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The article reports that immunologist Luk van Parijs was fired from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school alleged that he had confessed to faking data in one published paper, several unpublished manuscripts and grant applications. Van Parijs's academic future may be shot to pieces. But his scientific past, so far is intact. He has contributed to roughly 40 papers stretching back to 1994, many of them in the blossoming field of RNA interference. None has been publicly labeled fraudulent or retracted. MIT has not said which paper it found to be problematic. Other investigations are continuing. One of the biggest problems in these fraud things says Kathleen Case, publisher at the American Association for Cancer Research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is that the investigations get finished. And the last thing people think of is the journals. Large-scale fraud cases are rare. But scientists whose work is challenged have often co-authored dozens or even hundreds of papers.

The article reports on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and its development of a membrane which can absorb oil. The membrane is made of nanowires which can absorb hydrophobic liquids including oil from water. It can be used in cleaning up oil spills and other water pollutants. Francesco Stellaci who is leading the development comments that the material can remain dry after being left on water for a month. The oil that is absorbed by the membrane can be recovered through heating and evaporation since the nanowires are made of potassium manganese. The membrane is created with a technique similar to paper production.

The article focuses on the development of methods for making very sensitive measurements of biological molecules and nanoparticles by Scott Manalis and his group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Manali said that they wanted to develop methods for label-free detection that could be as sensitive as fluorescence. After three years, they came up with a vacuum-packaged resonator that could weigh individual nanoparticles, single bacteria and protein monolayers.

Reports on the revival of the cold fusion debate on the `Technology Review' publication of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Indignation of MIT researchers who had previously refuted the technique; Claim of reports of energy-releasing nuclear reactions at room temperature.

Background: Scientific activity for 3D bioprinting has increased over the past years focusing mainly on fully functional biological constructs to overcome issues related to organ transplants. This research performs a scientometric analysis on bioprinting based on a competitive technology intelligence (CTI) cycle, which assesses scientific documents to establish the publication rate of science and technology in terms of institutions, patents or journals. Although analyses of publications can be observed in the literature, the identification of the most influential authors and affiliations has not been addressed. This study involves the analysis of authors and affiliations, and their interactions in a global framework. We use network collaboration maps and Betweenness Centrality (BC) to identify of the most prominent actors in bioprinting, enhancing the CTI analysis. Results: 2088 documents were retrieved from Scopus database from 2007 to 2017, disclosing an exponential growth with an average publication increase of 17.5% per year. A threshold of five articles with ten or more cites was established for authors, while the same number of articles but cited five or more times was set for affiliations. The author with more publications was Atala A. (36 papers and a BC = 370.9), followed by Khademhosseini A. (30 documents and a BC = 2104.7), and Mironov (30 documents and BC = 2754.9). In addition, a small correlation was observed between the number of collaborations and the number of publications. Furthermore, 1760 institutions with a median of 10 publications were found, but only 20 within the established threshold. 30% of the 20 institutions had an external collaboration, and institutions located in and close to the life science cluster in Massachusetts showed a strong cooperation. The institution with more publications was the Harvard Medical School, 61 publications, followed by the Brigham and Women's hospital, 46 papers, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with 37 documents. Conclusions: Network map analysis and BC allowed the identification of the most influential authors working on bioprinting and the collaboration between institutions was found limited. This analysis of authors and affiliations and their collaborations offer valuable information for the identification of potential associations for bioprinting researches and stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents one of the papers discussed at the convocation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the impact of science on human activity held on April 1, 1949. It is said that because of science, the western world no longer possesses the sense of common values which gave coherence to human activities in earlier ages. In this paper, the author examines some of the spiritual implications of the commitment of the scientist on his program of dealing with the universe and considers some of the consequences of the new insights which have been acquired in carrying out the program thus far.

The d’Arbeloff Interactive Mathematics Project or d’AIMP is an initiative that seeks to enhance and ultimately transform the teaching and learning of introductory mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A result of this project is a suite of “mathlets,” a carefully developed set of dynamic computer applets for use in the university’s ordinary differential equations course. In this paper, we present the rationale for such computer innovations, the philosophy behind their design, as well as a discussion of their careful development and implementation. Survey results are reported which yielded positive student feedback and suggestions for improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper traces the genesis of the MIT OpenCourseWare project from its initial strategic precursors in 1999 and 2000, through its launch in 2001 and its subsequent evolution. The story told here illuminates the interplay among institutional leadership, and strategic planning, and with university culture in launching major educational technology enterprises. It also shows how initiatives can evolve in unexpected ways, and can even surpass their initial goals. The paper concludes with an overview of challenges facing OpenCourseWare in moving from the end of its production ramp-up and towards sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents one of the papers discussed at the convocation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the impact of science on human activity held on April 1, 1949. It is said that because of science, the western world no longer possesses the sense of common values which gave coherence to human activities in earlier ages. In this paper, the author discusses the relationship of science with morality and religion. The author states that though there is a sense that science's body of knowledge is neutral and its results can be used for evil purposes, there is also a sense in which it is neither evil nor neutral but an expression of spiritual idealism.

