Formalizing process-based risk with Value-Focused Process Engineering

Following calls to advance the integration of risk and business process modeling paradigms, this paper formalizes the process of incorporating risk into business process models through the principles of Value-Focused Process Engineering (VFPE). In doing so, the paper aims to extend the existing VFPE modeling notation to reflect a set of necessary constructs required to adequately represent risk in goal-oriented business-process models. The extended set of constructs is proposed to support a formal systems view of process-based risk. Process-based risk is formalized on the one hand, as a product of complex interactions between activity-based elements, and on the other hand, as a natural component of the value creation mechanism of an elementary function or a complex process. The proposed risk-aware VFPE formalism also formulates rules for decomposing risk in process models according to the organizational values, thereby enabling better risk visibility, reducing process complexity, and ensuring continuity of business processes.     

Color image segmentation in HSI space for automotive applications

This article presents a method for classifying color points for automotive applications in the Hue Saturation Intensity (HSI) Space based on the distances between their projections onto the SI plane. Firstly the HSI Space is analyzed in detail. Secondly the projection of image points from a typical automotive scene onto the SI plane is shown. The minimal classes relevant for driver assistance applications are derived. The requirements for the classification of the points into those classes are obtained. Several weighting functions are proposed and a fast form of an euclidean metric is investigated in detail. In order to improve the sensitivity of the weighting function, dynamic coefficients are introduced. It is shown how to compute them automatically in order to get optimal results for the classification. Finally some results of applying the metric to the sample images are shown and the conclusions are drawn.

Steady Groundwater Transport of Highway Deicing Agent Constituents from an Infiltration Basin

The highway deicing agent groundwater plume from an infiltration basin in the Plymouth-Carver Aquifer near State Route 25 in southeastern Massachusetts is modeled and measured in order to assess the impact of the basin on groundwater transport processes. The advective transport model superimposes the existing steady models of axisymmetric basin hydraulics of Zlotnik and Ledder in 1992 and the two-dimensional ambient flow of Gelhar and Wilson in 1974. The basin component incorporates a surface source of finite-radius into a Hankel transform model for unconfined aquifers, whereas the ambient component varies linearly in the horizontal and vertical directions. Contaminant streamlines describe the resulting groundwater plume, and highway deicing agent constituents provide useful tracers. A simple vertical dispersion model quantifies the spread of contaminants across the bottom of the plume. Deicing agent constituent data calibrate a 17?m basin radius, a 45?m plume width, a bottom streamline 6–10?m below the water table, and a vertical dispersivity of 34?cm. The latter value is comparable to the amplitude of vertical excursions caused by storm scale fluctuations of hydraulic head, as measured by Ostendorf et al. in 2007. Infiltration basins alter ambient advection by displacing streamlines downward and augment vertical mixing by imposing aperiodic vertical fluctuations on the ambient flow field.     

Thermal, morphological and optical investigations of Cu(DAB)2 thin films produced by matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation and laser-induced forward transfer for sensor development

Many hybrid metal-organic complex materials which exhibit crystalline nature, nonlinear optical properties and chemoselective behavior generate interest as choice materials in various applications. In this paper we report results on Cu(II) 2,2′-dihydroxyazobenzene thin films deposited on silicon and quartz substrates by matrix assisted pulsed laser evaporation using a Nd:YAG laser, at 266 and 355 nm laser wavelengths. Thermal analysis, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry were performed in order to investigate thin film properties. Micrometric pixels of the compound have been transferred on glass plates by laser-induced forward transfer for chemoselective sensor development purposes.     

Resistance of frozen soils to disintegration under high-pressure hydraulic jets

Conclusions 1. The frozen soil volume disintegrated by a high-pressure hydraulic jet is proportional to its initial specific kinetic energy.2. As the water content of frozen soils increases, and also as their temperature decreases, the depth of the slit cut in them by the hydraulic jet decreases also.3. The relations between the depth of cut in frozen clays and their temperature are practically similar to the curves of content of non-freezing water in these soils in the temperature interval from –1°C to –5°C.Scientific-Research Institute of Bases and Underground Structures. Translated from Osnovaniya, Fundamenty i Mekhanika Gruntov, No. 3, pp. 21–23, May–June, 1984.     

