Planning Graph Heuristics for Belief Space Search

Some recent works in conditional planning have proposed reachability heuristics to improve planner scalability, but many lack a formal description of the properties of their distance estimates. To place previous work in context and extend work on heuristics for conditional planning, we provide a formal basis for distance estimates between belief states. We give a definition for the distance between belief states that relies on aggregating underlying state distance measures. We give several techniques to aggregate state distances and their associated properties. Many existing heuristics exhibit a subset of the properties, but in order to provide a standardized comparison we present several generalizations of planning graph heuristics that are used in a single planner. We compliment our belief state distance estimate framework by also investigating efficient planning graph data structures that incorporate BDDs to compute the most effective heuristics. We developed two planners to serve as test-beds for our investigation. The first, CAltAlt, is a conformant regression planner that uses A* search. The second, POND, is a conditional progression planner that uses AO* search. We show the relative effectiveness of our heuristic techniques within these planners. We also compare the performance of these planners with several state of the art approaches in conditional planning

Implementing several attacks on plain ElGamal encryption

In Why Textbook ElGamal and RSA Encryption are Insecure by Boneh, Joux, and Nguyen, several algorithms for attacking the plain ElGamal public-key cryptosystem are described. In this paper I explore the implementation in more detail and discuss the relative efficiency of different approaches. I also explore the use of external storage to reduce the memory requirements and allow the attacks to be run on larger messages

Comparison between Two Methodological Paradigms of Conditioned Place Preference with Methlyphenidate.

The aim of this thesis is to examine the mechanisms of Methylphenidate (MPH) on Conditioned Place Preference (CPP), a behavioral test of reward. The psychostimulant MPH is therapeutically used in the treatment of ADHD, but has been implicated in many pharmacological actions related to drug addiction and is considered to have abuse potential. Past work in our lab and others have shown substantial sex-differences in the neuropharmacological profile of MPH. Here a discussion of the relevant mechanisms of action of MPH and its relationship to neurotrophins and CPP are reviewed. Furthermore, previous work is reviewed and a rationale for two experiments are presented. The study resulted in two experiments conducted earlier this year. Each experiment is presented, examining sex differences in CPP in two different methodological paradigms as well as the effects of MPH on levels of the dopamine transporter (DAT) in striatal and accumbal neurons

Report for NMDGF Permit: 3169, 2007

Document from New Mexico Department of Game & Fish Scientific permit

Mitochondrial Activity of Hardened and Nonhardened Rye (Secale Cereale) Plants Exposed to Freezing Temperatures

Five day old dark-grown seedlings of Secale cereale variety coup;ar p:rown at 20 C were subjected to hardening at 2 C !.n daily increments from 0 to 7 days, to temperature stress at -5 C for 0, 1, and 3 days, and to recovery at 20 C for 0, I, and J days. Unhardened plants were killed by temperature stress but as the time of hardening increased fewer plants were killed. After 5 days of hardening all plants survived subsequent freezing stress. Mitochondria were isolated from the plants after they received various combinations of the three temperature treatments. There were 8 hardening levels, 3 stress levels, and 3 recovery levels giving a total of 8x3x30 72 treatments. Mitochondria from unstressed plants exhibited steady ADPIO ratios, RC ratios, and rate of state 3 respiration over the whole range of hardening and recovery times. Mitochondria from stressed plants were totally inactive with 0 or one day of hardening but as the time of hardening increased so did ADP: O ratio, R~ ratio, and ratp of state J respiratIon. After 5 days of hardenjng mitochondrla from hardened then stressed plants reached a maxImum level of activity. Evidently there was some change 1n the mttochondria during the hardening phase

One-year follow-up of family versus child CBT for anxiety disorders: Exploring the roles of child age and parental intrusiveness.

ObjectiveTo compare the relative long-term benefit of family-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (FCBT) and child-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (CCBT) for child anxiety disorders at a 1-year follow-up.MethodThirty-five children (6-13 years old) randomly assigned to 12-16 sessions of family-focused CBT (FCBT) or child-focused CBT (CCBT) participated in a 1-year follow-up assessment. Independent evaluators, parents, and children rated anxiety and parental intrusiveness. All were blind to treatment condition and study hypotheses.ResultsChildren assigned to FCBT had lower anxiety scores than children assigned to CCBT on follow-up diagnostician- and parent-report scores, but not child-report scores. Exploratory analyses suggested the advantage of FCBT over CCBT may have been evident more for early adolescents than for younger children and that reductions in parental intrusiveness may have mediated the treatment effect.ConclusionFCBT may yield a stronger treatment effect than CCBT that lasts for at least 1 year, although the lack of consistency across informants necessitates a circumspect view of the findings. The potential moderating and mediating effects considered in this study offer interesting avenues for further study