Process Execution Research Articles

On the use of historical data in context-aware multimedia documents adaptation processes

Playing multimedia documents in ubiquitous systems may require content adaptation based on gathered context information and accumulated historical data. Several approaches have already been proposed, in which adaptation actions are performed to provide adapted documents. Nevertheless, these approaches focus mainly on efficient use of context information without involving historical users data to improve the adaptation process. Thus, this paper allows for consideration of historical users data during the execution of the adaptation process. To do so, the context elements and the adaptation actions are first modeled using the oriented-object approach and then converted into relational and NoSQL databases schemes. Finally, algorithms for storing, retrieving and analysing data are designed. The proposal is validated by implementing scenarios through a real prototype. At a first step, the performances are measured to estimate the cost of data processing. The experiments show that NoSQL databases excel in data storage and ease of implementation, while relational databases perform well in data retrieve. At a second step, the proposal usefulness is highlighted by showing how historical data contribute to adaptation rules personalization using datadriven rule learning mechanisms rather than defining them explicitly. The analysis algorithm could retain personalized adaptation rules with confidence degree greater than 90%. Overall, the results are satisfactory.

Information technologies in professional accounting and taxation within the context of Ukraine’s economic digitalization

The article substantiates and analyzes the digitalization of the Ukrainian economy in terms of the features of applying and using information technologies in professional activities related to accounting and taxation. The study aims to examine the digitization of professional activities within the domains of organizing accounting processes at enterprises and the workflow of employees in the fields of accounting and taxation, as stipulated by accounting standards. It also explores communication interactions at various levels of enterprise management, the enterprise’s interactions with the external environment, the production of business consulting for entrepreneurial activities in the realms of accounting and taxation, as well as the organization and execution of conventional enterprise business processes, such as supply, production, and sales. In conducting the study, the authors employed both inductive and deductive methods, along with methods of analysis and synthesis. The results obtained during the implementation of this study are expected to have a scientific and practical impact on enhancing and determining the prospects for the digitalization of the Ukrainian economy, specifically in the context of utilizing information technologies in professional activities related to accounting and taxation. The originality of this work lies in the suggestions for implementing the sanctions filter in the professional activities of accounting and taxation, as well as its integration into the official responsibilities of accounting personnel.

Distinct neural mechanisms for action access and execution in the human brain: insights from an fMRI study.

Goal-directed actions are fundamental to human behavior, whereby inner goals are achieved through mapping action representations to motor outputs. The left premotor cortex (BA6) and the posterior portion of Broca's area (BA44) are two modulatory poles of the action system. However, how these regions support the representation-output mapping within the system is not yet understood. To address this, we conducted a finger-tapping functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment using action categories ranging from specific to general. Our study found distinct neural behaviors in BA44 and BA6 during action category processing and motor execution. During access of action categories, activity in a posterior portion of BA44 (pBA44) decreased linearly as action categories became less specific. Conversely, during motor execution, activity in BA6 increased linearly with less specific categories. These findings highlight the differential roles of pBA44 and BA6 in action processing. We suggest that pBA44 facilitates access to action categories by utilizing motor information from the behavioral context while the premotor cortex integrates motor information to execute the selected action. This finding enhances our understanding of the interplay between prefrontal cortical regions and premotor cortex in mapping action representation to motor execution and, more in general, of the cortical mechanisms underlying human behavior.

