Search for squarks and gluinos with the ATLAS detector in final states with jets and missing transverse momentum using 20.3 fb−1fb^{-1} of s\sqrt{s} = 8 TeV proton-proton collision data

Weak scale supersymmetry is one of the best motivated and studied Standard Model extensions. It predicts the existence of new heavy coloured particles called squarks and gluinos which are the supersymmetric partners of the quarks and gluons, respectively. The poster summarises results on inclusive searches for supersymmetric squarks and gluinos in events containing jets and missing transverse momentum without leptons. The searches use the full data sample recorded in 2012 at $\sqrt{s}$=8~TeV centre-of-mass energy by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC.Comment: 4 pages, proceedings for LHCP 2014 conferenc

L0 Sparse Inverse Covariance Estimation

Recently, there has been focus on penalized log-likelihood covariance estimation for sparse inverse covariance (precision) matrices. The penalty is responsible for inducing sparsity, and a very common choice is the convex $l_1$ norm. However, the best estimator performance is not always achieved with this penalty. The most natural sparsity promoting "norm" is the non-convex $l_0$ penalty but its lack of convexity has deterred its use in sparse maximum likelihood estimation. In this paper we consider non-convex $l_0$ penalized log-likelihood inverse covariance estimation and present a novel cyclic descent algorithm for its optimization. Convergence to a local minimizer is proved, which is highly non-trivial, and we demonstrate via simulations the reduced bias and superior quality of the $l_0$ penalty as compared to the $l_1$ penalty

Review : An example of students who can self-assess themselves and work autonomously, by Juan Carlos Araujo Portugal

Obra ressenyada: Juan Carlos ARAUJO PORTUGAL, An example of students who can self-assess themselves and work autonomously. Burgos: Universidad de Burgos, 2018

IMPROVING KNOWLEDGE-INTENSIVE HEALTH CARE PROCESSES BEYOND EFFICIENCY

Health care has been one of the most important domains for Business Process Management (BPM) research and practice for many years. Through an exploratory case study conducted in a real organization, here named “SpecialClinic”, this research aims to investigate what lies beyond “traditional” BPM, in particular process efficiency, as practiced by many organizations today. It focuses on customer-facing knowledge-intensive BPs in the case organization and aims to investigate their ongoing improvement. The main findings of this research challenge the main objectives of BP improvement (i.e. reduced costs, improved efficiency) as they show that some organizations are making their “to-be” processes slower and more expensive, yet significantly improved in terms of quality of patient care. In addition to its main research contribution related to new approaches to improvement of knowledge-intensive BPs, this work offers some important lessons for the BPM practitioners interested in expanding the current boundaries of BPM

Enzyme engineering for sustainable production of caprolactam

Nylon-6 is a versatile polyamide with numerous applications and is industrially produced by ring-opening polymerization of caprolactam which is synthesized from petrochemical resources. The ongoing depletion of fossil resources and poor sustainability metrics of current synthetic routes necessitate exploration of bio-based solutions for the demands of modern societies. Alternatives for the production of the precursors caprolactam and 6-aminocaproic acid (6-ACA) are worth considering for this reason. Whereas a route for production from α-ketoglutarate over α-ketopimelate to 6-ACA in E. coli has been described, productivity is rather low. The modest production levels for this artificial biosynthetic pathway are due to the deflection of intermediates by competing endogenous enzymes into non-productive routes leading to side product formation. This thesis’ work is aimed at exploring solutions that remedy this undesired formation. One way to circumvent the side product formation could be the creation of an orthogonal artificial pathway by using a D-enantiomer as intermediate. In nature, the abundance of D-amino acids and enzymes working on D-stereo centers is rather low and, therefore, this pathway would not interfere with the metabolism of the host. Supported by computational redesign tools, we engineered two enzymes for this orthogonal pathway, a dehydrogenase and a decarboxylase. To our knowledge, it is the only fermentation pathway including a D-amino acid functionality as central intermediate. Besides that, we investigated a new-found enzyme for the hydrolysis of caprolactam (caprolactamase), of which we solved the structure and of which the catalytic mechanism has been proposed, which has not been described yet

A Web-Based Handbook of Innovative Teaching Practices - Creating New Opportunities for IS research

Process-oriented learning designs describe innovative teaching practices (processes) that consist of a set of inter-related learning tasks. These processes are generic rather than discipline specific. An example includes a problem-solving process widely used in problem-based learning. Most existing process-oriented learning designs are not analysed or documented in any systematic way. This is because they represent tacit knowledge gained through years of practical experience and reflective practice. Consequently they are hard to externalise and support by information technology. This paper investigates the dual role IT technology plays in relation to process-related learning designs. It argues that existing educational technologies, knowledge-management systems and process-oriented technologies cannot be used to support process-related learning designs. Furthermore, these existing technologies cannot be used to offer knowledge management support to teachers interested to share, store and reuse their innovative practices. The paper describes a new type of process- oriented, knowledge-management educational technology designed to fulfil this dual role. The paper also identifies various interesting IS challenges related to the design and implementation of this technology