On Different Strategies for Eliminating Redundant Actions from Plans

Satisficing planning engines are often able to generate plans in a reasonable time, however, plans are often far from optimal. Such plans often contain a high number of redundant actions, that are actions, which can be removed without affecting the validity of the plans. Existing approaches for determining and eliminating redundant actions work in polynomial time, however, do not guarantee eliminating the "best" set of redundant actions, since such a problem is NP-complete. We introduce an approach which encodes the problem of determining the "best" set of redundant actions (i.e. having the maximum total-cost) as a weighted MaxSAT problem. Moreover, we adapt the existing polynomial technique which greedily tries to eliminate an action and its dependants from the plan in order to eliminate more expensive redundant actions. The proposed approaches are empirically compared to existing approaches on plans generated by state-of-the-art planning engines on standard planning benchmark

Improving the efficiency of the Pre-Optimization Plan Techniques

Automated planning is an important research area of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In classical planning, which is a sub-area of automated planning, attention is given to ‘agile’ planning, i.e., solving planning problems as quickly as possible regardless of the quality of solution plans. Obtaining solutions quickly is important for real-time applications as well as in situations of imminent danger. Post-planning optimisation techniques for improving the quality of solution plans are a good option for improving poor quality plans. Since such techniques are run as post-processing, this avoids situations where there is a risk of not having solution plans in time. This thesis focuses on an important sub-area of post-planning optimisation; that is, on identifying and removing redundant actions from solution plans. In particular, this study extends the existing Action Elimination and Greedy Action Elimination algorithms by introduce two approaches to improve their efficiency. The AE and GAE algorithms are thereby developed into the UAIAE and UGAIAE systems respectively. The key to our approaches is based on optimise the process while keeping the same elimination power’ (identifying and removing the same number of redundant actions). First approach improves the algorithms by considering situations where inverse actions are redundant, while the other identifies a subset of actions that cannot be present in any redundant actions set. This subset is named justified unique actions. The study’s approach to identifying this subset has been motivated by a promising heuristic approach called ‘landmarks’, which are facts or actions that cannot be eliminated to achieve the goal. The approaches in this study have been empirically evaluated using several benchmark domains, as well as several planning engines that participated in the Agile track of the International Planning Competition 2014. In addition, they have been evaluated against state-of-the-art optimal and satisficing planners, as well as they are evaluated against a plan repair technique. The methods of AE family can be understood as polynomial methods that improve the quality of a plan by removing redundant actions, or as tools to complement more sophisticated plan optimisation techniques

Presence of proline in salinized nutrient solution re-enforces the role of this amino acid in osmoregulation and protects lipid membrane peroxidation in Arabidopsis thaliana

Abstract Very little is known about the effect of proline addition on the accumulation of inorganic solutes (Na ) and soluble sugars in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to assess the effect of 10 mM proline (P) supply in the culture medium on water status and solute accumulation of Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings exposed to 50 mM NaCl (S). The decrease of leaf osmotic potential was more pronounced in P+S as compared to S plants, indicating that former plants were able to accumulate more compounds involved in the osmotic adjustment process. Leaf potassium concentration was reduced by 15, 21 and 25% in P, S and P+S plants respectively, as compared to the control. When compared to S or P treatments, leaf proline and soluble sugar were more accumulated under P+S treatment. Under saline conditions, exogenous proline increased leaf Na + , Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ concentrations by 27, 281 and 252%, respectively, as compared to the control. Interestingly, proline addition mitigated significantly the deleterious effects of salt on lipid membrane peroxidation. Regarding the contribution of soluble sugars to osmotic adjustment (OA), it amounted to 6% in S or P+S, plants. For proline, its contribution to OA did not exceed 3.4% under salinity (S), whereas in (P+S) treatment, it increased to 14.7%. As a whole, the positive effect of proline exogenous application under saline conditions could be partly explained by the enhanced role of this organic compound in osmoregulation and its likely protective effect against membrane lipid peroxidation

Le rôle des restrictions temporelles de vente sur l'évaluation de l'offre et l'intention d'achat : analyse par méthode des scénarios

