Instances and connectors : issues for a second generation process language

This work is supported by UK EPSRC grants GR/L34433 and GR/L32699Over the past decade a variety of process languages have been defined, used and evaluated. It is now possible to consider second generation languages based on this experience. Rather than develop a second generation wish list this position paper explores two issues: instances and connectors. Instances relate to the relationship between a process model as a description and the, possibly multiple, enacting instances which are created from it. Connectors refers to the issue of concurrency control and achieving a higher level of abstraction in how parts of a model interact. We believe that these issues are key to developing systems which can effectively support business processes, and that they have not received sufficient attention within the process modelling community. Through exploring these issues we also illustrate our approach to designing a second generation process language.Postprin

Brand awareness of new technology in the introduction stage: A study of Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD format

The introduction of a new technology into the marketplace generally is a risky endeavour for a company, however, when there are competing new technologies of which it is believed only one can survive, winning over customers is one of the major corporate battles to be fought. This paper presents results of a survey among 1495 people regarding their awareness of the two DVD competing formats (Blu-ray and HD-DVD) in the early stages of the recent DVD format war. The results reveal that in the early stages of the format war more people were aware of the HD-DVD than of the Blu-ray format. A model is presented that predicts format awareness from four consumer characteristic constructs and four demographic variables

How preferences change after receiving new product information in an experimental choice task

Discrete choice experiments typically assume that preference structures remain stable over time and over multiple exposures to information about choice alternatives. However, this assumption may not be valid when the study concerns a new product, which individuals are less familiar with. This paper tests how attribute preferences shift when respondents are exposed to new product information in an experimental choice task. The findings indicate how attribute utilities vary across the before and after exposure conditions; further analysis however shows these effects to partly disappear when the effect of information on the scale constant is accounted for

Rational Vs Emotional Appeals with Communications to Landholders: A Review of Focus Group Responses

There are many organisations that seek to communicate with landholders for the purposes of engaging them in local environmental or conservation programs and sustainable production. This study examined whether different segments of landholders are likely to respond better to communication based on different appeals (rational or emotional), using different messages and communication channels. Seven hypothetical communication campaigns were designed with specific messages and appeals, each produced in three types of media. Focus groups of three specific landholder groups lifestylers., traditional and absentee landowners were held to obtain their responses to the campaigns. Findings suggest that the effectiveness of communications with landholders can be increased by using preferred messages and appeals, and selecting a combination of media appropriate to the landholder group being targeted

Sustainability of community-based women’s groups: reflections from a participatory intervention for newborn and maternal health in Nepal

Participatory community-based women’s group interventions have been successful in improving maternal and newborn survival. In rural Makwanpur, Nepal, exposure to these Participatory Learning and Action groups resulted in a thirty-percent reduction in neonatal mortality rate and significantly fewer maternal deaths. It is often theorised that participatory approaches are more likely to be sustained than top-down approaches, but this is rarely evaluated after the withdrawal of external support. We sought to understand how participatory learning and action (PLA) groups in Makwanpur fared after the supporting non-governmental organisation withdrew their support as well as factors affecting their sustainability. We used mixed methods, conducting a cross-sectional survey of 239 groups, thirty focus group discussions with group members and thirty key informant interviews within twelve–seventeen months after support was withdrawn. Eighty percent of groups were still active which suggests that PLA groups have a high chance of being sustained over time. Groups were more likely to be sustained if the group had local importance and members continued to acquire new knowledge. However, the participatory nature of the group and local embeddedness were not enough to sustain all groups. They also needed leadership capacity, a unifying activity such as a fund, and a strong belief in the value of their meeting to sustain. These key factors should be considered when seeking to enable sustainability of participatory interventions

Charge Lattices and Consistency of 6D Supergravity

We extend the known consistency conditions on the low-energy theory of six-dimensional N = 1 supergravity. We review some facts about the theory of two-form gauge fields and conclude that the charge lattice Gamma for such a theory has to be self-dual. The Green-Schwarz anomaly cancellation conditions in the supergravity theory determine a sublattice of Gamma. The condition that this sublattice can be extended to a self-dual lattice Gamma leads to a strong constraint on theories that otherwise appear to be self-consistent.Comment: 15 pages. v2: minor changes; references, additional example added; v3: minor corrections and clarifications added, JHEP versio