University of Colorado Colorado Springs

About: University of Colorado Colorado Springs is a education organization based out in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 6664 authors who have published 10872 publications receiving 323416 citations. The organization is also known as: UCCS & University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

Multilayer electrodes for integrated circuit capacitors

Abstract: Disclosed is a multilayer capacitor structure in an integrated circuit, including a first electrode constructed by forming at least one layer over a substrate and forming a plate layer over the previous layer(s). A dielectric layer is formed over this first electrode, and a second electrode is established over the dielectric layer by forming a plate layer over the dielectric layer, and forming at least one additional layer over the plate layer. Each layer may serve one or more functions. Also disclosed is a further embodiment including constructing a first electrode by forming at least one layer on a substrate, forming a plate layer over the previous layer(s), and forming a dielectric layer over the first electrode. The resulting structure is then heated, preferably in an oxygen ambient, to oxidize the lower layer. A second electrode can then be formed over the dielectric layer.

Fracture initiation at sharp notches under mode I, mode II, and mild mixed mode loading

Abstract: In the context of linear elasticity, a stress singularity of the type Knrδ(δ<0) may exist at sharp re-entrant corners, with an intensity Kn In general the order of the stress singularity δ and the stress intensity differ for symmetric (mode I) and antisymmetric (mode II) loading Under general mixed-mode loadings, the magnitudes of the mode I and II intensities fully characterize the stress state in the region of the corner A failure criterion based on critical values of these intensities may be appropriate in situations where the region around the corner dominated by the singular fields is large compared to intrinsic flaw sizes, inelastic zones, and fracture process zone sizes We determined the mode I and II stress intensities for notched mode I tensile specimens and notched mode II flexure specimens using a combination of the Williams (1952) asymptotic method, dimensional considerations, and detailed finite element analysis We carried out a companion experimental study to extract critical values of the mode I and II stress intensities for a series of notched polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) tensile and flexure specimens with notch angles of 90- The data show that excellent failure correlation is obtained, in both mode I and II loading, through the use of a single parameter, the critical stress intensity We then analyzed and tested a series of T-shaped structures containing 90- corners The applied tensile loading results in mixed-mode loading of the 90- corners Failure of the specimens is brittle and can be well-correlated with a critical mode I stress intensity criterion using the results of the notched mode I tensile tests This is attributed to large difference in the strength of the stress singularities in modes I and II: δ= -04555 and -00915 for modes I and II for a 90- notch As a result, the mode I loading dominates the failure process for the 90- corner in the T-structure

Interference and locality-aware task scheduling for MapReduce applications in virtual clusters

Abstract: MapReduce emerges as an important distributed programming paradigm for large-scale applications. Running MapReduce applications in clouds presents an attractive usage model for enterprises. In a virtual MapReduce cluster, the interference between virtual machines (VMs) causes performance degradation of map and reduce tasks and renders existing data locality-aware task scheduling policy, like delay scheduling, no longer effective. On the other hand, virtualization offers an extra opportunity of data locality for co-hosted VMs. In this paper, we present a task scheduling strategy to mitigate interference and meanwhile preserving task data locality for MapReduce applications. The strategy includes an interference-aware scheduling policy, based on a task performance prediction model, and an adaptive delay scheduling algorithm for data locality improvement. We implement the interference and locality-aware (ILA) scheduling strategy in a virtual MapReduce framework. We evaluated its effectiveness and efficiency on a 72-node Xen-based virtual cluster. Experimental results with 10 representative CPU and IO-intensive applications show that ILA is able to achieve a speedup of 1.5 to 6.5 times for individual jobs and yield an improvement of up to 1.9 times in system throughput in comparison with four other MapReduce schedulers.

Authentication of Smartphone Users Using Behavioral Biometrics

Abstract: Smartphones and tablets have become ubiquitous in our daily lives. Smartphones, in particular, have become more than personal assistants. These devices have provided new avenues for consumers to play, work, and socialize whenever and wherever they want. Smartphones are small in size, so they are easy to handle and to stow and carry in users' pockets or purses. However, mobile devices are also susceptible to various problems. One of the greatest concerns is the possibility of breach in security and privacy if the device is seized by an outside party. It is possible that threats can come from friends as well as strangers. Due to the size of smart devices, they can be easily lost and may expose details of users' private lives. In addition, this might enable pervasive observation or imitation of one's movements and activities, such as sending messages to contacts, accessing private communication, shopping with a credit card, and relaying information about where one has been. This paper highlights the potential risks that occur when smartphones are stolen or seized, discusses the concept of continuous authentication, and analyzes current approaches and mechanisms of behavioral biometrics with respect to methodology, associated datasets and evaluation approaches.