1,904 research outputs found
Near-optimal no-regret algorithms for zero-sum
No full textWe propose a new no-regret learning algorithm. When used against an adversary, our algorithm achieves average regret that scales as O (1/√T) with the number T of rounds. This regret bound is optimal but not rare, as there are a multitude of learning algorithms with this regret guarantee. However, when our algorithm is used by both players of a zero-sum game, their average regret scales as O (ln T/T), guaranteeing a near-linear rate of convergence to the value of the game. This represents an almost-quadratic improvement on the rate of convergence to the value of a game known to be achieved by any no-regret learning algorithm, and is essentially optimal as we show a lower bound of Ω (1/T). Moreover, the dynamics produced by our algorithm in the game setting are strongly-uncoupled in that each player is oblivious to the payoff matrix of the game and the number of strategies of the other player, has limited private storage, and is not allowed funny bit arithmetic that can trivialize the problem; instead he only observes the performance of his strategies against the actions of the other player and can use private storage to remember past played strategies and observed payoffs, or cumulative information thereof. Here, too, our rate of convergence is nearly-optimal and represents an almost-quadratic improvement over the best previously known strongly-uncoupled dynamics.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (CAREER Award CCF-0953960
Alan Moore Comics as Performance, Fiction as Scalpel
No full textEclectic British author Alan Moore (b. 1953) is one of the most acclaimed and controversial comics writers to emerge since the late 1970s. He has produced a large number of well-regarded comic books and graphic novels while also making occasional forays into music, poetry, performance, and prose. In Alan Moore: Comics as Performance, Fiction as Scalpel , Annalisa Di Liddo argues that Moore employs the comics form to dissect the literary canon, the tradition of comics, contemporary society, and our understanding of history. The book considers Moore's narrative strategies and pinpoints the main thematic threads in his works: the subversion of genre and pulp fiction, the interrogation of superhero tropes, the manipulation of space and time, the uses of magic and mythology, the instability of gender and ethnic identity, and the accumulation of imagery to create satire that comments on politics and art history. Examining Moore's use of comics to scrutinize contemporary culture, Di Liddo analyzes his best-known works-- Swamp Thing, V for Vendetta, Watchmen, From Hell, Promethea , and Lost Girls . The study also highlights Moore?s lesser-known output, such as Halo Jones, Skizz , and Big Numbers , and his prose novel Voice of the Fire. Alan Moore: Comics as Performance, Fiction as Scalpel reveals Moore to be one of the most significant and distinctly postmodern comics creators of the last quarter-century.Intro -- Contents -- Preface and Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- CHAPTER 1. Formal Considerations on Alan Moore's Writing -- CHAPTER 2. Chronotopes: Outer Space, the Cityscape, and the Space of Comics -- CHAPTER 3. Moore and the Crisis of English Identity -- CHAPTER 4. Finding a Way into Lost Girls -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- ZEclectic British author Alan Moore (b. 1953) is one of the most acclaimed and controversial comics writers to emerge since the late 1970s. He has produced a large number of well-regarded comic books and graphic novels while also making occasional forays into music, poetry, performance, and prose. In Alan Moore: Comics as Performance, Fiction as Scalpel , Annalisa Di Liddo argues that Moore employs the comics form to dissect the literary canon, the tradition of comics, contemporary society, and our understanding of history. The book considers Moore's narrative strategies and pinpoints the main thematic threads in his works: the subversion of genre and pulp fiction, the interrogation of superhero tropes, the manipulation of space and time, the uses of magic and mythology, the instability of gender and ethnic identity, and the accumulation of imagery to create satire that comments on politics and art history. Examining Moore's use of comics to scrutinize contemporary culture, Di Liddo analyzes his best-known works-- Swamp Thing, V for Vendetta, Watchmen, From Hell, Promethea , and Lost Girls . The study also highlights Moore?s lesser-known output, such as Halo Jones, Skizz , and Big Numbers , and his prose novel Voice of the Fire. Alan Moore: Comics as Performance, Fiction as Scalpel reveals Moore to be one of the most significant and distinctly postmodern comics creators of the last quarter-century.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
Post-war British working-class fiction with special reference to the novels of John Braine, Alan Sillitoe, Stan Barstow, David Storey and Barry Hines
No full textThis study is about British working-class fiction in the post-war period.
