Conditional quasi-exact solvability of the quantum planar pendulum and of its anti-isospectral hyperbolic counterpart

We have subjected the planar pendulum eigenproblem to a symmetry analysis with the goal of explaining the relationship between its conditional quasi-exact solvability (C-QES) and the topology of its eigenenergy surfaces, established in our earlier work [Frontiers in Physical Chemistry and Chemical Physics 2, 1-16, (2014)]. The present analysis revealed that this relationship can be traced to the structure of the tridiagonal matrices representing the symmetry-adapted pendular Hamiltonian, as well as enabled us to identify many more -- forty in total to be exact -- analytic solutions. Furthermore, an analogous analysis of the hyperbolic counterpart of the planar pendulum, the Razavy problem, which was shown to be also C-QES [American Journal of Physics 48, 285 (1980)], confirmed that it is anti-isospectral with the pendular eigenproblem. Of key importance for both eigenproblems proved to be the topological index $\kappa$, as it determines the loci of the intersections (genuine and avoided) of the eigenenergy surfaces spanned by the dimensionless interaction parameters $\eta$ and $\zeta$. It also encapsulates the conditions under which analytic solutions to the two eigenproblems obtain and provides the number of analytic solutions. At a given $\kappa$, the anti-isospectrality occurs for single states only (i.e., not for doublets), like C-QES holds solely for integer values of $\kappa$, and only occurs for the lowest eigenvalues of the pendular and Razavy Hamiltonians, with the order of the eigenvalues reversed for the latter. For all other states, the pendular and Razavy spectra become in fact qualitatively different, as higher pendular states appear as doublets whereas all higher Razavy states are singlets

Automatic Identification of Structural Process Weaknesses – Experiences with Semantic Business Process Modeling in the Financial Sector

Business process reengineering (BPR) has been a core research topic for at least the last twenty years. As banks have realized the need to look on their business in a process-oriented way, they have been engaged in numerous business process reengineering projects to make their organizations more efficient. However, the success of BPR projects in banks varies significantly and it remains a challenge to systematically discover weaknesses in business process landscapes. Based on the Semantic Business Process Modeling Language (SBPML) this paper introduces a new approach for pattern-based automatic process model analysis, with a focus on identifying structural process weaknesses such as organizational process fragmentation, possibly unnecessary process complexity or multiple resource usage or other process inefficiencies. Additionally, this approach also allows for a benchmarking of different process path alternatives in the same process or among different processes. In this article, this approach is applied and evaluated in the financial sector, but it can possibly also be used in other domains. It contributes to a more efficient and more effective identification of possible weaknesses in process models in comparison to today’s manual analysis of process models

Chlamydial genes shed light on the evolution of photoautotrophic eukaryotes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chlamydiae are obligate intracellular bacteria of protists, invertebrates and vertebrates, but have not been found to date in photosynthetic eukaryotes (algae and embryophytes). Genes of putative chlamydial origin, however, are present in significant numbers in sequenced genomes of photosynthetic eukaryotes. It has been suggested that such genes were acquired by an ancient horizontal gene transfer from Chlamydiae to the ancestor of photosynthetic eukaryotes. To further test this hypothesis, an extensive search for proteins of chlamydial origin was performed using several recently sequenced algal genomes and EST databases, and the proteins subjected to phylogenetic analyses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 39 proteins of chlamydial origin were retrieved from the photosynthetic eukaryotes analyzed and their identity verified through phylogenetic analyses. The distribution of the chlamydial proteins among four groups of photosynthetic eukaryotes (Viridiplantae, Rhodoplantae, Glaucoplantae, Bacillariophyta) was complex suggesting multiple acquisitions and losses. Evidence is presented that all except one of the chlamydial genes originated from an ancient endosymbiosis of a chlamydial bacterium into the ancestor of the Plantae before their divergence into Viridiplantae, Rhodoplantae and Glaucoplantae, i.e. more than 1.1 BYA. The chlamydial proteins subsequently spread through secondary plastid endosymbioses to other eukaryotes. Of 20 chlamydial proteins recovered from the genomes of two Bacillariophyta, 10 were of rhodoplant, and 10 of viridiplant origin suggesting that they were acquired by two different secondary endosymbioses. Phylogenetic analyses of concatenated sequences demonstrated that the viridiplant secondary endosymbiosis likely occurred before the divergence of Chlorophyta and Streptophyta.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We identified 39 proteins of chlamydial origin in photosynthetic eukaryotes signaling an ancient invasion of the ancestor of the Plantae by a chlamydial bacterium accompanied by horizontal gene transfer. Subsequently, chlamydial proteins spread through secondary endosymbioses to other eukaryotes. We conclude that intracellular chlamydiae likely persisted throughout the early history of the Plantae donating genes to their hosts that replaced their cyanobacterial/plastid homologs thus shaping early algal/plant evolution before they eventually vanished.</p

