Graphing Quadratic Equations Using the TI Calculator

After doing a quick review of what they already know about quadratic equations and the graphing calculator we will then point out how graphing a quadratic is the same steps on the calculator as graphing a linear equation

Promoting independent movers: The effect of the quadriciser on range of motion (rom)

Exercise and movement are pivotal in promoting optimal function for the human body. For individuals with severe orthopedic impairments, attaining the required minimum of 30 minutes of daily exercise is seemingly difficult. The Quadriciser (the “Q”) serves as an alternative method to therapy in attaining daily exercise through promoting passive-active movement of all four limbs. Five middle school and high school subjects with cerebral palsy, severe orthopedic impairments, and multiple disabilities are analyzed to determine if the Q produces increased range of motion (ROM) outcomes for the knee and shoulder joints. A single case AB, pre-post design was utilized where ROM measurements were measured with a goniometer before and after a 30-minute Q intervention. A variety of exercise regimens were utilized including: alternating reciprocal pattern set-up, shoulder flexion set-up, knee flexion set-up, and crossing midline set-up. Group results depicted immediate and cumulative ROM benefits for the knee and shoulder. Incremental weekly change in ROM occurred, as well as leaps from baseline ROM measurements through continued Q use. At the individual level, changes in ROM varied per student. Sustaining ROM results are still yet to be determined following Q intervention

Freshman Class Analysis using AgentSheets

The 2005 CMST Challenge Project is to survey the ninth grade class at East High School to see how many of their lives are affected by: pregnancy, drug use, crime arrests, family structure, student employment, and value of education. It was very hard to find the percentages of these factors for the United States. Therefore only certain questions will be used in the simulation. The results of the survey will be run through an agent sheet simulation to estimate the number of students that will successfully graduate using the data collected from the 2004/2005 freshman class. In order to successfully simulate the passing rate of the 2004/2005 freshman class we researched teen mothers, drug abusers, criminal offenders, students with broken homes, and student employees and found out the percentage rate in the United States is for dropping out of high school based on these risk factors. Once we have researched and found the percentage rate for all of these factors we can then go ahead with collecting and organize the data the East High School freshman class. The students that are working with us on the challenge project will enter the data in excel. They can then use excel to graph the results and tabulate quantities for the risk factors. Once percentages have been researched for each risk factor, an agent sheet will be set up setting each risk factor as a disease decreasing chance of survival or in this case graduating. The CMST challenge project that we have chosen is to predict how many of the 2004/2005 freshman class will end up graduating based on pregnancy, drug use, crime arrests, family structure, and student employment. Once we have found the percentages for all risk factors our students will use excel and agent sheets to predict the graduating rate of the 2004/2005 freshman class. We choose to use agent sheets because agents sheets gave us the best representation of students as characters. We could also enter each different combination of risk factors as a separate agent. This allowed each survey response to be represented accurately on the floor as an agent. We were also able to program in the percentages for drop out as a characteristic for each agent

Modeling HIV Transmission Within a Population

HIV is a virus that is transmitted by fluids form person to person. When it is introduced into a population it can be transmitted at a high or low rate, depending upon the lifestyle choices of the members of that population. We used a solution and indicator to model the rate of transmission in a Living Environment Lab activity. Students were assigned lifestyles that were not indicative of their actual life, but rather roles that they were playing to demonstrate the differences in the transmission of the disease. The students kept track of who they mated with (shared fluids) and in what order they mated. Once the activity was completed they used their recorded data and sheets to build a flow chart in math class. This flow chart allowed them to pinpoint the person who had the original disease. From this information they graphed the transmission with excel and built a model with AgentSheets to study ways of preventing HIV transmission and infection

”CyberWorld” as a Theme for a University-wide First-year Common Course

Nowadays we all live in a cyber world and use the internet for emailing, banking, streaming video, shopping, reading news, or other activities. Given all the time people spend online, it is important that all students (regardless of their major) learn some basics about living in a cyber world, e.g., strategies for online safety, impact of artificial intelligence, digital forensics or ancestry.com. To facilitate students from many majors to learn about important issues related to the internet, eight faculty from a variety of disciplines at the University of New Haven integrated the theme of Cyber World into our team-taught, first-year experience course, also referred to as the “Common Course.” The Common Course’s primary purpose is to enable students to develop evidence-based arguments and to challenge their own and others’ assumptions in relation to that evidence. Each Common Course class focuses on a broad topic (e.g., Justice, Happiness, or Identity) that instructors use as a touch point to facilitate critical thinking. In Cyber World, however, the topic is given stronger focus, and all students in the class are expected to come away with specific cyber-related knowledge. A special challenge is that the majority of the 160 students are from non-STEM majors. Given the varied background of students, this course covers a variety of topics such as sharing DNA with ancestry.com, protecting against identity theft, detecting fake news, and oversharing personal information. The course is taught by eight faculty members from four different colleges having expertise in a variety of disciplines. An important side effect of this faculty diversity is that interdisciplinary collaborations among faculty are promoted. Our paper has three significant contributions: (1) We present the eight topics related to living in a cyber world that we chose for this course, including our rationale for why they are appropriate and relevant; (2) We summarize how we integrated the Cyber World topics into the structure of the Common Course, which includes a discussion of the challenges we faced; and (3) We summarize some initial results on how students perceived their experience as well as how they performed compared to other common course sections / topics

