Enhancing automated red teaming with Monte Carlo Tree Search

This study has investigated novel Automated Red Teaming methods that support replanning. Traditional Automated Red Teaming (ART) approaches usually use evolutionary computing methods for evolving plans using simulations. A drawback of this method is the inability to change a team’s strategy part way through a simulation. This study focussed on a Monte-Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) method in an ART environment that supports re-planning to lead to better strategy decisions and a higher average scor

Firefly: web-based interactive tool for the visualization and validation of image processing algorithms

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on December 21, 2009.Thesis advisor: Dr. Kannappan Palaniappan.Includes bibliographical references.M.S. University of Missouri--Columbia 2009.Dissertations, Academic -- University of Missouri--Columbia -- Computer science.Image analysis, in computer science, is defined as the process of extracting useful data from digital images for the purpose of accomplishing a goal. Examples of this might include tracking objects in satellite imagery or finding edges of a vessel network in a microscopic image. Doing this manually can prove to be very time consuming, and is prone to human error. Many advanced techniques and algorithms exist to help automate this process for researchers in the field. By comparing results of an image analysis with ground truth, researchers are able to determine how accurate their algorithms are. Currently there are very few tools to help researchers in gathering and analyzing this ground truth. We propose a generic, expandable, web based tool called Firefly to help researchers in establishing and visualizing ground truth for differing datasets, and automating the analysis of these datasets. This is done using the interactive and multimedia features that Flash Player provides running in the browser, and using a centrally located database for the storage of the data. The overall goal is to develop web based services for the analysis of video datasets including data management and image processing of large time series datasets with web access to all of the original and processed imagery and results. Firefly is one component of this goal

An investigation of Jim Collins's Good to Great and applications for rural school districts and their leaders

The difference between Level 5 Leaders (Collins, 2001) of rural school districts and other effective/competent leaders of rural school districts were examined in this study. The case study compared Level 5 Superintendents and other effective/competent Superintendents in terms of budget management, academic performance, recruitment and retention of teachers, and their district core values. Level 5 Superintendents in this study did not show any significant effect on district budget balances or base teacher salary when compared to the other leaders. The Level 5 Superintendents' school districts did have a greater positive effect on their district's academic performance in scores on their Missouri Annual Performance Report when compared to the other leaders. In addition, Level 5 Superintendents have more success in recruiting and retaining teaching staff and an increased awareness of district core values within their teaching staff.Includes bibliographical reference

A Biophysical Model of the Mitochondrial Respiratory System and Oxidative Phosphorylation

A computational model for the mitochondrial respiratory chain that appropriately balances mass, charge, and free energy transduction is introduced and analyzed based on a previously published set of data measured on isolated cardiac mitochondria. The basic components included in the model are the reactions at complexes I, III, and IV of the electron transport system, ATP synthesis at F(1)F(0) ATPase, substrate transporters including adenine nucleotide translocase and the phosphate–hydrogen co-transporter, and cation fluxes across the inner membrane including fluxes through the K(+)/H(+) antiporter and passive H(+) and K(+) permeation. Estimation of 16 adjustable parameter values is based on fitting model simulations to nine independent data curves. The identified model is further validated by comparison to additional datasets measured from mitochondria isolated from rat heart and liver and observed at low oxygen concentration. To obtain reasonable fits to the available data, it is necessary to incorporate inorganic-phosphate-dependent activation of the dehydrogenase activity and the electron transport system. Specifically, it is shown that a model incorporating phosphate-dependent activation of complex III is able to reasonably reproduce the observed data. The resulting validated and verified model provides a foundation for building larger and more complex systems models and investigating complex physiological and pathophysiological interactions in cardiac energetics

Modeling of Oxygen Transport and Cellular Energetics Explains Observations on In Vivo Cardiac Energy Metabolism

Observations on the relationship between cardiac work rate and the levels of energy metabolites adenosine triphosphate (ATP), adenosine diphosphate (ADP), and phosphocreatine (CrP) have not been satisfactorily explained by theoretical models of cardiac energy metabolism. Specifically, the in vivo stability of ATP, ADP, and CrP levels in response to changes in work and respiratory rate has eluded explanation. Here a previously developed model of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, which was developed based on data obtained from isolated cardiac mitochondria, is integrated with a spatially distributed model of oxygen transport in the myocardium to analyze data obtained from several laboratories over the past two decades. The model includes the components of the respiratory chain, the F(0)F(1)-ATPase, adenine nucleotide translocase, and the mitochondrial phosphate transporter at the mitochondrial level; adenylate kinase, creatine kinase, and ATP consumption in the cytoplasm; and oxygen transport between capillaries, interstitial fluid, and cardiomyocytes. The integrated model is able to reproduce experimental observations on ATP, ADP, CrP, and inorganic phosphate levels in canine hearts over a range of workload and during coronary hypoperfusion and predicts that cytoplasmic inorganic phosphate level is a key regulator of the rate of mitochondrial respiration at workloads for which the rate of cardiac oxygen consumption is less than or equal to approximately 12 μmol per minute per gram of tissue. At work rates corresponding to oxygen consumption higher than 12 μmol min(−1) g(−1), model predictions deviate from the experimental data, indicating that at high work rates, additional regulatory mechanisms that are not currently incorporated into the model may be important. Nevertheless, the integrated model explains metabolite levels observed at low to moderate workloads and the changes in metabolite levels and tissue oxygenation observed during graded hypoperfusion. These findings suggest that the observed stability of energy metabolites emerges as a property of a properly constructed model of cardiac substrate transport and mitochondrial metabolism. In addition, the validated model provides quantitative predictions of changes in phosphate metabolites during cardiac ischemia

CrossTalk opposing view: Guyton's venous return curves should not be taught

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/101776/1/jphysiol.2013.260034.pd