The article presents one of the papers discussed at the convocation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the impact of science on human activity held on April 1, 1949. It is said that because of science, the western world no longer possesses the sense of common values which gave coherence to human activities in earlier ages. In this paper, the author talks about the modern age in western civilization. The author stresses that the outstanding characteristic of this age is that all its thinking about the world is dominated by the scientific spirit.

The article discusses the professional life of lead investigator Robert Langer of an academic laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It offers a day-in-the-life observation of Langer as he manages the laboratory and prepares for various activities throughout the day including the making of an educational video, offering editorial advice on a paper being considered for publication, and a lecture for those thinking about starting a biotechnology company.

Let G be an affine algebraic group over an algebraically closed field whose identity component G0 is reductive. Let W be the Weyl group of G and let D be a connected component of G whose image in G/G0 is unipotent. In this paper we define a map from the set of "twisted conjugacy classes" in W to the set of unipotent G0-conjugacy classes in D generalizing an earlier construction which applied when G is connected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Ensemble baseline development to simulate a range of future building energy scenarios. • Framework for rapid-response assessment of energy drivers for hundreds of buildings. • Procedures for campuses to track their energy policy effectiveness on an ongoing basis. • Proof-of-concept implementation for campus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Abstract Physics-based building energy models, once calibrated to historic energy data, are increasingly used to explore energy efficiency retrofits. When utilized for large building portfolios, such as university campuses, these calibrated models require substantial initial effort to develop, but are then typically only used once for analyzing potential building upgrades and estimating carbon reduction opportunities. This paper presents a continuous energy performance planning and tracking system for a university campus that automatically updates and compares measured against simulated building energy use for a hundred campus buildings. The system archives historic data, enables exploration of potential upgrade scenarios, and allows for the documentation of energy retrofits to individual buildings. The objectives of this tracking system are to support facility managers to ensure that their buildings are performing as intended, financial administrators to quantify potential energy savings and payback times of building upgrades and the overall university community to track campus-wide carbon emissions from buildings vis-à-vis previously defined reduction targets. A proof-of-concept implementation is presented for the authors' campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the first numerical control (NC) machine tool was created at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the 1950s, productivity and quality of machined parts have been increased through using NC and later computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools. Like other computer programs, errors may occur in a CNC program, which may lead to scraps or even accidents. Therefore, NC programs need to be verified before actual machining commences. Computer-based NC machining simulation is an economic and safe verification method. So far, much research effort concerning NC machining simulation has been made. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of such research work and a clear understanding of the direction in the field. First, the definition, common errors, programming approaches and verification methods of NC programs are introduced. Then, the definitions of geometric and physical NC machining simulation are presented. Four categories of NC machining simulation methods are discussed. They are solid-based, object space-based, image space-based and Web-based NC machining simulations. Finally, future trends and concluding remarks are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: CO2 avoidance cost economics are an essential tool for analysis of the potential for future CO2 capture and storage (CCS) utilization. The CO2 avoidance cost is the CO2 tax at which the product cost is the same for either a fossil fuel plant without CO2 mitigation (but paying the CO2 tax) or the same fossil fuel plant that includes the added capital and efficiency losses of adding CCS (but avoiding most of the CO2 tax). The CO2 tax must be higher than this CO2 avoidance cost to justify the higher risks, capital, and lower efficiency of utilizing CCS. Understanding which issues impact CO2 avoidance costs the most is fundamental to economically encouraging the massive CO2 reductions enabled with CCS. SFA Pacific recently completed two similar economic analyses of coal-based power plant CO2 mitigation costs. Both analyses included the options of converting to lower CO2 emissions with natural gas (with and without CCS) and continued coal use with and without CCS. One analysis was for an existing coal-based power plant baseline as part of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Workshop and Report entitled Retrofitting of Coal-Fired Power Plants for CO2 Emissions Reductions . The second analysis was for a new coal-based power plant baseline as part of an analysis of CO2 mitigation options by the U.S. Business Roundtable entitled The Balancing Act: Climate Change, Energy Security and the U.S. Economy . However, the resulting CO2 avoidance costs for these two analyses were very different. Specifically, the CO2 avoidance cost was about twice as high for the existing coal power plant than for the new coal power plant baseline. There are basic technical and economic reasons for this big difference in CO2 avoidance costs. They are best explained by simply showing the costs and performance of each baseline without and then with CCS in simple, transparent, and consistent one-page models. This enables easy, insightful side-by-side direct comparisons. Since first developing a cost and performance economic screening model of CCS for our GHGT-4 paper in 1998 , SFA Pacific has continued to improve the model which focuses on objectivity by stressing transparency and consistency with easy to compare cases. SFA Pacific has clearly shown identical inputs for key items such as fuel costs, non-fuel operating costs, unit capital costs, contingencies, site location factors, cost indexes, and especially capital charges. This makes it easy to see that power costs for the existing coal power plant baseline can be very low when the power plant is old and most of the existing capital is already paid-off. This GHGT-10 paper presents the most updated SFA Pacific analysis of CCS retrofit for existing coal power plant CO2 mitigation. The paper focuses on showing and explaining why the CO2 avoidance costs can be much higher for the existing plants versus new fossil fuel power plants. CO2 taxes which are high enough to discourage new coal power plants with high CO2 emissions would likely have little or no impact on existing coal power plants. Until the over 1,200 GW of existing old coal power plants begin reducing their high CO2 emissions, there can be