Cross organisational compatible workflows generation and execution

With the development of internet and electronics, the demand for electronic and online commerce has increased. This has, in turn, increased the demand for business process automation. Workflow has established itself as the technology used for business process automation. Since business organisations have to work in coordination with many other business organisations in order to succeed in business, the workflows of business organisations are expected to collaborate with those of other business organisations. Collaborating organisations can only proceed in business if they have compatible workflows. Therefore, there is a need for cross organisational workflow collaboration. The dynamism and complexity of online and electronic business and high demand from the market leave the workflows prone to frequent changes. If a workflow changes, it has to be re-engineered as well as reconciled with the workflows of the collaborating organisations. To avoid the continuous re-engineering and reconciliation of workflows, and to reuse the existing units of work done, the focus has recently shifted from modeling workflows to automatic workflow generation. Workflows must proceed to runtime execution, otherwise, the effort invested in the build time workflow modeling is wasted. Therefore, workflow management and collaboration systems must support workflow enactment and runtime workflow collaboration. Although substantial research has been done in build-time workflow collaboration, automatic workflow generation, workflow enactment and runtime workflow collaboration, the integration of these highly inter-dependent aspects of workflow has not been considered in the literature. The research work presented in this thesis investigates the integration of these different aspects. The main focus of the research presented in this thesis is the creation of a framework that is able to generate multiple sets of compatible workflows for multiple collaborating organisations, from their OWLS process definitions and high level goals. The proposed framework also supports runtime enactment and runtime collaboration of the generated workflows

A cross organisation compatible workflows generation and execution framework

With the development of the Internet, the demand for electronic and online commerce has increased. This has, in turn, increased the demand for business process automation. In this paper, we look at the use of workflows for business process automation. An automatically generated workflow can save time and resources needed for running online businesses. In general, due to the interdependencies between their activities, multiple business organisations will need to work together by collaborating and coordinating their activities with each other. This gives rise to the need for workflow collaboration across organisations. Current systems for workflow collaboration are only capable of reconciling existing workflows of the collaborating organisations. Automatic workflow generation systems only generate workflows for individual organisations and cannot handle the automatic generation of compatible workflows for multiple collaborating organisations. To overcome this problem, in this paper, we present a framework that is able to generate multiple sets of compatible workflows for multiple collaborating organisations. The proposed framework supports runtime enactment and runtime collaboration of the generated workflows. This framework enables users to save the time and resources that would otherwise be spent in modelling, reconciling and reengineering workflows

Cross organisational compatible plans generation framework

In this modern era, organisations have to work in coordination with many other organisations in order to succeed in business. Interacting organisations can only proceed in business if they have compatible workflows. This paper proposes a framework to automatically generate compatible workflows for multiple interacting organisations from their process definitions and service descriptions. Existing systems can reconcile existing workflows only, and cannot generate compatible workflows for multiple organisations automatically. The proposed system is different from existing systems since it targets workflow collaboration by generating workflows automatically. This allows the organisations to save the time that would otherwise be spent in modelling workflows and making them compatible with the workflows of interacting organisations

Interaction protocols for cross-organisational workflows

Workflow technologies are widely used in industry and commerce to assist in the specification, execution and completion of well defined processes within organisations. As industrial and commercial relations have evolved, based on advances on information and communications technologies, cross-organisational workflow integration has become an important issue. Since organisations can have very different workflows, the creation of compatible workflows so that organisations can collaborate and/or carry out mutual transactions automatically in an integrated fashion can be a very complex and time consuming process. As a consequence, the development of technologies to support the creation and execution of compatible workflows is a most relevant issue. In the present article we introduce the JamSession coordination platform as a tool to implement cross-organisational workflow integration. JamSession is declarative and based on algebraic specification methods, and therefore workflow integration implemented using this platform can profit from formal behavioural analysis, based on which desired features and properties can be verified and/or obtained

Chemical characterisation and hepatoprotective potential of <i>Cosmos sulphureus</i> Cav. and <i>Cosmos bipinnatus</i> Cav.

