FinalGen revisited: new discoveries

Romero’s FINALGEN of 2012 creates designer endgame tables for specific chess positions that feature no more than one non-pawn piece per side. Larger hard discs and faster solid-state discs have extended the reach of this software and encouraged its greater use. Some new discoveries illustrate here what is now feasible and how FINALGEN may be combined with other tools to reach definitive and likely truths

Temporal Difference Learning in Complex Domains

PhDThis thesis adapts and improves on the methods of TD(k) (Sutton 1988) that were successfully used for backgammon (Tesauro 1994) and applies them to other complex games that are less amenable to simple pattem-matching approaches. The games investigated are chess and shogi, both of which (unlike backgammon) require significant amounts of computational effort to be expended on search in order to achieve expert play. The improved methods are also tested in a non-game domain. In the chess domain, the adapted TD(k) method is shown to successfully learn the relative values of the pieces, and matches using these learnt piece values indicate that they perform at least as well as piece values widely quoted in elementary chess books. The adapted TD(X) method is also shown to work well in shogi, considered by many researchers to be the next challenge for computer game-playing, and for which there is no standardised set of piece values. An original method to automatically set and adjust the major control parameters used by TD(k) is presented. The main performance advantage comes from the learning rate adjustment, which is based on a new concept called temporal coherence. Experiments in both chess and a random-walk domain show that the temporal coherence algorithm produces both faster learning and more stable values than both human-chosen parameters and an earlier method for learning rate adjustment. The methods presented in this thesis allow programs to learn with as little input of external knowledge as possible, exploring the domain on their own rather than by being taught. Further experiments show that the method is capable of handling many hundreds of weights, and that it is not necessary to perform deep searches during the leaming phase in order to learn effective weight

Temoral Difference Learning in Complex Domains

Submitted to the University of London for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Scienc

Regulation of Stress-Induced Longevity

Rapid advances in aging research have identified several stressful stimuli (e.g. food/oxygen availability, temperature) that can enhance health and longevity across taxa. Many of these longevity pathways act through cell non-autonomous signaling mechanisms. These pathways utilize sensory cells, frequently neurons, to signal to peripheral tissues and promote survival during the presence of external stress. Importantly, this neuronal activation of stress response pathways is often sufficient to improve health and longevity in the absence of stress. Multiple studies, including our own, implicate serotonin (5-HT) as a signal within several longevity pathways. 5-HT is one of the best studied neuromodulators with numerous drugs targeting its actions, yet our understanding of the complex actions of 5-HT signaling is still incomplete. 5-HT is released upon food perception, therefore we posited that a decrease in 5-HT release during dietary restriction (DR) may also result in downstream signaling changes. This hypothesis is bolstered by data showing that the perception of food is sufficient to abrogate DR-mediated longevity. Using an intestinal reporter for a key gene induced by DR but suppressed by attractive smells, we identify three compounds that block food perception, thereby increasing longevity as DR mimetics. These compounds clearly implicate serotonin and dopamine in limiting lifespan in response to food perception. We further identify an enteric neuron in this pathway that signals through the serotonin receptor 5-HT1A/ser-4 and dopamine receptor DRD2/dop-3, and critically, aspects of this pathway are conserved in the vinegar fly D. melanogaster and in mammalian cells. These studies present compelling evidence that reward circuitry is tied to the perception of food across taxa and may be a viable area of research to discover pro-longevity treatments. Similar to our food availability experiments, we find temperature can modulate longevity interventions outside the laws of thermodynamics. Our data suggest that genetics play a major role in temperature-associated longevity and are consistent with the hypothesis that while aging in C. elegans is slowed by decreasing temperature, the major cause(s) of death may also be modified, leading to different genes and pathways becoming more or less important at different temperatures. These data shed light on the complex interplay of stress response signaling and suggest some act in a temperature-dependent manner. Collectively, the findings in this thesis enhance our understanding of conserved signaling pathways that modify aging while advancing the fields long-term goal to develop therapeutics that increase human health/lifespan.PHDCellular & Molecular BiologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/169956/1/millhill_1.pd