Electronic transport properties of some new monoquaternary salts of 4,4′-bipyridine in thin films

The dc electrical conductivity and thermoelectric power of some recently synthesized monoquaternary salts of 4,4′-bipyridine in thin films have been investigated as a function of temperature. Thin-film samples (d = 0.30–0.95 μm) were deposited from dimethylformamide solutions, by an immersion technique, onto glass. Their heat treatment within temperature range of 291–617 K leads to stable structure and reproducible electronic transport properties.The crystalline structure of organic samples was investigated by XRD, while AFM technique, corroborated to optical microscopy, was used for the examination of surface morphology.The temperature dependences of the electrical conductivity and thermoelectric power are typical for n-type polycrystalline semiconductors. The activation energy of electrical conduction ranges between 1.56 and 1.86 eV, while the ratio of charge carrier mobilities lies in the range of 1.08–1.33.Some correlations between semiconducting parameters and molecular structure of the compounds were established. In the higher temperature range (415–617 K), the model based on band gap representation is suitable for the explanation of electronic transfer in investigated compounds. The examined compounds are also promising for thermistor applications.     

Service‐oriented middleware for financial Monte Carlo simulations on the cell broadband engine

Financial Monte Carlo simulations are computationally intensive applications that must meet tight deadlines in terms of job completion times. The completion time might have a huge impact on the financial profits made from decisions derived from the simulation results. Naturally, there is a huge interest in being able to simulate as fast as possible. While single simulations can be done on one machine, decisions often depend on portfolios of simulations. Distributing the workload among resources is crucial to achieve low latency. In this article we present a combination of a middleware with a high‐performance implementation of an Asian options evaluation code on the Cell Broadband Engine (CBE). We handle workload distribution with our PHASTGrid middleware and provide users with a web service interface to the whole infrastructure. The CBE is particularly suitable for Monte Carlo simulations. We implemented a well‐known algorithm on both the CBE and the Intel x86 multicore architectures. Both codes are integrated in our middleware, allowing a direct comparison of the performance and scalability. In addition to the Monte Carlo simulation, we also use different applications and compare our middleware with Globus. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Electrical and magnetic properties of Mg0.85Co0.15Fe2O4 ceramics with V2O5 additives

In this study, magnesium-cobalt ferrite (Mg_0.85Co_0.15Fe₂O₄) powder was synthesized using a solid-state synthesis method, followed by the liquid sintering using 0.50–3.00 wt% vanadium oxide (V₂O₅) at 1050 °C for 2 h. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies confirmed the formation of spinel ferrite. Microstructure studies revealed that by increasing the amount of V₂O₅ from 0.50 to 3.00 wt%, the average grain size was reduced from 15.9?±?5.9 to 7.0?±?2.5 μm and the samples were highly densified. V₂O₅ promoted the sintering process and reduced the dielectric constant (ε′), loss tangent (tanδ), and increased electrical resistivity. A magnesium-cobalt ferrite sample with 25.4 dielectric constant, 0.078 loss tangent, and 9.0?×?10⁵ Ω.cm resistivity at 1 MHz was achieved using 3.00 wt% V₂O₅. Increasing V₂O₅ content caused increasing coercivity (Hc) from 89 to 129 Oe. Moreover, the maximum saturation magnetization (Ms) value of 26.8 emu/g was obtained for the sample containing 1.50 wt% V₂O₅. The small dielectric loss tangent of the samples at 1 MHz suggests applications of these ceramics in microwave devices.

     

A Novel Test Strategy for Fine Pitch Wafer-Level Packaged Devices

This paper describes an innovative test strategy comprising a compliant elastomer mesh for testing fine pitch wafer-level package (WLP) devices. The test probe, hardware, and sample preparation processes are detailed. The components of the test hardware socket such as the SMA connectors, coplanar transmission lines on the PCB, via, off-chip interconnect, and elastomer mesh probe have been modeled. A complete system-level model, with off-chip interconnects on the WLP device pads, has been developed. The measurement and model demonstrate that the prototype test socket performs at 5 GHz with an insertion loss of about 3 dB. WLP device with Bed-of-Nail interconnects are characterized. Functional test features of the system are also addressed.