Reduction rules for YAWL workflows with cancellation regions and OR-joins

As the need for concepts such as cancellation and OR-joins occurs naturally in business scenarios, comprehensive support in a workflow language is desirable. However, there is a clear trade-off between the expressive power of a language (i.e., introducing complex constructs such as cancellation and OR-joins) and ease of verification. When a workflow contains a large number of tasks and involves complex control flow dependencies, verification can take too much time or it may even be impossible. There are a number of different approaches to deal with this complexity. Reducing the size of the workflow, while preserving its essential properties with respect to a particular analysis problem, is one such approach. In this paper, we present a set of reduction rules for workflows with cancellation regions and OR-joins and demonstrate how they can be used to improve the efficiency of verification. Our results are presented in the context of the YAWL workflow language.     

Evaluation of the effect of a paver’s trolley on productivity, task demands, workload and local discomfort

The objective of this study was to determine the differences in the number of paving stones laid (productivity), task demands, energetic workload, body region discomfort and preference when laying paving stones with or without use of a paver’s trolley (n = 8) in a within-subject controlled study of pavers. The number of paving stones laid and the task demands were measured by means of systematic observations at the workplace. The energetic workload was determined using the percentage of heart rate reserve (%HRR). Body region discomfort was measured using visual analog scales, and the workers’ preference was ascertained via interview. The use of a paver’s trolley had no effect on productivity, %HRR or body region discomfort compared to working without a paver’s trolley. The duration of knee-straining activities did not differ between working with (141 min) and without (146 min) the paver’s trolley. However, six of the eight pavers indicated that, given suitable circumstances, they wanted to use the paver’s trolley.

Relevance to industry

To reduce the chance of work-related low back and knee complaints among pavers, the duration, frequency and intensity of lower back and knee-straining activities should be limited by means of technical measures such as mechanical paving. The paver’s trolley does not appear to reduce knee-straining activities and therefore does not appear useful in reducing the risk of knee complaints and disorders.     

Computing three-dimensional two-phase flows with a mass-conserving level set method

A method is described to compute three- dimensional two-phase flow, allowing large density ratios and coalescence and break-up of bubbles. The level set method is used to describe interfaces, and the volume-of-fluid method is used to ensure mass conservation. Efficiency in computing the interface dynamics is achieved by using a functional relation between the level set and volume-of-fluid functions. Difficulties and remedies in re-initialization of the level set function and inaccurate compution of surface tension are discussed. Test cases for validation are described, and demanding two-bubble computations to show the generality and the versatility of the method are presented.     

The use of hypertext in the writing of group papers

Abstract The Virtual Constructing Tool (VCT) was developed at the Nijmegen School of Management in 1998. The VCT is intended to facilitate the process of writing group papers through the use of construction and communication tools and is based completely on the Internet. The VCT allows a paper to be structured by means of hyperlinking and cooperation between students. Students are allowed to divide tasks, but they are held responsible for the quality of the arguments in the paper as a whole. They are invited to spend time in dealing with validity claims and in building a valid train of thought. Producing a group paper includes four interrelated working processes: exploring the subject, exchanging information, arguing and discussing and editing. Hyperlinking offers a contribution in each of these processes which varies from associative linking of pieces of information to strengthening linear structuring. Therefore, a different perspective has been taken to that of those authors who consider hyperlinking as a tool par excellence for the nonlinear production of information.     

Evolving combinatorial problem instances that are difficult to solve

This paper demonstrates how evolutionary computation can be used to acquire difficult to solve combinatorial problem instances. As a result of this technique, the corresponding algorithms used to solve these instances are stress-tested. The technique is applied in three important domains of combinatorial optimisation, binary constraint satisfaction, Boolean satisfiability, and the travelling salesman problem. The problem instances acquired through this technique are more difficult than the ones found in popular benchmarks. In this paper, these evolved instances are analysed with the aim to explain their difficulty in terms of structural properties, thereby exposing the weaknesses of corresponding algorithms.