Modeling and Checking Business Process Compliance Rules in the Financial Sector

Assuring compliance of business processes with legal and internal regulations is crucial for financial institutions, as non-compliance may lead to severe financial and juridical penalties. To ensure business process compliance, process models have been established as a widely accepted basis for the design, documentation and control of the implementation of business process rules. Accordingly, in this paper, we introduce a semi-automatic business process compliance checking approach based on process models and related models. It relies on graph-based pattern matching, which makes it possible in contrast to existing approaches to define and check any possible type of business rule in any possible type of business process model or even other type of model. The approach is embedded in a design science research methodology

Calculating the Process Driven Business Value of RFID Investments - A Causal Model for the Measurement of RFID Technologies in Supply Chain Logistics

Calculating the process driven value of RFID investments is very difficult. From a company’s perspective it is important to understand the concrete contribution of an RFID system with regard to individual processes. The problem of profitability analyses in IS is that such technologies cannot be calculated as an economic standard investment. Hence, we propose a reference model as a generic knowledge base for referential RFID impacts. Our model supports the structuring and evaluation of RFID benefits along business processes. With this, we propose indicators for the derivation of an RFID cause-and-effect chain. The allocation of RFID effects to processes within the reference framework helps in identifying the right logistic unit levels for RFID transponder investments

Exploring the Status Quo of Business Process Modelling Languages in the Banking Sector – An Empirical Insight into The Usage of Methods in Banks

There are many business process modelling languages (BPML) available on the market for business process modelling. To date, however, it remains unclear how satisfied institutions are with various modelling languages as there is a lack of studies on modelling and analyzing business processes. In order to provide a better understanding of this issue, an exploratory survey with a focus on the banking sector was conducted. Due to a structural crisis in the financial sector (esp. in Germany, where the market is seen as “over-banked” and “over- branched”), banks are currently forced to improve their business processes to save costs and work more efficiently. Thus, they focus on business process management (BPM) and in particular on the preliminary steps of business process modelling. In this paper, key findings from a survey are presented and discussed as a basis for a more sophisticated approach to business process modelling and analysis in the future and also as an insight into the state of the art of business process modelling in general

Gain and loss of polyadenylation signals during evolution of green algae

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Viridiplantae (green algae and land plants) consist of two monophyletic lineages: the Chlorophyta and the Streptophyta. Most green algae belong to the Chlorophyta, while the Streptophyta include all land plants and a small group of freshwater algae known as Charophyceae. Eukaryotes attach a poly-A tail to the 3' ends of most nuclear-encoded mRNAs. In embryophytes, animals and fungi, the signal for polyadenylation contains an A-rich sequence (often AAUAAA or related sequence) 13 to 30 nucleotides upstream from the cleavage site, which is commonly referred to as the near upstream element (NUE). However, it has been reported that the pentanucleotide UGUAA is used as polyadenylation signal for some genes in volvocalean algae.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We set out to investigate polyadenylation signal differences between streptophytes and chlorophytes that may have emerged shortly after the evolutionary split between Streptophyta and Chlorophyta. We therefore analyzed expressed genes (ESTs) from three streptophyte algae, <it>Mesostigma viride</it>, <it>Klebsormidium subtile </it>and <it>Coleochaete scutata</it>, and from two early-branching chlorophytes, <it>Pyramimonas parkeae </it>and <it>Scherffelia dubia</it>. In addition, to extend the database, our analyses included ESTs from six other chlorophytes (<it>Acetabularia acetabulum</it>, <it>Chlamydomonas reinhardtii</it>, <it>Helicosporidium </it>sp. ex Simulium jonesii, <it>Prototheca wickerhamii, Scenedesmus obliquus </it>and <it>Ulva linza</it>) and one streptophyte (<it>Closterium peracerosum</it>). Our results indicate that polyadenylation signals in green algae vary widely. The UGUAA motif is confined to late-branching Chlorophyta. Most streptophyte algae do not have an A-rich sequence motif like that in embryophytes, animals and fungi. We observed polyadenylation signals similar to those of <it>Arabidopsis </it>and other land plants only in <it>Mesostigma</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Polyadenylation signals in green algae show considerable variation. A new NUE (UGUAA) was invented in derived chlorophytes and replaced not only the A-rich NUE but the complete poly(A) signal in all chlorophytes investigated except <it>Scherffelia </it>(only NUE replaced) and <it>Pyramimonas </it>(UGUAA completely missing). The UGUAA element is completely absent from streptophytes. However, the structure of the poly(A) signal was often modified in streptophyte algae. In most species investigated, an A-rich NUE is missing; instead, these species seem to rely mainly on U-rich elements.</p

