Mining process models with non-free-choice constructs

Process mining aims at extracting information from event logs to capture the business process as it is being executed. Process mining is particularly useful in situations where events are recorded but there is no system enforcing people to work in a particular way. Consider for example a hospital where the diagnosis and treatment activities are recorded in the hospital information system, but where health-care professionals determine the “careflow.” Many process mining approaches have been proposed in recent years. However, in spite of many researchers’ persistent efforts, there are still several challenging problems to be solved. In this paper, we focus on mining non-free-choice constructs, i.e., situations where there is a mixture of choice and synchronization. Although most real-life processes exhibit non-free-choice behavior, existing algorithms are unable to adequately deal with such constructs. Using a Petri-net-based representation, we will show that there are two kinds of causal dependencies between tasks, i.e., explicit and implicit ones. We propose an algorithm that is able to deal with both kinds of dependencies. The algorithm has been implemented in the ProM framework and experimental results shows that the algorithm indeed significantly improves existing process mining techniques.     

On the Consistency of the Normalized Eight-Point Algorithm

A recently proposed argument to explain the improved performance of the eight-point algorithm that results from using normalized data (Chojnacki, W., et al. in IEEE Trans. Pattern Anal. Mach. Intell. 25(9):1172–1177, 2003) relies upon adoption of a certain model for statistical data distribution. Under this model, the cost function that underlies the algorithm operating on the normalized data is statistically more advantageous than the cost function that underpins the algorithm using unnormalized data. Here we extend this explanation by introducing a more refined, structured model for data distribution. Under the extended model, the normalized eight-point algorithm turns out to be approximately consistent in a statistical sense. The proposed extension provides a link between the existing statistical rationalization of the normalized eight-point algorithm and the approach of Mühlich and Mester for enhancing total least squares estimation methods via equilibration. The paper forms part of a wider effort to rationalize and interrelate foundational methods in vision parameter estimation.     

Beyond Boundary Objects: Collaborative Reuse in Aircraft Technical Support

Boundary objects are a critical, but understudied, theoretical construct in CSCW. Through a field study of aircraft technical support, we examined the role of boundary objects in the practical achievement of safety by service engineers. Their resolution of repair requests was preserved in the organization’s memory via three compound boundary objects. These crystallizations did not manifest a static interpretation, but instead were continually reinterpreted in light of meta-negotiations. This suggests design implications for organizational memory systems which can more fluidly represent the meta-negotiations surrounding boundary objects.     

The incompatibility of knowledge regimes: consequences of the material world for cross-domain work

In this paper, we argue that successful integration of knowledge across work domains in the short-term can mask the generation of long-term consequences. We explore a setting, the introduction of environmental considerations into semiconductor manufacturing, where the eventual adoption of common measurement artifacts and associated practices enabled knowledge integration, but failed to address significant underlying consequences. Drawing from observational, interview, and archival data we develop an understanding of the work practices of the Tech and EnviroTech groups as structured by the material world and broader collective conventions. We introduce the concept of knowledge regime to outline the differences in knowledge across these work domains. More specifically, we find that differences in the causal specificity and developmental time horizon of knowledge and the measurement artifacts that result contribute to the relative power of one knowledge regime over another. Understanding these sources of incompatibility provides insight into the design requirements of information systems as boundary objects for knowledge integration, but also specifies the potential limits to any design effort.