5,800 research outputs found
MIT-Related - Course notes: 24.810 "Topics in Philosophy of Science," [ 2 folders] Spring, 1987
For more information about this item, visit https://archivesspace.mit.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/19066
Royalties (4 folders)
For more information about this item, visit https://archivesspace.mit.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/30900
Thomas S. Kuhn's Lowell Lectures
For more information about this item, visit https://archivesspace.mit.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/190184Before he wrote The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas Kuhn wrote The Quest for Physical Theory--a series of eight lectures that examine the nature of scientific knowledge, how it is created, and how it changes through time. Commissioned as public lectures in 1951 by Boston's Lowell Institute, The Quest for Physical Theory adopts the historical approach Kuhn would later refine in Structure. He surveys the history of physics from Aristotle to Newton, of atomism from antiquity to modern chemistry, and he examines the concepts of fields and subtle fluids as creative metaphors that guide research. In the last four lectures, he turns to logic and philosophy, psychology, and theories of language to explain the workings of "creative science" that are typically ignored by textbooks and many influential philosophers of science
Counter-Intuitive Vacuum-Stimulated Raman Scattering
Vacuum-stimulated Raman scattering in strongly coupled atom-cavity systems
allows one to generate free-running single photon pulses on demand. Most
properties of the emitted photons are well defined, provided spontaneous
emission processes do not contribute. Therefore, electronic excitation of the
atom must not occur, which is assured for a system adiabatically following a
dark state during the photon-generation process. We experimentally investigate
the conditions that must be met for adiabatic following in a time-of-flight
driven system, with atoms passing through a cavity and a pump beam oriented
transverse to the cavity axis. From our results, we infer the optimal intensity
and relative pump-beam position with respect to the cavity axis.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Dubbing and redubbing: the vulnerability of rigid designation
1 online resource (PDF, page 298-318)Kuhn, Thomas S.. (1990). Dubbing and redubbing: the vulnerability of rigid designation. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/185720
A human antibody against Zika virus crosslinks the E protein to prevent infection
The recent Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic has been linked to unusual and severe clinical manifestations including microcephaly in fetuses of infected pregnant women and Guillian-Barré syndrome in adults. Neutralizing antibodies present a possible therapeutic approach to prevent and control ZIKV infection. Here we present a 6.2 Å resolution three-dimensional cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM) structure of an infectious ZIKV (strain H/PF/2013, French Polynesia) in complex with the Fab fragment of a highly therapeutic and neutralizing human monoclonal antibody, ZIKV-117. The antibody had been shown to prevent fetal infection and demise in mice. The structure shows that ZIKV-117 Fabs cross-link the monomers within the surface E glycoprotein dimers as well as between neighbouring dimers, thus preventing the reorganization of E protein monomers into fusogenic trimers in the acidic environment of endosomes
Multisensory Home-Monitoring in Individuals With Stable Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Asthma: Usability Study of the CAir-Desk
Background: Research integrating multisensory home-monitoring in respiratory disease is scarce. Therefore, we created a novel multisensory home-monitoring device tailored for long-term respiratory disease management (named the CAir-Desk). We hypothesize that recent technological accomplishments can be integrated into a multisensory participant-driven platform. We also believe that this platform could improve chronic disease management and be accessible to large groups at an acceptable cost.
Objective: This study aimed to report on user adherence and acceptance as well as system functionality of the CAir-Desk in a sample of participants with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma.
Methods: We conducted an observational usability study. Participants took part in 4 weeks of home-monitoring with the CAir-Desk. The CAir-Desk recorded data from all participants on symptom burden, physical activity, spirometry, and environmental air quality; data on sputum production, and nocturnal cough were only recorded for participants who experienced symptoms. After the study period, participants reported on their perceptions of the usability of the monitoring device through a purpose-designed questionnaire. We used descriptive statistics and visualizations to display results.
Results: Ten participants, 5 with COPD and 5 with asthma took part in this study. They completed symptom burden questionnaires on a median of 96% (25th percentile 14%, 75th percentile 96%), spirometry recordings on 55% (20%, 94%), wrist-worn physical activity recordings on 100% (97%, 100%), arm-worn physical activity recordings on 45% (13%, 63%), nocturnal cough recordings on 34% (9%, 54%), sputum recordings on 5% (3%, 12%), and environmental air quality recordings on 100% (99%, 100%) of the study days. The participants indicated that the measurements consumed a median of 13 (10, 15) min daily, and that they preferred the wrist-worn physical activity monitor to the arm-worn physical activity monitor.
Conclusions: The CAir-Desk showed favorable technical performance and was well-accepted by our sample of participants with stable COPD and asthma. The obtained insights were used in a redesign of the CAir-Desk, which is currently applied in a randomized controlled trial including an interventional program
Moment of Inertia and Quadrupole Response Function of a Trapped Superfluid
We derive an explicit relationship between the moment of inertia and the
quadrupole response function of an interacting gas confined in a harmonic trap.
The relationship holds for both Bose and Fermi systems and is well suited to
reveal the effects of irrotationality of the superfluid motion. Recent
experimental results on the scissors mode are used to extract the value of the
moment of inertia of a trapped Bose gas and to point out the deviations from
the rigid value due to superfluidity.Comment: 6 page
- …