The role of the sales restrictions on the evaluation of the offer and the intention of purchase still stays controversial. The marketing literature is divided over the subject and sets up different conceptual frames and theories explaining the effects of these restrictions. Facing the lack of unanimity in literature, in a context where the rentability of sales promotions is not established, this thesis aims to a better comprehension of the impact of the temporal limits on the evaluation of a promotional sales offer and the intention of the consumer's purchase. This survey was made through a mixed methodology made by an exploratoring study lead by focus groups and by a quantitative study lead by the scanario method. The results of our explorating survey underline an ambivalent behaviour versus the temporal restriction of sales. Our empiric study reveals a moderating role of the brand able to limit the perception of the drawbacks in the space of the time restrictions of sales.Le rôle des restrictions de vente sur l’évaluation de l’offre et l’intention d’achat reste controversé. La littérature marketing est divisée à ce sujet et met en avant différents cadres conceptuels et théories susceptibles d’expliquer les effets de ces restrictions. Face à ce manque d’unanimité dans la littérature et dans un contexte où la rentabilité des promotions de vente n’est pas établie, cette thèse vise une meilleure compréhension de l’impact des limites temporelles sur l’évaluation d’une offre promotionnelle de vente et l’intention d’achat du consommateur. Cette étude a été réalisée à l’aide d’une méthodologie mixte, basée sur une étude exploratoire, et une étude quantitative conduite selon la méthode des vignettes. Les résultats soulignent un comportement ambivalent des consommateurs face aux restrictions temporelles et mettent en évidence un rôle modérateur de la marque pouvant atténuer la perception des inconvénients dans le cadre d’une restriction temporelle de vente

The role of temporal restrictions on offer evaluation and purchase intention : analysis by scenario method

Le rôle des restrictions de vente sur l’évaluation de l’offre et l’intention d’achat reste controversé. La littérature marketing est divisée à ce sujet et met en avant différents cadres conceptuels et théories susceptibles d’expliquer les effets de ces restrictions. Face à ce manque d’unanimité dans la littérature et dans un contexte où la rentabilité des promotions de vente n’est pas établie, cette thèse vise une meilleure compréhension de l’impact des limites temporelles sur l’évaluation d’une offre promotionnelle de vente et l’intention d’achat du consommateur. Cette étude a été réalisée à l’aide d’une méthodologie mixte, basée sur une étude exploratoire, et une étude quantitative conduite selon la méthode des vignettes. Les résultats soulignent un comportement ambivalent des consommateurs face aux restrictions temporelles et mettent en évidence un rôle modérateur de la marque pouvant atténuer la perception des inconvénients dans le cadre d’une restriction temporelle de vente.The role of the sales restrictions on the evaluation of the offer and the intention of purchase still stays controversial. The marketing literature is divided over the subject and sets up different conceptual frames and theories explaining the effects of these restrictions. Facing the lack of unanimity in literature, in a context where the rentability of sales promotions is not established, this thesis aims to a better comprehension of the impact of the temporal limits on the evaluation of a promotional sales offer and the intention of the consumer's purchase. This survey was made through a mixed methodology made by an exploratoring study lead by focus groups and by a quantitative study lead by the scanario method. The results of our explorating survey underline an ambivalent behaviour versus the temporal restriction of sales. Our empiric study reveals a moderating role of the brand able to limit the perception of the drawbacks in the space of the time restrictions of sales

The role of temporal restrictions on offer evaluation and purchase intention : analysis by scenario method

Le rôle des restrictions de vente sur l’évaluation de l’offre et l’intention d’achat reste controversé. La littérature marketing est divisée à ce sujet et met en avant différents cadres conceptuels et théories susceptibles d’expliquer les effets de ces restrictions. Face à ce manque d’unanimité dans la littérature et dans un contexte où la rentabilité des promotions de vente n’est pas établie, cette thèse vise une meilleure compréhension de l’impact des limites temporelles sur l’évaluation d’une offre promotionnelle de vente et l’intention d’achat du consommateur. Cette étude a été réalisée à l’aide d’une méthodologie mixte, basée sur une étude exploratoire, et une étude quantitative conduite selon la méthode des vignettes. Les résultats soulignent un comportement ambivalent des consommateurs face aux restrictions temporelles et mettent en évidence un rôle modérateur de la marque pouvant atténuer la perception des inconvénients dans le cadre d’une restriction temporelle de vente.The role of the sales restrictions on the evaluation of the offer and the intention of purchase still stays controversial. The marketing literature is divided over the subject and sets up different conceptual frames and theories explaining the effects of these restrictions. Facing the lack of unanimity in literature, in a context where the rentability of sales promotions is not established, this thesis aims to a better comprehension of the impact of the temporal limits on the evaluation of a promotional sales offer and the intention of the consumer's purchase. This survey was made through a mixed methodology made by an exploratoring study lead by focus groups and by a quantitative study lead by the scanario method. The results of our explorating survey underline an ambivalent behaviour versus the temporal restriction of sales. Our empiric study reveals a moderating role of the brand able to limit the perception of the drawbacks in the space of the time restrictions of sales

