ASCoL: Automated Acquisition of Domain Specific Static Constraints from Plan Traces

Domain-independent planning systems require that domain constraints and invariants are specified as part of the input domain model. In AI Planning, the generated plan is correct provided the constraints of the world in which the agent is operating are satisfied. Specifying operator descriptions by hand for planning domain models that also require domain specific constraints is time consuming, error prone and still a challenge for the AI planning community. The LOCM (Cresswell, McCluskey, and West 2013) system carries out automated generation of the dynamic aspects of a planning domain model from a set of example training plans. We enhance the output domain model of the LOCM system to capture static domain constraints from the same set of input training plans as used by LOCM to learn dynamic aspects of the world. In this paper we propose a new framework ASCoL (Automated Static Constraint Learner), to make constraint acquisition more efficient, by observing a set of training plan traces. Most systems that learn constraints automatically do so by analysing the operators of the planning world. Out proposed system will discover static constraints by analysing plan traces for correlations in the data. To do this an algorithm is in the process of development for graph discovery from the collection of ground action instances used in the input plan traces. The proposed algorithm will analyse the complete set of plan traces, based on a predefined set of constraints, and deduces facts from it. We then augment components of the LOCM generated domain with enriched constraints

CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR: TOUGH QUESTIONS, HONEST ANSWERS, AND INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO APPOINTIVE JUDICIAL SELECTION

This Essay, informed in significant part by personal experience, examines in greater detail some of the common features of appointive systems, and in the process raises issues, concerns, and questions. Every step of the way the goal remains the same—to devise an appointive system most likely to yield as outstanding a judiciary as possible

Efficient Implementation of the Plan Graph in STAN

STAN is a Graphplan-based planner, so-called because it uses a variety of STate ANalysis techniques to enhance its performance. STAN competed in the AIPS-98 planning competition where it compared well with the other competitors in terms of speed, finding solutions fastest to many of the problems posed. Although the domain analysis techniques STAN exploits are an important factor in its overall performance, we believe that the speed at which STAN solved the competition problems is largely due to the implementation of its plan graph. The implementation is based on two insights: that many of the graph construction operations can be implemented as bit-level logical operations on bit vectors, and that the graph should not be explicitly constructed beyond the fix point. This paper describes the implementation of STAN's plan graph and provides experimental results which demonstrate the circumstances under which advantages can be obtained from using this implementation

Reify Your Collection Queries for Modularity and Speed!

Modularity and efficiency are often contradicting requirements, such that programers have to trade one for the other. We analyze this dilemma in the context of programs operating on collections. Performance-critical code using collections need often to be hand-optimized, leading to non-modular, brittle, and redundant code. In principle, this dilemma could be avoided by automatic collection-specific optimizations, such as fusion of collection traversals, usage of indexing, or reordering of filters. Unfortunately, it is not obvious how to encode such optimizations in terms of ordinary collection APIs, because the program operating on the collections is not reified and hence cannot be analyzed. We propose SQuOpt, the Scala Query Optimizer--a deep embedding of the Scala collections API that allows such analyses and optimizations to be defined and executed within Scala, without relying on external tools or compiler extensions. SQuOpt provides the same "look and feel" (syntax and static typing guarantees) as the standard collections API. We evaluate SQuOpt by re-implementing several code analyses of the Findbugs tool using SQuOpt, show average speedups of 12x with a maximum of 12800x and hence demonstrate that SQuOpt can reconcile modularity and efficiency in real-world applications.Comment: 20 page

