Conceptualizations of slope in Mexican intended curriculum

Slope is a fundamental mathematics concept in middle and high school that transcends to the university level. An understanding of slope is needed at the university level since slope plays an important role in understanding problems involving variation and change. In this study Mexican curricula documents were examined to determine which conceptualizations of slope are addressed in the intended mathematics curriculum. To explain the results, we use conceptualizations of slope identified in previous research. Our findings reveal that, to a certain extent, the conceptualizations proposed in the Mexican intended mathematics curriculum differ slightly in terms of the emphasis and timing of instruction from what others have identified in the U.S., with slope as a geometric ratio receiving less emphasis in the Mexican curriculum. There was also noted discontinuity within the Mexican curriculum in introducing slope in grade 9 and subsequently introducing of linear functions in grade 10 without explicit mention of slope. Suggestions are made for future studies, both to consider the conceptualizations of slope promoted in the Mexican textbooks and the impact they have in classroom instruction and student learning of slope.     

Preface

We are presenting in this volume the collection of extended abstracts of 66 talks that were presented at Combinatorics 2012 in Perugia, Italy. Combinatorics 2012 is the 17th in the series of combinatorics conferences held in Italy, first in 1981, next in 1982 and every two years since then.     

Integrating design problems in mathematics curriculum: an architecture college case study

This paper reports an attempt to improve results in the mathematics course in one of the architecture colleges in Israel through practise in applications. The effect of integrating structure design problems in the calculus curriculum on students' achievements and attitudes was examined. The applied topics in the curriculum were connected to calculus topics and studied through problembased learning activities. The integrated curriculum was implemented and the learning results in experimental and control groups were assessed by means of achievement tests, attitude questionnaires and student interviews. The learning achievements in the experimental group proved to be significantly higher than in the control group. The positive impact of learning applications on motivation, understanding, creativity and interest in mathematics is indicated.     

角蛋白16和17在部分表皮肿瘤中的表达和意义

目的 研究角蛋白16 和17（K16、K17）在部分表皮肿瘤中的表达和意义。方法 采用免疫组化法检测K16、K17在正常皮肤、脂溢性角化病、日光性角化病、皮角、基底细胞癌、鳞状细胞癌中的表达。结果 K16、K17 在正常皮肤表皮各层呈阴性表达;在脂溢性角化病表皮各层中除了角质层外大多呈阳性表达;在日光性角化病表皮K16 均不表达,K17 除了角质层外在其他各层也不表达;K16 在皮角表皮棘层呈强阳性表达,但在其他各层均呈阴性表达,K17 在皮角表皮各层基本呈阳性或强阳性表达;在基底细胞癌中,K16、K17除了在棘层呈弱阳性表达外,在其他各层均呈阴性表达;在鳞状细胞癌中,K16 在基底层呈阴性表达,但在其他各层及K17 在表皮全层均呈阳性或强阳性表达。K16 除基底层外在肿瘤表皮其他各层表达比较差异均有统计学意义（均P＜0.05）;K17 在表皮各层表达差异均有统计学意义（均P＜0.05）。结论 K16、K17的表达状况可为表皮肿瘤的鉴别诊断提供病理学方面的依据。     

我国制造业背景下质量管理活动的量表开发研究

质量管理的测度是质量管理实证研究的基础,但我国在此领域还处于起步阶段。以重庆市制造业企业为样本,采用基于偏最小二乘法的证实性因子分析方法,对我国制造业企业的质量管理活动进行了实证度量。结论显示,我国制造业企业质量管理活动包含六个方面的主要内容:企业高层的支持、员工的参与、供应商关系、重视客户、产品设计和流程管理。研究给出了具体的我国质量管理活动的测度量表。     

Rawlsian altruism with perfect discrimination leads to social efficiency

Recent studies draw attention on the highly specialized capacity of human beings in recognizing altruists versus cheaters in social interactions. These results hint at the existence of specialized abilities that support discriminating behavior in strategic interactions. In this paper, we explore the implications of discriminating behavior in the study of the indirect evolutionary selection of selfish versus altruistic motivations in the context of generic 2×2 base games, and in particular for coordination and cooperation scenarios. We find that inequality averse (Rawlsian) altruism can enforce under rather general conditions socially optimal outcomes, including cases where selfishness cannot, such as in prisoner’s dilemmas. Inequality seeking (Nietzschian) altruism in no case improves upon Rawlsian altruism in terms of social optimality of outcomes, and often does worse. In the cooperation scenario in particular, Nietzschean altruism never manages to implement the cooperative outcome. Under perfect discrimination, moreover, inequality averse (Rawlsian) altruism often evolves at the expense of selfishness. These results suggest that the development of sophisticated discrimination abilities may be strongly adaptive in supporting fairness-oriented forms of pro-sociality in humans in the context of social dilemmas and coordination problems.     

Academics’ perceptions of the use and relevance of software in quantitative and financial disciplines

Software may be used in university teaching both to enhance student learning of discipline-content knowledge and skills, and to equip students with capabilities that will be useful in their future careers. Although research has indicated that software may be used as an effective way of engaging students and enhancing learning in certain scenarios, relatively little is known about academic practices with regard to the use of software more generally or about the extent to which this software is subsequently used by graduates in the workplace. This article reports on the results of a survey of academics in quantitative and financial disciplines, which is part of a broader study also encompassing recent graduates and employers. Results indicate that a variety of software packages are in widespread use in university programmes in quantitative and financial disciplines. Most surveyed academics believe that the use of software enhances learning and enables students to solve otherwise intractable problems. A majority also rate spreadsheet skills in particular as very important for the employability of graduates. A better understanding of the use of software in university teaching points the way to how curricula can be revised to enhance learning and prepare graduates for professional work.     

A graph theory approach to subcontracting, machine duplication and intercell moves in cellular manufacturing

We address in this paper the problem of finding an optimal strategy for dealing with bottleneck machines and bottleneck parts in the cell formation process in group technology. Three types of economic decisions are considered: subcontracting, machine duplication and intercell moves. The problem is formulated as a minimum weighted node covering problem in a hypergraph, and we show that it can be solved in polynomial time by finding a maximum weighted stable set in a bipartite graph. We extend this result to cellular manufacturing systems in which the sequence of operations of each part is known in advance.     

Robust heteroclinic cycles

Summary One phenomenon in the dynamics of differential equations which does not typically occur in systems without symmetry is heteroclinic cycles. In symmetric systems, cycles can be robust for symmetry-preserving perturbations and stable. Cycles have been observed in a number of simulations and experiments, for example in rotating convection between two plates and for turbulent flows in a boundary layer. Theoretically the existence of robust cycles has been proved in the unfoldings of some low codimension bifurcations and in the context of forced symmetry breaking from a larger to a smaller symmetry group. In this article we review the theoretical and the applied research on robust cycles.     

Modelling,making inferences and making decisions: The roles of sensitivity analysis

Sensitivity analysis, robustness studies and uncertainty analyses are key stages in the modelling, inference and evaluation used in operational research, decision analytic and risk management studies. However, sensitivity methods -or others so similar technically that they are difficult to distinguish from sensitivity methods- are used in many different circumstances for many different purposes; and the manner of their use in one context may be inappropriate in another. Thus in this paper, I categorise and explore the use of sensitivity analysis and its parallels, and in doing so I hope to provide a guide and typology to a large growing literature.