little net reduction in worldwide CO2 growth. Converting or replacing this large capacity of existing coal power plants is essential to obtaining large CO2 reductions . [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper is based upon five interviews I conducted with Robert Vivian Pound in 2006–2007 and covers his childhood interest in radios, his time at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Radiation Laboratory during the Second World War, his work on the discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance in condensed matter, his travels as a professor at Harvard University, and his social interactions with other physicists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The noise goal of the Silent Aircraft Initiative, a collaborative effort between the University of Cambridge and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, demanded an airframe design with noise as a prime design variable and a design philosophy that cut across multiple disciplines. This paper discusses a novel design methodology synthesizing first-principles analysis and high-fidelity simulations, and it presents the conceptual design of an aircraft with a calculated noise level of 62 dBA at the airport perimeter. This is near the background noise in a well-populated area, making the aircraft imperceptible to the human ear on takeoff and landing. The all-lifting airframe of the conceptual aircraft design also has the potential for improved fuel efficiency, as compared with existing commercial aircraft. A key enabling technology in this conceptual design is the aerodynamic shaping of the airframe centerbody. Design requirements and challenges are identified, and the resulting aerodynamic design is discussed in depth. The paper concludes with suggestions for continued research on enabling technologies for quiet commercial aircraft. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the focus area of the MIT-Portugal Programme that deals with Engineering Design and Advanced Manufacturing (EDAM). The EDAM initiative consists of two new post tertiary degree programmes plus affiliated research and industrial liaisons. The paper also discusses the Portuguese innovation and education trajectory and the challenges felt by Portugal as the world becomes more networked (or flat). Some quantitative statistical studies of Portuguese innovation and education metrics are examined to explore the needs for new initiatives such as the MIT-Portugal Programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will outline answers to the two central questions regarding improving engineering education: (1) What is the full set of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that engineering students should possess as they leave the university, and at what level of proficiency? (2) How can we do better at ensuring that students learn these skills? The suggested answers lie within an innovative educational framework, the CDIO (conceive–design–implement–operate) Initiative. This initiative will be described along with the needs it meets, its goals, context, vision and pedagogical foundation. The first question is answered by the CDIO Syllabus and the process for reaching stakeholder consensus on the level of proficiency that students should attain in a given program. The second question is addressed through a best practice framework, which discusses curriculum design, design-implement experiences, teaching and learning, student assessment, program evaluation and faculty competence. Examples are provided of the implementation of best practices within the CDIO program in Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a descriptive case study of Terrascope, an innovative, year-long, project-based learning community at MIT. Each year, Terrascope students study a particular environmental or Earth-system problem from a multidisciplinary perspective. Terrascope includes both academic and non-academic components; this paper focuses on the academic components. The objectives of the academic subjects, and of the program as a whole, involve helping students develop their team-building, communication, problem-solving, and self-regulatory learning skills. This study focuses on cohorts of students from the first and second years of the program (2002–2003 and 2003–2004); it is based on end-of-semester surveys and focus groups, and on additional focus groups conducted when these students were upperclassmen. Students felt Terrascope helped them make significant improvements in their ability to work in teams and to take on complex, multidisciplinary problems. They felt that the program’s two-semester structure gave them an opportunity to develop and nurture these skills, and that the program prepared them well for their later work at MIT. They also felt that being engaged, as freshmen, in a distinct learning community, significantly eased their transition into MIT. We describe lessons learned in the development of Terrascope and offer suggestions for other institutions planning to develop similar programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes MIT Libraries' experience implementing DSpace, a home-grown open source digital institutional repository, which other institutions may want to introduce as a service to their communities. MIT's introduction of DSpace as an operating service illustrates the many political and organizational considerations that must be addressed to establish and operate institutional repositories. In addition to detailing some of the policies developed and organizational changes undertaken, this article describes the kinds of questions future implementers of DSpace will want to answer. It also outlines the impacts the service has had on the library, on MIT, and on the perception of MIT Libraries within the Institute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the testbed telesurgery system that was developed in MIT's Human Machine Systems Laboratory. This system was used to investigate the effects of communication time delays on controller stability and on the performance of surgical tasks. The system includes a bilateral force-reflecting teleoperator system, interchangeable surgical tools, audio and video communication between the master and slave sites, and methods to generate time delays between the sites. To compensate for the time delays, various control schemes were investigated, leading to the development and selection of fuzzy sliding control (FSC). With a stable teleoperator system, experiments in performing a variety of surgical exercises were conducted. These looked at the performance of a team of a telesurgeon and local assistant given a number of different time-delay scenarios, including synchronous and asynchronous force and audio/ video feedback. The results of the research project include the development of the novel FSC algorithm, data on how time delays degrade performance of surgical tasks, and recommendations on how telesurgery should be performed to accommodate telecommunication time delays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents one of the papers discussed at the convocation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the impact of science on human activity held on April 1, 1949. It is said that because of science, the western world no longer possesses the sense of common values which gave coherence to human activities in earlier ages. In this paper, the author discusses the intellectual and moral problems, which were caused by science and technology, faced by the western world.

