Knowledge Management for Public Administrations: Technical Realizations of an Enterprise Attention Management System

The improvement of governments’ efficiency has gained great importance and validity especially in the current times of economic downturn. E-Government constitutes the most contemporary techno-managerial proposition in the track of possible interventions. The paper addresses, more specifically, empowerments necessitated by Public Administration (PA) organizations. Anchored on the needs of three real-life cases, the paper describes the conception and the realization of an IT artefact together with its methodological appeals aiming at improving information access and delivery and thus PAs’ decision making capacity. Our proposition constitutes a novel approach for managing users’ attention in knowledge intensive organizations which goes beyond informing a user about changes in relevant information towards proactively supporting the user to react on changes. The approach is based on an expressive attention model, which is realized by combining ECA (Event-Condition-Action) rules with ontologies. The technical realizations described in the paper constitute the underlying infrastructure of an Enterprise Attention Management System

On the role of a librarian agent in ontology-based knowledge management systems

Abstract: In this paper, we present an agent-based approach for the improvement of searching in an ontology-based knowledge management system. The system implements a library scenario in which users query the repository for knowledge resources. Consequently, the so-called Librarian Agent plays the role of the human librarian in the traditional library it uses all possible information, about the domain vocabulary, the behaviour of previous users and the capacity of the knowledge repository, in order to help users find the resources they are interested in. We partially implemented the approach in the Web Portal of our Institute and some initial evaluation results are shown

Polaronic signatures and spectral properties of graphene antidot lattices

We explore the consequences of electron-phonon (e-ph) coupling in graphene antidot lattices (graphene nanomeshes), i.e., triangular superlattices of circular holes (antidots) in a graphene sheet. They display a direct band gap whose magnitude can be controlled via the antidot size and density. The relevant coupling mechanism in these semiconducting counterparts of graphene is the modulation of the nearest-neighbor electronic hopping integrals due to lattice distortions (Peierls-type e-ph coupling). We compute the full momentum dependence of the e-ph vertex functions for a number of representative antidot lattices. Based on the latter, we discuss the origins of the previously found large conduction-band quasiparticle spectral weight due to e-ph coupling. In addition, we study the nonzero-momentum quasiparticle properties with the aid of the self-consistent Born approximation, yielding results that can be compared with future angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements. Our principal finding is a significant e-ph mass enhancement, an indication of polaronic behavior. This can be ascribed to the peculiar momentum dependence of the e-ph interaction in these narrow-band systems, which favors small phonon momentum scattering. We also discuss implications of our study for recently fabricated large-period graphene antidot lattices.Comment: published versio

Das Stimmvolk soll den Sprachenstreit klären

Ein Referendum gegen die Einmischung des Bundes in die kantonale Autonomie würde die Schweiz spalten. Die Befürworter der Landessprachen dürften die Abstimmung aber locker gewinnen

Correlation between Fitness and Fatness in 6-14-year Old Serbian School Children

Lack of physical activity and/or physical fitness are some reasons epidemiologists suggest for increase in childhood obesity in the last 20 years, with clear correlation between body composition and physical activity and/or physical fitness yet to be determined. The objectives of the study were to (a) investigate the prevalence of overweight and obesity among Serbian school children and (b) determine the relationship between indicators of physical activity and body fatness in Serbian school children aged 6-14 years. The study subjects included a representative sample of Serbian elementary school children (n=1, 121—754 boys and 367 girls—aged 6.2-14.1 years), all of whom were recruited in the OLIMP (Obesity and Physical Activity among Serbian School Children) study. Anthropometric and physical fitness values, including body mass index (BMI), waist-circumference, body-fat, and aerobic capacity, were measured in all the children. Significant differences were found between male and female children regarding the prevalence of obesity (6.8% vs 8.2%, p<0.05, boys and girls respectively). Boys had significantly lower body mass, BMI, waist-circumference, sum of six skinfolds, and body-fat compared to their female counterparts (p<0.05). The highest level of weight, BMI, body-fat, and waist-circumference observed in a 14-year old girl (96.3 kg, 40.5 kg/m2, 54.5%, 91.4 cm respectively) implies the existence of extreme obesity in Serbian school children. The negative relationship between body-fat and maximal oxygen (VO2max) uptake was moderately high (r=-0.76; p<0.05). The study has shown a high prevalence of adiposity among Serbian school children, with a strong negative relationship between aerobic fitness and body fatness. Data of the study emphasize the necessity to identify children with weight problems and to develop early interventions to improve physical activity in children and prevent the increase of childhood obesity

PROCESS-ORIENTED SEMANTIC BUSINESS MODELING

In process-driven organizations, process models are the basis on which their supporting processaware information systems are built. Process modeling today is a highly complex, time consuming and error-prone task. In this paper, we define the abstraction levels of process modeling and extract the business knowledge required for modeling a process. Further, we present a processoriented enterprise ontology framework for capturing all relevant aspects of process models. Finally, we provide a set of application scenarios to illustrate the usage of the ontology framework. In this way, we reduce the complexity of process modeling, enable improved enterprise transparency and help ensuring the quality of designed process models

