Practitioner's Research: A Study in Changing Preservice Teachers’ Conceptions About Mathematics and Mathematics Teaching and Learning

Educators involved in the current reform movement in mathematics education recommend that students be actively involved in constructing their own knowledge and developing powerful mathematical concepts. This study suggests how ideas based on constructivist learning theory can be put into practice in a preservice mathematics education class.     

Convexity Bias in the Pricing of Eurodollar Swaps

The traditional use of LIBOR futures prices to obtain surrogates for the Eurodollar forward rates is proved to yield a systematic bias in the pricing of Eurodollar swaps when one assumes that the yield curve is well described by the Heath-Jarrow-Morton model. The resulting theoretical inequality is consistent with the empirical observations of Burghardt and Hoskins (1995), and it provide a theoretical basis for price anomalies that are suggested by more recent empirical data.     

广义风险过程中渐近方差的非参数估计

本文对广义风险过程中的渐近方差作了非参数估计,得出并证明了两个定理,为广义风险过程中破产概率的区间估计作了理论准备．     

3,3,6,6-四甲基-9-邻氯苯基-1,8-二氧代-3,4,5,6,7,9-六氧化氧杂蒽的合成和晶体结构

标题化合物C23H25对O3Cl是由邻氯苯甲醛与5，5-二甲基1，3-环己二酮在N，N-二甲基甲酸腹中反应而得。结构通过单晶X-射线衍射法确定，其晶体属于单科晶系，空间群=1632。晶体结构用直接法解出，使用全矩阵最小二乘法对原子参数进行修正，最后的偏离因子为R=0．054，Rw一0．063。在晶体结构中，吡喃环与苯环之间的两面角为92．43°。     

Total Synthesis of Several 8, 8",-Biflavones

8,8"-Biflavonoidsareantw0rtantclass0fbiflavonoids.Asasystematicresearchofthe8,8"-biflav0noids,wehavepreviouslyreportedthestudyonthereactionof2'-hydroxychaloneswithl2-H2SO4-DMSOsystem.'InthispaPer,thesynthesisof5,5",7,7',-tetTameth0xy-8,8"-biflavonela2,4,4",7,7"-tetramethoxy-8,8"-biflavone1b',4',4",,5,5,',7,7"-hexamethoxy-8,8"-biflav0ne1c4and4,4"-dibenZyl0xy-5,5",7,7"-tetramothoxy-8,8"-biflavoneldisreported.ThesyntheticmethodisshownintheSchemebelow.2-Hydroxyacet0phenonescondensedwithsubsti…     

Method of immobilization of carboxymethyl-dextran affects resistance to tissue and cell colonization

Coatings from carboxymethylated dextrans (CMDs) were fabricated, analyzed by XPS, and investigated for their ability to inhibit corneal epithelial tissue outgrowth and bovine corneal epithelial cell attachment and growth. CMDs with differing degrees of carboxymethyl substitution and various molecular weights were synthesized by the solution reaction of dextrans with bromoacetic acid under different reactant ratios. The CMD compounds thus obtained were attached onto aminated surfaces produced in two ways: by the plasma deposition of a coating from n-heptylamine vapour, and by the plasma deposition of an acetaldehyde coating onto whose surface aldehyde groups the polyamine compounds polylysine, polyethyleneimine and polyallylamine were immobilized to provide platforms for CMD immobilization. XPS spectra showed that the latter route produced thicker coatings than the former approach. CMD molecules attached directly onto the plasma-fabricated amine surface supported some tissue migration; the extent of carboxymethyl substitution and the molecular weight of the CMDs had little influence. For CMDs immobilized via polyamine spacers, on the other hand, tissue outgrowth was completely inhibited, and again there were no discernible effects from the extent of carboxymethyl substitution and the molecular weight of the CMDs. In assays involving cell attachment and growth, analogous observations were found. Thus, the mode of immobilization of these polysaccharide coatings is the dominant factor in their anti-fouling performance, suggesting that optimization of the architecture of polysaccharide coatings may be an important factor for maximizing their cell-repellent abilities.     

The impact of LIMS design and functionality on laboratory quality achievements

 A laboratory information management system (LIMS) can make a major contribution to the quality and therefore to the efficiency and competitiveness of a laboratory. Since it can impact all aspects of a laboratory's organization it must be the key if not the principal player of the laboratory's quality system. It should support the laboratory in establishing, maintaining and applying quality procedures thereby enabling the laboratory to achieve its quality goals. As a tool, LIMS permits the laboratory to input and use its own know-how and experience to optimize the total organization (internal and external) and workflow of generated information. However, perceived "quality" in the context of an LIMS, can be viewed as being made up of different facets such as the security, reliability and accessibility of information as well as its turn around time and production cost. This paper reviews the role of a LIMS in the laboratory and the contribution that both system design and functionality can have on "building quality ". Received: 5 October 1998 · Accepted: 20 October 1998     

Toward understanding the ionization of biomarkers from micrometer particles by bio-aerosol mass spectrometry

The appearance of informative signals in the mass spectra of laser-ablated bio-aerosol particles depends on the effective ionization probabilities (EIP) of individual components during the laser ionization process. This study investigates how bio-aerosol chemical composition governs the EIP values of specific components and the overall features of the spectra from the bio-aerosol mass spectrometry (BAMS). EIP values were determined for a series of amino acid, dipicolinic acid, and peptide aerosol particles to determine what chemical features aid in ionization. The spectra of individual amino acids and dipicolinic acid, as well as mixtures, were examined for extent of fragmentation and the presence of molecular ion dimers, which are indicative of ionization conditions. Standard mixtures yielded information with respect to the significance of secondary ion plume reactions on observed spectra. A greater understanding of how these parameters affect EIP and spectra characteristics of bio-aerosols will aid in the intelligent selection of viable future biomarkers for the identification of bio-terrorism agents.