Critical success factors of business process management:investigating the coverage of business process (management) maturity models

Business Process Management (BPM) aims to improve the quality of business processes by consolidating the concepts of modelling, reengineering, automation, management, and innovation. Tailoring multi-faceted BPM to specific contexts of organizations on the ground of fast-growing information technology is the challenge of the current decade. A considerable number of critical success factors (CSFs) for BPM has been proposed by various studies in the scientific literature to provide insight into the process of achieving BPM. However, only few of these studies propose guidelines/practices for addressing the CSFs. This study is intended to provide a state-of-the-art of CSFs of BPM by a systematic review of scientific literature and to investigate content coverage of business process maturity models as a potential enabler of realization of these CSFs. We searched the studies between the years 2000 and 2015 in established digital libraries and identified 14 CSF categories from 18 studies out of 242 studies retrieved initially. Following that, we searched for evidence on the existence of each CSF category in five maturity models, namely Business Process Management Capability Framework (BPM-CF), Business Process Orientation Maturity Model (BPO-MM), Business Process Orientation Maturity Framework (BPO-MF), Business Process Maturity Model (OMG-BPMM), and Process and Enterprise Maturity Model (PEMM). The findings from our investigation show that, despite the variance in degree of coverage of CSF categories by selected BPMMs, maturity models stand as a promising reference for organizations to start their BPM efforts.\u3cbr/\u3

Myocardial Infarction After General Anesthesia

Few statistics are available about the incidence of primary or recurrent myocardial infarction after anesthesia. Mortality rates and their relation to age and sex, and to type and duration of anesthesia in existing reports, are based on a relatively small number of cases. This review attempts to provide additional data on these questions by analyzing a 2-year experience in a large anesthetic practice

Understanding Teacher Evaluation in Finland: A Professional Development Framework

This study explores the characteristics of the teacher evaluation model in Finland. Highlighting the unique qualities of the Finnish case, we also compare these teacher evaluation practices with the increasingly applied value-added model (VAM) for teacher evaluation across the globe. Our analysis revealed that the Finnish Model prioritises teacher empowerment and professional development by carrying out bottom-up evaluation practices. With a clear focus on teacher empowerment and professional development, this framework substantially differs from accountability measures such as VAM, which emphasize rigid data collection procedures and the use of standardized test scores to hold teachers accountable based on their students’ academic performance. This study also revealed that professional development endeavours of teachers are highlighted as the key elements in Finnish teacher evaluation. Ongoing needs analyses for professional development also form the basis for assessing teachers in Finland

Investigación sobre la composición química, minerales y ácidos grasos de dos cultivares de almendra cultivados como orgánico y convencional en el sudeste de Turquía

Organic farming is a human and environment friendly production system that is based on soil fertility and food safety without using chemical fertilizers and pesticides in production, aiming to re-establish the deteriorated ecological balance as a result of harmful production practices. Organic products attract the interest of consumers as they are strongly perceived as healthier products compared to conventional food. This study aimed to determine the differences in chemical, mineral, and fatty acid characteristics between conventionally and organically cultivated Ferragnes and Ferraduel almond cultivars. When conventional and organic almonds were evaluated in terms of fatty acids, proximate compositions, and minerals, crude oil and Mg were statistically insignificant, while Cu was significant (P < 0.05) and all others were quite significant (P < 0.001). Total sugar was higher in organic samples compared to conventional samples in both cultivars. The crude oil and linoleic acid (12.93% for Ferragnes and 14.99% for Ferraduel) were higher in conventional samples but oleic acid (78.9% for Ferragnes and 81.08% for Ferraduel) was higher in organic samples. In addition, organic samples contained higher Mg and Fe but lower P, K, Ca, Na, Zn, Mn and Cu when compared with conventional samples. The results indicate that conventionally cultivated almonds present higher mineral content and lower fatty acid value compared to organically cultivated almonds.La agricultura orgánica es un sistema de producción amigable con el ser humano y el medio ambiente, basado en la fertilidad del suelo y la seguridad alimentaria. Este sistema suele prescindir del uso de fertilizantes químicos y pesticidas en la producción, con el objetivo de prefijar el equilibrio ecológico previamente destruido como resultado natural de prácticas de producción incorrectas. Los productos orgánicos están atrayendo cada vez más el interés de los consumidores ya que se perciben como productos más saludables en comparación con los alimentos convencionales. Este estudio tenía como objetivo determinar las diferencias en las características químicas, minerales y ácidos grasos existentes entre los cultivares de almendra de Ferragnes y de Ferraduel, cultivados tanto convencionalmente como orgánicamente. Cuando se evaluaron las almendras convencionales y las orgánicas en términos de ácidos grasos, composiciones proximal y minerales, el aceite crudo y el Mg fueron estadísticamente insignificantes, mientras que los valores de Cu fue significativo (P < 0.05) y todos los demás fueron bastante significativos (P < 0.001). El azúcar total fue mayor en muestras orgánicas en comparación con muestras convencionales en ambos cultivares. El aceite crudo y el ácido linoleico (12.93% para Ferragnes y 14.99% para Ferraduel) fue mayor en muestras convencionales, pero el ácido oleico (78.9% para Ferragnes y 81.08% para Ferraduel) fue mayor en muestras orgánicas. Además, las muestras orgánicas contenían mayor Mg y Fe pero menor P, K, Ca, Na, Zn, Mn y Cu cuando se compararon con las muestras convencionales. Los resultados indican que las almendras convencionales presentan mayor contenido mineral y menor valor de ácidos grasos en comparación con las cultivadas orgánicamente

