BEST PLAY IN FANORONA LEADS TO DRAW

2008 ◽  
Vol 04 (03) ◽  
pp. 369-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
MAARTEN P. D. SCHADD ◽  
MARK H. M. WINANDS ◽  
JOS W. H. M. UITERWIJK ◽  
H. JAAP VAN DEN HERIK ◽  
MAURICE H. J. BERGSMA
Keyword(s):  
Initial Position ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Board Game ◽  
National Board

Fanorona is the national board game of Madagascar. The game's complexity is approximately the same as that of checkers. In this article, we present a search-based approach for weakly solving this game. It is a well-chosen combination of Proof-Number search and endgame databases. Retrograde analysis is used to generate the endgame databases in which every position with 7 or fewer pieces on the board has been solved. Then, a Proof-Number search variant, PN2, exploits the databases to prove that the game-theoretical value of the initial position is a draw. Future research should develop techniques for strongly solving the game.

Trajectory planning for coordinately operating robots

1990 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 165-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. P. Chien ◽  
Qing Xue
Keyword(s):  
Trajectory Planning ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Minimum Time ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Rigid Object ◽  
Redundant Robots ◽  
Planning Algorithm ◽  
The Common ◽  
Joint Velocity

An efficient locally minimum-time trajectory planning algorithm for coordinately operating multiple robots is introduced. The task of the robots is to carry a common rigid object from an initial position to a final position along a given path in three-dimensional workspace in minimum time. The number of robots in the system is arbitrary. In the proposed algorithm, the desired motion of the common object carried by the robots is used as the key to planning of the trajectories of all the non-redundant robots involved. The search method is used in the trajectory planning. The planned robot trajectories satisfy the joint velocity, acceleration and torque constraints as well as the path constraints. The other constraints such as collision-free constraints, can be easily incorporated into the trajectory planning in future research.

scholarly journals Language in Game Rules and Game Play: A Study of Emergence in Pandemic

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rei Masuda ◽  
Jonathan DeHaan
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Digital Games ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Board Game ◽  
Academic Vocabulary ◽  
Game Play ◽  
Analysis Tools ◽  
Compare And Contrast

<p class="western"> </p><p>Language and games are both creative activities that can exhibit unexpected behaviors and meanings. Previous studies in the connections between games and language have focused on digital games. The current study investigated the emergence of language in a modern cooperative board game (Pandemic) and used discourse analysis tools to compare and contrast the textual rule book and oral discussions in observed gameplay in terms of speech acts and vocabulary. Unexpected language did emerge in the gameplay, and in general, the longer text and sentences of the rulebook contained more academic vocabulary, and the shorter game play language contained more slang and expressives. Limitations of the study are elucidated and suggestions for future research and uses of analog games for learners of foreign languages are offered.<strong></strong></p><p class="western"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span><br /></span></span></span></p>

scholarly journals The Special Purpose Examination: An Evaluation of Physicians Taking SPEX and their Pass Rates

2014 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-14
Author(s):  
Frances E. Cain ◽  
Phil Davignon ◽  
Thomas R. Henzel ◽  
Andrea Ciccone ◽  
Aaron Young
Keyword(s):  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Pass Rates ◽  
National Board ◽  
Disciplinary Process ◽  
Basic Medical Knowledge ◽  
State Medical Boards ◽  
Medical Examiners ◽  
Basic Medical

ABSTRACT State medical boards have long recognized the importance of evaluating the ongoing knowledge and competence of licensed physicians under a variety of circumstances. Before granting or renewing a license, it may be necessary for state boards to evaluate physicians as part of a disciplinary process or following a period of inactivity for either disciplinary or non-disciplinary reasons. The Post-Licensure Assessment System (PLAS), a joint program of the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME), has played a role in assisting state boards with evaluating physicians' basic medical knowledge in all of these circumstances by providing the Special Purpose Examination (SPEX). While SPEX has been administered since 1988, there has not been a nationally published study summarizing the characteristics of physicians taking the exam and their examination pass rates. To address this, we examined physicians who took SPEX between 2003 and 2011, and the outcomes of their exams. Our research demonstrates that the majority of examinees take SPEX for non-disciplinary reasons, with those who take SPEX for disciplinary reasons having lower pass rates. Future research should focus on evaluating the ultimate outcomes for physicians taking SPEX, including the ability to attain and retain a license to practice medicine.

scholarly journals Impact of a structured review session on medical student psychiatry subject examination performance

F1000Research ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 897
Author(s):  
Shan H. Siddiqi ◽  
Kevin J. Black ◽  
Fay Y. Womer
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Control Period ◽  
Experimental Period ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Future Research ◽  
National Board ◽  
Subject Examination ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Review Session