EST analysis of the scaly green flagellate Mesostigma viride (Streptophyta): Implications for the evolution of green plants (Viridiplantae)

BACKGROUND: The Viridiplantae (land plants and green algae) consist of two monophyletic lineages, the Chlorophyta and the Streptophyta. The Streptophyta include all embryophytes and a small but diverse group of freshwater algae traditionally known as the Charophyceae (e.g. Charales, Coleochaete and the Zygnematales). The only flagellate currently included in the Streptophyta is Mesostigma viride Lauterborn. To gain insight into the genome evolution in streptophytes, we have sequenced 10,395 ESTs from Mesostigma representing 3,300 independent contigs and compared the ESTs of Mesostigma with available plant genomes (Arabidopsis, Oryza, Chlamydomonas), with ESTs from the bryophyte Physcomitrella, the genome of the rhodophyte Cyanidioschyzon, the ESTs from the rhodophyte Porphyra, and the genome of the diatom Thalassiosira. RESULTS: The number of expressed genes shared by Mesostigma with the embryophytes (90.3 % of the expressed genes showing similarity to known proteins) is higher than with Chlamydomonas (76.1 %). In general, cytosolic metabolic pathways, and proteins involved in vesicular transport, transcription, regulation, DNA-structure and replication, cell cycle control, and RNA-metabolism are more conserved between Mesostigma and the embryophytes than between Mesostigma and Chlamydomonas. However, plastidic and mitochondrial metabolic pathways, cytoskeletal proteins and proteins involved in protein folding are more conserved between Mesostigma and Chlamydomonas than between Mesostigma and the embryophytes. CONCLUSION: Our EST-analysis of Mesostigma supports the notion that this organism should be a suitable unicellular model for the last flagellate common ancestor of the streptophytes. Mesostigma shares more genes with the embryophytes than with the chlorophyte Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, although both organisms are flagellate unicells. Thus, it seems likely that several major physiological changes (e.g. in the regulation of photosynthesis and photorespiration) took place early during the evolution of streptophytes, i.e. before the transition to land

Supporting Business Process Compliance in Financial Institutions – A Model-Driven Approach

Recently, several approaches have been developed to check process models for compliance with laws and regulations. In this paper a contribution is made with respect to reducing the com-plexity of compliance checking by partially automating business process compliance (BPC) checking. We present a model check-ing approach that is able to check process models for BPC. In particular, we apply a generic pattern matching approach to the Semantic Business Process Modeling Language (SBPML) allow-ing for extended model checking not being restricted to predeces-sor-successor relationships. Finally, we apply the BPC checking approach to the example of a credit approval process from a real-world bank scenario using a demonstrator modeling software

Temperature- and light stress adaptations in Zygnematophyceae: The challenges of a semi-terrestrial lifestyle

Streptophyte green algae comprise the origin of land plants and therefore life on earth as we know it today. While terrestrialization opened new habitats, leaving the aquatic environment brought additional abiotic stresses. More-drastic temperature shifts and high light levels are major abiotic stresses in semi-terrestrial habitats, in addition to desiccation, which has been reviewed elsewhere. Zygnematophyceae, a species-rich class of streptophyte green algae, is considered a sister-group to embryophytes. They have developed a variety of avoidance and adaptation mechanisms to protect against temperature extremes and high radiation in the form of photosynthetically active and ultraviolet radiation (UV) radiation occurring on land. Recently, knowledge of transcriptomic and metabolomic changes as consequences of these stresses has become available. Land-plant stress-signaling pathways producing homologs of key enzymes have been described in Zygnematophyceae. An efficient adaptation strategy is their mat-like growth habit, which provides self-shading and protects lower layers from harmful radiation. Additionally, Zygnematophyceae possess phenolic compounds with UV-screening ability. Resting stages such as vegetative pre-akinetes tolerate freezing to a much higher extent than do young cells. Sexual reproduction occurs by conjugation without the formation of flagellated male gametes, which can be seen as an advantage in water-deficient habitats. The resulting zygospores possess a multilayer cell wall, contributing to their resistance to terrestrial conditions. Especially in the context of global change, understanding temperature and light tolerance is crucial