The US Office of Research Integrity has now made a finding of research misconduct in the case of Jayant Jagannathan and has applied sanctions for a period of 4 years.
Jagannathan was a former resident physician at the University of Virginia Medical Center and was found to have committed plagiarism in research supported by the National Institutes of Health and published in 5 papers between 2005 and 2009:
Victor Roberto Muller has already tweeted that he is going back to the “drawing board” !!
But the pictures he draws are all illustrations for fairy tales.
General Motors Co said on Monday it had decided to sever its ties to Saab and its commitment to supply it with vehicle components and the 9-4X model because of the risks posed by the pending sale of the Swedish auto brand to Chinese owners.
“Although General Motors is open to the continued supply of powertrains and other components to Saab under appropriate terms and conditions, GM will not agree to the continuation of the existing technology licenses or the continued supply of 9-4X vehicles to Saab following the proposed change in ownership as it would not be in the best interests of GM shareholders,” GM spokesman Jim Cain said. ….
On Friday, GM had said that it would be difficult to support a sale of Saab if it hurt GM’s competitive position in Chinaand other key markets.
China’s Pang Da Automobile Trade Co and Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile have struck a deal to buy Saab from its current Dutch owner, Swedish Automobile , in what amounts to a rescue plan for the Swedish auto brand formerly owned by GM.
But the deal had to be approved by GM, which still has preference shares in Saab and has supplied the Swedish auto brand with crucial components. …
The new deal which had been announced last week was for 100% ownership to pass to the Chinese. When asked if GM licences would be available if the plan went back to the Chinese buying just 53.9% of Saab – as originally envisaged – the GM spokesman refused to speculate.
Image via Wikipedia
Il Cavaliere , Sylvio “bunga-bunga” Berlusconi is 75 years old, has a personal fortune of some $9billion, and has been Italy’s Prime Minister for longer than anyone else. He is clinging desperately to power as Italy slides towards a Greece-like crevice and it is not apparent as to why he bothers. Whereas the Greek debt is only about 4% of Eurozone debt, Italy’s debt is closer to 20%. Italy’s public debt in 2010 was 118.4% of GDP. The annual budget deficit was 4.6% of GDP. Italy’s public debt-to-GDP ratio is the second highest in the euro zone after Greece’s, while its debt in absolute terms, which stood at 1.84 trillion euros at the end of 2010, is second to Germany’s.
It might seem to be just a powerful politician in denial of the approaching flames when Berlusconi declares that “Life in Italy is good. The restaurants are full. It’s difficult to get a seat on a plane they’re so busy; holidays are all booked up”.
A very close encounter coming up on Tuesday at 6:28 pm US Eastern time.
(Reuters) – A huge asteroid will pass closer to Earth than the moon Tuesday, giving scientists a rare chance for study without having to go through the time and expense of launching a probe, officials said.
Earth’s close encounter with Asteroid 2005 YU 55 will occur at 6:28 p.m. EST (2328 GMT) Tuesday, as the space rock sails about 201,000 miles from the planet.
Ample parking.
Only in India!!
The art of parking : image a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net
And let’s not forget the future is in good hands
"I prefer the Sony to the Mac": image a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net
h/t : Yoges
There were headlines last week because according to a new paper published in Physical Review Letters it may be that one of the “laws of nature” may vary across the Universe. Observations from two large telescopes pointed in different directions of the universe seem to show that the electromagnetic force which is measured by the fine structure constant, α, may be different in different parts of the universe.
Indications of a spatial variation of the fine structure constant, by J. K. Webb, J. A. King, M. T. Murphy, V. V. Flambaum, R. F. Carswell and M. B. Bainbridge, Phys. Rev. Lett., 107, 191101, 2011, http://arxiv.org/abs/1008.3907
Since the “laws of nature” and the “laws of physics” are merely expressions of observed regularities in our observable time and space they are – of necessity – empirical conclusions. Since we – as yet – have no idea “why” the “laws” we observe should be as they are and why the “fundamental constants” take the values they do, it seems to me unremarkable that there should be areas of time or space (not observed as yet) where these “laws” – as we have formulated them – do not hold exactly. There may well be errors of observation of course but observations made correctly must trump theories and models – no matter how simple or beautiful they might be.