Introduction: The National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) subject examinations are used as a standardized metric for performance in required clerkships for third-year medical students. While several medical schools have implemented a review session to help consolidate knowledge acquired during the clerkship, the effects of such an intervention are not yet well-established. An improvement in NBME psychiatry examination scores has previously been reported with a single end-of-clerkship review session, but this was limited by a small sample size and the fact that attendance at the review session was optional, leading to likely selection bias.Methods: A 1.5-hour structured review session was conducted for medical students in the last week of each 4-week psychiatry clerkship between September 2014 and July 2015. Students were required to attend unless excused due to scheduling conflicts. Scores on the NBME psychiatry subject exam were compared with those of students taking the examination in the corresponding time period in each of the previous two academic years.Results: 83 students took the exam during the experimental period, while 176 took the exam during the control period. Statistically significant improvements were found in mean score (p=0.03), mean for the two lowest scores in each group (p<0.0007), and percentage of students scoring 70 or less (p=0.03). Percentage of students achieving the maximum possible score (99) was higher in the experimental group, but did not reach significance (p=0.06).Conclusions: An end-of-clerkship review session led to increased mean scores on the NBME psychiatry subject examination, particularly for students at the lower end of the score range. Future research should investigate the impact of such an intervention in other specialties and other institutions.

scholarly journals Green Across the Board: Board Games as Tools for Dialogue and Simplified Environmental Communication

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 632-652
Author(s):  
Kristoffer S. Fjællingsdal ◽  
Christian A. Klöckner
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Environmental Communication ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Board Game ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Board Games ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Sustainability Problems ◽  
Game Board ◽  
Environmental Simulations

Background. Board games are a promising, yet rarely used arena for learning about environmental issues. Existing research suggests that they are highly innovative communication tools that make complex sustainability problems more salient and easily understandable. To date, little to no research exists where several environment-themed board games have been compared in a single study. Method. 17 respondents were invited to board game nights where they were tasked to play an environmental board game of their choosing. The respondents were then invited to participate in subsequent focus group interviews about their gameplay experience and learning outcomes. Results. 5 focus group interviews were transcribed and subjected to a qualitative thematic analysis, revealing 2 main themes; the first revolving around board games as simplified environmental simulations and the second revolving around the players’ perceptions of their own impact on the game board. Conclusion. Our results suggest that board games can be highly effective tools in some aspects of environmental communication. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed.

scholarly journals Impact of a structured review session on medical student psychiatry subject examination performance

F1000Research ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 897
Author(s):  
Shan H. Siddiqi ◽  
Kevin J. Black ◽  
Fay Y. Womer
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Control Period ◽  
Experimental Period ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Future Research ◽  
National Board ◽  
Subject Examination ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Review Session

Introduction: The National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) subject examinations are used as a standardized metric for performance in required clerkships for third-year medical students. While several medical schools have implemented a review session to help consolidate knowledge acquired during the clerkship, the effects of such an intervention are not yet well-established. One prior study reported an improvement in NBME psychiatry examination scores with a 1.5-hour review session, but this study was limited by a small sample size and the fact that attendance at the review session was optional, leading to likely selection bias.Methods: A 1.5-hour structured review session was conducted for medical students in the last week of each 4-week psychiatry clerkship between September 2014 and July 2015. Students were required to attend unless excused due to scheduling conflicts. Scores on the NBME psychiatry subject exam were compared with those of students taking the examination in the corresponding time period in each of the previous two academic years.Results: 83 students took the exam during the experimental period, while 176 took the exam during the control period. Statistically significant improvements were found in mean score (p=0.03), mean for the two lowest scores in each group (p<0.0007), and percentage of students scoring 70 or less (p=0.03). Percentage of students achieving the maximum possible score (99) was higher in the experimental group, but did not reach significance (p=0.06).Conclusions: An end-of-clerkship review session led to increased mean scores on the NBME psychiatry subject examination, particularly for students at the lower end of the score range. Future research should investigate the impact of such an intervention in other specialties and other institutions.

scholarly journals Decline in mortality among hospitalised covid-19 patients in Sweden: a nationwide observational study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristoffer Strålin ◽  
Erik Wahlström ◽  
Sten Walther ◽  
Anna M Bennet-Bark ◽  
Mona Heurgren ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Relative Risk ◽  
Severity Of Illness ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Adjusted Relative Risk ◽  
National Board ◽  
Risk Of Death ◽  
Hospitalised Patients ◽  
Observational Cohort ◽  
Relative Risk Of Death ◽  
Nationwide Observational Study