The article profiles Cathy Drennan, Associate Professor of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Drennan and her group solved the crystal structure of SyrB2. In her works, she emphasizes the importance of perseverance, perspective and patience. She also teaches in Quaker Boarding School in Iowa.

The article focuses on the experiment conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) which investigates the possibility of teaching invention to business students. It informs that this experiment deals with the innovative conceptuals and practical level which provides both foundation for the study of invention based on economic theory and suggests several ways of teaching for achieving practical and independent validated outcomes. It also discusses several models which proves that teaching is an important aspect of enterprising behavior and business studies.

In this brief, we present new preprocessing techniques for electrocardiogram signals, namely, dc equalization and complexity sorting, which when applied can improve current 2-D compression algorithms. The experimental results with signals from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Beth Israel Hospital (MIT-BIH) database outperform the ones from many state-of-the-art schemes described in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The infrastructure renewal program at MIT consists of a large number of projects with an estimated budget that could approach $1 billion. Infrastructure renewal at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is the process of evaluating and investing in the maintenance of facility systems and basic structure to preserve existing campus buildings. The selection and prioritization of projects must be addressed with a systematic method for the optimal allocation of funds and other resources. This paper presents a case study of a prioritization method utilizing multi-attribute utility theory. This method was developed at MIT''s Department of Nuclear Engineering and was deployed by the Department of Facilities after appropriate modifications were implemented to address the idiosyncrasies of infrastructure renewal projects and the competing criteria and constraints that influence the judgment of the decision-makers. Such criteria include minimization of risk, optimization of economic impact, and coordination with academic policies, programs, and operations of the Institute. A brief overview of the method is presented, as well as the results of its application to the prioritization of infrastructure renewal projects. Results of workshops held at MIT with the participation of stakeholders demonstrate the feasibility of the prioritization method and the usefulness of this approach. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Presents the report of the Electronic Journals Task Force of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) libraries. Involvement of MIT in electronic journal technology; Integration of electronic journals into collection development practices; Acquisition of electronic journals; Cataloging issues; Access; Patron access; Subscription; Access to technical issues; Downloading; Addition of value.

The article presents information on career developments and research fellowships in Biosciences in the U.S. Gene M. Brown, an enzymologist who has conducted extensive research in nutritional biochemistry, will become head of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's, Cambridge, Department of Biology. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency contract for $208,000, is attempting to find out if wastewater that has gone through advanced treatment processes and appears to be of high quality is fit for human consumption. It is also stated that William W. Hay has been made permanent dean of the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.