Learning to Play Othello with N-Tuple Systems

This paper investigates the use of n-tuple systems as position value functions for the game of Othello. The architecture is described, and then evaluated for use with temporal difference learning. Performance is compared with previously de-veloped weighted piece counters and multi-layer perceptrons. The n-tuple system is able to defeat the best performing of these after just five hundred games of self-play learning. The conclusion is that n-tuple networks learn faster and better than the other more conventional approaches

Evolving controllers for simulated car racing

This paper describes the evolution of controllers for racing a simulated radio-controlled car around a track, modelled on a real physical track. Five different controller architectures were compared, based on neural networks, force fields and action sequences. The controllers use either egocentric (first person), Newtonian (third person) or no information about the state of the car (open-loop controller). The only controller that is able to evolve good racing behaviour is based on a neural network acting on egocentric inputs

Cepheid Variables in the Maser-Host Galaxy NGC 4258

We present results of a ground-based survey for Cepheid variables in NGC 4258. This galaxy plays a key role in the Extragalactic Distance Scale due to its very precise and accurate distance determination via VLBI observations of water masers. We imaged two fields within this galaxy using the Gemini North telescope and GMOS, obtaining 16 epochs of data in the SDSS gri bands over 4 years. We carried out PSF photometry and detected 94 Cepheids with periods between 7 and 127 days, as well as an additional 215 variables which may be Cepheids or Population II pulsators. We used the Cepheid sample to test the absolute calibration of theoretical gri Period-Luminosity relations and found good agreement with the maser distance to this galaxy. The expected data products from the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) should enable Cepheid searches out to at least 10 Mpc.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journa

Blending of Cepheids in M33

A precise and accurate determination of the Hubble constant based on Cepheid variables requires proper characterization of many sources of systematic error. One of these is stellar blending, which biases the measured fluxes of Cepheids and the resulting distance estimates. We study the blending of 149 Cepheid variables in M33 by matching archival Hubble Space Telescope data with images obtained at the WIYN 3.5-m telescope, which differ by a factor of 10 in angular resolution. We find that 55+-4% of the Cepheids have no detectable nearby companions that could bias the WIYN V-band photometry, while the fraction of Cepheids affected below the 10% level is 73+-4%. The corresponding values for the I band are 60+-4% and 72+-4%, respectively. We find no statistically significant difference in blending statistics as a function of period or surface brightness. Additionally, we report all the detected companions within 2 arcseconds of the Cepheids (equivalent to 9 pc at the distance of M33) which may be used to derive empirical blending corrections for Cepheids at larger distances.Comment: v2: Fixed incorrect description of Figure 2 in text. Accepted for publication in AJ. Full data tables can be found in ASCII format as part of the source distribution. A version of the paper with higher-resolution figures can be found at http://faculty.physics.tamu.edu/lmacri/papers/chavez12.pd

New ways of being public: the experience of foundation degrees

This article explores the recent development of new spheres of public engagement within UK higher education through an analysis of the foundation degree qualification. These, according to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), were designed to equip students with the combination of technical skills, academic knowledge, and transferable skills increasingly being demanded by employers, and they have been identified as being at the forefront of educational agendas aimed at increasing employer engagement in the higher education (HE) sector. As such, they might be regarded as an expression of the 'increasing privatisation' of HE. However, this article argues that, on the contrary, they have enabled the development of new areas of public engagement relating to the design and delivery of courses as well as providing new opportunities for the pursuit of public policy goals such as widening participation. Such outcomes, it is argued, are the result of a number of factors that explain the 'publicness' of the qualification and that should be sustained to ensure the implementation of the 2006 Leitch Report in a manner that further develops public engagement

The Construction of Heavy Metal Identity through Heritage Narratives: A Case Study of Extreme Metal Bands in the North of England

Extreme and black metal is a music genre infused with ideologies of elitism, nationalism and exaggerated masculinity. In this paper, we explore the ways in which four bands from the north of England – Winterfylleth, Wodensthrone, Old Corpse Road and Oakenshield – construct mythologies, heritage narratives and identity through their own reflections on their music, metal and myths. These extreme metal bands in the North of England work inside the symbolic boundaries of their scene and exist within the imagined communities of their region. That is, the bands construct mythologies based around masculinity and around elitism, but also about “northernness.