Algorithms for pruning game trees generally rely on a game being zero-sum, in the case of alpha-beta pruning, or constant-sum, in the case of multi-player pruning algorithms such as speculative pruning. While existing algorithms can prune non-zero-sum games, pruning is much less effective than in constant-sum games. We introduce the idea of leaf-value tables, which store an enumeration of the p...

Previous work in pruning algorithms for maxn multi-player game trees has produced shallow pruning and alpha-beta branch-and-bound pruning. The effectiveness of these algorithms is dependant as much on the range of terminal values found in the game tree as on the ordering of nodes. We introduce last-branch and speculative pruning techniques which can prune any constantsum multi-player game tree....

the application of organic sorbents for removing heavy metal from water, replacing expensive sorbents, is particularly appropriate for developing countries. to investigate the efficiency of some organic sorbents in removing of cd2+ from aqueous solution, an experiment was conducted with three organic sorbents (sunflower stalks, apple and grapevine pruning residues) and 11 initial concentration ...

Introduction Managing the degradation and loss of Sudanian woodlands to ensure sustainable use for mainly firewood, poles, timber is receiving increasing attention, it requires tailored strategies improve stand productivity. This study determined: (i) tree response (density, recruitment, height growth) selective stem thinning branch pruning; (ii) species that are most affected by pruning in woo...

Heterogeneity in fruit quality (size and taste) is a major problem in pineapple production chains. The possibilities were investigated of reducing the heterogeneity in pineapple in the field by pruning slips on selected plants, in order to promote the fruit growth on these plants. Slips are side shoots that develop just below the pineapple fruit during fruit development. Two on-farm experiments...

Several techniques are known for reducing the size of language models, including count cutoffs [1], Weighted Difference pruning [2], Stolcke pruning [3], and clustering [4]. We compare all of these techniques and show some surprising results. For instance, at low pruning thresholds, Weighted Difference and Stolcke pruning underperform count cutoffs. We then show novel clustering techniques that...

Climate change is known as one of the most important environmental challenges. Sequestration of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems is a low-cost option that may be available in the near-term to mitigate increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations, while providing additional benefits. In this study, we estimated the effects of planting density and grazing intensity on the potential of Atriplex canes...

the effects of initial spacing layout on some allometric characteristics of 12-year-old quercus castaneifolia trees grown in central mazandaran, north of iran were examined. trees were planted in 5 different layouts (1?1, 1.5?1.5, 2?2.5, 2?3 and 4?4 m). tree height, diameter at breast height, natural pruning height and the survival of trees were recorded in each sample plot. tree basal area and...

This report introduces a classification scheme for the global constraints. This classification is based on four basic ingredients from which one can generate almost all existing global constraints and come up with new interesting constraints. Global constraints are defined in a very concise way, in term of graph properties that have to hold, where the graph is a structured network of same eleme...