Creating A Model-Based Chemistry Curriculum Sequence

Most general chemistry curricula use electron arrangement for explaining the majority of concepts and phenomena in the course. This is due in large part to General Chemistry , a book by Nobel laureate Linus Pauling published in the 1940’s to support university level students with chemistry concepts. However, knowledge of the electron was absent historically for the discovery and initial progress of those concepts. In fact, the use of this sophisticated theory to explain those more basic concepts causes students to become separated from understanding the scientific process. This process is required to discover chemical concepts, and is aided by the use of spatial models and symbolic representation. According to research, prior knowledge, and misconceptions also play a large role in science education. This project is an attempt at presenting students a sequence of concepts that provide the theories and questions which historically allowed scientists to make their discoveries. In addition to the sequence and question sets, this project also provides spatial models and symbolic relationships, as well as explicit laboratory experiences to aid in the discovery of these concepts. The four units in focus for this project are: the identification of matter, atomic theory, stoichiometry and enthalpy. This is the historical order of these concepts as they were developed by LaVoisier, Dalton and Joule. One unique outcome of this project is the development of a new set of guidelines for creating a science curriculum that is based on shared misconceptions between students and scientists. Another outcome is the acceptance of multiple pathways for learning, the result of which means there is no correct sequence for each student. Lastly, and most importantly, science learning is not governed by infallible theories, but by constant trial and error that must be experienced by students. This project has helped me to understand introductory chemistry curriculum at a deeper level, and has the potential to help other teachers to step away from the storyline of atomic structure and into a more organic conceptual curriculum

YLoc—an interpretable web server for predicting subcellular localization

Predicting subcellular localization has become a valuable alternative to time-consuming experimental methods. Major drawbacks of many of these predictors is their lack of interpretability and the fact that they do not provide an estimate of the confidence of an individual prediction. We present YLoc, an interpretable web server for predicting subcellular localization. YLoc uses natural language to explain why a prediction was made and which biological property of the protein was mainly responsible for it. In addition, YLoc estimates the reliability of its own predictions. YLoc can, thus, assist in understanding protein localization and in location engineering of proteins. The YLoc web server is available online at www.multiloc.org/YLoc

On optimal comparability editing with applications to molecular diagnostics

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The C<smcaps>OMPARABILITY</smcaps> E<smcaps>DITING</smcaps> problem appears in the context of hierarchical disease classification based on noisy data. We are given a directed graph <it>G </it>representing hierarchical relationships between patient subgroups. The task is to identify the minimum number of edge insertions or deletions to transform <it>G </it>into a transitive graph, that is, if edges (<it>u</it>, <it>v</it>) and (<it>v</it>, <it>w</it>) are present then edge (<it>u</it>, <it>w</it>) must be present, too.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We present two new approaches for the problem based on fixed-parameter algorithmics and integer linear programming. In contrast to previously used heuristics, our approaches compute provably optimal solutions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our computational results demonstrate that our exact algorithms are by far more efficient in practice than a previously used heuristic approach. In addition to the superior running time performance, our algorithms are capable of enumerating all optimal solutions, and naturally solve the weighted version of the problem.</p

Las cartas de Amerigo Vespucci sobre el Nuevo Mundo

Las cartas que Amerigo Vespucci envía a su protector, Lorenzo de Medici, desde Sevilla, Cabo Verde y Lisboa, constituyen un documento especial interés para estudiar las representaciones del Nuevo Mundo que realiza un humanista italiano del siglo XV. El presente artículo estudia los géneros discursivos que interactúan en la concepción de las cartas, la importancia de los principios de organización retórica del enunciado y los procesos de construcción del otro cultural.Centro de Estudios de Teoría y Crítica Literari