It covers various authors such as Robert Tressell, George Orwell, Walter Greenwood, Lewis Grassic Gibbon and DH Lawrence from the early twentieth century; writers traditionally classified as 'Angry Young Men' like John Osborne, Arnold Wesker, Shelagh Delaney, John Wain and
Kingsley Amis; and working-class novelists like John Braine, Stan Barstow, David Storey, Alan Sillitoe and Barry Hines from the 1950s and 1960s.
Some of the main issues dealt with in the course of this study are language, form, community, self/identity/autobiography, sexuality and relationship with bourgeois art. The major argument centres on two questions: representation of working-class life, and the
relationship between working-class literary tradition and dominant ideologies.
We will be arguing that while working-class fiction succeeded in challenging and rupturing bourgeois literary tradition, on the level of language and linguistic medium of expression for example, it utterly failed to break away from dominant, bourgeois modes of literary production in relation to form, for instance.
Our argument is situated within Marxist approaches to literature, a political and aesthetic position from which we attempt an analysis and an evaluation of this working-class literary tradition. These critical approaches provide us also with the theoretical tool to define the political perspective of this tradition, and to judge whether it was confined to a descriptive mode of representation or
located in a radical, political outlook
The construction of Karen Karnak: The multi-author-function
No full textThis thesis is situated within the comparatively recent developments of Web 2.0 and the emergence of interactive WikiMedia, and explores the mode of authorship within a Read/Write culture compared to that of a Read/Only tradition. The hypothesis of this study is that the role of the audience has become merged with the author, and as such, represents new functions and attributes, distinct from a more conventional concept of authorship, in which the roles of audience and author are more separate. Read/Write and participatory culture, as defined by this study, is focused on collaboration, and includes the influences of D.I.Y. culture, Open-Source practices and the production of text by multiple authors. Multi-authorship presents a re-thinking of several concepts which support the notion of the individual author, since the focus of multi-authorship is not on attribution and ownership of a finished text, but on the continued malleability of a text. Modes of multi-authorship, demonstrated in the use of the pseudonyms Alan Smithee and Karen Eliot, represent declarative authors whose names signify multiple origins, whilst concurrently indicating a distinct body of work. The function of these names form an important context to this study, since primary research involves the construction of an experimental mode of multi-authorship utilising WikiMedia technology and the interaction of thirty nine participants, who are invited to create a body of work under the collective pseudonym Karen Karnak. The data generated by this experiment is analysed using aspects of Michel Foucault's author-function to identify and determine power structures inherent in the WikiMedia context. The interplay of power structures, including concepts such as identity, ownership and the body of work, affect the resulting mode of authorship and contribute to the construction of Karen Karnak, suggesting further areas of research into the emerging multi-author
Lo que aprendí de Alan: Un caso de cambio en la formación inicial del profesorado.
No full textThis is a Spanish translation of the article, 'What I learned from Alan: a case of change in an initial teacher training course', first published in Music Education Research, 7(1).Este artículo examina un cambio en los procedimientos para desarrollar el conocimiento musical de los estudiantes en un programa de formación inicial del profesorado de música. El cambio, provocado por la respuesta de un estudiante extraordinario, lleva al autor a preguntar “¿hasta qué punto los cambios en las prácticas docentes están provocados por alumnos extraordinarios?” y “¿cómo se podría investigar esos procesos?”This article examines a change in the procedures for developing trainees’ subject knowledge on a music Professional Graduate Certificate in Education course. The change, provoked by the response of an extraordinary trainee, prompts the author to ask “to what extent are changes in teachers’ practice provoked by extraordinary learners?” and “how might such processes be researched?
