Software Measures for Business Processes

Designing a business process, which is executed by a Workflow Management System, recalls the activity of writing software source code, which is executed by a computer. Different business processes may have different qualities, e.g., size, structural complexity, some of which can be measured based on the formal descriptions of the business processes. This paper defines measures for quantifying business process qualities by drawing on concepts that have been used for defining measures for software code. Specifically, the measures we propose and apply to business processes are related to attributes of activities, control-flow, data-flow, and resources. This allows the business process designer to have a comprehensive evaluation of business processes according to several different attributes

Schwannoma Of The Craniocervical Junction: Surgical Approach Of Two Cases

We report two cases of craniocervical junction schwannomas with a special focus on the surgical approach. The patients underwent a far-lateral approach in the sitting position that facilitated the lesion removal. This report is meant to improve the understanding of this surgical technique as well as improve awareness of its usefulness for similar cases.6103:00:00639641Baldwin, H., Christopher, G., The far lateral/combined supra- and infratentorial approach (1994) J Neurosurg, 81, pp. 60-68Oliveira, E., Rhoton A.L., Jr., Peace, D., Microsurgical anatomy of the region of the foramen magnum (1985) Surg Neurol, 24, pp. 293-352Salas, E., Sekhar, L.N., Ziyal, I.M., Caputy, A.J., Wright, D.C., Variations of the extreme-lateral craniocervical approach: Anatomical study and clinical analysis of 69 patients (1999) J Neurosurg, 90 (SPINE 2), pp. 206-219Martins, R.S., Suzuki, S.H., Sanematsu P., Jr., Plese, J.P.P., Acoustic neuroma in children without association with neurofibromatosis: Report of two cases (1999) Arq Neuropsiquiatr, 57, pp. 96-100Neto, P.M.A., Stamm, A.C., Braga, F.M., Mandibular trigeminal schwannoma: Case report (2001) Arq Neuropsiquiatr, 59, pp. 959-963Siqueira, M.G., Jennings, E., Moraes, O.J.S., Naso-ethmoid schwannoma with intracranial extension: Case report (2001) Arq Neuropsiquitr, 59, pp. 421-423Andrade, G.C., Neto, P.M.A., Braga, F.M., Thalamic intracerebral schwannoma: Case report (2002) Arq Neuropsiquiatr, 60, pp. 308-313Rhoton A.L., Jr., The far-lateral approach and its transcondylar, supracondylar, and paracondylar extensions (2000) Neurosurgery, 47, pp. 195-210Spetzler, R.F., Grahm, T.W., The far-lateral approach to file inferior clivus and the upper cervical region technical note (1990) BNI Quarterly, 6, pp. 35-38Samii, M., Klekamp, J., Carvalho, G., Surgical results for meningiomas of the craniocervical junction (1996) Neurosurgery, 39, pp. 1086-1095Al-Mefty, O., Borba, L.A.B., Aoki, N., Angtuaco, E., Pait, T.G., The transcondylar approach to extradural nonneoplastic lesions of the craniovertebral junction (1996) J Neurosurg, 84, pp. 1-6Bertalanffy, H., Seeger, W., The dorsolateral, suboccipital, transcondilar approach to the lower clivus and anterior portion of the craniocervical junction (1991) Neurosurgery, 29, pp. 815-82

Desenvolvimento de metodologia para atualização do Cadastro Vitícola por meio da utilização de geotecnologias.

Esse trabalho apresenta o desenvolvimento de uma metodologia para otimizar o processo de atualização dos vinhedos georreferenciados que compõem a base de dados do CV por meio da utilização de geotecnologias

Crescimento de Schinus terebinthifolius na região do baixo São Francisco.

Resumo

Effect of penalizing wrong answers in true/false physics tests

As vantagens e desvantagens do uso de questões de julgamento em avaliações de aprendizagem, bem como a inserção da penalização de respostas erradas como mecanismo de ajuste sobre o acerto casual, já foram apresentadas e discutidas por diversos autores no contexto da avaliação de aprendizagem. No entanto, pouco estudo tem sido feito no Brasil no sentido de entender a extensão da influência do uso da penalização de respostas erradas na medida da proficiência do aluno no domínio avaliado. Neste sentido, este artigo apresenta um estudo realizado na Universidade de Brasília, com os alunos das disciplinas básicas de Física-1 e Física-2 oriundos de 20 cursos diferentes, no modelo das Disciplinas Unificadas da Física, que foram submetidos alternadamente a avaliações com penalidade e sem penalidade. O efeito da redução da confiabilidade do escore devido à penalidade é confrontado estatisticamente com o efeito do aumento do poder discriminativo da prova devido à redução do “chute”. Uma nova grandeza chamada ganho na qualidade γ é proposta para interpretar os resultados desses efeitos combinados. Ao final, fica demonstrado que o aumento do poder discriminativo da prova supera a redução da confiabilidade do escore quando se aplica a penalização de respostas erradas em itens de julgamento.The advantages and disadvantages of using true/false tests in learning assessments, as well as the insertion of penalization (negative marking) of wrong answers as mechanism of adjustment on the guessing success, have already been presented and discussed by several authors in the context of learning assessment. However, few studies has been done in Brazil to understand the extent of the influence of using penalization of wrong answers in the measure of student proficiency in the evaluated domain. Hence, this article presents a study carried out at the University of Brasília, with the students of the basic disciplines of Physics-1 and Physics-2 coming from 20 different courses, in the unified Physics disciplines model. The students were alternately submitted to assessments with penalty and without penalty. The effect of reducing the reliability of the score due to the penalty is statistically compared with the effect of increasing the discriminatory power of the test due to the reduction of the guessworking. A new magnitude called “statistical yield” is proposed to interpret the results of these combined effects. To conclude, it is demonstrated that the increase in the discriminatory power of the test outweighs the reduction of the reliability of the score when applying penalization of wrong answers in true/false tests