초등학교 교사의 예산 운용 경험에 관한 질적 연구

The purpose of this study is to analyze the motivation of elementary school teachers who participated in the Ggum-sil project and examine their experiences in budget management. The objective is to identify distinction from the existing school budget management and to provide implications for enhancing the financial autonomy of schools in practice. To achieve this goal, in-depth interviews were conducted with seven elementary school teachers who participated in the Ggum-sil project. According to the analysis, the teachers perceived the majority of the budget as belonging to the school, while the budget from the Ggum-sil project is regarded as the “teachers' own budget” or the “budget for their individual classes or grades”. In addition, only a minimal portion of the budget allocated to curriculum operation and classroom management is directly used for educational activities, and the absolute deficit is replenished through the implementation of the Gum-sil project. In contrast to the school budget, which is operated by departments, the budget of the Gum-sil project is managed on grade level basis. This approach reflects the unique cooperative and communicative structure of elementary schools at the grade level. In the process of budgeting and planning, primary school teachers formulated a broad budgetary plan by considering the variability of educational activities. Restrictive regulations played a significant role in both budgeting and execution processes. There was also self-censorship focused on students in budget management. Teachers appraised their expertise in deciding optimal budget allocation favorably. However, they encountered difficulties in navigating the associated processes and methodologies. Based on the results of the discussion, it is recommended that policy changes are needed for autonomous and effective financial management of unit schools. This entails formulating a strategy to curtail the expenses of targeted projects, considering the actual budget management process in unit schools and the needs of members. In addition, the reconstruction of the budget management framework should be pursued, incorporating and understanding of the unique characteristics of elementary school organizations and prevailing teaching culture.

시스템 사고를 활용한 저출산과 교육의 인과 현상 분석

Considering that the low fertility phenomenon is intricately intertwined with education, this study attempted to analyze the causal phenomenon of low fertility and education through the lens of systems thinking. First, the relationship between low fertility and education and the logic of the education policy in response to low fertility were analyzed with a causal loop diagram, and then the problem of the education policy in response to low fertility was analyzed by synthesizing them.
 The analysis revealed that the low fertility is reinforced by establishing mutual causal relationships with education-related variables such as the burden of private education costs, increased demand for higher education, and the deterioration of the quality of the educational environment. The education policies in response to low fertility that emerged in this context were passive policies, focusing on adapting to a low fertility society(e.g., university structural reform, reduction of the number of teachers, consolidation of schools, and complexation of school facilities), and active policies, aimed at raising fertility rates(e.g., expanding care supply and supporting education expenses). However, it was found that the intervention effect of the education policy in response to low fertility was limited due to problems such as lack of consideration of key factors of low fertility, such as the burden of private education expenses, or unintended negative results such as a decrease in the quality of the educational environment were found in the policy execution process. Based on these research results, the matters to be considered in the design and implementation of low fertility education policies were presented as implications.

Asana and Trello: A Comparative Assessment of Project Management Capabilities

Project management tools are essential for streamlining project management activities and providing a variety of functionalities to assist organizations in executing projects efficiently. The selection of an appropriate tool is crucial, given the many options available in the market. This scholarly article employs a comparative analysis methodology to scrutinize two prominent project management tools, Asana and Trello. The aim is to assist companies and organizations in making informed decisions based on their specific needs. The comparative analysis delves into the strengths and weaknesses of Asana and Trello, assessing their features, functionalities, and suitability in the context of knowledge management areas. Both tools are evaluated for their capability to address project management challenges and improve organizational processes. The study concludes that the choice between Asana and Trello hinges on factors such as project scale, organizational requirements, and the preferred level of complexity. With its comprehensive features, Asana emerges as ideal for larger, agile-oriented projects. In contrast, Trello's simplicity and user-friendly interface suit relatively smaller projects well. This analysis provides valuable insights for organizations to align their project management tools with specific project conditions, facilitating optimising project execution processes to meet their unique goals and requirements. In terms of features, Asana outshines Trello by providing a more extensive range of functionalities that effectively support the mapping of knowledge management areas.

