Role and task recommendation and social tagging to enable social business process management

Traditional Business Process Management (BPM) poses a number of limitations for the management of ad-hoc processes, where the execution paths are not designed a priori and evolve during enactment. Social BPM, which predicates to integrate social software into the BPM lifecycle, has emerged as an answer to such limitations. This paper presents a framework for social BPM in which social tagging is used to capture process knowledge emerging during the enactment and design of the processes. Process knowledge concerns both the type of activities chosen to fulfil a certain goal and the skills and experience of users in executing specific tasks. Such knowledge is exploited by recommendation tools to support the design and enactment of future process instances. We first provide an overview of our framework, introducing the concepts of role and task recommendations, which are supported by social tagging. These mechanisms are then elaborated further by an example. Eventually, we discuss a prototype of our framework enabling collaborative process design and execution

Sol–gel derived B₂O₃–CaO borate bioactive glasses with hemostatic, antibacterial and pro-angiogenic activities

Sol–gel borate bioactive glasses (BGs) are promising ion-releasing biomaterials for wound healing applications. Here, we report the synthesis of a series of binary B₂O₃–CaO borate BGs (CaO ranging from 50 to 90 mol%) using a sol–gel-based method. The influence of CaO content in B₂O₃–CaO borate BG on morphology, structure and ion release behavior was investigated in detail. Reduced dissolution (ion release) and crystallization could be observed in borate BGs when CaO content increased, while the morphology was not significantly altered by increasing CaO content. Our results evidenced that the ion release behavior of borate BGs could be tailored by tuning the B₂O₃/CaO molar ratio. We also evaluated the in vitro cytotoxicity, hemostatic, antibacterial and angiogenic activities of borate BGs. Cytocompatibility was validated for all borate BGs. However, borate BGs exhibited composition-dependent hemostatic, antibacterial and angiogenic activities. Generally, higher contents of Ca in borate BGs facilitated hemostatic activity, while higher contents of B₂O₃ were beneficial for pro-angiogenic activity. The synthesized sol–gel-derived borate BGs are promising materials for developing advanced wound healing dressings, given their fast ion release behavior and favorable hemostatic, antibacterial and angiogenic activities

Data-Oriented Declarative Language for Optimizing Business Processes

There is a signifi cant number of declarative languages to describe business processes. They tend to be used when business processes need to be fl exible and adaptable, being not possible to use an imperative description. Declarative languages in business process have been traditionally used to describe the order of activities, specifi cally the order allowed or prohibited. Unfortunately, none of them is worried about a declarative description of exchanged data between the activities and how they can infl uence the model. In this paper, we analyse the data description capacity of a variety of declarative languages in business processes. Using this analysis, we have detected the necessity to include data exchanged aspects in the declarative descriptions. In order to solve the gap, we propose a Data-Oriented Optimization Declarative LanguagE, called DOODLE, which includes the process requirements referred to data description, and the possibility to include an optimization function about the process output data

Seasonal variation in the incidence of preeclampsia and eclampsia in tropical climatic conditions

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Observational studies have demonstrated various correlations between hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and different weather parameters. We aim to study if a correlation exists between the incidence of eclampsia and pre-eclampsia and various weather parameters in the tropical coastal city of Mumbai which has the distinction of having relatively uniform meteorological variables all throughout the year, except for the monsoon season.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We retrospectively analysed data from a large maternity centre in Mumbai, India over a period of 36 months from March 1993 to February 1996, recording the incidence of preeclampsia and eclampsia. Meteorological data was acquired from the regional meteorological centre recording the monthly average temperature, humidity, barometric pressure and rainfall during the study period. Study period was then divided into two climate conditions: monsoon season (June to August) and dry season September to May. The incidence of preeclampsia and eclampsia and the meteorological differences between the two seasons were compared.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Over a 36-month period, a total of 29562 deliveries were recorded, of which 1238 patients developed preeclampsia (4.18%) and 34 developed eclampsia (0.11%). The incidence of preeclampsia did not differ between the monsoon and the dry season (4.3% vs. 4.15%, p = 0.5). The incidence of eclampsia was significantly higher in the monsoon (0.2% vs. 0.08%, p = 0.01). The monsoon was significantly cooler (median maximum temperature 30.7°C vs. 32.3°C, p = 0.01), more humid (median relative humidity 85% vs. 70%, p = 0.0008), and received higher rainfall (median 504.9 mm vs. 0.3 mm, p = 0.0002) than the rest of the year. The median barometric pressure (1005 mb) during the monsoon season was significantly lower than the rest of the year (1012 mb, p < 0.0001).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In the tropical climate of Mumbai, the incidence of eclampsia is significantly higher in monsoon, when the weather is cooler and humid with a lower barometric pressure than the rest of the year. This effect is not seen with preeclampsia. This strengthens the association of low temperature and high humidity with triggering of eclampsia.</p

Moose and snowshoe hare competition and a mechanistic explanation from foraging theory

Moose ( Alces alces ) and snowshoe hare ( Lepus americanus ) appear to compete with each other. This was determined using the “natural experiments” of populations found in sympatry and allopatry on islands at Isle Royale National Park, Michigan, and manipulated exclosures. The population densities from these areas are fit to a series of competition models based upon different competitive mechanisms (Schoener 1974a), using non-linear regression techniques. A model of competition for food where the food can be separated into exclusively used and shared categories is found to predict observed densities of moose and hare best. Finally, the competition model's parameters (fraction of food shared and competition coefficients) are shown to agree with values predicted independently from a foraging model.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47750/1/442_2004_Article_BF00396753.pd

A presentation of canonical sources (7th to 17th centuries) on the “Ordo ad diaconam faciendam seu consacrandam”

Abstract: The objective of this article is to introduce the evolution of the “Ordo ad diaconam faciendam seu consacrandam” in the Latin Church from the 7th to the 17th centuries. The terms “ordinatio” and “ordinare” in sources from the 12th century took on a sacramental dimension. Roger Gryson stated that women in antiquity and the Middle Ages were ordained as deaconesses. Aimé G. Martimort rejected this thesis. Deaconesses were a group of women associated with monasticism, consecrated virgins and other specific forms of life in the Latin Church. In medieval canonical sources, the ordination of deaconesses had no sacramental value from the point of view of canon law. Keywords: Deaconesses, Women Deacon, Ordination, Consecration, Blessing. Riassunto: L’obiettivo di questo articolo è d’introdurre l’evoluzione dell’Ordo ad diaconam faciendam seu consacrandam nella Chiesa latina dal vii al xvii secolo. I termini ordinatio e ordinare nelle fonti del xii secolo hanno assunto una dimensione sacramentale. Roger Gryson affermava che nell’antichità e nel Medioevo le donne venivano ordinate diaconesse mediante l’imposizione delle mani. Aimé G. Martimort respinse questa tesi. Le diaconesse erano un gruppo di donne associate al monachesimo, alle vergini consacrate e ad altre forme specifiche di vita nella Chiesa latina. Nelle fonticanoniche medievali, l’ordinazione delle diaconesse non aveva alcun valore sacramentale dal punto di vista di dirittocanonico. Parole chiave: Diaconesse, ordinazione, consacrazione, benedizione