3,307 research outputs found
Enhancing Playout Policy Adaptation for General Game Playing
Get PDFPlayout Policy Adaptation (PPA) is a state-of-the-art strategy that has been proposed to control the playouts in Monte-Carlo Tree Search (MCTS). PPA has been successfully applied to many two-player, sequential-move games. This paper further evaluates this strategy in General Game Playing (GGP) by first reformulating it for simultaneous-move games. Next, it presents five enhancements for the strategy, four of which have been previously successfully applied to a related MCTS playout strategy, the Move-Average Sampling Technique (MAST). Experiments on a heterogeneous set of games show three enhancements to have a positive effect on PPA: (i) updating the policy for all players proportionally to their payoffs instead of updating only the policy of the winner, (ii) collecting statistics for N-grams of moves instead of single moves only, and (iii) discounting the backpropagated payoffs depending on the depth of the playout. Results also show enhanced PPA variants to be competitive with MAST for small search budgets, and better for larger search budgets. The use of an ϵ -greedy selection of moves and of after-move decay of statistics, instead, seem to have a detrimental effect on PPA.</p
On-Line Parameter Tuning for Monte-Carlo Tree Search in General Game Playing
Get PDFMany enhancements have been proposed for Monte-Carlo Tree Search (MCTS). Some of them have been applied successfully in the context of General Game Playing (GGP). MCTS and its enhancements are usually controlled by multiple parameters that require extensive and time-consuming computation to be tuned in advance. Moreover, in GGP optimal parameter values may vary depending on the considered game. This paper proposes a method to automatically tune search-control parameters on-line for GGP. This method considers the tuning problem as a Combinatorial Multi-Armed Bandit (CMAB). Four strategies designed to deal with CMABs are evaluated for this particular problem. Experiments show that on-line tuning in GGP almost reaches the same performance as off-line tuning. It can be considered as a valid alternative for domains where off-line parameter tuning is costly or infeasible
The sense of a beginning : Bakhtinian dialogic criticism on 'the gospel' in Mark.
Get PDFContemporary literary approaches have caused paradigm shifts in Biblical Studies in the last two decades as it appears in a great deal of Markan studies using narrative, reader-response, deconstructive, feminist, and new historicist approaches. However, literary studies on the Gospel of Mark have not taken into account theoretical questions underlying those approaches. As a result biblical critics are driven by new trends without ever having a chance to examine the critical baggage of the approaches. Consequently, there is a gap of communication between the old and the new one. Therefore this thesis is an attempt to meet the need of enhancing the quality of critical endeavour in biblical studies. In the light of most recent competing critical theories of literature, the first contribution of this thesis is the methodological finding that Bakhtinian dialogic criticism contains the most profound philosophical and practical foundations for solving some crucial theoretical problems in contemporary literary theories. It is a critique to a Saussurian linguistic system of language which becomes the very foundation of modern and postmodern literary criticism. Bakhtinian literary theory shifts the foundation of literary criticism on linguistic signs into the creative activity of the socio-cultural production of human communication. The shift into socio-cultural reality of language communication makes the notion of 'genre' very important to unlock the problem of text and context in literary studies. Since the Gospel of Mark has fascinated most literary critics in Biblical Studies, the problem of 'genre' of this gospel is chosen as the focus of this study. Secondly, as no agreement is reached as to what 'genre' the Gospel of Mark belongs, this thesis makes its contribution to the discussion by locating the problem of 'genre' of Mark in the context of genre theories and argues that the Bakhtinian suggestion to find genre in the socio-cultural sphere by analysing artistic intercourse between narrative agents in Mark has freed the competing analysis from the unresolved problem between the kerygmatic (content oriented) approach and the analogical (form oriented) approach. To achieve finding 'genre' in the socio-cultural sphere, this thesis focuses on Bakhtinian analysis of the process of artistic intercourse between narrative agents. The narrative communicative interrelationships between narrative agents is constructed in this thesis as a 'stereophonic' Bakhtinian model of dialogic communication. This model is an original contribution of this thesis for revising the traditional two dimensional model of narrative communication. Based on this dialogical model of communication, a special