Monitoring the preservation of security and dependability (S&D) properties of complex software systems is widely accepted as a necessity. Basic monitoring can detect violations but does not always provide sufficient information for deciding what the appropriate response to a vio…
Biology exhibits information processing capabilities, such as parallel processing and context sensitivity, which go far beyond the capabilities of modern conventional electronic computation. In particular the interactions of proteins suh as enzymes are interesting, as they appea…
This thesis applies knowledge of the physical dynamics of objects to estimating object motion from vision when estimation from vision alone fails. It differentiates itself from existing physics-based vision by building in robustness to situations where existing visual estimation…
This thesis examines the use of expert systems in semi-formal domains. The research identifies the main problems with semi-formal domains and proposes and evaluates a number of different solutions to them. The thesis considers the traditional approach to developing expert system…
This include the mass spectroscopic measurement of gases generated in the arc in water case, the more accurate arc voltage measurement just before current zero, and the post arc current measurement.
Resource Description Framework (RDF) is a flexible, increasingly popular data model that allows for simple representation of arbitrarily structured information. This flexibility allows it to act as an effective underlying data model for the growing Semantic Web. Unfortunately, i…
Surface texture plays an important role in the specification of a precision workpiece. However, the route of traceability for surface texture measurements is not well developed. One of the main technical obstacles is the lack of tools to check traceability of the software of sur…
It is argued that design exists within a collective social network of negotiation, feedback sharing and reflection that is integral to the design process. To encourage this, requires a technological solution that enables designers to access, be aware of, and evaluate the work of…
The General Organization for Technical Education and Vocational Training, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has developed a special feeding program for the students at its institutions. The effects of this program on the nutritional and health status of these students have not been evaluate…
Our reliance on the correct functioning of embedded systems is growing rapidly. Such systems are used in a wide range of applications such as airbag control systems, mobile phones, and high-end television sets. These systems are becoming more and more complex and require multi-c…
The objective of this research is to develop a design process that can optimize an engine casing assembly to reduce tip clearance losses. Performing design optimization on the casings that form a gas turbine engine's external structure is a very tedious and cumbersome process. T…
Over recent years, the increasing richness and sophistication of modem software systems has challenged conventional design-time software modelling analysis and has led to a number of studies exploring non-conventional approaches particularly those inspired by nature. The natural…
Cryptographic protocols form the backbone of our digital society. Unfortunately, the security of numerous critical components has been neglected. As a consequence, attacks have resulted in financial loss, violations of personal privacy, and threats to democracy. This thesis aids…
Rule testing in scheduling applications is a complex and potentially costly business problem. This thesis reports the outcome of research undertaken to develop a system to describe and test scheduling rules against a set of scheduling data. The overall intention of the research …
This dissertation addresses the challenge of the configuration of modern (ubiquitous, context-sensitive, mobile et al.) interactive systems where it is difficult or impossible to predict (i) the resources available for evolution, (ii) the criteria for judging the success of the …
Adriaan de Groot, the Dutch psychologist and chess Master, argued that “perception and memory are more important differentiators of chess expertise than the ability to look ahead in selecting a chess move” (Groot 1978). A component of expertise in chess has been attributed to th…
In this thesis two existing computer science techniques are used to solve a specific problem in the field of ‘spatial planning'. The problem to be addressed is monitoring the conformance of planning decisions to urban land use policies. ‘Monitoring conformance' refers to adheren…
The work presented in this thesis concerns the problem of timetabling at universities – particularly course-timetabling, and examines the various ways in which metaheuristic techniques might be applied to these sorts of problems. Using a popular benchmark version of a university…