Chess endgames: 6-man data and strategy

While Nalimov’s endgame tables for Western Chess are the most used today, their Depth-to-Mate metric is not the most efficient or effective in use. The authors have developed and used new programs to create tables to alternative metrics and recommend better strategies for endgame play

Oral History Interview: Dave Tamplin

This interview is one of several in the Oral History of Appalachia collection in which the primary focus of conversation is national and world history. Mr. Tamplin was born in Boomer, West Virginia and has lived there all his life. He talks about his family history (one of his ancestors, Paddy Huddleston, was a hunting companion of Daniel Boone), the Hatfield-McCoy Feud, and the Paint Creek Strike in 1912-1913.https://mds.marshall.edu/oral_history/1085/thumbnail.jp

Effects of Fluctuating Salinity, Nutritional State, and Temperature on Leptasterias Spp. From Little Port Walter, Alaska.

The effects of fluctuating salinity, nutritional state, and temperature on activity, oxygen consumption, feeding, and growth rates were analyzed on seasonally collected Leptasterias spp. (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) from Little Port Walter, AK. Leptasterias aspera and L. epichlora were collected on June 10, 1994, divided into size groups, and perivisceral fluid osmolality was measured every three hours during a 12 h 30-10-30‰S fluctuating cycle. The perivisceral fluid osmolality of larger individuals fluctuated less than that of smaller sea stars. The perivisceral fluid osmolality of small and large Leptasterias spp. closely tracks the ambient water osmolality during tidal cycles. Leptasterias spp. were collected on August 31, 1994 and separated into three nutritional treatment groups and analyzed over 31 days. Starved individuals had lower oxygen consumption rates than fed individuals. Feeding and starvation data suggest that Leptasterias spp. from Little Port Walter can survive beyond 31 days with a negative energy budget. For studies of temperature acclimation, Leptasterias spp. were collected at the annual temperature minimum (1°C; 19 November 1995, 27 February 1998) and the annual temperature maximum (12°C; 1 September 1996, 2 July 1997). Individuals from seasonal collections were step-wise acclimated (2°C every two days) or acutely exposed to 5°C, 7.5°C, 10°C, 12.5°C, 15°C, 17.5°C, 20°C, or 22.5°C. The 28-day LC50 of winter acclimatized, acutely exposed animals were 8 and 10°C lower than summer acclimatized, step-wise acclimated and summer acclimatized, acutely exposed individuals, respectively. Acute exposure and step-wise acclimation to experimental temperatures above the normal environmental maximum, 12.2°C, resulted in suppressed feeding and elevated oxygen consumption rates. Leptasterias spp. exist near the upper limit of capacity adaptation when environmental temperatures reach the annual summer maximum and undergo seasonal acclimatization to water temperature. Leptasterias spp. are adapted to withstand sublethal temperature shifts, which occur both seasonally and diurnally in the intertidal zone. Activity only partially correlated with environmental changes (temperature exposure, fluctuating salinity, and nutritional state of the animal). Reduced salinity negatively affected activity in Leptasterias spp. Activity coefficients varied with starved and fed feeding regimes, but were not significantly different between feeding treatments or time. Activity coefficients of Leptasterias spp. did not vary significantly with temperature

3-5-man chess: Maximals and mzugs

This article reports the combined results of several initiatives in creating and surveying complete suites of endgame tables (EGTs) to the Depth to Mate (DTM) and Depth to Conversion (DTC) metrics. Data on percentage results, maximals and mutual zugzwangs, mzugs, has been filed and made available on the web, as have the DTM EGTs

Humanitarian Aid in Haiti: Friend or Foe?

Humanitarian aid to Haiti has both positive and negative effects on a country that is already in a state of turmoil. Considering the aspects of education, economics, and the political climate in Haiti, and after conducting both academic research and primary source interviews from those affected firsthand by these issues, I concluded that outside aid and volunteerism to Haiti, and other third-world countries like it, is ultimately ineffective. Donations coming into Haiti are doing more harm than good because the amount of goods being gathered and shipped to Haiti combined with the instability and corruption of the government in that area is detrimental to the economic progression of the nation. As a country struggling with an internal economy, the constant influx of goods keeps local vendors and business owners from starting up their own industries, constantly forcing money to circulate out of the country. As a nation, Haiti has faced many hardships, including natural disasters, and the response from other countries is not always positive. The current and most pressing issues they face today are a lack of education and the abundance of political corruption that is keeping the country in a perpetual cycle of poverty. Outside countries that simply provide donations and resources to Haiti usually serve to enable this cycle when the most effective strategy is to empower the people of Haiti to help themselves

Ken Thompson's 6-man Tables

Ken Thompson recently communicated some results mined from his set of 64 6-man endgame tables. These list some positions of interest, namely, mutual zugzwangs and those of maximum depth. The results have been analysed by the authors and found to be identical or compatible with the available or published findings of Karrer, Nalimov, Stiller and Wirth