role is given to the Bakhtinian 'author-creator' in the realization process of genre through the interaction of polyphonic voices. Through the interaction of voices of the author-artist and the hero we are led to discover a relatively stable type of portraying and controlling reality in Mark, known as the genre of Roman 'satire'. The closest literary affinity is Satyrica by Petronius. This narrative strategy of 'satire' in Mark has its root in the prophetic discourse of the Old Testament which is saturating the speech of the narrator, John the Immerser, the centurion, the people, and even Jesus. Finally, the whole search for Markan 'genre' culminates in the analysis of the realization of genre through the analysis of Bakhtinian chronotope. The reality of the genre of Mark is its social reality that is in its role as dpxrj/ 'beginning'. As the Gospel of Mark proclaims itself as 'a beginning', it defines its claim of socio-cultural 'authority' in early Christianity. It is this 'sense of beginning' which enables the narrating and the narrated world of Mark to interact dialogically
Well-known trade mark protection: confusion in EU and Japan
No full textIn this thesis concerning the protection of well-known trade marks against confusion in the European Community Trade Mark (CTM) and Japanese trademark systems, the author critically considers the difficulties in comprehensively defining ‘well-known trade mark’ in the relevant international trade mark instruments. After critical analysis of various definitions of both ‘trade mark’ and ‘well-known trade mark’, she undertakes a comparison of the definitions of the parallel concepts of ‘trade mark of repute’ and ‘syuchi-syohyo’, and also undertakes an assessment as to the extent to which these trade marks are protected against confusion and kondo in the CTM and Japanese systems, respectively. It is concluded that the protection of well- known trade marks against confusion in the CTM and Japan cannot be said to be completely clear, and the author identifies some areas for legal refor
The Gospel on the Margins: The Ideological Function of the Patristic Tradition on the Evangelist Mark
Get PDFIn spite of the virtually unanimous patristic opinion that the evangelist Mark was the interpreter of Peter, one of the most prestigious apostolic founding figures in Christian memory, the Gospel of Mark was mostly neglected in the patristic period. Not only is the text of Mark the least well represented of the canonical Gospels in terms of the number of patristic citations, commentaries and manuscripts, the explicit comments about the evangelist Mark reveal some ambivalence about its literary or theological value. In my survey of the reception of Mark from Papias of Hierapolis until Clement of Alexandria, I will argue that the reason why the patristic writers were hesitant to embrace the Gospel of Mark was that they perceived the text to be amenable to the Christological beliefs and social praxis of rival Christian factions. The patristic tradition about Mark may have little historical basis, but it had an important ideological function in appropriating the text in the name of an apostolic authority from the margins or periphery
Set Matching: An Enhancement of the Hales-Jewett Pairing Strategy
No full textWhen solving k-in-a-Row games, the Hales-Jewett pairingstrategy [4] is a well-known strategy to prove that specic positions are (at most) a draw. It requires two empty squares per possible winning line (group) to be marked, i.e., with a coverage ratio of 2.0.In this paper we present a new strategy, called Set Matching. A matching set consists of a set of nodes (the markers), a set of possible winning lines (the groups), and a coverage set indicating how all groups are covered after every rst initial move. This strategy needs less than two markers per group. As such it is able to prove positions in k-in-a-Row games to be draws, which cannot be proven using the Hales-Jewett pairing strategy.We show several ecient congurations with their matching sets. These include Cycle Congurations, BiCycle Congurations, and PolyCycle Congurations involving more than two cycles. Depending on conguration, the coverage ratio can be reduced to 1.14.Many examples in the domain of solving k-in-a-Row games are given, including the direct proof (not based on search) that the empty 4 x 4 board is a draw for 4-in-a-Row
Incomprehension or resistance? : the Markan disciples and the narrative logic of Mark 4:1—8:30
No full textThe characterization of the Markan disciples has been and continues to be the object of much scholarly reflection and speculation. For many, the Markan author’s presentation of Jesus’ disciples holds a key, if not the key, to unlocking the purpose and function of the gospel as a whole. Commentators differ as to whether the Markan disciples ultimately serve a pedagogical or polemical function, yet they are generally agreed that the disciples in Mark come off rather badly, especially when compared to their literary counterparts in Matthew, Luke, and John.