Brain-Inspired Spiking Neural Networks

Brain is a very efficient computing system. It performs very complex tasks while occupying about 2 liters of volume and consuming very little energy. The computation tasks are performed by special cells in the brain called neurons. They compute using electrical pulses and exchange information between them through chemicals called neurotransmitters. With this as inspiration, there are several compute models which exist today trying to exploit the inherent efficiencies demonstrated by nature. The compute models representing spiking neural networks (SNNs) are biologically plausible, hence are used to study and understand the workings of brain and nervous system. More importantly, they are used to solve a wide variety of problems in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). They are uniquely suited to model temporal and spatio-temporal data paradigms. This chapter explores the fundamental concepts of SNNs, few of the popular neuron models, how the information is represented, learning methodologies, and state of the art platforms for implementing and evaluating SNNs along with a discussion on their applications and broader role in the field of AI and data networks

Address in Portuguese and Spanish: Studies in diachrony and diachronic reconstruction

The volume Address in Portuguese and Spanish: Studies in Diachrony and Diachronic Reconstruction provides the first systematic contrastive approach to the history of forms of address in Portuguese and Spanish in their European and American varieties. From a methodological point of view, the volume is innovative as it links historical linguistics with diachronic reconstruction based on synchronic variation. It includes theoretical reflections as well as fine-grained empirical studies.Der Band Address in Portuguese and Spanish: Studies in Diachrony and Diachronic Reconstruction ist die erste systematische kontrastive Analyse der Geschichte der Anredeformen im Portugiesischen und Spanischen. Er ist methodologisch innovativ, indem er Sprachgeschichte mit diachroner Rekonstruktion auf der Grundlage synchronischer Variation verknüpft. Er enthält theoretische Untersuchungen ebenso wie detaillierte empirische Studien

Grammar Enhanced Biliteracy: Naskapi Language Structures For Facilitating Reading In Naskapi

The Naskapi language is the language of instruction in the early primary grades of the school in the Naskapi community. Only recently have Naskapi-speaking teachers received formal instruction in pedagogy, with a cohort of Naskapi teachers following courses for their Bachelor of Education degree towards careers teaching in the Naskapi language in their local school. These adults are highly motivated to become literate in their mother tongue in order to teach or prepare curriculum materials in the Naskapi language. This thesis explores how basic grammatical structures can be mastered, and provides insight into the form that pedagogical grammatical instruction should take, in order to equip these individuals to become adequately literate in their mother tongue

THE MULTIVOICE SACRED MUSIC OF NICOLAS GOMBERT: A CRITICAL EXAMINATION

This dissertation examines the sacred compositions for six or more voices by Nicolas Gombert (1495-1560). Two multivoice (six or more voices) compositional techniques emerged in sixteenth-century Europe. The first of these, the Italian double-choir (coro spezzato) technique, has received far more attention from scholars. This practice divided the vocal ensemble into two groups that sang either separately or together, and whose members remained consistent throughout the musical composition. The second technique, practiced by composers in northern Europe, also split settings into two or more vocal groups, but the members of the groupings constantly changed. This dissertation examines the second practice of multivoice writing in the sacred music of Gombert.My study is concerned with multiple issues essential in understanding Gombert's works and their relationship to other techniques of vocal writing in the sixteenth century. Among these issues, I focus on compositional procedure and context, both historical and musical. I examine Gombert's multivoice techniques across three sacred genres, motets, masses and his single complete octo tonorum cycle of Magnificats. I highlight the mechanical procedures of the pervading imitative style and how it may have been adapted to larger settings.I have found evidence of a distinct change in his compositional process in settings for more than six voices. Gombert's motets demonstrate this change in procedure. Whereas his motets for six voices show procedures utilized in settings for four and five voices, the motets also demonstrate handling of vocal groupings that appears with greater frequency in his settings for more than six voices. To further contextualize Gombert's music, I discuss how Gombert negotiates and adapts other styles and integrates them within his own. All of his multivoice masses, for example, integrate musical techniques and styles from the previous generation. The Magnificat cycle presents a unique opportunity to examine Gombert's multivoice processes as a case study.Nicolas Gombert has been a murky figure and his works have been somewhat dismissed as compositional curiosities due to the density of his pervading imitation style. This dissertation sheds light on Gombert's compositional processes and adds to our understanding of multivoice writing in the mid-sixteenth century