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This article presents information on two research papers related to quality and reliability engineering. The first paper is "Maintenance Policies for Systems with Condition-Monitoring and Obvious Failures," by professor Lisa Maillart of Case Western Reserve University. She has developed a model in which either imperfect observations or perfect observations are scheduled adaptively as the system deteriorates. The information can be used to schedule preventive maintenance. Another paper is "A Change Point Analysis for Modeling Incomplete Burn-In for Light Displays," by Suk Joo Bae of Hanyang University in Korea and Paul Kvam of the Georgia Institute of Technology. They developed a method to find out the change point from the luminosity trajectory during burn-in.

Reports on the dismissal of Rhetta Moran as senior research fellow at Salford University in Lancashire, England. Decision of the university to close the Revans Centre for Action Learning Research; Supervisory support offered to students at Salford University.

The article reports on the inquiry launched by the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis into research at its Stem Cell Institute after "New Scientist" raised further concerns about papers that appear to contain duplicated and manipulated images. It states that the inquiries led to the correction in three papers and a discovery of misconduct against Morayma Reyes, formerly a doctor of philosophy degree (PhD) student at Minnesota.

This paper defends the idea that universities manufacture knowledge as a public good through the "creative destruction" of social capital. The idea is presented as contemporary restatement of the Humboldtian ideal of the unity of research and teaching: Research "creates" (i.e. concentrates) social capital, which is then "destroyed" (i.e. distributed) through teaching. The defense is made against recent attacks to the integrity of the university as an institution associated with postmodernism and the so-called "new production of knowledge", which would evaluate universities by client-led performance indicators. The emergence of such indicators is considered and critiqued, followed by some constructive suggestions for indicators specifically designed to measure qualities at which universities uniquely excel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the theoretical foundations of the concept of entrepreneurialism in universities and the contribution it can make to the knowledge society. It reviews the concept as an economic phenomenon and draws a distinction between the use of the term in economics and its use in higher education and that in higher education it can be seen as a contested idea which can in some circumstances be destructive of academic values. On the other hand it can strengthen institutional autonomy and can be an enabling process which stimulates research and innovation. Barriers to entrepreneurialism at national and institutional levels are noted and the important area of risk. Two particular ideas are discussed, the concept of the academic entrepreneur and the relationship between the new emphasis on universities' regional role and the nature of the entrepreneurial university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on a study related to computer worms. Computer scientists Nicholas Weaver and Vern Paxson from the University of California in Berkeley and Abhishek Kumar from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta used a technique known as telescope analysis to study the worm's spread. A worm's release illuminates, for a few moments, dark corners of the network just as supernovae illuminate dark and distant corners of the universe, the researchers write in a paper outlining their work.

Considers the possible impact of reforms announced by British Prime Minister John Major this week on research funding for universities and polytechnics. White papers on education and the desire to narrow the gap between universities and polytechnics; `Higher Education: A New Framework'; Rejection of a proposal to bring all research funding under the control of the Advisory Board for the Research Councils; More.

The article reports that multinational publishing firm Elsevier is planning to setup an alternative open-access institutional research archives. This initiative would take repositories out of the control of universities which are archived research papers in portable document folder (PDF) files. The academic community in Great Britain raised its concerns over the effort of Elsevier and stressed that the control of the papers should remain with the hands of the researchers. Elsevier announced that the initiative aimed to improve research methods.

Ministers in Great Britain are reconsidering white-paper plans to create "teaching-only universities," after the proposals were rejected by existing universities on the grounds that they threaten the link between teaching and research. Higher education minister Alan Johnson confirmed this week that he would carefully consider responses froth a consultation on teaching-only institutions before making a final decision on how to proceed. At present, the "university" title is used only by institutions with the power to award both taught degrees and higher research degrees. But in its January 2003 white paper, the Department for Education and Skills in Great Britain, said it was not necessary to be active in cutting-edge research to be an excellent teacher.

Discusses "Top of the Class: Benchmarking Scottish Higher Education," a report released by the Universities Scotland about the quality of research programs of Scottish universities. Costs of Scottish research papers; Number of times academic papers by Scottish researchers are cited by other researchers; Comparison with research programs from other countries.

The article predicts that universities will discourage or bar researchers from publishing minor papers to maintain funds for publication in top journals as a requirement of the transition to full open access, according to the Working Group on Expanding Access to Published Research Fundings' report. The report calls for universities to consider the cost of articles fees and subscriptions and the principles of academic freedom. Professor Stevan Harnad disapproves the high cost of open access.

The article discusses the importance of departmental reviews in ensuring the quality of research and teaching in the British higher education sector as of February 2015. Topics covered include the 2014 research excellence framework (REF), information on the discussion paper "The Future of Quality Assessment in Higher Education" of the Quality of Assessment Review Steering Group, and the involvement of universities in knowledge transfer, civic engagement and other third-stream activities.

The article discusses the results of a research led by Jonathan Drennan at the University of College Dublin which found that age, gender and teaching load have little impact on the number of papers written. Findings show that motivation and the ability to network have a far greater impact on research productivity. The study looked at the responses of almost 11,000 full-time academics from 12 European countries.

The article reports on an analysis made by Ross Williams, professorial Fellow at Melbourne Institute, University of Melbourne in Victoria, which found that the national share of research papers attributable to the older sandstone universities has declined by almost two per cent as of 2010.

The author addresses the value of attending academic conferences. She believes conferences can play an important role in promoting understanding beyond research presented in papers and poster sessions or professional networking. She mentions her affiliation with Queen's University. She relates some of her experiences in attending academic conferences.

The article discusses the findings of an investigation into research misconduct in universities in Great Britain. The increase in the number of cases suggested that a U.S.-style culture of whistleblowing and zero-tolerance has arrived in the region. The trend was first highlighted when Leeds University lecturer Neil Winn was found guilty of plagiarism in a research paper in 2005. Glasgow University in Scotland has the highest number of academic fraud in the region.

Reports that mounting pressure on young academics in Great Britain is a key concern raised in responses to the proposed ground rules for the 2008 research assessment exercise (RAE). Poll of subject associations and societies a week before the deadline for responses to the RAE criteria; Pressure due to expectations that academics submit four research papers.

Reports that a project to replace paper notes with digitally stored data about experiments has been awarded additional funding by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council in Great Britain. CombeChem project at Southampton University; Amount of the grant; Facility to have computes instead of lab books.

Reports that the Australian Government has proposed to award the university title to institutions that neither undertake research nor award research degrees. Release of a discussion paper on diversity in the higher education sector; Set of protocols governing the establishment of universities in the country.

Reports on the increase in research output made by Australian academics over the past twenty years. Increase in the average number of citations per paper; Research in space and geological science.

Reports that the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals has recommended that British universities should give better support for the creation of start-up companies that exploit research. Percentage increase in spin-off businesses from the public sector through 2002 under the British government's 1998 white paper on competitiveness.