An Audience Centred Approach to Business Process Reengineering

This paper describes a method for process modelling which is designed to provide guidance to the business process modeller. The method has evolved from our experience of attempting to apply software process modelling approaches to business processes. A major influence on the method has been our observations that a pragmatic approach to notation selection is required in order to maintain a meaningful dialogue with end-users. Business process modelling methods typically fall into two camps. General methods attempt to describe the managerial activities which surround the modelling itself (Coulson-Thomas, 94; GISIP, 95). Specific methods, on the other hand, tend to concentrate on the details of a particular notational approach. However, as with programming languages or design methods, no single notational approach is best suited to all problems. Ideally, the process modeller should be able to incorporate the appropriate notational approach into some coherent generic modelling method.This paper addresses the needs of the modeller at the detailed level without prescribing a specific notation. This is achieved by describing categories of modelling activities which the modeller should undertake within process modelling, and suggesting how notations may be used within these categories. Our method is generally applicable, and is illustrated here by models of processes within the Construction industry

Northward field excursions in Saturn’s magnetotail and their relationship to magnetospheric periodicities

We present results from an investigation of Cassini encounters with Saturn’s magnetotail current sheet, using magnetic field and plasma data. In the first of two intervals shown, small periodic changes in the north-south component of the magnetic field are matched by periodic density enhancements associated with the plasma sheet center. In the second interval, a large plasmoid signature is observed set against a background of small-scale current sheet motions. We interpret the quasi-periodic small field deflections and density enhancements as large-scale wave-like motion of the current sheet. We stress that plasmoid signatures are of a clearly different character and occur much less frequently

Flowing to four dimensions

We analyze the properties of a model with four-dimensional brane-localized Higgs type potential of a six dimensional scalar field satisfying the Dirichlet boundary condition on the boundary of a transverse two-dimensional compact space. The regularization of the localized couplings generates classical renormalization group running. A tachyonic mass parameter grows in the infrared, in analogy with the QCD gauge coupling in four dimensions. We find a phase transition at a critical value of the bare mass parameter such that the running mass parameter becomes large in the infrared precisely at the compactification scale. Below the critical coupling, the theory is in symmetric phase, whereas above it spontaneous symmetry breaking occurs. Close to the phase transition point there is a very light mode in the spectrum. The massive Kaluza-Klein spectrum at the critical coupling becomes independent of the UV cutoff.Comment: 22 pages, LaTe

Unraveling the Landau's consistence criterion and the meaning of interpenetration in the "Two-Fluid" Model

In this letter we show that it is possible to unravel both the physical origin of the Landau's consistence criterion and the specific and subtle meaning of interpenetration of the "two fluids" if one takes into account that in the hydrodynamic regime one needs a coarse-graining in time to bring the system into local equilibrium. That is, the fuzziness in time is relevant for the phenomenological Landau's consistency criterion and the meaning of interpenetration. Note also that we are not questioning the validity of the "Two-Fluid" Model.Comment: 8 pages, affiliation added, typos corrected, final version published in Eur. Phys. J.

Utilization and metabolism of palmityl and oleoyl fatty acids and alcohols in caecal enterocytes of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.)