<p>This study was conducted to validate the hepatoprotective activity of <i>Cosmos sulphureus</i> and <i>Cosmos bipinnatus</i>. Aqua-methanolic extracts of both plants were evaluated for the presence of various phyto-constituents through HPLC. Different doses of both plant extracts were administered to rats for nine days. Standard control was silymarin 100 mg/kg. Paracetamol 1 gm/kg was administered 3 h post treatment on 9th day for induction of hepatotoxicity. Blood was collected for the evaluation of liver biochemical markers and livers were removed for histopathological evaluation 24 h post-paracetamol treatment. HPLC analysis revealed the presence of quercetin, gallic acid, caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid in both plant extracts. The extracts of both plants decreased the level of alanine aminotransaminase and total bilirubin significantly (<i>p</i> < 0.05), dose dependently and protected hepatocytes from paracetamol-induced hepatotoxicity. It can be concluded that both plants may possess hepatoprotective activity possibly due to the presence of quercetin and phenolic compounds.</p

DataSheet1_Computational insights into the stereo-selectivity of catechins for the inhibition of the cancer therapeutic target EGFR kinase.pdf

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) plays a crucial role in regulating cellular growth and survival, and its dysregulation is implicated in various cancers, making it a prime target for cancer therapy. Natural compounds known as catechins have garnered attention as promising anticancer agents. These compounds exert their anticancer effects through diverse mechanisms, primarily by inhibiting receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), a protein family that includes the notable member EGFR. Catechins, characterized by two chiral centers and stereoisomerism, demonstrate variations in chemical and physical properties due to differences in the spatial orientation of atoms. Although previous studies have explored the membrane fluidity effects and transport across cellular membranes, the stereo-selectivity of catechins concerning EGFR kinase inhibition remains unexplored. In this study, we investigated the stereo-selectivity of catechins in inhibiting EGFR kinase, both in its wild-type and in the prevalent L858R mutant. Computational analyses indicated that all stereoisomers, including the extensively studied catechin (−)-EGCG, effectively bound within the ATP-binding site, potentially inhibiting EGFR kinase activity. Notably, gallated catechins emerged as superior EGFR inhibitors to their non-gallated counterparts, revealing intriguing binding trends. The top four stereoisomers exhibiting high dock scores and binding energies with wild-type EGFR comprise (−)-CG (−)-GCG (+)-CG, and (−)-EGCG. To assess dynamic behavior and stability, molecular dynamics simulations over 100 ns were conducted for the top-ranked catechin (−)-CG and the widely investigated catechin (−)-EGCG with EGFR kinase. This study enhances our understanding of how the stereoisomeric nature of a drug influences inhibitory potential, providing insights that could guide the selection of specific stereoisomers for improved efficacy inexisting drugs.</p

Genistein-mediated effects on AR protein and mRNA expression in LNCaP cells.

<p>A: Western blot analysis of the effect of different concentrations of genistein on AR protein expression in LNCaP cells. B: Signal relative intensity was normalized to β-tubulin in LNCaP cells. C: Effects of increasing doses of genistein on the AR mRNA in LNCaP were measured by real-time RT-PCR. Results represent the means ± SD of three independent experiments. *p < 0.05, **p <0.01, for comparisons with the control groups. </p

Effects of genistein on PSA expression and promoter activities in PCa cells.

<p>A and B: Western blot analysis of the effect of different concentrations of genistein on PSA protein expression in LAPC-4 and LNCaP cells, respectively. C: Signal relative intensity was normalized to β-tubulin. D: Quantitative assessment by real-time PCR of PSA mRNA expression in LAPC-4 and LNCaP cells in response to genistein treatment. E: Effects of genistein on PSA luciferase activity in LAPC-4 and LNCaP cells that were transfected with PSA promoter linked to a luciferase reporter in the pGL3-Basic vector. Results represent the means ± SD of three independent experiments. *p < 0.05, **p <0.01, for comparisons with the untreated control groups. </p

Effects of genistein on phosphorylated nuclear fraction of AR in LAPC-4 cells.

<p>Western blot analysis of the effect of different concentrations of genistein on the nuclear phosphorylated (A) and cytoplasmic fractions (C) of the AR protein in LAPC-4 cells. B and D show quantitative analysis of the signal normalized to TATA Binding Protein (TBP) and β-tubulin, respectively.</p

Effects of genistein on PCa cell growth and viability measured by MTS assay.

<p>The data represent the mean ± SD (standard deviation) of three experiments each in triplicate. A and B: Graphic presentation of the effects of different concentrations of genistein on LAPC-4 (A) and LNCaP (B) cell growth. C and D: The effect of combined treatment with genistein and R1881 on LAPC-4 (C) and LNCaP (D) cell proliferation. E: The effect of genistein treatment for 24 hours on the growth of non transfected PC-3 cells or PC-3 cells transfected with either WT-AR or the T877A mutant AR. OD; optical density. *p < 0.05, **p <0.01 for comparisons with the control groups.</p