Large Cross-free sets in Steiner triple systems

A {\em cross-free} set of size $m$ in a Steiner triple system $(V,{\cal{B}})$ is three pairwise disjoint $m$-element subsets $X_1,X_2,X_3\subset V$ such that no $B\in {\cal{B}}$ intersects all the three $X_i$-s. We conjecture that for every admissible $n$ there is an STS$(n)$ with a cross-free set of size $\lfloor{n-3\over 3}\rfloor$ which if true, is best possible. We prove this conjecture for the case $n=18k+3$, constructing an STS$(18k+3)$ containing a cross-free set of size $6k$. We note that some of the $3$-bichromatic STSs, constructed by Colbourn, Dinitz and Rosa, have cross-free sets of size close to $6k$ (but cannot have size exactly $6k$). The constructed STS$(18k+3)$ shows that equality is possible for $n=18k+3$ in the following result: in every $3$-coloring of the blocks of any Steiner triple system STS$(n)$ there is a monochromatic connected component of size at least $\lceil{2n\over 3}\rceil+1$ (we conjecture that equality holds for every admissible $n$). The analogue problem can be asked for $r$-colorings as well, if r-1 \equiv 1,3 \mbox{ (mod 6)} and $r-1$ is a prime power, we show that the answer is the same as in case of complete graphs: in every $r$-coloring of the blocks of any STS$(n)$, there is a monochromatic connected component with at least ${n\over r-1}$ points, and this is sharp for infinitely many $n$.Comment: Journal of Combinatorial Designs, 201

Lifecycle of Data Management Best Practices Workshops at the University of Connecticut

We held three broad Data Management Best Practices Instruction for Graduate Students workshops covering an array of topics, taught by Library, Office for Sponsored Programs (OSP) and University IT (UITS) staff. 1) Started with the UMM Data Management Curriculum Framework to construct 2.5 hour workshop highlighting major topics of need for those handling research data. Content included: organization, storage, metadata, archiving, sharing data, and legal and ethical matters. 2) Collaborated with the OSP and UITS on content and as instructors in organizing, storage, sharing and legal sections. Library staff instructed in metadata and archiving, and co-instructed in organizing, storage and sharing. 3) Workshop included the head of UTS to talk about the University Governance Committee on Research & Scholarship. 4) Previewed a “ManagingData” listserv to support research data management questions and answers. 5) Based on feedback we reduced time and modified content, including less focus on policies and funders, reworking metadata section, adding more about storage. We more clearly delineated data security (during collection and analysis of data) versus data sharing (data set is finished and available.) Next steps include single issue workshops (storage, security or software) and discipline-specific trainings in consultation with disciplinary IT and faculty

The Negs and Regs of Continued Fractions

There are two main aims of this thesis. The first is to further develop and demonstrate applications of the combinatorial interpretation of continued fractions introduced in [Benjamin and Quinn, 2003]. The second is to investigate the theory of negative continued fractions, a relatively unresearched topic. That is, discuss the ways in which they are similar to and different from the regular class, describe how to convert between the two forms, and show that the central theorems concerning regular continued fractions also apply to the negative ones

The Functions of (Meta)Data: Lessons Learned with a Fedora Digital Repository

The University of Connecticut Libraries began building a Fedora digital repository last year. Because of the differences between Fedora and relational databases, it was necessary to understand how Fedora works with objects and data streams. The repository team realized that with Fedora, there existed several options on how to store data. This realization encouraged looking at metadata differently. For starters, we began to emphasize functions over types of metadata. Secondly, we saw the advantages of striping meta from the word metadata. This change allowed us to conceptualize a broader application of functional data within the repository. My presentation would like to explore our emphasis on the functions of data rather than types of metadata and how this is helping to create a better digital repository