The substitution of fish oil with wax ester-rich calanoid copepod-derived oil in diets for carnivorous fish, such as Atlantic salmon, has previously indicated a lower lipid digestibility. This suggests that the fatty alcohols (FAlc) present in wax esters may be a poorer substrate for intestinal enzymes than the fatty acids (FA) in triacylglycerol, the major lipid in fish oil. The hypothesis tested was that the possible lower utilization of dietary FAlc by salmon enterocytes is at the level of uptake and that subsequent intracellular metabolism was identical to that of FA. A dual-labelled FAlc-FA metabolism assay was employed to determine simultaneous FAlc and FA uptake and relative utilisation in enterocytes isolated from pyloric caeca of Atlantic salmon fed either a diet supplemented with fish oil or wax ester-rich Calanus oil. The diets were fed for 10 weeks before caecal enterocytes from each dietary group were isolated and incubated with equimolar mixtures of either [1-14C]16:0 FA and [9,10(n)-3H]16:0 FAlc, or [1-14C]18:1n-9 FA and [9,10(n)-3H]18:1n-9 FAlc. Uptake was measured after 2 h with relative utilization of labelled FAlc and FA calculated as a percentage of uptake. Differences in uptake were observed, with FA showing higher uptake than FAlc, and 18:1 chains a higher uptake than 16:0. A proportion of unesterified FAlc was possibly recovered in the cells, but the majority of FALc was recovered in lipid classes such as triacylglycerol and phospholipids indicating substantial conversion of FAlc to FA followed by esterification. However, incorporation of FA and FAlc into esterified lipids was higher when derived from FA than from FAlc. Twenty-five to fifty percentage of the absorbed 16:0 FA was recovered in TAG fraction of the enterocytes compared with fifteen to seventy-five percentage of 18:1 FA. Twenty to thirty percentage of the absorbed 16:0 FA was recovered in the PC fraction of the enterocytes compared with only five to fifteen percentage of the 18:1 FA. Less than 15% of the fatty chains taken up by the cells was used for energy production, with significantly higher oxidation of 18:1 in enterocytes from fish fed the fish oil diet compared to the Calanus oil diet. However, overall, dietary copepod oil had little effect on FAlc and FA metabolism. Metabolic modification by elongation and/or desaturation was generally low at 1-5% of uptake. We conclude that our hypothesis was generally proved in that the uptake of FAlc by salmon enterocytes was lower than the uptake of FA and that subsequent intracellular metabolism of FAlc was similar to that of FA. However, unesterified FAlc was possibly recovered in the cells suggesting that the conversion to FA may not be concomitant with uptake

Cardiovascular disease treatment among patients with severe mental illness: a data linkage study between primary and secondary care

Background Suboptimal treatment of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) among patients with severe mental illness (SMI) may contribute to physical health disparities. Aim To identify SMI characteristics associated with meeting CVD treatment and prevention guidelines. Design and setting Population-based electronic health record database linkage between primary care and the sole provider of secondary mental health care services in south east London, UK. Method Cardiovascular disease prevalence, risk factor recording, and Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) clinical target achievement were compared among 4056 primary care patients with SMI whose records were linked to secondary healthcare records and 270 669 patients without SMI who were not known to secondary care psychiatric services, using multivariate logistic regression modelling. Data available from secondary care records were then used to identify SMI characteristics associated with QOF clinical target achievement. Results Patients with SMI and with coronary heart disease and heart failure experienced reduced prescribing of beta blockers and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blockers (ACEI/ARB). A diagnosis of schizophrenia, being identified with any indicator of risk or illness severity, and being prescribed with depot injectable antipsychotic medication was associated with the lowest likelihood of prescribing. Conclusion Linking primary and secondary care data allows the identification of patients with SMI most at risk of undertreatment for physical health problems

Small-Scale Vertical Movements of Summer Flounder Relative to Diurnal, Tidal, and Temperature Changes

Observation of animal movements on small spatial scales provides a means to understand how large-scale species distributions are established from individual behavioral decisions. Small-scale vertical movements of 14 Summer Flounder Paralichthys dentatus residing in Chesapeake Bay were observed by using depth data collected with archival tags. A generalized linear mixed model was employed to examine the relationship between these vertical movements and environmental covariates such as tidal state, time of day, lunar phase, and temperature. Vertical movements increased with warming water temperatures, and this pattern was most apparent at night and during rising and falling tides. Fish generally exhibited greater vertical movements at night, but the difference between vertical movements in the day and those at night decreased as fish increased in size. Results from this study fill a void in understanding the small-scale movements of Summer Flounder and could be incorporated into individual-based models to investigate how species distributions develop in response to environmental conditions

Growth and collapse of a deeply eroded orogen : insights from structural, geophysical, and geochronological constraints on the Pan-African evolution of NE Mozambique

