Predicting the prices of cards in the game Magic with machine learning

V tem diplomskem delu smo preučevali trende gibanja cen pri kartah igre Magic: The Gathering in pri tem uporabili najbolj primerne metode strojnega ućenja. Cilj je bil izdelati napovedni model za cene kart. Naša naloga je bila identiciranje pomembnih virov, pridobivanje potrebnih podatkov, njihova pretvorba v računalniku razumljivo obliko ter izbira primernega algoritma. Model, ki smo ga ustvarili, se je izkazal za zanesljivega s 61% točnostjo napovedi gibanja cene pri zelo redkih kartah, medtem ko smo pri redkih kartah dosegli le 52% točnost, kar ni preseglo niti privzete točnosti. Pri nalogi smo uporabili metodo podpornih vektorjev ter si pomagali z orodjem Weka. S podatki, ki smo jih pridobili, smo naredili še nekaj poizkusov in tako poiskali nekaj novih odvisnosti med podatki, ki jih prej nismo poznali.This thesis is a study of Magic: The Gathering card price fluctuations using the most appropriate machine learning methods. The goal was to construct a predictive model for card prices. This required us to identify crucial attributes, gather necessary data, convert it to a machine-readable format and select a suitable learning algorithm for the task. The resulting model was effective, attaining a 61 % price trend accuracy with mythic rare cards, while it was less successful with rare cards with only 52% accuracy, which failed to beat default accuracy. Support vector machines algorithms and the machine learning toolbox Weka were used to achieve these results, which were applied in further experiments that led to the discovery of previously unknown data dependencies

sp. (Crustacé, Anostracé), hôte intermédiaire d’

Au cours d’une étude sur les populations d’Artemia sp. (Crustacé, Anostracé) de Camargue, infestées naturellement par des cysticercoïdes de Flamingolepis liguloides (Cestode, Cyclophyllide) parasite du Flamant (Phoenicopterus ruber), les auteurs observent, outre F. liguloides, la présence de quatre autres cysticercoïdes. Trois d’entre eux appartiennent à des Cestodes du Flamant. Par contre, le quatrième est le cysticercoïde d’un Cestode de l’Avocette (Recurvirostra avosetta) Eurycestus avoceti Clark, 1954, dont la position systématique reste problématique

Presence of atrial natriuretic peptide in two desert rodents: comparison with rat.

International audienceAtrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) was characterized and assayed in plasmas, hearts, and brains of two Algerian desert rodents, Psammomys obesus and Meriones libycus along with vasopressin, which was assayed in hypophyses and hypothalami. Using reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography and radioimmunoassay, we showed, in plasmas and hearts of both species of desert rats, the presence of peptides similar to rat N- and C-terminal ANP but in lower amounts than in Wistar rats. Conversely, C-terminal ANP was abundantly detected in hypophyses from Meriones libycus rats. As these peptides, through their diuretic and natriuretic activities, are involved in body fluid regulation and electrolyte balance, the reduction of ANP stores in both plasmas and hearts suggests that diuresis and natriuresis are lowered in both species of mammals adapted to arid environments. This could occur because of the vasopressin-mediated adaptation, but also in response to the low ANP involvement in hydro-osmotic regulations, even in Psammomys, which has a dietary salt loading. On the other hand, the higher C-terminal ANP contents in the hypophysis of Meriones than in Psammomys and Wistar rats remain to be understood

Use of chènevotte, a valuable co-product of industrial hemp fiber, as adsorbent for copper ions: Kinetic studies and modeling

In this study, a series of hemp shives (chènevotte) with different chemical compositions and properties, namely a raw (SHI-R), a washed with water (SHI-W), three samples chemically modified with KOH (SHI-OH), Na2CO3 (SHI-C) or H3PO4 (SHI-H), and a hemp shives sample prepared by grafting of carboxylic groups (SHI-BTCA), were used as adsorbents for the removal of copper present in aqueous solutions. This article presents the abatements and kinetics obtained using batch experiments and their modeling. The results first showed that the quantity of copper removed depended on the used shives and the copper initial concentration. At the same experimental conditions, SHI-C and SHI-BTCA samples possessed similar performances which are significantly higher than those of other studied hemp shives. Copper adsorption reached equilibrium after 60 min of contact time and was independent of concentration in the range 5–150 mg/L for SHI-C and SHI-BTCA. According to the better Chi-squared values, the experimental data were better simulated by the non-linear kinetic model in the order: Lagergren < Elovich < Ho and McKay < Weber and Morris < Boyd for SHI-C and Boyd < Ho and McKay < Weber and Morris < Lagergren < Elovich for SHI-BTCA. The analysis of data indicated that chemisorption is the main mechanism for binding copper onto SHI-BTCA, while physisorption (diffusion) is the main interaction for copper adsorption onto SHI-C. The adsorption-oriented process using hemp shives could be an advantageous approach for recovering copper from metal industry effluents due to the simplicity of the process, its efficiency to treat both diluted and concentrated copper solutions, and the low-cost, non-toxic to humans and the environment, ecological character, and facile use of hemp shives

Influence of industrial processing parameters on the effective properties of long aligned European hemp fibres in composite materials

Hemp is a sustainable source of natural fibres that can contribute to meet the increasing demand for technical applications in the textile and the composite sectors. Continuous reinforcements can be produced using the existing flax machinery, initially developed for textile purposes. To achieve competitive and economically viable fibre yields and a fibre quality suitable for secondary processing and composite application, hemp needs to be adequately selected and prepared and the flax machinery and settings have to be adapted to the hemp specificities. In this context, this paper studies the influence of agronomic features and processing stages and settings on the effective tensile properties of fibres extracted from two hemp varieties determined using impregnated fibre bundle tests. Results show that the effective properties of fibres are maintained and even improved during processing, in particular during the hackling and stretching steps. Hemp can achieve properties comparable to high quality long flax fibres