Limitations of integrated assessment models of climate change

The integrated assessment models (IAMs) that economists use to analyze the expected costs and benefits of climate policies frequently suggest that the “optimal” policy is to go slowly and to do relatively little in the near term to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We trace this finding to the contestable assumptions and limitations of IAMs. For example, they typically discount future impacts from climate change at relatively high rates. This practice may be appropriate for short-term financial decisions but its extension to intergenerational environmental issues rests on several empirically and philosophically controversial hypotheses. IAMs also assign monetary values to the benefits of climate mitigation on the basis of incomplete information and sometimes speculative judgments concerning the monetary worth of human lives and ecosystems, while downplaying scientific uncertainty about the extent of expected damages. In addition, IAMs may exaggerate mitigation costs by failing to reflect the socially determined, path-dependent nature of technical change and ignoring the potential savings from reduced energy utilization and other opportunities for innovation. A better approach to climate policy, drawing on recent research on the economics of uncertainty, would reframe the problem as buying insurance against catastrophic, low-probability events. Policy decisions should be based on a judgment concerning the maximum tolerable increase in temperature and/or carbon dioxide levels given the state of scientific understanding. The appropriate role for economists would then be to determine the least-cost global strategy to achieve that target. While this remains a demanding and complex problem, it is far more tractable and epistemically defensible than the cost-benefit comparisons attempted by most IAMs

Strenuous Exercise Increases the Risk of Oxidative Stress in Ironman Triathlon Participants

Regular physical activity has been linked to greater overall health. Literature review and studies have also defined regular physical activity as a reducer of life-threatening illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. However, long increments of strenuous exercise can produce oxidative stress and muscle fatigue in the human body. The increase in oxygen consumption during strenuous exercise leads to elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS). Cells continuously produce free radicals and reactive oxygen species as part of metabolic processes in the body. These free radicals are neutralized by an antioxidant defense system in the body consisting of enzymes, such as catalase, and non-enzymatic antioxidants. An Ironman Triathlon consists of a 2.4-mile (3.86 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.25 km) bicycle ride and a marathon 26.2-mile (42.2 km) run, raced in that order and without a break. It is widely considered by athletes to be one of the most demanding sporting events in the world. It is hypothesized that a physically challenging event such as the Ironman Triathlon can be linked to elevated cortisol levels, increased occurrence of DNA damage, elevated concentrations of ROS, and consequently increased oxidative stress in humans. In order to derive conclusive results regarding the hypothesis, groups containing athletes who completed the full Ironman race, the half Ironman race, and a control group of moderately active individuals were established and individuals were required to report Garmin Smartwatch health and wellness data. The half Ironman consists of a 1.2-mile (1.93 km) swim, a 56-mile (90.12 km) bicycle ride and a marathon 13.1-mile (21.1 km) run, raced in that order and without a break. Several protocols were then applied to derive data necessary to complete the research. After the participants were selected, their saliva was collected in a non-invasive fashion and was used in the Elisa Saliva Kit to determine cortisol concentration. The saliva samples were also utilized to perform DNA and RNA extraction; and the resulting products were analyzed for quantity and quality of the DNA and RNA. Real time PCR allows scientists to monitor PCR while it is occuring. In this technique, luminescence is produced by reporter molecules as the PCR products increase with every cycle. To determine ROS concentration, the ROS-Glo assay, which provides a light signal that is proportional to the ROS in a given sample, was utilized. An additional marker of oxidative stress is 8-oxo-2-deoxyguanosine(8-oxo-dG). The OxiSelect™ Oxidative DNA Damage ELISA uses antibody and antigen interactions to report the concentration of 8-oxo-dG in a sample. Furthermore, the results indicate an increase in enzymatic indicators of elevated ROS, elevated cortisol levels, and disruption of sleep in the participating athletes after the race. In conclusion, the athletes who completed the full Ironman triathlon experienced increased amounts of oxidative stress than their less active counterparts in the control group, as was denoted by the elevated cortisol levels, increased 8-oxo-dG concentrations, and increased ROS concentrations.Such a rigorous event negatively impacted participants and caused oxidative stress.Faculty Sponsor: Noelle Cutte