Reading Out of Doors: How Nature Becomes Text and Vice-Versa

The tensions between city and country, the artificial and the natural, the real and the fake are at the heart of attempts to render nature in writing. In many such texts, nature—especially wilderness—is the realm of the real, authentic, and pure, while the city is the realm of the artificial and corrupt. This placement of value in nature, members of the critical theory camp tend to counter, is misguided. Any effort to render nature in text is by its “nature” artificial—far more about human values embedded in language itself than about some extra-textual world. With an approach derived from theorists and critics as diverse in approach as Robert Pogue Harrison, Gilles Deleuze, Hans Jonas and R.G. Collingwood, my study rejects both monisms—of both matter and text—in favor of retaining the two fields as separate, but so entangled in each other that any claim to “purity” is illusory, futile. My study begins in Arcadia with an examination of the pastoral impulse through a close reading of Garcilaso de la Vega’s Égloga Tercera, which concerns the entwinement of Nature with Art. It then moves through considerations of several sites of interaction between language and environment: the mountain as terrain of the wild sublime; the river as site of wild nature harnessed to the use of humanity; the animal as agent of natural law; and the city as the source of longing for the pastoral locus amoenus. The texts range from the Ikhwan al-Safa’s Case of the Animals Versus Man to Petrarch’s account of his ascent of Mt. Ventoux, from Thoreau’s journey on the Concord and Merrimack rivers to Krakauer’s account of Chris McCandless’s ill-fated foray into the wilderness of Alaska. As my discussion suggests, Nature and Art, world and language, are all impure. Every encounter with the world implies language; every encounter with language limns a world

Saving Orphans, One VHS at a Time: The Story of Section 108 at the University of Connecticut Libraries

Perhaps you\u27ve witnessed the absolute terror of the faculty who cherishes their time old VHS used in teaching. At the University of Connecticut (UConn), those who have an affinity with VHS are finding it increasingly difficult to show them because UConn no longer supports this technology in classrooms. Hence, teaching faculty must either bring their own VHS player or use those in the library. Adding to this faculty frustration, many VHS tapes\u27 quality are beginning to degrade with time and continual use. To help faculty, the Libraries use Section 108, orphan works, to determine when to provide a digital DVD copy for instructional use only. This lightning talk will present how this program started and the workflow involved in changing a terrified faculty member into a happy one

Managing Futures: Working towards the Future You Need

Migrating to a new library service platform can be a daunting project. It involves stakeholders inside and outside the organization. It could potentially involve consortia activities and add another layer of stakeholders. One could conclude that a library migration involves almost every aspect of a library’s activities. It certainly requires a significant amount of change where views may differ on the need for a migration or the role that technical services play. Those views are most likely associated with widely held expectations. Hence, measuring the success of a migration relies on not just the completion of technical tasks but also if that migration met the community of users’ expectations. This begs the question of how it is possible to manage expectations that are met by stakeholders. In this presentation, the presenter will cover concepts on managing expectations and highlight examples of both successful and unsuccessful strategies at all stages of a migration

MarcEdit 101 An Introduction

This presentation introduces the basics of MarcEdit to those who have never used or just started using MarcEdit

Bycatch of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin inshore shrimp fishery and its effect on two sea catfish species: the gafftopsail catfish (Bagre marinus) and the hardhead catfish (Ariopsis felis)

In Lake Pontchartrain Basin, commercial fishing in estuarine habitats impacts many non-target species collected as bycatch. I investigated the bycatch assemblages collected by commercial vessels and compared these to assemblages collected by typical fishery-independent methods. I compared assemblages using analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) and determined important species by weight and abundance using similarity percentages analyses (SIMPER). I also examined differences in size-class distributions by gear type using density kernel plots and Mann-Whitney U tests. The two gear types collected significantly different assemblages (ANOSIM R = 0.522, p = 0.001) and gear type explained more composition differences than other factors such as month, daytime, or location. Fishery-independent gear underestimated the importance of many species. Although fishery-independent data are invaluable for monitoring assemblage dynamics, fishery-independent gear collects different assemblages than commercial gear. Larger fishes of important species were caught less often in bycatch, but completely absent from fishery-independent gear