Blockchain Forum, the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Forum, and the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) Forum

The International Conference on Business ProcessManagement (BPM) was established about 20 years ago as the conference where people from academia and industrymeet and discuss the latest developments in the area of business process management. In 2022, the conference was organized in Münster, Germany. This year’s BPM also featured three specialized forums. This volume contains the proceedings of the Blockchain Forum, the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Forum, and the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) Forum, which took place during September 11–16, 2022. A blockchain is a distributed data structure providing guarantees of immutability and integrity protection, delivering a practical solution to hard problems in coordination. Blockchain-based systems open up diverse opportunities in the context of the BPM lifecycle to redesign business activities in a wide range of fields, including healthcare, supply chain, logistics, and finance. However, these opportunities come with challenges to security and privacy, and to scalability and performance. The fourth edition of the Blockchain Forum provided a platform for the discussion of ongoing research and success stories on the use of blockchain, including techniques for, and applications of, blockchain and distributed ledger technology. The concept of robotic process automation (RPA) has gained relevant attention in both industry and academia. RPA raises a way of automating mundane and repetitive human tasks requiring a lower level of intrusiveness with the IT infrastructure. The RPA Forum aimed to bring together researchers from various communities and disciplines to discuss challenges, opportunities, and new ideas related to RPA and its application to business processes in private and public sectors. The forum solicited contributions related to three main RPA areas: management, technology, and applications. The keynote given by Tathagata Chakraborti from IBM Research (USA) was focused on process automation from natural language inputs. The RPA Forum took place for the third time, after its previous appearances at BPM 2020, in Seville (Spain), and at BPM 2021, in Rome (Italy). The main objective of the CEE Forum was to provide a discussion platform for BPM academics from Central and Eastern Europe to disseminate their research, compare results, and share experiences. This second CEE Forum was an opportunity for novice and advanced BPM researchers who have not yet had the chance to attend the International Conference on Business Process Management to get to know each other, initiate research projects, and join the international BPM community. The Blockchain Forum received 15 submissions, of which seven papers were selected for presentation at the venue and for inclusion to this proceedings. The RPA Forum received 16 submissions, which led to the acceptance of the top nine as full papers. The CEE Forum received 9 submissions, and the top four high-quality papers were selected for presentation and publication. The overall acceptance rate was 50%. For the three forums, each submission was reviewed by at least three members of the respective Program Committees

Compensated reduction in Leydig cell function is associated with lower semen quality variables:A study of 8182 European young men

Is the Leydig cell function of young European men associated with semen quality? Compensated reduction in Leydig cell function, defined as increased LH concentration combined with adequate testosterone production is associated with lower semen quality. Semen quality of young European men shows a heterogeneous pattern. Many have sperm counts below and in the lower WHO reference where there nevertheless is a significant risk of subfecundity. Little is known about differences in Leydig cell function between men with semen quality below and within the WHO reference range. A coordinated, cross-sectional population-based study of 8182 men undertaken in 1996-2010. Young men (median age 19.1 years) were investigated in centres in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany Latvia, Lithuania, and Spain. The men originated from the general populations, all were young, almost all were unaware of their fecundity and each provided a semen and blood sample. Associations between semen parameters and serum levels of testosterone and luteinising hormone (LH), calculated free testosterone, and ratios between serum testosterone and LH were determined. Serum testosterone levels were not associated with sperm concentrations, total sperm counts, or percentage of motile or morphologically normal spermatozoa. There was an inverse association between the semen parameters and serum LH levels, and accordingly a positive association to testosterone/LH ratio and calculated-free-testosterone/LH ratio. The size of the study mitigates the intra-individual variability concern. The distinction between different sub-categories of sperm motility and sperm morphology is subjective despite training. However, inter-observer variation would tend towards non-differential misclassification and would decrease the likelihood of detecting associations between reproductive hormone levels and semen variables, suggesting that the presented associations might in reality be even stronger than shown. Although we adjusted for confounders, we cannot of course exclude that our results can be skewed by selection bias or residual confounding. Compensated reduction in Leydig cell function, defined as increased LH concentration combined with adequate testosterone production is associated with lower semen quality. This is apparent even within the WHO reference range of semen quality. It is unknown whether impaired Leydig cell function in young men may confer an increased risk of acquired testosterone deficiency later in life. Support from The Research Fund of Rigshospitalet (grant no. R42-A1326) to N.J. made this study possible. The background studies of young men have been supported economically by several grants. ITALIC! Denmark: The European Union (contract numbers BMH4-CT96-0314, QLK4-CT-1999-01422, QLK4-CT-2002-00603 and most recently FP7/2007-2013, DEER Grant agreement no. 212844), The Danish Research Council (grants nos. 9700833 2107-05-0006), The Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation (Grant no. 271070678), Rigshospitalet (Grant no. 961506336), The University of Copenhagen (Grant no. 211-0357/07-3012), The Danish Ministry of Health and the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, A.P. Møller and wife Chastine McKinney Møllers foundation, and Svend Andersens Foundation. ITALIC! Finland: European Union (contract numbers BMH4-CT96-0314, QLK4-CT-1999-01422, QLK4-CT- 2002-00603 and most recently FP7/2008-2012, DEER Grant agreement no. 212844), The Academy of Finland, Turku University Hospital Funds, Sigrid Juselius Foundation. ITALIC! Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania: European Union (QLRT-2001-02911), the Estonian Science Foundation, grant number 2991, Lithuanian Foundation for Research, Organon Agencies B.V. and the Danish Research Council, grant no. 9700833. ITALIC! Germany: European Union (contract numbers QLK4-CT-2002-00603). ITALIC! Spain: European Commission QLK4-1999-01422. M.F. received support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Program Ramon y Cajal). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. None of the authors have any competing interests to declare