9,362 research outputs found
A simple hybrid algorithm for improving team sport AI
In the very popular genre of team sports games defeating the opposing AI is the main focus of the gameplay experience. However the overall quality of these games is significantly damaged because, in a lot of cases, the opposition is prone to mistakes or vulnerable to exploitation. This paper introduces an AI system which overcomes this failing through the addition of simple adaptive learning and prediction algorithms to a basic ice hockey defence. The paper shows that improvements can be made to the gameplay experience without overly increasing the implementation complexity of the system or negatively affecting its performance. The created defensive system detects patterns in the offensive tactics used against it and changes elements of its reaction accordingly; effectively adapting to attempted exploitation of repeated tactics. This is achieved using a fuzzy inference system that tracks player movement, which greatly improves variation of defender positioning, alongside an N-gram pattern recognition-based algorithm that predicts the next action of the attacking player. Analysis of implementation complexity and execution overhead shows that these techniques are not prohibitively expensive in either respect, and are therefore appropriate for use in games
Exchange, Conflict and Coercion: The Ritual Dynamics of the Notting Hill Carnival Past and Present
This study investigates patterns of social relationships involving the Notting Hill Carnival. Two theoretical approaches are employed elementary relations theory and structural ritualization theory - to explain how the carnival has been strategically used in very different ways by various groups to accomplish their objectives. We suggest the Notting Hill Carnival is a special collective ritual event that has played a crucial role in three quite different structured arrangements involving coercion, conflict, and exchange since its beginning in Trinidad and subsequently in London. Four time periods where distinct changes in the nature of these relationships have occurred are examined: (1) 1800s Trinidad; (2) the Notting Hill Carnival from 1965-1970; (3) the Notting Hill Carnival from 1971-1989; and (4) the Notting Hill Carnival from 1990-present. This study contributes to the existing literature by focusing on how ritual and these types of relationships are intertwined in the production of the carnival. Implications of this research and possible directions for future research are also discussed
Mindfulness: A foothold for Rogers's humanistic person-centred approach
This article probed and contextualised the strong parallels between meditation derived mindfulness and Rogers's humanistic person-centred (PC) approach. This was done through a conceptual and evaluative literature review of the PC framework in relation to definitive descriptions of mindfulness. Elements of mindfulness within the core conditions of PC therapy were explored and verified. Quotations, pragmatic, behavioural descriptions and explications provided evidence of a shared ideology inherent in both concepts via “way of being”. The findings suggested that mindfulness cultivates, harmonises and deepens essential therapist qualities in PC therapy. This review article could supply a rationale for significant inferences in the implementation of meditation-inspired activities in the practical preparation of trainee therapists as well as optimising proficiency and refinement in professional practice
Representing Structural Information of Helical Charge Distributions in Cylindrical Coordinates
Structural information in the local electric field produced by helical charge
distributions, such as dissolved DNA, is revealed in a straightforward manner
employing cylindrical coordinates. Comparison of structure factors derived in
terms of cylindrical and helical coordinates is made. A simple coordinate
transformation serves to relate the Green function in cylindrical and helical
coordinates. We also compare the electric field on the central axis of a single
helix as calculated in both systems.Comment: 11 pages in plain LaTex, no figures. Accepted for publication in PRE
March, 199
Isoscalar scattering and the mesons from QCD
We present the first lattice QCD study of coupled isoscalar
- and -wave scattering extracted from
discrete finite-volume spectra computed on lattices which have a value of the
quark mass corresponding to MeV. In the sector we find
analogues of the experimental and states, where the
appears as a stable bound-state below threshold, and, similar
to what is seen in experiment, the manifests itself as a dip in the
cross section in the vicinity of the threshold. For
we find two states resembling the and ,
observed as narrow peaks, with the lighter state dominantly decaying to
and the heavier state to . The presence of all these
states is determined rigorously by finding the pole singularity content of
scattering amplitudes, and their couplings to decay channels are established
using the residues of the poles
Improved timber harvest techniques maintain biodiversity in tropical forests
Tropical forests are selectively logged at 20 times the rate at which they are cleared, and at least a fifth have already been disturbed in this way. In a recent pan-tropical assessment, Burivalova et al. demonstrate the importance of logging intensity as a driver of biodiversity decline in timber estates. Their analyses reveal that species richness of some taxa could decline by 50% at harvest intensities of 38 m3 ha-1. However, they did not consider the extraction techniques that lead to these intensities. Here, we conduct a complementary meta-analysis of assemblage responses to differing logging practices: conventional logging and reduced-impact logging. We show that biodiversity impacts are markedly less severe in forests that utilise reduced-impact logging, compared to those using conventional methods. While supporting the initial findings of Burivalova et al., we go on to demonstrate that best practice forestry techniques curtail the effects of timber extraction regardless of intensity. Therefore, harvest intensities are not always indicative of actual disturbance levels resulting from logging. Accordingly, forest managers and conservationists should advocate practices that offer reduced collateral damage through best practice extraction methods, such as those used in reduced-impact logging. Large-scale implementation of this approach would lead to improved conservation values in the 4 million km2 of tropical forests that are earmarked for timber extraction
Charmonium excited state spectrum in lattice QCD
Working with a large basis of covariant derivative-based meson interpolating
fields we demonstrate the feasibility of reliably extracting multiple excited
states using a variational method. The study is performed on quenched
anisotropic lattices with clover quarks at the charm mass. We demonstrate how a
knowledge of the continuum limit of a lattice interpolating field can give
additional spin-assignment information, even at a single lattice spacing, via
the overlap factors of interpolating field and state. Excited state masses are
systematically high with respect to quark potential model predictions and,
where they exist, experimental states. We conclude that this is most likely a
result of the quenched approximation.Comment: Fixed typos: normalisation of chi-squared, some operator projections
in appendix, missing lattice irrep tabl
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