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22-letter words containing a, m, t

  • evolutionary algorithm — (EA) An algorithm which incorporates aspects of natural selection or survival of the fittest. An evolutionary algorithm maintains a population of structures (usually randomly generated initially), that evolves according to rules of selection, recombination, mutation and survival, referred to as genetic operators. A shared "environment" determines the fitness or performance of each individual in the population. The fittest individuals are more likely to be selected for reproduction (retention or duplication), while recombination and mutation modify those individuals, yielding potentially superior ones. EAs are one kind of evolutionary computation and differ from genetic algorithms. A GA generates each individual from some encoded form known as a "chromosome" and it is these which are combined or mutated to breed new individuals. EAs are useful for optimisation when other techniques such as gradient descent or direct, analytical discovery are not possible. Combinatoric and real-valued function optimisation in which the optimisation surface or fitness landscape is "rugged", possessing many locally optimal solutions, are well suited for evolutionary algorithms.
  • examining the entrails — The process of grovelling through a core dump or hex image in an attempt to discover the bug that brought a program or system down. The reference is to divination from the entrails of a sacrified animal. Compare runes, incantation, black art, desk check.
  • experimental condition — one of the distinct states of affairs or values of the independent variable for which the dependent variable is measured in order to carry out statistical tests or calculations
  • extended affix grammar — (language, grammar)   (EAG) A formalism for describing both the context free syntax and the context sensitive syntax of languages. EAGs belong to the family of two-level grammars. They are very closely related to two-level van Wijngaarden grammars. EAG can be used as a specification formalism, specifying in relations rather than functions, or as a relational programming language like PROLOG.
  • extra-mural department — a university department that offers courses for part-time students
  • facsimile transmission — an international system of transmitting a written, printed, or pictorial document over the telephone system by scanning it photoelectrically and reproducing the image after transmission
  • fall prey to something — To fall prey to something bad means to be taken over or affected by it.
  • fallacy of composition — the fallacy of inferring that a property of parts or members of a whole is also a property of the whole (opposed to fallacy of division).
  • fast fourier transform — (algorithm)   (FFT) An algorithm for computing the Fourier transform of a set of discrete data values. Given a finite set of data points, for example a periodic sampling taken from a real-world signal, the FFT expresses the data in terms of its component frequencies. It also solves the essentially identical inverse problem of reconstructing a signal from the frequency data. The FFT is a mainstay of numerical analysis. Gilbert Strang described it as "the most important algorithm of our generation". The FFT also provides the asymptotically fastest known algorithm for multiplying two polynomials. Versions of the algorithm (in C and Fortran) can be found on-line from the GAMS server here.
  • federal maritime board — the body responsible for regulating commerce by US and international shipping in US waters
  • federal reserve system — a U.S. federal banking system that is under the control of a central board of governors (Federal Reserve Board) with a central bank (Federal Reserve Bank) in each of 12 districts and that has wide powers in controlling credit and the flow of money as well as in performing other functions, as regulating and supervising its member banks.
  • fermi-dirac statistics — the branch of quantum statistics used to calculate the permitted energy arrangements of the particles in a system in terms of the exclusion principle
  • fetal alcohol syndrome — a pattern of birth defects caused by maternal consumption of alcohol during pregnancy: considered as one of the fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Abbreviation: FAS.
  • finite state automaton — Finite State Machine
  • fixed point combinator — (mathematics)   (Y) The name used in combinatory logic for the fixed point function, also written as "fix".
  • flexible-rate mortgage — adjustable-rate mortgage.
  • foot-and-mouth disease — an acute, contagious, febrile disease of cattle, hogs, sheep, and other hoofed animals, caused by any of various rhinoviruses and characterized by vesicular eruptions in the mouth and about the hoofs, teats, and udder.
  • fort benjamin harrison — a military reservation and U.S. Army training center in central Indiana, NE of Indianapolis.
  • forth modification lab — (event)   (FORML) A Forth conference held every November on the West coast of the USA ().
  • friar minor conventual — a friar belonging to a branch of the Franciscan order that separated from the Observants in the 15th century, and that observes a modification of the rule of St. Francis. Also called Conventual. Compare Friar Minor, capuchin (def 4).
  • front of house manager — A front of house manager is responsible for the reception and reservations at a hotel.
