used to effectively monitor Ta to low-k transitions. As a secondary objective, the Raman technique was used to monitor the composition of polishing slurries, which in the case of copper CMP, have a rich chemistry, which may change during the course of polishing due to consumption and decomposition of certain constituents. Various aspects, such as small layer thickness (<50 μm), continuous flow of the slurry, and dynamics of the film removal process pose a great challenge to the monitoring of slurry components between the pad and the wafer. The slurry constituents such as oxidants and corrosion inhibitors have unique signatures that can be detected using spectroscopic techniques. In this study Raman spectroscopy was used to detect and quantify chemical species such as hydroxylamine, benzotriazole and hydrogen peroxide in-situ. A more detailed study pertaining to the protonation of hydroxylamine with respect to the pH was also performed. Finally, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was also investigated to improve the detection of pyridine and benzotriazole at low concentrations (<100 ppm).

Low-Cost Housing Projects is an essential part in the line of developing sustainable solutions for the provision of shelter for ordinary people in the third world. In poor countries severe problems like population growth, uncontrolled urbanisation processes, deforestation and erosion are present as a result of misuse of all different kinds of resources; this is the fact also in Ethiopia. This degree project is a sub-project integrated in a larger research project at Halmstad University concerning Sustainable Low Cost Housing for the Kambaata Region, Ethiopia. The purpose of this sub-project is to plan and design two dwellings as when erected will serve as a demonstration project in Durame the main urban area of the Kambaata region. The houses will be constructed from the two suitable low cost building materials; Adobe blocks and CSSB (Cement Stabilized Soil Blocks).

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Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a challenging problem in Nova Scotia and is a leading cause of disability and a contributor to high health related costs to the system. The primary objective of this thesis is to develop and test a methodology for the creation of an electronic standardized assessment tool for chronic conditions such as CLBP using a triangulation method. The methodology involves evidence-based, expert and explicit clinical knowledge in the development of the tool. The outcome of this research is the development of a methodology model for the generation of electronic standardized assessment form for CLBP with 30 predictive factors. Experts evaluated the form for its use and usefulness, usability, and standardized terminologies. Intra-Class Correlation (ICC) and Cronbach’s alpha were used to measure inter-rater reliabilities among experts. The results were in the fair and moderate levels of agreement due to the limitation in sample size and the variation of disciplines among participants.

This thesis investigates the application of low energy electron irradiation to 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene films to test whether site-selective C–H bond cleavage can be achieved in a molecule presenting both aliphatic and aromatic target sites. IRRAS was used to characterize the orientation of vapour-deposited 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene on Au(111) and alkanethiolated gold under UHV and cryogenic conditions. On both substrates, the disordered as-deposited films were transformed by thermal treatment, producing two film structures – within the first 4-monolayers, aromatic rings lie nearly parallel to the metal surface, while molecules in additional layers are more upright. Low energy electron irradiation (0-10 eV) produced no dissociations in 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene; however, low energy electron transmission spectra indicate charge accumulates at interstitial sites in the mesitylene film, decelerating subsequent incident electrons. These decelerated electrons traverse the charged film and are reaccelerated, inducing dissociations in the underlying SAM. Contrary to literature claims, 1,3,5-trimethylbezene is a poor molecule for adsorption studies such as BET as the initial adsorption is disordered and thermodynamically unstable.

Transformations in the properties of low-moisture dough products (cookies and crackers) during baking have been studied under idealized conditions in pilot facilities and laboratories. However, little research is published that describes dough development within the context of complex industrial baking processes. A process mapping approach was adopted, in which oven parameters were profiled and matched against changes in dough. In cookies, changes to starch A-granules, including loss of granule birefringence, disruption to granule borders and increased gel viscosity were observed. Development of acrylamide in cookies was seen to trail colour development, suggesting options for mediating acrylamide content. In crackers, the presence of additional water allowed significant changes to starch A-granules to occur, including: swelling similar to the early stages of gelatinization in bread, reduced pasting ability, a drop in enthalpy, and a loss of crystallinity. Emulation of low-moisture dough baking at the benchtop level, based upon internal product temperature data from industrial processes, was found to be limited in its ability to produce crackers having appropriate leavening and internal structure development. The determination of isosteric heat of desorption values for cookies and crackers, modeled on industrial processes at temperatures > 100°C, gave values of 44.3 and 42.7 kJ/mol, respectively. This data will be useful for establishing energy requirements in industrial baking processes / MITACS, OMAFRA