Speaker: Karthik C.STitle: Extremal Combinatorial Objects in Hardness of Approximation in PAbstract: In the last decade, the area of hardness of approximation for problems solvable in polynomial time has emerged. One of the popular frameworks for proving such results is called threshold graph composition and relies on the existence and efficient construction of non-trivial extremal combinatorial objects.In this talk, we shall focus on defining and constructing these extremal objects while briefly outlining their applications to hardness of approximation in P.https://math.mit.edu/combin/

You are invited to a webinar featuring Feroze Sidhwa, MD, MPH, FACS, a trauma and critical care surgeon in California who most recently volunteered in Khan Younis, Gaza, with the World Health Organization, and Yasmeen Abu Fraiha, MD, MPA with a specialty in internal medicine, a Palestinian Bedouin physician in Israel, who was a first responder treating incoming victims of Hamas’ attacks on October 7.Dr. Sidhwa and Dr. Abu Fraiha will discuss their personal experiences working in healthcare during the current conflict, the future of Gazan healthcare, and ways that audience members can offer support. This webinar will also offer means of connecting viewers/participants to projects and organizations on the ground. Dr. Eman Ansari, M.D., M.P.H, F.A.A.P., Boston Children’s Hospital, will moderate the webinar.Registration is required; attendees can ask questions to the doctors in advance of the webinar via the registration form.This webinar is hosted and organized by the following MIT faculty and units: Erica James (Anthro/DUSP), Tanalis Padilla (History), Marzyeh Ghassemi (EECS/IMES), Nancy Kanwisher (BCS) and MIT Libraries.More about the speakers Feroze Sidhwa, MD, MPH, FACS, is a humanitarian surgeon, having worked most extensively in Palestine, but also in Ukraine, Haiti, Zimbabwe, and Burkina Faso. He most recently volunteered at the European Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, from March 25-April 8, 2024, with the World Health Organization. Dr. Sidhwa has written and spoken extensively about surgical humanitarian work, the United States’ role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the political consequences of medical relief work. He approaches the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a secular American and as a humanitarian physician.Yasmeen Abu Fraiha, MD, MPA, specializes in internal medicine and is currently completing both a clinical fellowship in critical care at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and a research fellowship at the Middle East Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School. She is a Palestinian Bedouin physician in Israel, she was a first responder treating incoming victims of Hamas’ attacks on October 7. On that day she lost many colleagues, friends and neighbors, and in the subsequent weeks and months she lost friends in Gaza during Israel’s devastating military campaign. Throughout this traumatic period in her life, she refused to surrender her sorrow or concern for all innocent victims of violence.Moderator: Dr. Eman Ansari is a pediatric pulmonologist and critical care medicine physician and a practicing pediatric emergency physician at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH). She is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Since 2021, she has served as chair of the Pediatric Critical Care Medicine (PICU) Committee and as a member of the Palestine Children Relief Fund (PCRF) and HEAL Palestine Medical Advisory Boards (MAB), and is a member of PCRF board of directors.

PLEASE NOTE: The February 6 registration event has been postponed due to inclement weather. Please join us on Feb. 13, 19, or 26.All MIT faculty, students, and staff can visit and borrow from Harvard simply by registering. The MIT Libraries have arranged for on-site registration here on campus to help streamline the process.Come to Hayden Library on one of our registration days on Feb. 13, 19, and 26:1) Bring your MIT ID and government-issued ID2) Log into Borrow Direct via Touchstone. DUO authentication is required; please have your mobile phone set up with DUO.3) Then you can go to the Harvard card office (Smith Center) to get your borrowing card.Smith Campus Center 1350 Massachusetts Ave., 8th floor Phone: 617.496.7827 Mon-Fri: 9am-4pm; Closed Sat, Sun, and university holidaysAlready have Harvard access and need to renew? Bring your Harvard ID (you must still have this) to Hayden Library on one of our registration days and follow steps 1&2 above to reactivate.Can't come to Hayden on one of these dates? You can also apply online and confirm your affiliation via a Zoom appointment. You can then pick up your card at Harvard's Smith Center ID office at your convenience. Learn more about using Harvard's libraries at libraries.mit.edu/harvard.

Want to get exercise mid-day but don’t want to go outside? Join the tunnel walk for a 30-minute walk led by a volunteer through MIT’s famous tunnel system. This walk may include stairs/inclines. Wear comfortable shoes. Free.Location details: Meet in the lobby with the big mirror, right inside the Collier Memorial entrance to Stata. Location photo below.Tunnel Walk Leaders will have a white flag they will raise at the meeting spot for you to find them.Prize Drawing: Attend a walk and scan a QR code from the walk leaders to be entered into a drawing for a getfit tote bag at the end of the getfit challenge. The more walks you attend, the more entries you get. Winner will be drawn and notified at the end of April. Winner does not need to be a getfit participant.Disclaimer: Tunnel walks are led by volunteers. In the rare occasion when a volunteer isn’t able to make it, we will do our best to notify participants. In the event we are unable to notify participants and a walk leader does not show up, we encourage you to walk as much as you feel comfortable doing so. We recommend checking this calendar just before you head out!Getfit is a 12-week fitness challenge for the entire MIT community. These tunnel walks are open to the entire MIT community and you do not need to be a current getfit participant to join.

MIT Free English Class is for international students, sholars, spouses. Twenty seven years ago we created a community to welcome the nations to MIT and assist with language and friendship. Join our Tuesday/Thursday conversation classes around tables inside W11-190.

Want to get exercise mid-day but don’t want to go outside? Join the tunnel walk for a 30-minute walk led by a volunteer through MIT’s famous tunnel system. This walk may include stairs/inclines. Wear comfortable shoes. Free.Location details: Meet in the lobby under the “Belonging + Community” banner. Location photo below.Tunnel Walk Leaders will have a white flag they will raise at the meeting spot for you to find them.Prize Drawing: Attend a walk and scan a QR code from the walk leaders to be entered into a drawing for a getfit tote bag at the end of the getfit challenge. The more walks you attend, the more entries you get. Winner will be drawn and notified at the end of April. Winner does not need to be a getfit participant.Disclaimer: Tunnel walks are led by volunteers. In the rare occasion when a volunteer isn’t able to make it, we will do our best to notify participants. In the event we are unable to notify participants and a walk leader does not show up, we encourage you to walk as much as you feel comfortable doing so. We recommend you check this calendar just before you head out!Getfit is a 12-week fitness challenge for the entire MIT community. These tunnel walks are open to the entire MIT community and you do not need to be a current getfit participant to join.