  • functional programming — (programming)   (FP) A program in a functional language consists of a set of (possibly recursive) function definitions and an expression whose value is output as the program's result. Functional languages are one kind of declarative language. They are mostly based on the typed lambda-calculus with constants. There are no side-effects to expression evaluation so an expression, e.g. a function applied to certain arguments, will always evaluate to the same value (if its evaluation terminates). Furthermore, an expression can always be replaced by its value without changing the overall result (referential transparency). The order of evaluation of subexpressions is determined by the language's evaluation strategy. In a strict (call-by-value) language this will specify that arguments are evaluated before applying a function whereas in a non-strict (call-by-name) language arguments are passed unevaluated. Programs written in a functional language are generally compact and elegant, but have tended, until recently, to run slowly and require a lot of memory. Examples of purely functional languages are Clean, FP, Haskell, Hope, Joy, LML, Miranda, and SML. Many other languages such as Lisp have a subset which is purely functional but also contain non-functional constructs. See also lazy evaluation, reduction.
  • gallamine triethiodide — a neuromuscular blocking drug, C 30 H 60 I 3 N 3 O 3 , similar to curare, used as a skeletal muscle relaxant in conjunction with surgical anesthesia.
  • galvanomagnetic effect — any of several phenomena that occur when an electric current is passed through a conductor or semiconductor situated in a magnetic field, as the Hall effect.
  • garmisch-partenkirchen — a city in S Germany, in the Bavarian Alps.
  • genitourinary medicine — the branch of medical science concerned with the study and treatment of diseases of the genital and urinary organs, esp sexually transmitted diseases
  • geographic determinism — a doctrine that regards geographical conditions as the determining or molding agency of group life.
  • get off someone's back — to stop criticizing or pestering someone
  • get off someone's case — an instance of the occurrence, existence, etc., of something: Sailing in such a storm was a case of poor judgment.
  • give someone the shaft — to cheat or trick someone
  • give someone the shake — to avoid or get rid of an undesirable person (or thing)
  • give something a whirl — to attempt or give a trial to something
  • go for all the marbles — to take a great risk in the hope of a great gain
  • go to meet one's maker — to die
  • government corporation — a corporation set up by a national government to carry out business transactions on its behalf
  • graeco-roman wrestling — a style of wrestling in which the legs may not be used to obtain a fall and no hold may be applied below the waist
  • gran turismo omologato — (of an automobile) certified as conforming to the specifications, as fuel capacity and engine displacement, for a class of standard automobiles (Gran Turismo) qualified to engage in various types of competitions. Abbreviation: GTO.
  • graph rewriting system — An extension of a term rewriting system which uses graph reduction on terms represented by directed graphs to avoid duplication of work by sharing expressions.
  • guest services manager — A guest services manager at a hotel is responsible for the services and facilities that the hotel provides for its guests.
  • gum bichromate process — a contact printing method in which the image is formed on a coating of sensitized gum containing a suitable colored pigment and potassium or ammonium dichromate.
  • hamishah asar bishevat — Tu Bishevat.
  • hammersmith and fulham — a borough of Greater London on the River Thames: established in 1965 by the amalgamation of Fulham and Hammersmith. Pop: 174 200 (2003 est). Area: 16 sq km (6 sq miles)
  • have a whale of a time — If you say that someone is having a whale of a time, you mean that they are enjoying themselves very much.
  • hawaiian standard time — the time used in the Hawaiian time zone
  • heart is in your mouth — If your heart is in your mouth, you feel very excited, worried, or frightened.
  • hemorrhagic septicemia — an acute infectious disease of animals, caused by the bacterium Pasteurella multocida, and characterized by fever, catarrhal symptoms, pneumonia, and general blood infection.
  • hexamethylenetetramine — a white, crystalline, water-soluble powder, C 6 H 12 N 4 , used as a vulcanization accelerator, an absorbent in gas masks, in the manufacture of the explosive RDX and synthetic resins, and in medicine as a diuretic and urinary antiseptic.
  • historical materialism — (in Marxist theory) the doctrine that all forms of social thought, as art or philosophy, and institutions, as the family or the state, develop as a superstructure founded on an economic base; that they reflect the character of economic relations and are altered or modified as a result of class struggles; that each ruling economic class produces the class that will destroy or replace it; and that dialectical necessity requires the eventual withering away of the state and the establishment of a classless society: the body of theory, in dialectical materialism, dealing with historical process and social causation.
  • home improvement grant — a government grant for house improvements such as insulation, adding a bathroom, or urgent repairs
  • hoof-and-mouth disease — foot-and-mouth disease.
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