La nécessaire intégration de la marque dans la conceptualisation des effets des restrictions temporelles de vente : analyse par les méthodes mixtes

International audienc

On Different Strategies for Eliminating Redundant Actions from Plans

Satisficing planning engines are often able to generate plans in a reasonable time, however, plans are often far from optimal. Such plans often contain a high number of redundant actions, that are actions, which can be removed without affecting the validity of the plans. Existing approaches for determining and eliminating redundant actions work in polynomial time, however, do not guarantee eliminating the "best" set of redundant actions, since such a problem is NP-complete. We introduce an approach which encodes the problem of determining the "best" set of redundant actions (i.e. having the maximum total-cost) as a weighted MaxSAT problem. Moreover, we adapt the existing polynomial technique which greedily tries to eliminate an action and its dependants from the plan in order to eliminate more expensive redundant actions. The proposed approaches are empirically compared to existing approaches on plans generated by state-of-the-art planning engines on standard planning benchmarks

Autoimmune Diseases in Coeliac Disease: Effect of Gluten Exposure

Introduction: the prevalence of autoimmune diseases is increased in patients with coeliac disease. Duration of gluten exposure seems to predispose adolescents with coeliac disease to autoimmune diseases. Aim: In a retrospective cohort study, we assessed the relationship between autoimmune disorders and actual gluten exposure in patients with coeliac disease. Patients and methods: the frequency of autoimmune disorders was evaluated in 64 patients (53 females, 11 males, mean age 29 years, range 16–63) with coeliac disease. The effect of age at the end of follow up, age at diagnosis of coeliac disease, actual gluten-exposure time, gender and diagnostic delay was assessed. Results: the prevalence of autoimmune diseases was 17%. Mean duration of gluten exposure was 26 and 25 years for patients with and without autoimmunity, respectively. Logistic regression showed that a longer mean follow up (P¼0.044) was related to the prevalence of autoimmune disorders while actual gluten exposure was not predictive. Conclusion: in this study, the prevalence of autoimmune diseases in patients with late coeliac disease diagnosis does not correlate with duration of gluten intake. Confirmatory prospective, multicentre studies of the effect of gluten-free diet are needed in adults

Anti-Candida albicans biofilm activity of extracts from two selected indigenous Algerian plants. Clematis flammula and Fraxinus angustifolia

Candida albicans biofilm is associated with high rates of morbidity and resistance to antifungals. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the anti-Candida albicans biofilm activity of some indigenous Algerian medicinal plant extracts: Clematis flammula and Fraxinus angustifolia and their influence on the virulence factors of C. albicans. The anti-biofilm activity was determined using crystal violet assay while the cell surface hydrophobicity (CSH) was estimated in a water-hydrocarbon two-phase assay. Moreover, germ tube formation and hyphae elongation were assessed microscopically. F. angustifolia leaves and bark, as well as C. flammula leaves extracts (500 μg/mL) showed an inhibition of biofilm formation of 62.41 ± 3.88, 54.83 ± 0.98 and 36.78 ± 1.09%, respectively, probably related to a disruption of CSH, germ tube and hyphae formation of C. albicans ATCC 10231 (p<0.001). Phytochemical analysis revealed that the plant extracts were a rich source of phenolic compounds with the highest content found in F. angustifolia leaves (173.05 ± 0.15 mg gallic acid equivalent per gram of extract), which could explain its highest efficiency against biofilm activity. Considering the results obtained, it can be concluded that the plants tested could be a promising source of drugs against muco-cutaneous infections caused by C. albicans biofilm