6,607 research outputs found
Approximate dynamic programming : projected equation and aggregation methods for Tetris
No full textThesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2011.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-67).In this thesis, we survey approximate dynamic programming (ADP) methods and test the methods with the game of Tetris. We focus on ADP methods where the cost-to- go function J is approximated with [phi]r, where [phi] is some matrix and r is a vector with relatively low dimension. There are two major categories of methods: projected equation methods and aggregation methods. In projected equation methods, the cost-to-go function approximation [phi]r is updated by simulation using one of several policy-updated algorithms such as LSTD([lambda]) [BB96], and LSPE(A) [B196]. Projected equation methods generally may not converge. We define a pseudometric of policies and view the oscillations of policies in Tetris. Aggregation methods are based on a model approximation approach. The original problem is reduced to an aggregate problem with significantly fewer states. The weight vector r is the cost-to-go function of the aggregate problem and [phi] is the matrix of aggregation probabilities. In aggregation methods, the vector r converges to the optimal cost-to-go function of the aggregate problem. In this thesis, we implement aggregation methods for Tetris, and compare the performance of projected equation methods and aggregation methods.by Daw-sen Hwang.S.M
Sen-Lab-LMS/Senescence_nuclear_features: Publication_version_2.0
No full text<p>Author checklist.</p>
The Contributions of Professor Amartya Sen in the Field of Human Rights
Full text linkThis paper analyses the work of the Nobel Prize winning economist Professor Amartya Sen from the perspective of human rights. It assesses the ways in which Sen's research agenda has deepened and expanded human rights discourse in the disciplines of ethics and economics, and examines how his work has promoted cross-fertilisation and integration on this subject across traditional disciplinary divides. The paper suggests that Sen's development of a 'scholarly bridge' between human rights and economics is an important and innovative contribution that has methodological as well as substantive importance and that provides a prototype and stimuli for future research. It also establishes that the idea of fundamental freedoms and human rights is itself an important gateway into understanding the nature, scope and significance of Sen's research. The paper concludes with a brief assessment of the challenges to be addressed in taking Sen's contributions in the field of human rights forward.Amartya Sen, human rights, poverty, freedom, obligation, capability approach, meta-rights, entitlements, opportunity freedom, liberty-rights
Shams al-dim al-Sakhawi as a historian of the 9th/15th century : with an edition of that section of his chronicles (Wajiz al-kalam) covering the period 800-849 / 1397-1445
No full textAlthough a prolific writer of history, Sakhawi is, primarily, a
traditionist. As such, accuracy both in utterance and writing would,
by the very nature of his training, be his first objective.
Modern writers appear to have neglected the importance of his
contribution to the understanding of the history of his century.
accept for a few articles, comparatively little has been written. It
is, therefore, strange that such a mine of information as Sakhawi's
writing presents has remained so long in oblivion.
In this thesis an attempt has been made to evaluate that contribution
together with an edition of part of his work.
The study has been divided into three sections, the first dealing
with Sakhawi’s life and times. This part of the study is based largely
on his autobiography which was written but a few months before he died.
During research no reference was discovered to this most informative
work.
The section falls into three chapters, the first of which endeavours
to show the political and educational aspects of Cairo during the early
part of Sakhawi's lifetime. Cairo was his native city and, as such,
made great impact on his early life.
In the second chapter the position of his family, his Shaykhs, the
academic journeys he made, his residence in Hijaz and the last phase of
his life are portrayed.
The third chapter deals with his activities as an adult, his reputation
as a traditionist together with a survey of his works as presented in
his autobiography.
In the second part, the study deals exclusively with Sakhawi as
a historian of the 9th/15th century. This part also is divided into
two chapters, the first of which considers the following aspects: -
I Sakawi's works on the century;
II His motives, methods and literary style and
III His treatment of the history of the century.
The second chapter collates Sakhawi's methods of selecting his
information and the painstaking efforts he made to verify them, together
with his historical achievements, while the last two topics endeavour to
evaluate his task as a historian in that century.
Section three presents the hitherto unedited part of Wajiz al-Kalam...
which deals with the history of the 9th/15th century. This section
also falls into the three divisions of preface, text and annotations.
The last divides again into two groups one of which deals with the
textual variants mentioned in the footnotes and the other attempts to
deal with the interpretation of most of the idiom, colloquial expressions
and the names of places and personalities mentioned in the supplement to
the text
Inequalities, Agency, and Well-being: Conceptual Linkages and Measurement Challenges in Development
Full text linkdevelopment, inequality, gender, well-being, agency, capability, distribution, Sen
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