Evaluating concepts for short-term control in financial service processes

Financial services are characterised by the integration of customers while the service is being delivered. This integration leads to interruptions and thus delays in the processing of a customer order until for example the customer provides the missing input. Because customer behaviour can only be planned to a certain extent this is a major problem for an efficient control of financial service processes. It would be helpful to know which concept leads to the best solution for a certain situation in controlling the process. A concept contains explicit practical knowledge e.g. using a stand-by-employee or a prioritisation of customer orders with first-infirst-out. As financial services differ from manufacturing processes application knowledge of concepts cannot be transferred one to one. To test concepts regarding their ability to deal efficiently with interruptions by customers short-term simulations should be conducted. Shortterm simulation uses the actual state of a process and is not focussing on steady-state results. The research presented focuses on comparing several concepts for short-term control using case-study data of a typical financial service process. For this process a simulation model is built based on process mining. This approach is used to gather information out of documented timestamps of underlying process-aware information systems. Such timestamps allow a historical analysis to build typical scenarios and to gather the actual state of a financial service process as a starting point for a simulation analysis. The depicted concepts are simulated for different typical scenarios points to determine respectively which concept suits best. The results show which concepts suit best in certain situations for the case study conducted. --short-term control,financial services,business process simulation

A Supercode for Inflammation

AbstractSiegelman and colleagues demonstrate unexpected synergism of CD44 and VLA-4 during lymphocyte extravasation. This is the first time that molecules mediating rolling and firm adhesion have been shown to associate biochemically leading to direct functional cooperation

The ontology of Bohmian mechanics

The paper points out that the modern formulation of Bohm's quantum theory known as Bohmian mechanics is committed only to particles' positions and a law of motion. We explain how this view can avoid the open questions that the traditional view faces according to which Bohm's theory is committed to a wave-function that is a physical entity over and above the particles, although it is defined on configuration space instead of three-dimensional space. We then enquire into the status of the law of motion, elaborating on how the main philosophical options to ground a law of motion, namely Humeanism and dispositionalism, can be applied to Bohmian mechanics. In conclusion, we sketch out how these options apply to primitive ontology approaches to quantum mechanics in general

The physics and metaphysics of primitive stuff

The paper sets out a primitive ontology of the natural world in terms of primitive stuff, that is, stuff that has as such no physical properties at all, but that is not a bare substratum either, being individuated by metrical relations. We focus on quantum physics and employ identity-based Bohmian mechanics to illustrate this view, but point out that it applies all over physics. Properties then enter into the picture exclusively through the role that they play for the dynamics of the primitive stuff. We show that such properties can be local (classical mechanics), as well as holistic (quantum mechanics), and discuss two metaphysical options to conceive them, namely Humeanism and modal realism in the guise of dispositionalism

Solving Games with Functional Regret Estimation

We propose a novel online learning method for minimizing regret in large extensive-form games. The approach learns a function approximator online to estimate the regret for choosing a particular action. A no-regret algorithm uses these estimates in place of the true regrets to define a sequence of policies. We prove the approach sound by providing a bound relating the quality of the function approximation and regret of the algorithm. A corollary being that the method is guaranteed to converge to a Nash equilibrium in self-play so long as the regrets are ultimately realizable by the function approximator. Our technique can be understood as a principled generalization of existing work on abstraction in large games; in our work, both the abstraction as well as the equilibrium are learned during self-play. We demonstrate empirically the method achieves higher quality strategies than state-of-the-art abstraction techniques given the same resources.Comment: AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence 201

Effectively Alleviating Poverty Requires Economic Development: The Role Non-Profits Serve in this Endeavor