UNH Law Alumni Magazine, Summer 2012

https://scholars.unh.edu/alumni_mag/1002/thumbnail.jp

The 23rd Annual International Conference on Soils, Sediments and Water

Conference at a Glance Monday, October 15, 2007 (workshop #1-2: 9:00am – 5:00pm, workshop #3: 10am – 5:00pm, workshop #3, 10:00am – 5:00pm, workshops #4, 5, & 6, 1:00pm – 5:00pm, workshop #7 & 8, 2-5pm) 1) Compliant Analysis of Water, Wastes and Related Solid Environmental Samples Using Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission and Mass Spectrometry 2) In-Situ Chemical Oxidation Workshop 3) Theory and Use of Field Portable X-ray Fluorescence for Soil Analysis 4) The 2007 MCP Audit – A Case Study Approach 5) “Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics”: Avoiding Pitfalls in Environmental Sampling 6) Evaluating Monitored Natural Attenuation of MTBE and TBA 7) Environmental Forensic Techniques for Classic and Emerging Contaminants 8) Environmental Fate of Hydrocarbons in Soils and Groundwater Tuesday, October 17, 2007 Morning 8:30am – 9:00am Conference Welcome and Overview 9:00am – Noon, Sessions are concurrent Session 1: Ethics in Environmental Practice: Responsibilities, Benefits & Case Examples Session 2a: Pesticides Session 2b: Vapor Intrusion Session 3a: Brownfields Session 3b: Fisherville Mill - Assessment and Cleanup of a Brownfields Site on the Blackstone River Session 4a: Environmental Fate Session 4b: Sediments Afternoon 1:30 to 5:30pm, Sessions are concurrent Session 1: Phytoremediation Session 2: Biotechnology Session 3: Tungsten Session 4: Combining Chemical and Biological Technologies for Soil and Groundwater Remediation Session 5: Environmental Forensics Poster Sessions 4:00 – 6:00pm Arsenic Environmental Fate Environmental Forensics Pesticides Phytoremediation Remediation Sediments Tungsten Vapor Instrusion Social 4:30 – 6:00pm, exhibit area, 1st floor Workshops (Evening, 7:00 – 10:00pm) 9) In-Situ Thermal Remediation 10) Applied Chemical Fingerprinting in Environmental Forensics 11) Utilization of Stable Isotopes in Environmental and Forensic Geochemistry Studies 12) Professional Ethics, Professional Conduct, and Environmental Professionals Wednesday, October 17, 2007 Morning 8:30am – Noon, Sessions are concurrent Session 1: Gasoline Oxygenates I Session 2: Remediation I Session 3: Regulatory Session 4: Coated and Uncoated Microbubble Ozone Remediation Projects Afternoon 1:30 – 5:30pm, Sessions are concurrent Session 1: Gasoline Oxygenates II Session 2: Perchlorate/MECs Session 3: Analysis Session 4: Chemical Oxidation Poster Sessions 4:00 – 6:00pm Acid Mine Drainage Analysis Bioremediation Brownfields Chemical Oxidation Emerging Issues with Energy in the Environment Heavy Metals MECs Miscellaneous MTBE Radionuclides Site Assessment Social 4:30 – 6:00pm, exhibit area, 1st floor Workshops (Evening, 7:00 – 10:00pm) 13) Critical Exposure Pathways 14) Characterizing PAH Bioavailability in Sediments for Remedial Decision-Making 15) Theory and Application of Molecular Biological Tools (“MBTs”) and Biogeochemistry to Bioremediation Process Monitoring and Monitored Natural Attenuation Programs 16) Geochemical Evaluations of Metals in Environmental Media: How to Distinguish Naturally Elevated Metals Concentrations from Site-Related Contamination Thursday, October 18, 2007 Morning 8:30am – Noon Sessions are concurrent Session 1: Bioremediation Session 2: Remediation II Session 3: Modeling Session 4: Risk Assessment Afternoon 1:30pm – 5:00pm Sessions are concurrent Session 1: Heavy Metals Session 2: Innovative Technologies Session 3: Site Assessmen

A New Era in American Health Care: Realizing the Potential of Reform

Illustrates features of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the beneficiaries of reform, changes to the healthcare system, and implementation challenges and long-term concerns. Includes current data on insurance status and access to care

The Role of the Private Sector in Training the Next Generation of Biomedical Scientists

Summarizes the proceedings of a conference to address the unique contribution that private funders can make in ensuring that appropriate and adequate training programs are available for basic and clinical research. Offers conclusions and recommendations

Innovative approaches fot tyre characterization aimed at road contact modelling for automotive applications

In Automotive the role of the tyre mechanics and physics is crucial for the optimization of vehicle stability, performance and safety. Most engineers usually face the analysis of tyres' mechanical and viscoelastic properties with the aim to comprehend the interaction phenomena between the tread and the road. In the last decades, compound-substrate modelling has been discussed a lot in the scientific literature. Many theories have been developed to determine the frictional behaviour of rubber sliding on a texture in a wide working range in terms of temperature, contact pressure, profile roughness, etc. The most common and recent theories, such as Klüppel's and Persson's [1, 2], are widely employed because they try to explain the contact modelling problem following different approaches and hypothesis. However, the analysis of the contact problem requires full knowledge of the roughness profile and the rubber viscoelastic properties. The identification of the macro-roughness scales and especially of the micro-scales is an enigma yet to be unequivocally solved for the optimization of the multiscale theories [3]. On the other side, the properties of the rubber compound are complex to determine, unless the tyre tread can be destroyed to obtain a specimen and then perform the Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA), which usually requires expensive machines and a long time for a full time-temperature characterization of the material according to William-Landel-Ferry theory [4, 5]. Nonetheless, in most applications, as well as Motorsport ones, the tyres are linked to restrictions and they cannot be analysed by the standard and laboratory procedures. In this scenario, the main activities described in the present PhD thesis deal with the tyre tread compound characterization through innovative methodologies and devices in order to overcome the limits that Motorsport racing teams or tyre manufacturers are used to face with. The non-destructive viscoelastic analysis through the device developed thanks to the precious support of the skilled and motivating research team of the Industrial Engineering Department of the University of Naples Federico II, which is called VESevo (Viscoelasticity Evaluation System evolved), is an advantageous testing procedure proving indication of the tyre viscoelastic properties variations with respect to the temperature, wear phenomena, ageing, etc. Ergonomics, portability and smart analysis are key features of this device, allowing it to be widely used by engineers of racing teams on tracks during Motorsport races and events and further by operators in tyre 26 manufacturers facilities, that also need a fast and reliable analysis of the trustworthiness of their final product series. Once introduced the innovative approaches for tyres characterization, the contact mechanics models have been analysed in-depth highlighting their features and limits for automotive applications. Particularly, the GrETA (Grip Estimation for Tyre Analyses) tool, developed by the Applied Mechanics group of the Industrial Engineering Department of the University of Naples Federico II and improved during the PhD research period, is proposed as a multi-contact simplified physical model for the analysis of adhesive and hysteretic contributions to the overall friction between the rubber and the substrate macro and micro asperities. The main parameters of the GrETA have been identified thanks to specific experimental friction benches, which have involved the last part of the PhD program. The results achieved can be considered as a baseline for innovative approaches in terms of tyre characterization and contact modelling for friction prediction. Actually, some limits concerning the experimental friction analysis have been faced during the research program, which will be overcome thanks to the realization of the new proposed friction test bench allowing to strengthen the identification of the contact mechanics models and focus on new research scenarios, as well as the analysis of rubber wear phenomena