ABSTRACTOBJECTIVEIt is important to know if mortality among hospitalised covid-19 patients has changed as the pandemic has progressed. The aim of this study was to describe the dynamics of mortality among patients hospitalised for covid-19 in a nationwide study.DESIGNNationwide observational cohort study of all patients hospitalised in Sweden 1 March to 30 June 2020 with SARS-CoV-2 RNA positivity 14 days before to 5 days after admission, and a discharge code for covid-19.SETTINGAll hospitals in Sweden.PARTICIPANTS15 761 hospitalised patients with covid-19, with data compiled by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURESOutcome was 60-day all-cause mortality. Patients were stratified according to month of hospital admission. Poisson regression was used to estimate the relative risk of death by month of admission, adjusting for pre-existing conditions, age, sex, care dependency, and severity of illness (Simplified Acute Physiology, version 3), for patients in intensive care units (ICU).RESULTSThe overall 60-day mortality was 17.8% (95% confidence interval (CI), 17.2% to 18.4%), and it decreased from 24.7% (95% CI, 23.0% to 26.5%) in March to 13.3% (95% CI, 12.1% to 14.7%) in June. Adjusted relative risk (RR) of death was 0.56 (95% CI, 0.51 to 0.63) for June, using March as reference. Corresponding RR for patients not admitted to ICU and those admitted to ICU were 0.60 (95% CI, 0.53 to 0.67) and 0.61 (95% CI, 0.48 to 0.79), respectively. The proportion of patients admitted to ICU decreased from 19.5% (95% CI, 17.9% to 21.0%) in the March cohort to 11.0% (95% CI, 9.9% to 12.2%) in the June cohort.CONCLUSIONSThere was a gradual decline in mortality from March to June 2020 in Swedish hospitalised covid-19 patients, which was independent of pre-existing conditions, age, and sex. Future research is needed to explain the reasons for this decline. The changing covid-19 mortality should be taken into account when management and results of studies from the first pandemic wave are evaluated.

scholarly journals A preliminary description of mood in Welsh

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-226
Author(s):  
Lise Fontaine ◽  
Lowri Williams
Keyword(s):  
Complex System ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Functional Description ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistic ◽  
Discourse Functions ◽  
Preliminary Description ◽  
Linguistic Framework

Abstract In this paper we propose a functional account of the Welsh mood system, focussing on responsives in particular. The discourse functions of responsives are interpreted through the concept of negotiation within the systemic functional linguistic framework, which offers a rich model for accounting for both initiations and responses, including possible tracking and challenging moves. By examining the interaction of mood together with specific features of Welsh, e.g. a dominant VSO clause ordering, mood particles, Subject ellipsis and a complex system of negation, we are able to show that Welsh tends to highlight interpersonal meanings in clause initial position. As the first functional description of Welsh, we also set out important directions for future research, based on the findings presented in this paper.

scholarly journals Development and Evaluation of a Chinese Character Educational Board Game for Non-Native Learners

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 164
Author(s):  
Lee Chai Chuen ◽  
Nor Azrina Mohd Yusof
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Chinese Character ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Chinese Characters ◽  
Educational Tool ◽  
Board Game ◽  
Empirical Testing ◽  
Reading Chinese ◽  
Writing Chinese

There is no doubt that knowing Chinese gives graduates a competitive advantage. The ability to communicate fluently in Chinese has long been a requirement for Chinese employers, particularly those looking to do business in China's e-commerce market. Non-native learners must master four fundamental abilities in order to become literate in the Chinese language: listening, reading, writing, and speaking. Previous research has found that writing Chinese characters is frequently the most difficult task for both non-native and native learners. The issue arises during the process of learning Chinese characters and excessive use of gadgets, while online learning inspires both researchers to create a Chinese educational board game dubbed the LiSCReW Family Board Game (LiSCReW). LiSCReW is an acronym for Listen, Speak, Count, Read, and Write. The purpose of this study is (i) to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of the LiSCReW for learning Chinese characters; and (ii) to share non-native learners' perspectives and experiences while playing LiSCReW during a one-day exhibition at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Johor Campus. To facilitate playtesting and evaluation of the board game, a total of 22 students from UiTM Johor were conveniently selected. The findings indicate that the LiSCReW board game is an effective educational tool for learning Chinese characters. The results show that respondents are more confident in recognising Chinese characters (90.9%), pronouncing Chinese characters (68.2%), reading Chinese characters (54.6%), and applying the Chinese characters they learned while playing LiSCReW to their Chinese test (77.2%). The findings can be used to guide future research into the empirical testing of Flow Theory's applicability among a large number of respondents.

Cards, Dice, and Male Bonding: A Case Study Examination of Strat-O-Matic Baseball Motives

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 246-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
John S.W. Spinda ◽  
Daniel L. Wann ◽  
Michael Sollitto
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Major League Baseball ◽  
Social Bonding ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Board Game ◽  
Item Pool ◽  
Study Analysis ◽  
Uses And Gratifications Theory ◽  
Case Study Analysis

In this case study analysis, we explored the motives for playing Strat-O-Matic Baseball (SOMB), a baseball simulation played as a board game or online, from the perspective of the uses-and-gratifications theory. In phase I of the study, SOMB manager narratives (N = 50) were analyzed for motive statements. In phase II, an online survey asked SOMB managers (N = 222) to respond to motive items as well as four measures of Major League Baseball (MLB) and SOMB identification. Overall, eight motives for playing SOMB emerged from the 64-item pool of motive items. These eight motives were nostalgia, knowledge acquisition, social bonding, enjoyment, vicarious achievement, game aesthetics, convenience, and escape. Our findings suggest these motives predicted measures of MLB and SOMB identification in significantly different ways. Theoretical implications, future research, limitations, and discussion questions are presented in this analysis.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document