This narrative-critical study considers the characterization of the Markan disciples within the Sea Crossing movement (Mark 4:1–8:30). While commentators have, on the whole, interpreted the disciples’ negative characterization in this movement in terms of lack of faith and/or incomprehension, neither of these, nor a combination of the two, fully accounts for the severity of language leveled against the disciples by the narrator (6:52) and Jesus (8:17–18). Taking as its starting point an argument by Jeffrey B. Gibson (1986) that the harshness of Jesus’ rebuke in Mark 8:14–21 is occasioned not by the disciples’ lack of faith or incomprehension but by their active resistance to his Gentile mission, this investigation uncovers additional examples of the disciples’ resistance to Gentile mission, offering a better account of their negative portrayal within the Sea Crossing movement and helping explain many of their other failures.
In short, this study argues that in Mark 4:1–8:26, the disciples are characterized as resistant to Jesus’ Gentile mission and to their participation in that mission, the chief consequence being that they are rendered incapable of recognizing Jesus’ vocational identity as Israel’s Messiah (Thesis A). This leads to a secondary thesis, namely, that in Mark 8:27–30, Peter’s recognition of Jesus’ messianic identity indicates that the disciples have finally come to accept Jesus’ Gentile mission and their participation in it (Thesis B).
“Chapter One: Introduction” offers a selective review of scholarly treatments of the Markan disciples, which shows that few scholars attribute resistance, let alone purposeful resistance, to the disciples.
“Chapter Two: The Rhetoric of Repetition” introduces the methodological tools, concepts, and perspectives employed in the study. It includes a section on narrative criticism, which focuses upon the story-as-discoursed and the implied author and reader, and a section on Construction Grammar, a branch of cognitive linguistics founded by Charles Fillmore and further developed by Paul Danove, which focuses upon semantic and narrative frames and case frame analysis.
“Chapter Three: The Sea Crossing Movement, Mark 4:1–8:30” addresses the question of Markan structure and argues that Mark 4:1–8:30 comprises a single, unified, narrative movement, whose action and plot is oriented to the Sea of Galilee and whose most distinctive feature is the network of sea crossings that transport Jesus and his disciples back and forth between Jewish and Gentile geopolitical spaces.
Following William Freedman, “Chapter Four: The Literary Motif” introduces two criteria (frequency and avoidability) for determining objectively what constitutes a literary motif and provides the methodological basis and starting point for the analyses performed in chapters five and six.
“Chapter Five: The Sea Crossing Motif” establishes and then carries out a lengthy narrative analysis of the Sea Crossing motif, which is oriented around Mark’s use of θάλασσα (thalassa) and πλοῖον (ploion), and “Chapter Six: The Loaves Motif” does the same for The Loaves motif, oriented around Mark’s use of ἄρτος (artos).
Finally, “Chapter Seven: The Narrative Logic of the Disciples (In)comprehension” draws together all narrative, linguistic, and exegetical insights of the previous chapters and offers a single coherent reading of the Sea Crossing movement that establishes Theses A and B.
Evaluation Function Based Monte-Carlo LOA
No full textRecently, monte-carlo tree search (mcts) has advanced the field of computer go substantially. Also in the game of lines of action (loa), which has been dominated so far by aß, mcts is making an inroad. In this paper we investigate how to use a positional evaluation function in a monte-carlo simulation-based loa program (mc-loa). Four different simulation strategies are designed, called evaluation cut-off, corrective, greedy, and mixed. They use an evaluation function in several ways. Experimental results reveal that the mixed strategy is the best among them. This strategy draws the moves randomly based on their transition probabilities in the first part of a simulation, but selects them based on their evaluation score in the second part of a simulation. Using this simulation strategy the mc-loa program plays at the same level as the aß program mia, the best loa-playing entity in the world
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