STATE PROPAGATION FOR BUSINESS PROCESS MONITORING ON DIFFERENT LEVELS OF ABSTRACTION

Modeling and execution of business processes is often performed on different levels of abstraction. For example, when a business process is modeled using a high-level notation near to business such as Event-driven Process Chains (EPC), a technical refinement step is required before the process can be executed. Also, model-driven process design allows modeling a process on high-level, while executing it in a more detailed and executable low-level representation such as processes defined in the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) or as Java code. However, current approaches for graphical monitoring of business processes are limited to scenarios in which the process that is being executed and the process that is being monitored are either one and the same or on the same level of abstraction. In this paper, we present an approach to facilitate business-oriented process monitoring while considering process design on high-level. We propose process views for business process monitoring as projections of activities and execution states in order to support business process monitoring of running process instances on different levels of abstraction. In particular, we discuss state propagation patterns which can be applied to define advanced monitoring solutions for arbitrary graph-based process languages

Heavy quark colorimetry of QCD matter

We consider propagation of heavy quarks in QCD matter. Because of large quark mass, the radiative quark energy loss appears to be qualitatively different from that of light quarks at all energies of practical importance. Finite quark mass effects lead to an in-medium enhancement of the heavy-to-light D/\pi ratio at moderately large (5--10 GeV) transverse momenta. For hot QCD matter a large enhancement is expected, whose magnitude and shape are exponentially sensitive to the density of colour charges in the medium.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, LaTe

A prototype for view-based monitoring of BPEL processes

This report describes the initial version of a tool for business process monitoring based on process viewing techniques. The tool, Business Process Illustrator (BPI), has been developed in the course of a Diploma Thesis which has been conducted at the Institute of Architecture of Application Systems. BPI is a Web-based tool for monitoring the execution of business processes. It displays the current state of a process instance in form of a process graph which is refreshed regularly. The initial version of the prototype supports regular process monitoring of processes based on the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL), plus process view transformations to reduce complexity and to ease analysis of process instances

Olfactory Thresholds of the U.S. Population of Home-Dwelling Older Adults: Development and Validation of a Short, Reliable Measure

Current methods of olfactory sensitivity testing are logistically challenging and therefore infeasible for use in in-home surveys and other field settings. We developed a fast, easy and reliable method of assessing olfactory thresholds, and used it in the first study of olfactory sensitivity in a nationally representative sample of U.S. home-dwelling older adults. We validated our method via computer simulation together with a model estimated from 590 normosmics. Simulated subjects were assigned n-butanol thresholds drawn from the estimated normosmic distribution and based on these and the model, we simulated administration of both the staircase and constant stimuli methods. Our results replicate both the correlation between the two methods and their reliability as previously reported by studies using human subjects. Further simulations evaluated the reliability of different constant stimuli protocols, varying both the range of dilutions and number of stimuli (6–16). Six appropriately chosen dilutions were sufficient for good reliability (0.67) in normosmic subjects. Finally, we applied our method to design a 5-minute, in-home assessment of older adults (National Social Life, Health and Aging Project, or NSHAP), which had comparable reliability (0.56), despite many subjects having estimated thresholds above the strongest dilution. Thus, testing with a fast, 6-item constant stimuli protocol is informative, and permits olfactory testing in previously inaccessible research settings

Propagation of states from BPEL process instances to Chevron models

This report describes key aspects of a code library that we developed for the purpose of state propagation for business process monitoring on different levels of abstraction. The library supports the propagation of execution states of process instances based on the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) to process models specified in the "Chevron" language. The Chevron language is an abstract, non-executable process language that we especially designed for abstract process instance monitoring purposes. The look and feel of this graphical language is similar to value chains. The basic concept of the Chevron language is based on Chevron-shaped charts which can be modeled in Microsoft PowerPoint to describe a process on a high level of abstraction. We aim at enabling the use of high-level process in order to monitor the instance status of a much more detailed, lower-level model. We describe the overall procedure of performing state projections along a concrete scenario. We describe a format for state propagation rules which define how the status of activities of a BPEL process instance should be projected to the elements of a Chevron model. We present a format to serialize process models in the Chevron language. We present a graphical template based on Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) which we employ to render a stateful Chevron model graphically. The Chevron language is just one language to be used for abstract representation of process instances. However, the approach for state propagation is generic and can be applied for other languages, too

A Classification of BPEL Extensions

The Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) has emerged as de-facto standard for business processes implementation. This language is designed to be extensible for including additional valuable features in a standardized manner. There are a number of BPEL extensions available. They are, however, neither classified nor evaluated with respect to their compliance to the BPEL standard. This article fills this gap by providing a framework for classifying BPEL extensions, a classification of existing extensions, and a guideline for designing BPEL extensions

WS-BPEL extension for compliance fragments (BPEL4CFrags), Version 1.0

The Web Services Business Process Execution Language, version 2.0 (WS-BPEL 2.0 or BPEL for brevity) introduces a model for business processes based on Web services. A BPEL process orchestrates interactions among different Web services. The language comprises features required to describe complex control flows, including error handling and compensation behaviour. BPEL for Compliance Fragments (BPEL4CFrags) enables the specification of compliance fragments providing a reusable solution for implementing and meeting compliance requirements. The compliance fragments are not necessarily executable. Providing process modeling support at design time requires the completion of not directly executable compliance fragments, because compliance fragments contain several degrees of freedom, into already existing executable BPEL processes. Moreover, assistance for creation of executable BPEL processes from scratch during IT refinement has to be provided

Magnetic interactions of cold atoms with anisotropic conductors

We analyze atom-surface magnetic interactions on atom chips where the magnetic trapping potentials are produced by current carrying wires made of electrically anisotropic materials. We discuss a theory for time dependent fluctuations of the magnetic potential, arising from thermal noise originating from the surface. It is shown that using materials with a large electrical anisotropy results in a considerable reduction of heating and decoherence rates of ultra-cold atoms trapped near the surface, of up to several orders of magnitude. The trap loss rate due to spin flips is expected to be significantly reduced upon cooling the surface to low temperatures. In addition, the electrical anisotropy significantly suppresses the amplitude of static spatial potential corrugations due to current scattering within imperfect wires. Also the shape of the corrugation pattern depends on the electrical anisotropy: the preferred angle of the scattered current wave fronts can be varied over a wide range. Materials, fabrication, and experimental issues are discussed, and specific candidate materials are suggested.Comment: Selected as a Highlight paper in the European Physical Journal

Absorption Imaging of Ultracold Atoms on Atom Chips

Imaging ultracold atomic gases close to surfaces is an important tool for the detailed analysis of experiments carried out using atom chips. We describe the critical factors that need be considered, especially when the imaging beam is purposely reflected from the surface. In particular we present methods to measure the atom-surface distance, which is a prerequisite for magnetic field imaging and studies of atom surface-interactions.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures. v2 contains updated figures, modifications to tex