Towards green business process management

There is a global consensus on the need to reduce our collective carbon footprint. While much research attention has focused on developing alternative energy sources, automotive technologies or waste disposal techniques, we often ignore the fact that the ability to optimize (existing) operations to reduce their emissions impact is fundamental to this exercise. We believe that by transforming the problem into the domain of Business Process Management (BPM) we can leverage the rich expertise in this field to address issues associated with identifying areas for improvement, understanding the implication and performing carbon footprint minimization. We will use the term “Green BPM” to describe a novel class of technologies that leverage and extend existing BPM technology to enable process design, analysis, execution and monitoring in a manner informed by the carbon footprint of process designs and instances. This article describes the first steps in the development of this class of technologies

The effect of localized surface plasmon resonance on the emission color change in organic light emitting diodes

Three primary colors, cyan, yellow, and green, are obtained from Ag nano-dot embedded organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) by localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). By changing the thickness of the Ag film, the size and spacing of Ag nano-dots are controlled. The generated light from the emissive layer in the OLEDs interacts with the free electrons near the surface of the Ag nano-dots, which leads to LSPR absorption and scattering. The UV-visible absorption spectra of glass/ITO/Ag nano-dot samples show intense peaks from 430 nm to 520 nm with an increase of Ag nano-dot size. And also, the Rayleigh scattering spectra results show the plasmon resonance wavelength in the range of 470-550 nm. The effect of the LSPR of Ag nano-dots on the change of emission color in OLEDs is demonstrated using 2 dimensional finite-difference time-domain simulations. The intensity of the electro-magnetic field in the sample with 5 nm-thick Ag is low at the incident wavelength of 500 nm, but it increases with the incident wavelength. This provides evidence that the emission color change in OLEDs originates from LSPR at the Ag nano-dots. As a result, the emission peak wavelength of OLEDs shifted toward longer wavelengths, from cyan to yellow-green, with the increase of Ag nano-dot size.open11107Nsciescopu

Effect of Layer-Stacking on the Electronic Structure of Graphene Nanoribbons

The evolution of electronic structure of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) as a function of the number of layers stacked together is investigated using \textit{ab initio} density functional theory (DFT) including interlayer van der Waals interactions. Multilayer armchair GNRs (AGNRs), similar to single-layer AGNRs, exhibit three classes of band gaps depending on their width. In zigzag GNRs (ZGNRs), the geometry relaxation resulting from interlayer interactions plays a crucial role in determining the magnetic polarization and the band structure. The antiferromagnetic (AF) interlayer coupling is more stable compared to the ferromagnetic (FM) interlayer coupling. ZGNRs with the AF in-layer and AF interlayer coupling have a finite band gap while ZGNRs with the FM in-layer and AF interlayer coupling do not have a band gap. The ground state of the bi-layer ZGNR is non-magnetic with a small but finite band gap. The magnetic ordering is less stable in multilayer ZGNRs compared to single-layer ZGNRs. The quasipartcle GW corrections are smaller for bilayer GNRs compared to single-layer GNRs because of the reduced Coulomb effects in bilayer GNRs compared to single-layer GNRs.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Reaction rates and transport in neutron stars

Understanding signals from neutron stars requires knowledge about the transport inside the star. We review the transport properties and the underlying reaction rates of dense hadronic and quark matter in the crust and the core of neutron stars and point out open problems and future directions.Comment: 74 pages; commissioned for the book "Physics and Astrophysics of Neutron Stars", NewCompStar COST Action MP1304; version 3: minor changes, references updated, overview graphic added in the introduction, improvements in Sec IV.A.

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

Higher Plant Cytochrome b5 Polypeptides Modulate Fatty Acid Desaturation

BACKGROUND: Synthesis of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in the endoplasmic reticulum of plants typically involves the fatty acid desaturases FAD2 and FAD3, which use cytochrome b(5) (Cb5) as an electron donor. Higher plants are reported to have multiple isoforms of Cb5, in contrast to a single Cb5 in mammals and yeast. Despite the wealth of information available on the roles of FAD2 and FAD3 in PUFA synthesis, information regarding the contributions of various Cb5 isoforms in desaturase-mediated reactions is limited. RESULTS: The present functional characterization of Cb5 polypeptides revealed that all Arabidopsis Cb5 isoforms are not similarly efficient in ω-6 desaturation, as evidenced by significant variation in their product outcomes in yeast-based functional assays. On the other hand, characterization of Cb5 polypeptides of soybean (Glycine max) suggested that similar ω-6 desaturation efficiencies were shared by various isoforms. With regard to ω-3 desaturation, certain Cb5 genes of both Arabidopsis and soybean were shown to facilitate the accumulation of more desaturation products than others when co-expressed with their native FAD3. Additionally, similar trends of differential desaturation product accumulation were also observed with most Cb5 genes of both soybean and Arabidopsis even if co-expressed with non-native FAD3. CONCLUSIONS: The present study reports the first description of the differential nature of the Cb5 genes of higher plants in fatty acid desaturation and further suggests that ω-3/ω-6 desaturation product outcome is determined by the nature of both the Cb5 isoform and the fatty acid desaturases

