Personas versus clones for player decision modelling

The current paper investigates how to model human play styles. Building on decision and persona theory we evolve game playing agents representing human decision making styles. Two methods are developed, applied, and compared: procedural personas, based on utilities designed with expert knowledge, and clones, trained to reproduce play traces. Additionally, two metrics for comparing agent and human decision making styles are proposed and compared. Results indicate that personas evolved from designer intuitions can capture human decision making styles equally well as clones evolved from human play traces.peer-reviewe

Vitalism in contemporary chiropractic: a help or a hinderance?

Background: Chiropractic emerged in 1895 and was promoted as a viable health care substitute in direct competition with the medical profession. This was an era when there was a belief that one cause and one cure for all disease would be discovered. The chiropractic version was a theory that most diseases were caused by subluxated (slightly displaced) vertebrae interfering with “nerve vibrations” (a supernatural, vital force) and could be cured by adjusting (repositioning) vertebrae, thereby removing the interference with the body’s inherent capacity to heal. DD Palmer, the originator of chiropractic, established chiropractic based on vitalistic principles. Anecdotally, the authors have observed that many chiropractors who overtly claim to be “vitalists” cannot define the term. Therefore, we sought the origins of vitalism and to examine its effects on chiropractic today. Discussion: Vitalism arose out of human curiosity around the biggest questions: Where do we come from? What is life? For some, life was derived from an unknown and unknowable vital force. For others, a vital force was a placeholder, a piece of knowledge not yet grasped but attainable. Developments in science have demonstrated there is no longer a need to invoke vitalistic entities as either explanations or hypotheses for biological phenomena. Nevertheless, vitalism remains within chiropractic. In this examination of vitalism within chiropractic we explore the history of vitalism, vitalism within chiropractic and whether a vitalistic ideology is compatible with the legal and ethical requirements for registered health care professionals such as chiropractors. Conclusion: Vitalism has had many meanings throughout the centuries of recorded history. Though only vaguely defined by chiropractors, vitalism, as a representation of supernatural force and therefore an untestable hypothesis, sits at the heart of the divisions within chiropractic and acts as an impediment to chiropractic legitimacy, cultural authority and integration into mainstream health care

Ligand functionalized UiO-66 (Zr) for the catalytic transfer hydrogenation of levulinic acid: influence of hydrophilicity

Ligand functionalized UiO-66 were synthesized and applied in the catalytic transformation of LA to GVL by CTH. The catalytic results indicate that the selectivity to GVL is affected by the hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity balance in these materials. This will be significant to optimize UiO-66 catalysts and possibly other effective catalysts in the perspective of establishing an effective integrated biorefinery for renewable and sustainable chemicals and fuels

Innovative sol-gel routes to metal doped mesoporous Ta-SiO2 catalysts for the upgrading of bioethanol to butadiene

Here, we present the first example of the preparation of bifunctional Cu- and Ta-based mesoporous catalysts by AASG. An aqueous solution containing Cu nitrate, Ta ethoxide and pre-hydrolyzed TEOS (supplemented with a pluronic surfactant) is sprayed and dried to yield spherical particles with calibrated porosity. After calcination, the catalysts display advantageous texture (SSA≈450 m2 g–1; Vp≈0.5 mL g–1; Dp≈4.5 nm). As evidenced by in situ XRD and by XPS, the Cu species that are initially dispersed in the bulk of the metallosilicate undergo a migration towards the surface during calcination, to form small CuO nanoparticles. Tests in the ethanol to butadiene reaction allowed us to select the optimal calcination temperature (500°C), to maximize the dehydrogenation activity of Cu nanoparticles. All in all, the best catalyst (2 wt%Ta and 5 wt%Cu) reached a 27 % yield at 355 °C

Proceedings of the space cryogenics workshop

SIGLETIB: RO 1999 (3) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekDEGerman

MODELLING OF SALINITY DISTRIBUTION AND WATER AGE IN THE MAHAKAM DELTA, INDONESIA

The spatial distribution of salinity and water age in the Mahakam Delta are investigated with the help of numerical simulations obtained by the finite-element SLIM model. The depth or cross-section integrated shallow-water and advection-diffusion equations are solved by a means of the discontinuous Galerkin finite element method on unstructured meshes of domain of interest. A two-dimensional unstructured mesh exhibiting a highly variable resolution covers the Makassar Strait and the various branches of the Mahakam Delta, as well as a series of buffer lakes located over 150 km upstream of the delta. The Mahakam River itself and major tributaries are represented by one-dimensional elements. It is observed that the salinity in all tributaries and tidal channels of the delta decreases significantly from the delta front to the Delta Apex location during a simulation period from September to October 2009 due to the change of tides, the narrow and meandering channels, and the effects of river flow. The salinity is less than 5.0 PSU in the distance of 15 km downstream the Delta Apex even with the very low river flow is imposed at upstream boundary located 300 km upstream from the delta. On the other hand, using the concept of the CART, the water age in both low and high flow conditions is explored. The water age of four main tidal channels in the delta varies from 3.24 days under the high river flow (>4,200 m3/s) to 6.84 days under the low flow (<1,400 m3/s) condition. The water age changes depending on each tidal channel in the delta and the maximum value is about one neap-spring tidal cycle of 16 days in all simulation cases