Comparison between dopaminergic agents and physical exercise as treatment for periodic limb movements in patients with spinal cord injury

Study design: Randomized controlled trial of physical exercise and dopaminergic agonist in persons with spinal cord injury and periodic leg movement (PLM).Objective: the objective of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of physical exercise and of a dopaminergic agonist in reducing the frequency of PLM.Setting: Centro de Estudos em Psicobiologia e Exercicio. Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil.Methods: A total of 13 volunteers (mean age: 31.6 +/- 8.3 years) received L-DOPA ( 200 mg) and benserazide ( 50 mg) 1 h before sleeping time for 30 days and were then submitted to a physical exercise program on a manual bicycle ergometer for 45 days ( 3 times a week).Results: Both L-DOPA administration (35.11 - 19.87 PLM/h, P<0.03) and physical exercise (35.11 - 18.53 PLM/h, P<0.012) significantly reduced PLM; however, no significant difference was observed between the two types of treatment.Conclusions: the two types of treatment were found to be effective in the reduction of PLM; however, physical exercise is indicated as the first treatment approach, while dopaminergic agonists or other drugs should only be recommended for patients who do not respond to this type of treatment.UNIFESP, Dept Psychobiol, BR-04020060 São Paulo, BrazilUNIFESP, Dept Psychobiol, BR-04020060 São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Schwannoma of the craniocervical junction - Surgical approach of two cases

We report two cases of craniocervical junction schwannomas with a special focus on the surgical approach. The patients underwent a far-lateral approach in the sitting position that facilitated the lesion removal. This report is meant to improve the understanding of this surgical technique as well as improve awareness of its usefulness for similar cases.613A63964

Anharmonic transitions in nearly dry L-cysteine I

Two special dynamical transitions of universal character have been recently observed in macromolecules at $T_{D}\sim 180 - 220$ K and $T^{*}\sim 100$ K. Despite their relevance, a complete understanding of the nature of these transitions and their consequences for the bio-activity of the macromolecule is still lacking. Our results and analysis concerning the temperature dependence of structural, vibrational and thermodynamical properties of the orthorhombic polymorph of the amino acid L-cysteine (at a hydration level of 3.5%) indicated that the two referred temperatures define the triggering of very simple and specific events that govern all the biochemical interactions of the biomolecule: activation of rigid rotors ($T<T^{*}$), phonon-phonon interactions with phonons of water dimer ($T^{*}<T<T_{D}$), and water rotational barriers surpassing ($T>T_{D}$).Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Surface Photochemistry: 3,3′-Dialkylthia and Selenocarbocyanine Dyes Adsorbed onto Microcrystalline Cellulose

In this work, thia and selenocarbocyanines with n-alkyl chains of different length, namely with methyl, ethyl, propyl, hexyl and decyl substituents, were studied in homogeneous and heterogeneous media for comparison purposes. For both carbocyanine dyes adsorbed onto microcrystalline cellulose, a remarkable increase in the fluorescence quantum yields and lifetimes were detected, when compared with solution. Contrary to the solution behaviour, where the increase in the n-alkyl chains length increases to a certain extent the fluorescence emission ΦF and τF, on powdered solid samples a decrease of ΦF and τF was observed. The use of an integrating sphere enabled us to obtain absolute ΦF’s for all the powdered samples. The main difference for liquid homogeneous samples is that the increase of the alkyl chain strongly decreases the ΦF values, both for thiacarbocyanines and selenocarbocyanines. A lifetime distribution analysis for the fluorescence of these dyes adsorbed onto microcrystalline cellulose, evidenced location on the ordered and crystalline part of the substrate, as well as on the more disordered region where the lifetime is smaller. The increase of the n-alkyl chains length decreases the photoisomer emission for the dyes adsorbed onto microcrystalline cellulose, as detected for high fluences of the laser excitation, for most samples

Resistivity study of the pseudogap phase for (Hg,Re) - 1223 superconductors

The pseudogap phase above the critical temperature of high $T_{c}$ superconductors (HTSC) presents different energy scales and it is currently a matter of intense study. The complexity of the HTSC normal state requires very accurate measurements with the purpose of distinguishing different types of phenomena. Here we have performed systematically studies through electrical resistivity ($\rho$) measurements by several different current densities in order to obtain an optimal current for each sample. This approach allows to determine reliable values of the pseudogap temperature $T^{*}(n)$, the layer coupling temperature between the superconductor layers $T_{LD}(n)$, the fluctuation temperature $T_{scf}(n)$ and the critical temperature $T_{c}(n)$ as function of the doping $n$. The interpretation of these different temperature scales allows to characterize possible scenarios for the (Hg,Re) - 1223 normal state. This method, described in detail here, and used to derive the (Hg,Re)-1223 phase diagram is general and can be applied to any HTSC.Comment: 31 pages, 12 figures, Latex; 25 pages, LaTeX; 11 figures; rewrited section II and III; added 18 reference; rewrited title, added discussion sectio