Electromagnetic Wave Theory and Applications

Contains table of contents for Section 3 and reports on seven research projects.Joint Services Electronics Program Contract DAAL03-89-C-0001National Science Foundation Contract ECS 86-20029Schlumberger- Doll ResearchU.S. Army Research Office Contract DAAL03 88-K-0057National Aeronautics and Space Administration Contract NAGW-1617U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Contract N00014-89-J-1107National Aeronautics and Space Administration Contract NAGW-1272National Aeronautics and Space Administration Contract 958461Simulation Technologies Contract DAAH01-87-C-0679U.S. Army Corp of Engineers Contract DACA39-87-K-0022WaveTracer, Inc.U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Contract N00014-89-J-1019U.S. Air Force Systems - Electronic Systems Division Contract F19628-88-K-0013Digital Equipment CorporationInternational Business Machines CorporationU.S. Department of Transportation Contract DTRS-57-88-C-0007

Electromagnetic Wave Theory and Applications

Contains table of contents for Section 3, reports on six research projects and a list of publications and conference papers.Joint Services Electronics Program Contract DAAL03-89-C-0001National Science Foundation Grant ECS 86-20029Schlumberger- Doll ResearchU.S. Army Research Office Contract DAAL03 88-K-0057U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Contract N00014-90-J-1002National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant NAGW-1617U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-89-J-1107National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant NAGW-1272National Aeronautics and Space Administration Agreement 958461U.S. Army - Corps of Engineers Contract DACA39-87-K-0022U.S. Air Force - Electronic Systems Division Contract F19628-88-K-0013U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-89-J-1019Digital Equipment CorporationIBM CorporationU.S. Department of Transportation Contract DTRS-57-88-C-00078Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency Contract MDA972-90-C-002

Modeling Neurodegeneration in Zebrafish

The zebrafish, Danio rerio, has been established as an excellent vertebrate model for the study of developmental biology and gene function. It also has proven to be a valuable model to study human diseases. Here, we reviewed recent publications using zebrafish to study the pathology of human neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, and Alzheimer’s. These studies indicate that zebrafish genes and their human homologues have conserved functions with respect to the etiology of neurodegenerative diseases. The characteristics of the zebrafish and the experimental approaches to which it is amenable make this species a useful complement to other animal models for the study of pathologic mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases and for the screening of compounds with therapeutic potential

Effects of salinity and drought on growth, ionic relations, compatible solutes and activation of antioxidant systems in oleander (Nerium oleander L.)

[EN] Nerium oleander is an ornamental species of high aesthetic value, grown in arid and semi- arid regions because of its drought tolerance, which is also considered as relatively resistant to salt; yet the biochemical and molecular mechanisms underlying oleander¿s stress toler- ance remain largely unknown. To investigate these mechanisms, one-year-old oleander seedlings were exposed to 15 and 30 days of treatment with increasing salt concentratio ns, up to 800 mM NaCl, and to complete withholding of irrigation; growth parameters and bio- chemical markers characteristic of conserved stress-response pathways were then deter- mined in stressed and control plants. Strong water deficit and salt stress both caused inhibition of growth, degradation of photosynthetic pigments, a slight (but statistically signifi- cant) increase in the leaf levels of specific osmolytes, and induction of oxidative stress¿as indicated by the accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA), a reliable oxidative stress marker ¿accompanied by increases in the levels of total phenolic compounds and antioxidant fla- vonoids and in the specific activities of ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and glutathione reduc- tase (GR). High salinity, in addition, induced accumulation of Na + and Cl - in roots and leaves and the activation of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities. Apart from anatomical adaptations that protect oleander from leaf dehydration at moderate levels of stress, our results indicate that tolerance of this species to salinity and water deficit is based on the constitutive accumulation in leaves of high concentratio ns of soluble carbohydrates and, to a lesser extent, of glycine betaine, and in the activation of the aforementioned antiox- idant systems. Moreover, regarding specifically salt stress, mechanisms efficiently blocking transport of toxic ions from the roots to the aerial parts of the plant appear to contribute to a large extent to tolerance in Nerium oleanderThis work was financed by internal funds of the Polytechnic University of Valencia to Monica Boscaiu and Oscar Vicente. Dinesh Kumar’s stay in Valencia was financed by a NAMASTE fellowship from the European Union, and Mohamad Al Hassan was a recipient of an Erasmus Mundus pre-doctoral scholarship financed by the European Commission (Welcome Consortium).Kumar, D.; Al Hassan, M.; Naranjo Olivero, MA.; Agrawal, V.; Boscaiu, M.; Vicente, O. (2017). Effects of salinity and drought on growth, ionic relations, compatible solutes and activation of antioxidant systems in oleander (Nerium oleander L.). PLoS ONE. 12(9). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0185017Se018501712