Enhancing capacity of coherent optical information storage and transfer in a Bose-Einstein condensate

Coherent optical information storage capacity of an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate is examined. Theory of slow light propagation in atomic clouds is generalized to short pulse regime by taking into account group velocity dispersion. It is shown that the number of stored pulses in the condensate can be optimized for a particular coupling laser power, temperature and interatomic interaction strength. Analytical results are derived for semi-ideal model of the condensate using effective uniform density zone approximation. Detailed numerical simulations are also performed. It is found that axial density profile of the condensate protects the pulse against the group velocity dispersion. Furthermore, taking into account finite radial size of the condensate, multi-mode light propagation in atomic Bose-Einstein condensate is investigated. The number of modes that can be supported by a condensate is found. Single mode condition is determined as a function of experimentally accessible parameters including trap size, temperature, condensate number density and scattering length. Quantum coherent atom-light interaction schemes are proposed for enhancing multi-mode light propagation effects.Comment: 12pages. Laser Physics, in pres

Direct measurement of the mechanism by which magnesium specifically modifies the mechanical properties of DNA

International audienc

Direct observation of LO phonon-plasmon coupled modes in the infrared transmission spectra of n-GaAs and n-InxGa1-xAs epilayers

The infrared transmission spectrum of Si-doped molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)-grown GaAs epilayers, 2-2.5-mum thick, measured in the oblique (Berreman) geometry, revealed distinct minima in p polarization. Given epilayer thickness \u3c reststrahlen wavelength, the minima are identified as the zone-center transverse optic phonon (omega(TO)) and the high-frequency LO phonon-plasmon coupled mode (omega(+)). Analysis of the experimental data yielded free-carrier concentrations ranging from 2.5x10(17) to 1.4x10(18) cm(-3). The same technique with MBE-grown Si-doped In0.53Ga0.47As epilayers (0.5-1 mum thick) yielded omega(+) modes corresponding to free-carrier concentrations of 8.2x10(16)-2.7x10(19) cm(-3). The observations of the transmission minima in the Berreman geometry and their interpretation demonstrate a direct and simple method for deducing free-carrier concentrations over a wide range

Soap Froths and Crystal Structures

We propose a physical mechanism to explain the crystal symmetries found in macromolecular and supramolecular micellar materials. We argue that the packing entropy of the hard micellar cores is frustrated by the entropic interaction of their brush-like coronas. The latter interaction is treated as a surface effect between neighboring Voronoi cells. The observed crystal structures correspond to the Kelvin and Weaire-Phelan minimal foams. We show that these structures are stable for reasonable areal entropy densities.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX, 2 included eps figure

Role of cellular senescence and NOX4-mediated oxidative stress in systemic sclerosis pathogenesis.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by progressive fibrosis of skin and numerous internal organs and a severe fibroproliferative vasculopathy resulting frequently in severe disability and high mortality. Although the etiology of SSc is unknown and the detailed mechanisms responsible for the fibrotic process have not been fully elucidated, one important observation from a large US population study was the demonstration of a late onset of SSc with a peak incidence between 45 and 54 years of age in African-American females and between 65 and 74 years of age in white females. Although it is not appropriate to consider SSc as a disease of aging, the possibility that senescence changes in the cellular elements involved in its pathogenesis may play a role has not been thoroughly examined. The process of cellular senescence is extremely complex, and the mechanisms, molecular events, and signaling pathways involved have not been fully elucidated; however, there is strong evidence to support the concept that oxidative stress caused by the excessive generation of reactive oxygen species may be one important mechanism involved. On the other hand, numerous studies have implicated oxidative stress in SSc pathogenesis, thus, suggesting a plausible mechanism in which excessive oxidative stress induces cellular senescence and that the molecular events associated with this complex process play an important role in the fibrotic and fibroproliferative vasculopathy characteristic of SSc. Here, recent studies examining the role of cellular senescence and of oxidative stress in SSc pathogenesis will be reviewed