The Interplay Between Theoretical and Experimental Probability: Beyond "Sample Size Matters"

This article presents a series of class activities that develop an extended examination of the interplay between theoretical and experimental probability. In some cases an experiment can be used to confi rm a theory and in other instances it can be used to develop a theory. Examples include coin-tossing, a dice game, and cup dropping with Monte Carlo approaches to probability discussed. This set of activities could be used with preservice teachers to improve their content knowledge in the area of probability as well as provide both a model of inquiry-based approaches and a forum for discussing pedagogical techniques involving hands-on activities. They could also be used in middle school classrooms to help students experience the power of probability experiments in examining real-life phenomena

Generalized covering designs and clique coverings

Inspired by the "generalized t-designs" defined by Cameron [P. J. Cameron, A generalisation of t-designs, Discrete Math. 309 (2009), 4835--4842], we define a new class of combinatorial designs which simultaneously provide a generalization of both covering designs and covering arrays. We then obtain a number of bounds on the minimum sizes of these designs, and describe some methods of constructing them, which in some cases we prove are optimal. Many of our results are obtained from an interpretation of these designs in terms of clique coverings of graphs.Comment: 30 pages, 1 figur

Engagement and Disengagement in Art Interventions with Memory Impairment

Introduction. Studies have shown art intervention to be an effective therapy for patients with memory impairments, leading to overall positive behaviors, increased quality of life and decreased caregiver burden. We conducted a preliminary study to evaluate and compare the effect of participation in weekly art appreciation and painting sessions on the behavior of memory impaired residents in an assisted living facility. Methods. Residents’ behaviors were observed during art appreciation and active painting sessions over a six-week period. Each session consisted of either viewing and discussing artwork or actively painting in the style of the artist discussed. Positive and negative behaviors were recorded and tallied throughout the sessions. Over the course of 12 sessions, the 7 observers made a total of 1957 observations of a variable patient population. The total number of both positive and negative behaviors was compared between activities, over time within sessions, as well as over the six weeks. Each session was percent normalized to the time interval with the highest occurrence of select behaviors. Results. Upward trends for positive and negative behaviors were noticed in ap- preciation and painting sessions respectively. The negative to positive engagements ratios for each painting session showed an increase in negative behaviors. Disengagement increased as the appreciation sessions progressed and decreased as painting sessions progressed. Overall, positive engagement increased in both appreciation and painting sessions. Conclusions. Despite several confounding variables encountered in this study, we demonstrated art appreciation and active painting to be a viable non- pharmacological therapeutic approach for individuals with memory impairments.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1258/thumbnail.jp

Fabrication of Interdiffused Dual work Function Metal Gate CMOS Capacitors

Metal gate CMOS capacitors were formed using a metal interdiffusion process at RIT. First silicon dioxide was grown on the wafer. The first metal, titanium, was deposited. Then the second metal, nickel, was deposited. The nickel was selectively etched away from the top of half the capacitors to form the different work function regions. The wafers were then heated so that the nickel diffused into the titanium. The work function could not be determined of the metal gates because the MOS capacitors did not function correctly. The capacitance stayed constant across the allowable gate voltage. This is likely due to contamination of the silicon surface from spin on dopant

Catalytic Properties and Partial Amino Acid Sequence of an Actinomycete Endo-(1→4)-β-D-Xylanase from Chainia Species

An endo-(l→4)-β-D-xylanase from a cellulase-free Chainia strain was substantially purified and subjected to amino acid sequencing. The first forty N-terminal amino acid residues show high homology with endo-xylanases from Bacillus pumilus, B. subtilis, B. circulans, andSchizophylum commune, less homology with endo-xylanases from Aureobasidium sp. andPseudomonas fluorescens, and slight homology, but including a possible catalytic Asp residue, with catalytic domains of endo-xylanases from Clostridium thermocellum,Cryptococcus albidus, and an alkalophilic Bacillus and with a cellobiohydrolase fromCellulomonas fimi. The enzyme attacks substrates as small as xylotetraose and has xylosyltransferase activity. It is most active at pH 6 and 60°C and most stable between pHs 5 and 7

The Rise of Opioid Addiction

Is opioid addiction really a problem in society? Is this something that can be stopped? What can I do to help? These are all questions I begin to ask myself whenever I turn on the news and see yet another story about an individual or multiple people overdosing on painkillers, heroin, or fentanyl. We are currently in the middle of the worst public health epidemic in our countries history. If you don’t believe that this problem is on the rise then just look around. School teachers, librarians, and even village sanitation workers are given and being trained on how to administer drugs to help reverse an overdose. The underlying contributors to this epidemic would be the pharmaceutical industry and doctors. The intent of this paper is to determine if the manufactures and the doctors are intentionally causing this problem or is it something that they are unaware of.Purchase College SUNYLiberal StudiesBachelor of Fine ArtsRossman, Mega

Characterization, kinetics, and subsite mapping of Aspergillus niger glucoamylases I and II, and partial purification and characterization of a Chainia endo-xylanase

This dissertation is the account of investigations into the kinetic characterization and subsite mapping of two forms of glucoamylase from Aspergillus niger, and the partial purification and physical and kinetic characterization of an endo-xylanase from the genus Chainia;Glucoamylase I (GAI) and glucoamylase II (GAII) were initially purified from a commercial preparation by ammonium sulfate precipitation and separated from each other by anion-exchange column chromatography with a decreasing linear pH gradient. The two forms were free of transglycosylase, but exhibited microheterogeneity upon disc gel electrophoresis, sodium dodecyl sulfate electrophoresis, and isoelectric focusing;Both forms were subsite-mapped by determining their maximum rates and Michaelis constants with homologous series of malto- and isomaltooligosaccharides. The two forms had almost identical subsite maps, with subsite affinities more positive with maltooligosaccharide substrates than with isomaltooligosaccharides, and intrinsic hydrolysis rate coefficients higher with the former;Maximum rates and Michaelis constants were determined with GAI at several temperatures and pH\u27s for the disaccharides [alpha],[beta]-trehalose, kojibiose, nigerose, maltose, and isomaltose and the trisaccharides panose and isomaltotriose, and with GAII for maltose, maltotriose, and isomaltotriose. The activation energies and standard heats of reaction for binding were less positive and more negative, respectively, for the hydrolysis of [alpha]-1,4-linked substrates than they were for the hydrolyis of substrates linked by other bonds. Variation of kinetic parameters with pH indicated that two carboxyl groups were involved in the binding of substrates;An endo-xylanase from the actinomycete genus Chainia was purified more than 1000-fold from a very crude preparation. Its molecular weight was 4800 and 9000 daltons by Sephadex G-50 and Fractogel HW-40S gel permeation column chromatography, respectively, and 6000 daltons by sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis. If these values are sustained on further experimentation, this protein is certainly the smallest endo-xylanase and apparently the smallest enzyme yet described. The enzyme, while yet incompletely purified, has a specific activity higher than that of any other endo-xylanase