This paper presents results of a large multidiciplinary geological mapping project in NE Mozambique, with a focus on the structural evolution of this part of the East African Orogen (EAO). It integrates field structural studies with geophysical interpretations and presents new geochronological data. The tectonic architecture of NE Mozambique can be subdivided into five megatectonic units on the basis of lithology, structure and geochronology: unit 1, Paleoproterozoic Ponta Messuli Complex in the extreme NW corner of NE Mozambique, which represents the local NW foreland to the EAO; unit 2, a collage of Mesoproterozoic metamorphic complexes, which forms the basement to unit 3, a stack of Neoproterozoic, NW directed imbricate thrust nappes named here the ‘‘Cabo Delgado Nappe Complex’’ (CDNC); unit 4, restricted Neoproterozoic metasedimentary basins; and unit 5, two exotic Neoproterozoic granulite me´ lange complexes. The units were assembled during a long and complex history of NWdirected shortening, which commenced with nappe stacking and emplacement of the CDNC over the Mesoproterozoic basement terranes toward the NW foreland. It is proposed that the CDNC and the Eastern Granulites farther north in Tanzania are remnants of Neoproterozoic volcanic arcs and microcontinents formed ‘‘outboard’’ of the Mesoproterozoic continent after 596 ± 11 Ma. Field and potential field geophysical data show that the nappes were folded by regional-scale NE–SW trending folds that formed in response to a later stage of the same shortening episode and this episode gave rise to the Lurio Belt, a prominent structural feature of northern Mozambique and a key element (often as suture zone) in many Gondwana reconstructions. The Lurio Belt is here interpreted as a structure generated during folding of the CDNC during later stages of the progressive shortening event. It is, however, a repeatedly reactivated shear zone, probably at the site of an older (Mesoproterozoic?) discontinuity, with an intense pure shear deformation history. It is cored by strongly attenuated lenses of a granulitic tectonic me´lange, the Ocua Complex (megatectonic unit 5) and is intruded by Late Pan-African granitoids of the Malema Suite. The compressional phase of the orogen was postdated by NW–SE directed extension. New U-Pb zircon and monazite dates show that extension was initiated at circa 540 Ma in the eastern Lurio Belt. It is argued that extension was the result of a major episode of orogenic collapse of the EAO, initiated by gravitational instabilities resulting from crustal thickening during the shortening phase

Community Engagement in US Biobanking: Multiplicity of Meaning and Method

Efforts to improve individual and population health increasingly rely on large scale collections of human biological specimens and associated data. Such collections or “biobanks” are hailed as valuable resources for facilitating translational biomedical research. However, biobanks also raise important ethical considerations, such as whether, how and why biobanks might engage with those who contributed specimens. This paper examines perceptions and practices of community engagement (CE) among individuals who operate six diverse biobanks in the U.S

A novel autotransporter of uropathogenic Proteus mirabilis is both a cytotoxin and an agglutinin

One of the six predicted Proteus mirabilis autotransporters (ATs), ORF c2341, is predicted to contain a serine protease motif and was earlier identified as an immunogenic outer membrane protein in P. mirabilis . The 3.2 kb gene encodes a 117 kDa protein with a 58-amino-acid-long signal peptide, a 75-kDa-long N-terminal passenger domain and a 30-kDa-long C-terminal translocator. Affinity-purified 110 kDa AT exhibited chymotrypsin-like activity and hydrolysed N -Suc–Ala–Ala–Pro–Phe– p Na and N -Suc–Ala–Ala–Pro–Leu– p Na with a K M of 22 μM and 31 μM, respectively, under optimal pH of 8.5–9.0 in a Ca 2+ -dependent manner. Activity was inhibited by subtilase-specific inhibitors leupeptin and chymostatin. Both the cell-associated and purified form elicited cytopathic effects on cultured kidney and bladder epithelial cells. Substrate hydrolysis as well as cytotoxicity was associated with the passenger domain and was compromised upon mutation of any of the catalytic residues (Ser366, His147 and Asp533). At alkaline pH and optimal cell density, the AT also promoted autoaggregation of P. mirabilis and this function was independent of its protease activity. Cytotoxicity, autoaggregation and virulence were significantly reduced in an isogenic pta mutant of P. mirabilis . Proteus toxic agglutinin (Pta) represents a novel autotransported cytotoxin with no bacterial homologues that works optimally in the alkalinized urinary tract, a characteristic of urease-mediated urea hydrolysis during P. mirabilis infection.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73221/1/j.1365-2958.2008.06199.x.pd