A recent research trend in Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the combination of several programs into one single, stronger, program; this is termed portfolio methods. We here investigate the application of such methods to Game Playing Programs (GPPs). In addition, we consider the case in which only one GPP is available by decomposing this single GPP into several ones through the use of parameters...

This research examined the relative effects of other-efficacy and self-efficacy beliefs in relation to individual performance within a cooperative dyadic setting. Pairs of female participants (M(age) = 20.08, SD = 1.93) performed three practice trials on a dyadic dance-based videogame. Other-efficacy and self-efficacy beliefs were then manipulated through the provision of bogus feedback regardi...

CB(1) cannabinoid receptor agonists show a different profile compared to other drugs of abuse on the basis of experimental data that reveal their reinforcing properties. Thus, there are controversial data in the literature concerning the ability of CB(1) receptor agonists to reinforce behavioral responses in experimental animals, i.e. to lower self-stimulation thresholds, and to support self-ad...

the concept of teacher efficacy has received significant attention in educational contexts in the recent years and has been empirically probed at 2 levels: individual teacher efficacy and collective teacher efficacy. having their origins in the social cognitive theory, teacher and collective efficacy perceptions are quite distinct constructs, each affecting educational decisions and student ach...

Lexical ambiguity is an important source of inefficiency for wide-coverage HPSG parsing. In this paper, we propose a lexical analysis filter which removes unlikely lexical categories. The filter is implemented as a straightforward HMM n-gram POS-tagger, which computes the ’a posteriori’ probability of each lexical category. A lexical category is removed if a competing lexical category is suffic...

Cannabidiol is a non-psychotomimetic constituent of Cannabis sativa, which induces central effects in rodents. It has been shown that cannabidiol attenuates cue-induced reinstatement of heroin seeking. However, to the best of our knowledge, its effects on brain stimulation reward and the reward-facilitating effects of drugs of abuse have not yet been examined. Therefore, we investigated the eff...

In this study, we have investigated the efficacy of inorganic nanotubes as reinforcing agents to improve the mechanical properties of poly(propylene fumarate) (PPF) composites as a function of nanomaterial loading concentration (0.01-0.2 wt.%). Tungsten disulfide nanotubes (WSNTs) were used as reinforcing agents in the experimental group. Single- and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs and MW...

Background: Rapid weight gain in infancy is associated with a higher risk of obesity in children and adults. A high relative reinforcing value of food is cross-sectionally related to obesity; lean children find nonfood alternatives more reinforcing than do overweight/obese children. However, to our knowledge, there is no research on how and when food reinforcement develops. Objective: This stud...