Compliance Management is Becoming a Major Issue in IS Design

This article aims at improving the information systems management support to Risk and Compliance Management process, i.e. the management of all compliance imperatives that impact an organization, including both legal and stra- tegically self-imposed imperatives. We propose a process to achieve such regula- tory compliance by aligning the Governance activities with the Risk Management ones, and we suggest Compliance should be considered as a requirement for the Risk Management platform. We will propose a framework to align law and IT compliance requirements and we will use it to underline possible directions of investigation resumed in our discussion section. This work is based on an exten- sive review of the existing literature and on the results of a four-month internship done within the IT compliance team of a major financial institution in Switzer- land, which has legal entities situated in different countries

Incommensurately modulated structure in natural melilites

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Characterization of yeasts isolated from parmigiano reggiano cheese natural whey starter: From spoilage agents to potential cell factories for whey valorization

Whey is the main byproduct of the dairy industry and contains sugars (lactose) and proteins (especially serum proteins and, at lesser extent, residual caseins), which can be valorized by the fermentative action of yeasts. In the present study, we characterized the spoilage yeast population inhabiting natural whey starter (NWS), the undefined starter culture of thermophilic lactic acid bacteria used in Parmigiano Reggiano (PR) cheesemaking, and evaluated thermotolerance, mating type, and the aptitude to produce ethanol and bioactive peptides from whey lactose and proteins, respectively, in a selected pool of strains. PCR-RFLP assay of ribosomal ITS regions and phylogenetic analysis of 26S rDNA D1/D2 domains showed that PR NWS yeast population consists of the well-documented Kluyveromyces marxianus, as well as of other species (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Wickerhamiella pararugosa, and Torulaspora delbrueckii), with multiple biotypes scored within each species as demonstrated by (GTG)5-based MSP-PCR. Haploid and diploid K. marxianus strains were identified through MAT genotyping, while thermotolerance assay allowed the selection of strains suitable to grow up to 48◦C. In whey fermentation trials, one thermotolerant strain was suitable to release ethanol with a fermentation efficiency of 86.5%, while another candidate was able to produce the highest amounts of both ethanol and bioactive peptides with potentially anti-hypertensive function. The present work demonstrated that PR NWS is a reservoir of ethanol and bioactive peptides producer yeasts, which can be exploited to valorize whey, in agreement with the principles of circularity and sustainability

Ocean ensemble forecasting. Part I: Ensemble Mediterranean winds from a Bayesian hierarchical model

A Bayesian hierarchical model (BHM) is developed to estimate surface vector wind (SVW) fields and associated uncertainties over the Mediterranean Sea. The BHM–SVW incorporates data-stage inputs from analyses and forecasts of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and SVW retrievals from the QuikSCAT data record. The process-model stage of the BHM–SVW is based on a Rayleigh friction equation model for surface winds. Dynamical interpretations of posterior distributions of the BHM–SVW parameters are discussed. Ten realizations from the posterior distribution of the BHM–SVW are used to force the data-assimilation step of an experimental ensemble ocean forecast system for the Mediterranean Sea in order to create a set of ensemble initial conditions. The sequential data-assimilation method of the Mediterranean forecast system (MFS) is adapted to the ensemble implementation. Analyses of sample ensemble initial conditions for a single data-assimilation period in MFS are presented to demonstrate the multivariate impact of the BHM–SVW ensemble generation methodology. Ensemble initial-condition spread is quantified by computing standard deviations of ocean state variable fields over the ten ensemble members. The methodological findings in this article are of two kinds. From the perspective of statistical modelling, the process-model development is more closely related tophysicalbalances than inpreviousworkwithmodels for the SVW.Fromthe ocean forecast perspective, the generation of ocean ensemble initial conditions via BHM is shown to be practical for operational implementation in an ensemble ocean forecast system. Phenomenologically, ensemble spread generated via BHM–SVW occurs on ocean mesoscale time- and space-scales, in close association with strong synoptic-scale wind-forcing events. A companion article describes the impacts of the BHM–SVW ensemble method on the ocean forecast in comparisons with more traditional ensemble methods

Eliopoulosite, V7S8, A New Sulfide from the Podiform Chromitite of the Othrys Ophiolite, Greece

