BACKGROUND More than two decades after its discovery, contaminant microbial DNA in PCR reagents continues to impact the sensitivity and integrity of broad-range PCR diagnostic techniques. This is particularly relevant to their use in the setting of human sepsis, where a successful diagnostic on blood samples needs to combine universal bacterial detection with sensitivity to 1-2 genome copies, b...

‎the main purpose of this note is to establish some bounds in poisson approximation for row-wise arrays of independent geometric distributed random variables using the operator method‎. ‎some results related to random sums of independent geometric distributed random variables are also investigated.

Human adults are thought to possess two dissociable systems to represent numbers: an approximate quantity system akin to a mental number line, and a verbal system capable of representing numbers exactly. Here, we study the interface between these two systems using an estimation task. Observers were asked to estimate the approximate numerosity of dot arrays. We show that, in the absence of calib...

This research is developing a computational model of the use of diagrams in the understanding of mathematical concepts. The model represents diagrams with a combination f pixel arrays and propositional descriptions. It applies a general simulation algorithm to the pixel representation to verify inferences, following the directions of a person attempting to demonstrate a theorem or conjecture of...

Human adults are thought to possess two dissociable systems to represent numbers: an approximate quantity system akin to a mental number line, and a verbal system capable of representing numbers exactly. Here, we study the interface between these two systems using an estimation task. Observers were asked to estimate the approximate numerosity of dot arrays. We show that, in the absence of calib...

The cognitive mechanisms of spatial orientation were studied in an experiment varying different perceptual cues systematically: the retinal, the visual background, the vestibular, and the somatosensory information. Verbal descriptions of visually presented arrays were required under different head positions (straight/tilt) and under different gravity conditions (1 G/micro G). Results for two su...

Human adults are thought to possess two dissociable systems to represent numbers: an approximate quantity system akin to a mental number line, and a verbal system capable of representing numbers exactly. Here, we study the interface between these two systems using an estimation task. Observers were asked to estimate the approximate numerosity of dot arrays. We show that, in the absence of calib...