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。     

Scientists and mathematicians collaborating to build quantitative skills in undergraduate science

There is general agreement in Australia and beyond that quantitative skills (QS) in science, the ability to use mathematics and statistics in context, are important for science. QS in the life sciences are becoming ever more important as these sciences become more quantitative. Consequently, undergraduates studying the life sciences require better QS than at any time in the past. Ways in which mathematics and science academics are working together to build the QS of their undergraduate science students, together with the mathematics and statistics needed or desired in a science degree, are reported on in this paper. The emphasis is on the life sciences. Forty-eight academics from eleven Australian and two USA universities were interviewed about QS in science. Information is presented on: what QS academics want in their undergraduate science students; who is teaching QS; how mathematics and science departments work together to build QS in science and implications for building the QS of science students. This information leads to suggestions for improvement in QS within a science curriculum.     

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。     

火灾发生的周期性规律及其在火灾非线性组合预测模型中应用

研究火灾发生规律及发展趋势,具有实用价值.分析历年中国火灾统计数据,发现中国火灾的发生规律同时具有增长趋势性和周期波动性特征:①中国火灾从90年代开始大幅度增加,在2002年达到最大,然后逐年缓慢下降;②每年12个月呈正弦函数波动,周期为12,1、2月发生起数最大,8、9月最小.借助于M ATLAB软件,根据2000-2006年中国火灾统计数据,建立火灾的月发生起数的非线性周期性组合预测模型,预测值与实际值的平均相对误差小于0.07.研究结论为消防研究、消防部门决策提供科学依据.     

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.     

Reasoning about variation in the intensity of change in covarying quantities involved in rate of change

This paper extends work in the area of quantitative reasoning related to rate of change by investigating numerical and nonnumerical reasoning about covarying quantities involved in rate of change via tasks involving multiple representations of covarying quantities. The findings suggest that by systematically varying one quantity, an individual could simultaneously attend to variation in the intensity of change in a quantity indicating a relationship between covarying quantities. The results document how a secondary student, prior to formal instruction in calculus, reasoned numerically and nonnumerically about covarying quantities involved in rate of change in a way that was mathematically powerful and yet not ratio-based. I discuss how coordinating covariational and transformational reasoning supports attending to variation in the intensity of change in quantities involved in rate of change.     

A recursive basis for primitive forms in symplectic spaces and applications to Heisenberg groups

This paper is divided in two parts: in Section 2, we define recursively a privileged basis of the primitive forms in a symplectic space(V~(2n), ω). Successively, in Section 3, we apply our construction in the setting of Heisenberg groups H~n, n ≥ 1, to write in coordinates the exterior differential of the so-called Rumin's complex of differential forms in H~n.     

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.