The new mineral species, eliopoulosite, V7S8, was discovered in the abandoned chromium mine of Agios Stefanos of the Othrys ophiolite, located in central Greece. The investigated samples consist of massive chromitite hosted in a strongly altered mantle tectonite, and are associated with nickelphosphide, awaruite, tsikourasite, and grammatikopoulosite. Eliopoulosite is brittle and has a metallic luster. In plane-reflected polarized light, it is grayish-brown and shows no internal reflections, bireflectance, and pleochroism. It is weakly anisotropic, with colors varying from light to dark greenish. Reflectance values of mineral in air (Ro, Re’ in %) are: 34.8–35.7 at 470 nm, 38–39 at 546 nm, 40–41.3 at 589 nm, and 42.5–44.2 at 650 nm. Electron-microprobe analyses yielded a mean composition (wt.%) of: S 41.78, V 54.11, Ni 1.71, Fe 1.1, Co 0.67, and Mo 0.66, totali 100.03. On the basis of Σatoms = 15 apfu and taking into account the structural data, the empirical formula of eliopoulosite is (V6.55Ni0.19Fe0.12Co0.07Mo0.04)Σ = 6.97S8.03. The simplified formula is (V, Ni, Fe)7S8 and the ideal formula is V7S8, which corresponds to V 58.16%, S 41.84%, total 100 wt.%. The density, based on the empirical formula and unit-cell volume refined form single-crystal structure XRD data, is 4.545 g·cm−3. The mineral is trigonal, space group P3221, with a = 6.689(3) Å, c = 17.403(6) Å, V = 674.4(5) Å3, Z = 3, and exhibits a twelve-fold superstructure (2a × 2a × 3c) of the NiAs-type subcell with V-atoms octahedrally coordinated by S atoms. The distribution of vacancies is discussed in relation to other pyrrhotite-like compounds. The mineral name is for Dr. Demetrios Eliopoulos (1947–2019), a geoscientist at the Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration (IGME) of Greece and his widow, Prof. Maria Eliopoulos (nee Economou, 1947), University of Athens, Greece, for their contributions to the knowledge of ore deposits of Greece and to the mineralogical, petrographic, and geochemical studies of ophiolites, including the Othrys complex. The mineral and its name have been approved by the Commission of New Minerals, Nomenclature, and Classification of the International Mineralogical Association (No. 2019-96).© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Ocean ensemble forecasting. Part II: Mediterranean Forecast System response

This article analyzes the ocean forecast response to surface vector wind (SVW) distributions generated by a Bayesian hierarchical model (BHM) developed in Part I of this series. A new method for ocean ensemble forecasting (OEF), the socalled BHM-SVW-OEF, is described. BHM-SVW realizations are used to produce and force perturbations in the ocean state during 14 day analysis and 10 day forecast cycles of the Mediterranean Forecast System (MFS). The BHM-SVW-OEF ocean response spread is amplified at the mesoscales and in the pycnocline of the eddy field. The new method is compared with an ensemble response forced by European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ensemble prediction system (EEPS) surface winds, and with an ensemble forecast started from perturbed initial conditions derived froman ad hoc thermocline intensified random perturbation (TIRP) method. The EEPS-OEF shows spread on basin scales while the TIRP-OEF response is mesoscale-intensified as in the BHM-SVW-OEF response. TIRP-OEF perturbations fill more of the MFS domain, while the BHM-SVW-OEF perturbations are more location-specific, concentrating ensemble spread at the sites where the ocean-model response to uncertainty in the surface wind forcing is largest

Ocean Ensemble Forecasting, Part II: Mediterranean Forecast System Response

This paper analyzes the ocean forecast response to surface vector wind (SVW) distributions generated by a Bayesian Hierarchical Model (BHM) developed in Part I (Milliff et al., 2009). A new method for Ocean Ensemble Forecasting (OEF), so-called BHM-SVW-OEF, is described. BHM-SVW realizations are used to produce and force perturbations in the ocean state during 14-day analysis and 10-day forecast cycles of the Mediterranean Forecast System (MFS). The BHM-SVW-OEF ocean response spread is amplified at the mesoscales and pycnocline of the eddy field. The new method is compared to an ensemble response forced by ECMWF Ensemble Prediction System (EEPS) surface winds, and to an ensemble forecast started from perturbed initial conditions derived from an ad hoc Thermocline Intensified Random Perturbation (TIRP) method. The EEPS-OEF shows spread at the basin scales while the TIRP-OEF response is mesoscale intensified as in the BHM-SVW-OEF response. TIRP-OEF perturbations fill more of the MFS domain while the BHM-SVW-OEF perturbations are more location-specific, concentrating ensemble spread at the sites where the ocean model response to uncertainty in the surface wind forcing is largest. The BHM-SVW-OEF method offers a practical and objective means for producing short-term forecast spread by modeling surface atmospheric forcing uncertainties that have maximum impact at the ocean mesoscales

Hpv-specific systemic antibody responses and memory b cells are independently maintained up to 6 years and in a vaccine-specific manner following immunization with cervarix and gardasil in adolescent and young adult women in vaccination programs in Italy

Human papillomavirus (HPV) persistent infections are associated with cervical cancer and other HPV-related diseases and tumors. Thus, the characterization of long lasting immunity to currently available HPV vaccines is important. A total of 149 female subjects vaccinated with Cervarix or Gardasil participated to the study and they were stratified according to age (10–12-year-old and 16–20-year-old). Humoral immune responses (IgG and neutralizing antibody titers, antibody avidity) and circulating memory B cells were analyzed after an average of 4–6 years from the third immunization. The humoral responses against HPV-16 and HPV-18 (and HPV-6 and HPV- 11 for Gardasil) were high in both age groups and vaccines up to six years from the third dose. However, Cervarix induced significantly higher and more persistent antibody responses, while the two vaccines were rather equivalent in inducing memory B cells against HPV-16 and HPV-18. Moreover, the percentage of subjects with vaccine-specific memory B cells was even superior among Gardasil vaccinees and, conversely, Cervarix vaccinated individuals with circulating antibodies, but undetectable memory B cells were found. Finally, a higher proportion of Cervarix-vaccinated subjects displayed cross-neutralizing responses against non-vaccine types HPV-31 and HPV-45. Gardasil and Cervarix may, thus, differently affect long-lasting humoral immunity from both the quantitative and qualitative point of view