Courses tagged with "Information environments" (1105)

1.033 provides an introduction to continuum mechanics and material modeling of engineering materials based on first energy principles: deformation and strain; momentum balance, stress and stress states; elasticity and elasticity bounds; plasticity and yield design. The overarching theme is a unified mechanistic language using thermodynamics, which allows understanding, modeling and design of a large range of engineering materials. This course is offered both to undergraduate (1.033) and graduate (1.57) students.

Overview of mechanical properties of ceramics, metals, and polymers, emphasizing the role of processing and microstructure in controlling these properties. Basic topics in mechanics of materials including: continuum stress and strain, truss forces, torsion of a circular shaft and beam bending. Design of engineering structures from a materials point of view.

This course addresses the scientific basis for the development of new drugs. The first half of the semester begins with an overview of the drug discovery process, followed by fundamental principles of pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, metabolism, and the mechanisms by which drugs cause therapeutic and toxic responses. The second half of the semester applies those principles to case studies and literature discussions of current problems with specific drugs, drug classes, and therapeutic targets.

This course is an introduction to designing mechatronic systems, which require integration of the mechanical and electrical engineering disciplines within a unified framework. There are significant laboratory-based design experiences. Topics covered in the course include: Low-level interfacing of software with hardware; use of high-level graphical programming tools to implement real-time computation tasks; digital logic; analog interfacing and power amplifiers; measurement and sensing; electromagnetic and optical transducers; control of mechatronic systems.

This course centers on historical eras in which the form and function of media technologies were radically transformed. It includes consideration of the "Gutenberg Revolution," the rise of modern mass media, and the "digital revolution," among other case studies of media transformation and cultural change. Readings are in cultural and social history and historiographic method.

This course provides an intensive introduction to artificial intelligence and its applications to problems of medical diagnosis, therapy selection, and monitoring and learning from databases. It meets with lectures and recitations of 6.034 Artificial Intelligence, whose material is supplemented by additional medical-specific readings in a weekly discussion session. Students are responsible for completing all homework assignments in 6.034 and for additional problems and/or papers.

The focus of the course is on medical science and practice in the age of automation and the genome, both present and future.

It ncludes an analysis of the computational needs of clinical medicine, a review systems and approaches that have been used to support those needs, and an examination of new technologies.

This course presents the main concepts of decision analysis, artificial intelligence, and predictive model construction and evaluation in the specific context of medical applications. The advantages and disadvantages of using these methods in real-world systems are emphasized, while students gain hands-on experience with application specific methods. The technical focus of the course includes decision analysis, knowledge-based systems (qualitative and quantitative), learning systems (including logistic regression, classification trees, neural networks), and techniques to evaluate the performance of such systems.

This course discusses MHD equilibria in cylindrical, toroidal, and noncircular tokamaks. It covers derivation of the basic MHD model from the Boltzmann equation, use of MHD equilibrium theory in poloidal field design, MHD stability theory including the Energy Principle, interchange instability, ballooning modes, second region of stability, and external kink modes. Emphasis is on discovering configurations capable of achieving good confinement at high beta.

This class presents microeconomic theory and applications of consumer and producer behavior and welfare analysis at an intermediate level. In addition to standard competitive models, we study deviations due to externalities, asymmetric information, and imperfect rationality. We apply this material to policy debates including minimum wage regulations, food stamp provision, trade protection, educational credentials, health insurance markets, and real estate markets.

This half-semester course provides an introduction to microeconomic theory designed to meet the needs of students in an economics Ph.D. program. Some parts of the course are designed to teach material that all graduate students should know. Others are used to introduce methodologies. Students should be comfortable with multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and basic real analysis.

This course offers an introduction to noncooperative game theory. The course is intended both for graduate students who wish to develop a solid background in game theory in order to pursue research in the applied fields of economics and related disciplines, and for students wishing to specialize in economic theory. While the course is designed for graduate students in economics, it is open to all students who have taken and passed 14.121.

This course covers models of individual decision-making under certainty and uncertainty. Applications include risk sharing and financial markets; contracts and information economics; village economies and national development; models with money and credit; trade, spatial economics and differentiated commodities.

The topic of the class is information economics. The purpose is to give an introduction to some of the main subjects in this field: risk sharing, moral hazard, adverse selection (signaling, screening), mechanism design, decision making under uncertainty. These subjects (and others) will be treated in more depth in the advanced theory courses on Contract Theory.

Microeconomics will ground you in - surprise - basic microeconomics-how markets function, how to think about allocating scarce resources among competing uses, what profit maximizing behavior means in industries with different numbers of competitors, how technology and trade reshapes the opportunities people face, and so on. We will apply economic ideas to understand current economic problems, including the housing bubble, the current unemployment situation (particularly for high school gradutes), how Google makes its money and why healthcare costs are rising so fast.

ESD.864 Modeling and Assessment for Policy explores how scientific information and quantitative models can be used to inform policy decision-making. Students will develop an understanding of quantitative modeling techniques and their role in the policy process through case studies and interactive activities. The course addresses issues such as analysis of scientific assessment processes, uses of integrated assessment models, public perception of quantitative information, methods for dealing with uncertainties, and design choices in building policy-relevant models. Examples used in this class focus on models and information used in earth system governance.

ESD.864 Modeling and Assessment for Policy explores how scientific information and quantitative models can be used to inform policy decision-making. Students will develop an understanding of quantitative modeling techniques and their role in the policy process through case studies and interactive activities. The course addresses issues such as analysis of scientific assessment processes, uses of integrated assessment models, public perception of quantitative information, methods for dealing with uncertainties, and design choices in building policy-relevant models. Examples used in this class focus on models and information used in earth system governance.

This course models multi-domain engineering systems at a level of detail suitable for design and control system implementation. Topics include network representation, state-space models; multi-port energy storage and dissipation, Legendre transforms; nonlinear mechanics, transformation theory, Lagrangian and Hamiltonian forms; and control-relevant properties. Application examples may include electro-mechanical transducers, mechanisms, electronics, fluid and thermal systems, compressible flow, chemical processes, diffusion, and wave transmission.

This course provides an introduction to the study of environmental phenomena that exhibit both organized structure and wide variability—i.e., complexity. Through focused study of a variety of physical, biological, and chemical problems in conjunction with theoretical models, we learn a series of lessons with wide applicability to understanding the structure and organization of the natural world. Students also learn how to construct minimal mathematical, physical, and computational models that provide informative answers to precise questions.

This course is appropriate for advanced undergraduates. Beginning graduate students are encouraged to register for 12.586 (graduate version of 12.086). Students taking the graduate version complete different assignments.

This course explores the theory and practice of scientific modeling in the context of auditory and speech biophysics. Based on seminar-style discussions of the research literature, the class draws on examples from hearing and speech, and explores general, meta-theoretical issues that transcend the particular subject matter. Examples include: What is a model? What is the process of model building? What are the different approaches to modeling? What is the relationship between theory and experiment? How are models tested? What constitutes a good model?