T-cell receptor diversity of various antigen-specific T cells
No full textT cells recognize foreign antigen through a heterodimeric T-cell receptor (TCR). The TCR ligand is a peptide bound to a membrane-bound protein coded by the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) locus. Like immunoglobulins, the TCR repertoire is diverse because both the and chains are coded by multiple genes that undergo rearrangement. The general goal of this study was to determine the diversity of TCRs from specific T cell populations, including T cells that are reactive with multiple ligands and TCRs that are reactive with a single peptide/MHC protein complex."The first part of this thesis describes the analysis of TCR structures used by T cells that mediate rejection in tissue transplantations. These T cells recognize foreign MHC proteins and because MHC proteins can each bind a variety of endogenous peptides, the T cells recognize multiple ligands (i.e., different peptide/MHC complexes). To generate T cells involved in transplant rejection, mice were injected at least two times (hyperimmunized) with cells that bear foreign MHC proteins and the ""transplant-reactive"" T cells were further enriched in culture. Transcripts of the -chains from these T cells were amplified using the polymerase chain reaction and sequenced. Results from this study showed that: (1) unlike immunoglobulin genes, somatic mutations did not occur in TCR genes from ""hyperimmune"" animals and (2) TCR transcripts from ""hyperimmune"" T cells specific for foreign MHC were diverse in sequence. However, after a long period (40 days) in culture, ""dominant"" clones expressing particular TCR structures were found. If the long-term ""hyperimmune"" culture is indicative of the repertoire of cells that mediate transplant rejection, then such predominant TCR structures could serve as targets for specific suppression of transplant rejection."The second part of this thesis describes the sequence analysis of TCR that are specific for a single peptide/MHC protein complex. The peptide involved in this study, p2Ca, is a ubiquitously expressed self-peptide that binds to an MHC protein called L\sp{\rm d}. Results showed that: (1) T cells that are specific for the p2Ca/L\sp{\rm d} complex can be readily generated in vitro and (2) the T cells express a diverse TCR repertoire, although restrictions in the use of V and J regions were observed. The predominant use of particular V and J regions are discussed in the context of a model for the interaction between the TCR and the p2Ca/L\sp{\rm d} complex. These findings are also discussed with regard to the potential for targeting autoimmune T cells and for peptide-based therapies that involve T-cell mediated tumor rejection.Made available in DSpace on 2011-05-07T12:44:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2
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What I learned from Alan: a case of change in an initial teacher training course
No full textThis article examines a change in the procedures for developing trainees’ subject knowledge on a music PGCE course. The change, provoked by the response of an extraordinary trainee, prompts the author to ask, ‘to what extent are changes in teachers’ practice provoked by extraordinary learners?’ and, ‘how might such processes be researched?
Optimizing green space locations to reduce daytime and nighttime urban heat island effects in Phoenix, Arizona
No full textabstract: The urban heat island effect is especially significant in semi-arid climates, generating a myriad of problems for large urban areas. Green space can mitigate warming, providing cooling benefits important to reducing energy consumption and improving human health. The arrangement of green space to reap the full potential of cooling benefits is a challenge, especially considering the diurnal variations of urban heat island effects. Surprisingly, methods that support the strategic placement of green space in the context of urban heat island are lacking. Integrating geographic information systems, remote sensing, spatial statistics and spatial optimization, we developed a framework to identify the best locations and configuration of new green space with respect to cooling benefits. The developed multi-objective model is applied to evaluate the diurnal cooling trade-offs in Phoenix, Arizona. As a result of optimal green space placement, significant cooling potentials can be achieved. A reduction of land surface temperature of approximately 1–2 °C locally and 0.5 °C regionally can be achieved by the addition of new green space. 96% of potential day and night cooling benefits can be achieved through simultaneous consideration. The results also demonstrate that clustered green space enhances local cooling because of the agglomeration effect; whereas, dispersed patterns lead to greater overall regional cooling. The optimization based framework can effectively inform planning decisions with regard to green space allocation to best ameliorate excessive heat.Corresponding Author:
Yujia Zhang
Arizona State University
[email protected]
Letter from Don T. Nakanishi, to Bill Lan Lee, Staff Attorney NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc., August 10, 1981
No full textLetter from Don T. Nakanishi to Bill Lann Lee, Staff Attorney National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Legal Defense and Education Fund Inc. about the Los Angeles Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) hearings and a statement from the National Coalition for Redress/Reparations (NCRR). A handwritten note from Don to Alan is written at the top of the letter.The Jim Matsuoka Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress Collection includes brochures, meeting notes and agendas, publications, booklets, and other material related to the Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress (NCRR), formally known as the National Coalition for Redress/Reparations. The National Coalition for Redress/Reparations was officially formed on July 12, 1980, and included members of the Los Angeles Community Coalition for Redress/Reparations (LACCRR), Japanese Community Progressive Alliance (JCPA), Tule Lake Committee, Nihonmachi Outreach Committee, the Asian/Pacific Student Union, and other members of the community. The material was collected by Jim Matsuoka, a founding member of the organization. Matsuoka also served on the board and was the treasurer. In addition to the NCRR material, the collection also contains event flyers and Day of Remembrance material. For issues of the Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress newsletter "Banner" published after 2007, visit the NCRR website at https://ncrr-la.org/
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