The aim of this paper is to analyze the role that nonprofit organizations can play in utilizing economic development to alleviate poverty. The thesis components will be analyzed by answering six research questions (RQ): (1) What is economic development in developing countries? (2) What is the connection between economic development and poverty alleviation? (3) What are some examples of economic development lessening poverty? (4) What are the essential features of a nonprofit organization? (5) What can nonprofit organizations do to create economic development? and finally, (6) What are archetypical examples of nonprofits creating economic development and reducing poverty? To understand economic development, this paper will show that many tools are necessary, including: trade, entrepreneurship, education, and political stability – to name a few. Secondly, it will be explained how these tools can be used not only for growth but even to better the living conditions of every participant in an economy. A few examples of each will be provided. Next, the essential features of a nonprofit organization will be provided. With this comprehensive understanding, the primary objective can be more fully appreciated. The thesis looks at how two of the major tools of economic development – trade and entrepreneurship – can be applied by nonprofit organizations (NPOs) to provide opportunities for the low-income individuals to better their own circumstances. Finally, specific NPOs will be provided that are carrying this vision out in their operations. Throughout this thesis, it will be seen how nonprofits can utilize economic development to alleviate poverty

Moral Disagreement and Audi\u27s Account of Moral Intuitionism

In Moral Perception Robert Audi advocates for an intuitionist account of moral perception in which a moral agent of the proper disposition can use emotion and intuition as a means of supporting or justifying knowledge claims concerning certain moral truths or propositions. Since emotion and intuition can vary from agent to agent and neither agent would be better disposed to claim priority for their emotion or intuition over that of the other agent this opens Audi’s account up to possible instances of problematic disagreement. For this reason, I argue that agents in this intuitionist picture ought to remain epistemically agnostic towards any moral proposition that they and a relevant epistemic/moral peer actually disagree upon, at least until the disagreement has been resolved

In vivo imaging approaches in animal models of rheumatoid arthritis

The interaction of activated leukocytes with the rheumatoid synovial environment is a key process in arthritis. Understanding this process will play an important role in designing effective treatments. In vivo imaging approaches combined with molecular genetics in animal models provide important tools to address these issues. The present review will focus on approaches to in vivo imaging, with particular attention to approaches that are proving useful for, or have promise for, research on animal models of rheumatoid arthritis. These approaches will probably shed light on the specific local mechanisms involved in chronic inflammation and provide real time monitoring approaches to follow cellular and molecular events related to disease development

Innovation in teacher education: faculty members\u27 and assessment coordinators\u27 perceptions of electronic assessment systems

Electronic assessment systems (EASs) have proliferated teacher education programs in postsecondary education. Mostly, these systems facilitate candidate and program assessment through technology-mediated procedures, allowing for greater efficiency and accuracy in data collection and analysis. If implemented successfully, the work of individuals associated with teacher education programs from faculty members to assessment coordinators and beyond has the potential to benefit from utilizing the system for course-based and programmatic assessment, both of which are criteria for the accreditation of teacher education programs by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). This qualitative study explores the perceptions of faculty and assessment coordinators at three institutions of higher education as they relate to three different EASs. Such research is absent from current literature. However, limited research on EASs does exist, and this study contributes to that research within the context of teacher education programs and the innovation diffusion theoretical framework. To accomplish that, the research questions are addressed through the use of informal conversational and interview guide protocols, both suggested by Patton (2002), with the participants. Data analysis reflects the constant comparative method of qualitative data analysis (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), and the results of that analysis are presented in question-and-answer case study and cross-case analysis formats. These reporting methods present comprehensive results through thick descriptions (Patton, 2002) and discussions of cross-case themes, respectively. Results of this study lead the researcher to conclude that EASs are significant in teacher education programs, and the results reveal that the critical issues regarding EAS adoption relate to (1) technology mandates by NCATE, (2) the issues of change and innovation diffusion as they relate to individuals and organizations, and (3) the standardization effect of EASs on assessment

Beyond the Public/Private Divide : New Perspectives on Sexuality, Hospitality, and Diplomacy within Royal Spaces

This article presents the theme of the special edition, provides a case study, and sets out the ways in which the contributions consider how notions of privacy and the private emerged, influenced, or existed within and around the institution of monarchy. One of the key ways to tackle privacy is to investigate the idea of ‘access’ and ‘accessibility’, which is an underlying theme throughout the contributions of this special edition. Each contributor informs the phenomena of privacy, and thus privacy studies, through their research. These articles seek to understand the ways in which sexuality, hospitality, and diplomacy are shaped by notions of privacy and the private, as a means of contextualising and understanding the nuances of gender, power, and the interrelations of rulership.Peer reviewe