The status conferred by academic titles in the Czech Republic is almost as strong as in Germany. Whereas in Germany it is the title of “Doctor” which is most sought after by politicians – as a stamp of public acknowledgement that one is a “deep thinker” – even a Masters degree in the Czech Republic can lead to the title “Pani magistra” or literally “Mrs Master’s degree holder.”
Petty politicians appending academic titles to enhance their electoral chances is not of course so uncommon. What is surprising for me is that Prague and its citizens, who I think are extremely sophisticated and discerning in matters academic and who have a strong sense of the long academic traditions of the city, would be taken in by such nonsense.
And the mass-production of fake doctorates by the law faculty of the University of West Bohemia (ZČU) in Plzeň led to over 300,000 degree awards being audited in 2009! This even led to a Wikileaks cable from the US Embassy in Prague ( Wikileaks id #233660) in November 2009 about the scandal and reporting:
A joke is making the rounds: “What are you doing this weekend?” Answer: “Getting a law degree.”
Czech position now reports that yet another politician is accused of plagiarism – this time for a Master’s thesis.
Prague district mayor ‘plagiarized’ his master’s thesis
… Two prominent academics who separately examined the master’s thesis of Prague 11 mayor Dalibor Mlejnský (Civic Democrats, ODS), due to suspicions of plagiarism, say the majority of the paper was indeed copied verbatim — and almost completely lacked citation. Mlejnský’s thesis titled “The History of Charles University” was lifted from two books (Jacques LeGoff’s “Intellectuals in the Middle Ages” and, more obviously, volumes of “The History of Charles University” by various scholars over the centuries, according to the two academics, who had been asked by the state broadcaster to make the expert assessments.
David Held, who is currently Graham Wallas professor of political science at the LSE, has announced that he is leaving in January to take up a post at Durham University.
But he is leaving one step ahead of the reports on Saif al-Islam Gaddafi’s funding of research at the LSE. and one on charges of plagiarism in his PhD thesis.
According to the Guardian, Held said in a statement “I will be taking up the positions of master of University College and chair of politics and international relations at the University of Durham from January. This move is being made for academic reasons and I look forward to the new avenues of research that this role will bring. I have many links to LSE which will be maintained in the years ahead.”
But Held who had very close links to
The protracted process for the $10 billion (which will become $15 billion) contract for the supply of 126 fighter aircraft (MMRCA – Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) to the Indian Air Force is coming into its final lap. Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault’s Rafale made the short list and have been asked to submit their “best and final offers”. The financial bids will be opened on November 4th. The contract is expected to contain an option for an additional 63 aircraft.
MSN India reports:
With the decision of the defence ministry to open the financial bids early next month of the two finalists in the IAF?s medium multi role combat aircraft (MMRCA) tender, IAF can now hope to acquire the first lot of 18 aircraft by end-2014 or mid-2015, depending on when the contract is signed.
The ministry completed the formalities last week and sent letters Monday to representatives of Eurofighter and Rafale for opening the bids on the afternoon of Friday, November 4. The representatives would authenticate the tender packets as their own and as submitted by them earlier, in the presence of senior ministry officials, and then they would be opened by one of the designated officers. …
Although the ministry’s initial assessment was that the deal could be worth around $10 billion, the Rafale and Eurofighter should cost somewhere around $15 billion. … it was only in 2007 that a Request for Proposals (RFP), or tender, was issued to these two European companies as well as US Lockheed Martin for the F-16 Super Viper and Boeing for F/A-18 Super Hornet, Swedish Saab for the Gripen and Russia’s Rosoboronexport for Mig 29M2, later designated Mig 35.
Eurofighter Typhoon for Indian contract? image: defpro.org
The bids are valid till the end of December so the final contract could be awarded by then. But this is India and Dassault for Rafale and the Cassidian European consortium for the Eurofighter could always be asked to extend the validity or to renew their bids.
But it does seem that the long tendering and contracting process which began in 2007 is finally coming to an end.
My guess is that the Eurofighter Typhoon will be chosen.
The k2p blog 