Značaj ribljeg brašna i drugih hraniva životinjskog porekla za proizvodnju smeša koncentrata

U radu je prikazan značaj ribljeg brašna kao i drugih hraniva životinjskog porekla za proizvodnju smeša koncentrata, kao i mogućnost njihove suspstitucije hranivima biljnog porekla u kombinaciji sa sintetičkim aminokiselinama, ili komercijalnim „zamenama“ ribljeg brašna. Riblje brašno je do sada najviše korišćeno hranivo životinjslog porekla. Zbog opasnosti od širenja bolesti Bovine spongiform encephalopathy – BSE, u Evropskoj uniji je regulativama 999/2001 i 1234/2003 zabranjena upotreba obrađenih animalnih proteina, u koje spadaju različite vrste mesno-koštanog brašna, za sve farmske životinje koje ulaze u lanac ishrane ljudi, izuzev ribljeg brašna za nepreživare. Kod nas je u skladu sa Zakonom o veterinarstvu iz 2005. uvedena obaveza za sve fabrike hrane za životinje da odvajaju linije u kojima se pripremaju koncentrati za preživare, ili da proizvodnju obavljaju na istoj liniji ali da se pri tome odreknu upotrebe hraniva životinjskog porekla. U skladu sa tim, vrši se stalni monitoring smeša za preživare. Zadnjih godina je korišćenje ribljeg brašna u ishrani nepreživara jako smanjeno zbog navedenih zakonskih ograničenja, sve lošije hranljive i upotrebne vrednosti (zdravstvene ispravnosti), problema falsifikovanja (dodavanja hraniva niže hranljive vrednosti: sojine sačme, kukuruznog glutena, brašna od perja pa čak i uree) kao i zbog visoke cene. Osim toga, dobro je poznato da riblje brašno prenosi svoj specifičan miris na proizvode pa se obavezno isključuje iz smeša pri kraju tova brojlera. Velike količine ribljeg brašna se i danas koriste pri proizvodnji peletirane hrane za pastrmke i druge karnivore ribe. Naime, ove vrste riba zahtevaju visok nivo proteina dobre biološke vrednosti u obrocima. Ranih 90-ih godina preporučivan odnos svarljivih sirovih proteina i svarljive energije u obrocima za pastrmke je bio 22-25 g/MJ. Nasuprot tome, u zadnjoj dekadi eksperimentalno je dokazana efikasnost obroka sa većim sadržajem masti (>20%) i kada je odnos proteina i energije uži. Međutim, u tom slučaju treba obezbediti odgovarajući nivo esencijalnih aminokiselina. Objašnjenje je u specifičnom metabolizmu riba. Krajnji proizvod metabolizma proteina u riba je amonijak, za šta je potrebno manje energije. Nasuprot tome, krajnji proizvod metabolizma energije u svinja je urea, čime se objašnjava uži odnos proteina i energije (oko 14 g/KJ). Zbog svega navedenog proizvođači teže da riblje brašno zamene (delimično ili potpuno) nekim drugim proteinskim hranivom (biljnog ili životinjskog porekla), pri čemu je jedan od glavnih ciljeva što niža cena proizvodnje. Do sada je najviše pažnje poklanjano proizvodima od soje, odnosno sojinoj sačmi. Ovo hranivo ima veliku biološku vrednost proteina ali i visok sadržaj različitih antinutritivnih materija. Nasuprot tome, efikasnijim se pokazao koncentrat proteina soje. To je hranivo koje se dobija uklanjanjem masti i rastvorljivih ugljenih hidrata. Eksperimentalno je utvrđena mogućnost delimične supstitucije ribljeg brašna suncokretovom sačmom, ali je glavni nedostatak ovog hraniva u velikoj količini nerastvorljivh ugljenih hidrata. Pored ovih hraniva, u eksperimentima su ispitivane sačme pamuka, kikirikija, uljane repice, brašno lupine, kukuruzni gluten, proteini krompira i dr. Međutim, nedostatak svih ovih hraniva je nizak nivo nekih esencijalnih aminokiselina kao i prisustvo antinutritivnih, štetnih i nesvarljivih materija. Jedno od potencijalnih proteinskih hraniva za ribe i domaće životinje je bakterijski protein. U pogledu brzine rasta i produkcije proteina, bakterije imaju prednost u odnosu na kvasce. Pored toga, bakterije sadrže i više proteina (do 80%), a aminokiselinski sastav je povoljniji i sličniji proteinima životinjskog porekla. Nedostatak je velika količina nukleinskih kiselina (do 18%) koje u sisara katabolišu do mokraćne kiseline. U zaključku se ističe da su troškovi ishrane ključni za rentabilnost proizvodnje u stočarstvu i nekim oblicima ribarske proizvodnje. Supstitucija ribljeg brašna u obrocima za domaće životinje i ribe je neophodnost zbog visoke cene ovog hraniva, varijabilnog kvaliteta i eventualnog falsifikovanja jeftinijim hranivima. Za sada, najveći značaj pokazuju proizvodi prerade soje a određenu perspektivu imaju i bakterijski proteini