Supporting flexible processes through recommendations based on history

In today's fast changing business environment exible information systems are required to allow companies to rapidly adjust their business processes to changes in the environment. However, increasing exibility in large information system usually leads to less guidance for its users and consequently requires more experienced users. In order to allow for exible systems with a high degree of guidance, intelligent user assistance is required. In this paper we propose a recommendation service, which, when used in combination with exible information systems, can guide end users during process execution by giving recommendations on possible next steps. Recommendations are generated based on similar past process executions by considering the specific optimization goals. This paper also describes an implementation of the proposed recommendation service in the context of ProM and the declarative work ow management system DECLARE

Techno-functional, textural and sensorial properties of frankfurters as affected by the addition of bee pollen powder

The objective of this study was to determine whether the addition of different pollen powder concentrations (0.5; 1.0 and 1.5 g/100 g) had an influence on techno-functional, textural and sensorial traits of frankfurters. Examining the techno-functional characteristics of pollen, a conclusion was reached that the higher the concentration, the higher the emulsification and better techno-functional properties. Also, FTIR-ATR analysis has shown that specific pollen molecules provided good emulsifying properties of sausages. On the other hand, sensory analysis showed that sausages with the addition of 1.0% and 1.5% of pollen powder have a more pronounced floral odor. Warner-Bratzler shear force test has shown that the incorporation of pollen caused a more stable product throughout sixty days of storage than the control sample. It could be explained by the formation of more protein-protein interactions due to the addition of non-meat proteins in the formulation of frankfurters and obtaining a more stable product than the control one. All things considered, it can be concluded that pollen exhibits good techno-functional properties and could be utilized in the formulation of frankfurters with improved and steady techno-functional properties during two months of refrigerated storage

New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (April, 2014)

According to reports, the following 16 species have extended their distribution to other Mediterranean areas or have made a new appearance in other regions. The first category includes the following organisms: The rare and common Indo-Pacific seaweed Codium arabicum (Lebanese coasts), the acari Thalassarachna affinis (Marmara Sea), and the non-indigenous nudibranch Flabellina rubrolineata, which has also been found in many other areas of the Aegean Sea. In addition, the rare sea slug Thecacera pennigera (Piccolo of Taranto), the fangtooth moray Enchelycore anatina (National Marine Park of Zakynthos, Ionian Sea), the carangid Seriola fasciata (Gulf of Antalya), Lagocephalus sceleratus (SE. Ionian Sea), the reticulated leatherjacket Stephanolepis diaspros (Slovenia, N. Adriatic Sea), the marbled stingray, Dasyatis marmorata (NE Levantine), the starry smooth-hound Mustelus asterias (Iskenderun Bay, NE Mediterranean), the cephalopod Ommastrephes bartramii (Ionian Sea) have also been reported. The Atlantic crab Dyspanopeus sayi has expanded to many Italian areas and the blue crab Callinectes sapidus to a lake in N. Greece and in the S. Adriatic Sea. Finally, Farfantepenaeus aztecus has been found in the Ionian Sea, thus showing its wide expansion in the Mediterranean. The larval stages of Faccionella oxyrhyncha have been found, after many years, in the Aegean Sea and the first report of an existence on intersexual acari Litarachna duboscqi in Split(Adriatic Sea) was reported

Comparative study of the functional properties of three legume seed isolates: adzuki, pea and soy bean

The aim of this work was to compare functional properties including solubility, emulsifying and foaming properties of native and thermally treated adzuki, soy and pea protein isolates prepared under the same conditions. These functional properties were tested at four pH values: pH 3.0, pH 5.0, pH 7.0 and pH 8.0. The lowest solubility at all pH values were obtained for isolate of adzuki whereas isolates of soybean had the highest values at almost all pHs. Thermal treatment reduced solubility of soy and pea isolates at all pH values, whereas solubility of adzuki isolate was unchanged, except at pH 8. Native isolate of adzuki had the best emulsifying properties at pH 7.0 whereas at the other pH values some of native pea and soybean protein isolates were superior. After thermal treatment, depending on tested pH and selected variety all of three species could be a good emulsifier. Native soy protein isolates formed the most stable foams at all pHs. Thermal treatment significantly improved foaming properties of adzuki isolate, whereas reduced foaming capacity of soy and pea isolates, but could improve foam stability of these isolates at specific pH. Appropriate selection of legume seed as well as variety could have great importance in achievement of desirable functional properties of final products. All three tested species could find specific application in wide range of food products

Propofol-Induced Changes in Neurotrophic Signaling in the Developing Nervous System In Vivo

Several studies have revealed a role for neurotrophins in anesthesia-induced neurotoxicity in the developing brain. In this study we monitored the spatial and temporal expression of neurotrophic signaling molecules in the brain of 14-day-old (PND14) Wistar rats after the application of a single propofol dose (25 mg/kg i.p). The structures of interest were the cortex and thalamus as the primary areas of anesthetic actions. Changes of the protein levels of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF), their activated receptors tropomyosin-related kinase (TrkA and TrkB) and downstream kinases Akt and the extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK) were assessed by Western immunoblot analysis at different time points during the first 24 h after the treatment, as well as the expression of cleaved caspase-3 fragment. Fluoro-Jade B staining was used to follow the appearance of degenerating neurons. The obtained results show that the treatment caused marked alterations in levels of the examined neurotrophins, their receptors and downstream effector kinases. However, these changes were not associated with increased neurodegeneration in either the cortex or the thalamus. These results indicate that in the brain of PND14 rats, the interaction between Akt/ERK signaling might be one of important part of endogenous defense mechanisms, which the developing brain utilizes to protect itself from potential anesthesia-induced damage. Elucidation of the underlying molecular mechanisms will improve our understanding of the age-dependent component of anesthesia-induced neurotoxicity

A Reflection on the Interrelations Between Business Process Management and Requirements Engineering with an Agility Perspective

The paper points out some aspects of the interrelations between business process management, agility, flexibility, and requirements engineering. It shows some possibilities for agile development of business processes and for the development of flexible processes for changing requirements

Flexibility in Process-Aware Information Systems

Abstract. Process-aware information systems (PAIS) must be able to deal with uncertainty, exceptional situations, and environmental changes. Needed business agility is often hindered by the lacking flexibility of existing PAIS. Once a process is implemented, its logic cannot be adapted or refined anymore. This often leads to rigid behavior or gaps between real-world processes and implemented ones. In response to this drawback, adaptive PAIS have emerged, which allow to dynamically adapt or evolve the structure of process models under execution. This paper deals with fundamental challenges related to structural process changes, discusses how existing approaches deal with them, and shows how the various problems have been exterminated in ADEPT2 change framework. We also survey existing approaches fostering flexible process support.

Improved functionalization of oleic acid-coated iron oxide nanoparticles for biomedical applications

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles can providemultiple benefits for biomedical applications in aqueous environments such asmagnetic separation or magnetic resonance imaging. To increase the colloidal stability and allow subsequent reactions, the introduction of hydrophilic functional groups onto the particles’ surface is essential. During this process, the original coating is exchanged by preferably covalently bonded ligands such as trialkoxysilanes. The duration of the silane exchange reaction, which commonly takes more than 24 h, is an important drawback for this approach. In this paper, we present a novel method, which introduces ultrasonication as an energy source to dramatically accelerate this process, resulting in high-quality waterdispersible nanoparticles around 10 nmin size. To prove the generic character, different functional groups were introduced on the surface including polyethylene glycol chains, carboxylic acid, amine, and thiol groups. Their colloidal stability in various aqueous buffer solutions as well as human plasma and serum was investigated to allow implementation in biomedical and sensing applications.status: publishe