Modern approaches to team management in the development and implementation of international projects at enterprises

Introduction. In the modern dynamic environment of socio-economic systems, the issues related to team management at enterprises engaged in foreign economic activity and the development and implementation of international projects are becoming increasingly relevant. The development of projects, regardless of their nature, often requires the collaborative, coordinated efforts of numerous individuals with diverse roles, competencies, professional skills, and cross-cultural peculiarities. The purpose of the paper is to study the peculiarities of team management at the enterprise in the conditions of the development and implementation of international projects, to identify trends, perspectives and problems of ensuring the flexibility and adaptability of team work organization at the enterprise. Results. The paper explores the peculiarities of team management in the context of developing and implementing international projects. It discusses the principles of team management in enterprises involved in international project development and implementation. The main types of team management in enterprises are analyzed, including autocratic, democratic, transactional, and situational management. The paper justifies the key stages of project management and examines the essence of the Scrum technology for agile project management. It identifies its advantages and disadvantages and proposes a process for implementing Scrum technology in team management at enterprises engaged in international project development and implementation. Conclusions. Team management in the context of international projects can also involve the study and implementation of innovative methodologies, such as Scrum. Implementing Scrum technology can help optimize the processes of project development and execution, promoting greater flexibility and speed in team management. Scrum defines clear role allocation within the team, establishes short development cycles, and focuses on continuous improvement and feedback. This methodology can be particularly useful in international projects where the ability to adapt to changes and quickly respond to market demands is crucial.

Structural Equation Model for Exploring the Key Drivers of Consumer Behavior towards Environmentally Conscious Organic Food Purchasing in Japan

This study investigates the influence of psychological factors and socio-demographic characteristics on the actual purchase of organic foods based on environmental consciousness. The theory of reasoned action and Hirose’s two-phase decision-making model act as the major informers to develop the research hypotheses. Through an online questionnaire survey, responses were collected from a sample of 275 Japanese consumers who bought organic foods based on environmental consciousness at least once. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze the data. This study shows that the key to promoting actual purchase lies in three factors: social norm, past experience, and willingness to pay (WTP). Attitude towards actual purchase negatively influenced actual purchase, and environmental awareness was the determinant for attitude towards actual purchase but not for actual purchase. Thus, only increasing environmental awareness is not enough to increase the actual purchase. Moreover, we could increase the actual purchase by making an effort to reduce the feelings of the unaffordability and inconvenience of organic foods, which also negatively influence WTP and negatively and indirectly influence actual purchase. This study finds that the behavior execution process is the main driving force influencing actual purchase rather than the attitude development process in terms of psychological factors behind organic food consumption based on environmental consciousness.

Third‐party reporting and cross‐border tax planning

AbstractIn 2018, the European Union (EU) introduced a new mandatory reporting requirement for a wide range of cross‐border tax arrangements (EU Directive 2018/822, also known as DAC6). Unlike prior corporate transparency initiatives, which put the reporting responsibility primarily on the taxpayers, this directive puts the initial reporting responsibility on the third‐party intermediaries who are involved in the reportable arrangement at any stage during the planning and execution process. We exploit the adoption of DAC6 in the EU to examine the effectiveness of third‐party reporting in curbing cross‐border tax planning by multinationals. Using a difference‐in‐differences research design, we find that affected firms reduce income shifting and report higher effective tax rates in the post‐adoption period. The reduction in income shifting is stronger for affiliates operating in countries without legal professional privilege extensions and in countries where noncompliance penalties are higher. Our results highlight the importance of strong third‐party reporting requirements in constraining cross‐border tax planning.

Malicious clouds coalition management for business processes deployment

AbstractCloud computing has raised concerns about security, causing many companies to hesitate in adopting it. Despite these concerns, there are methods available to address the risks associated with implementing a business process (BP) in the cloud. One common approach involves breaking down the BP model into smaller fragments, allowing each cloud provider access to a specific part of the overall model. However, this method fails to protect against collaboration between malicious cloud providers, which, by pooling their knowledge, can exploit the logic of the process. To tackle this issue, our paper proposes an approach that effectively manages coalitions when they arise. To do this, we introduce observer and deceiver fragments, which play a crucial role in redirecting the process execution toward a fake task. This strategic redirection prevents access to important information. The obtained results demonstrate that our proposed solution enhances security, mitigates risks, and does not necessarily lead to higher costs compared to other methods based solely on splitting.

Simulating Dynamics of Feed Grain Vibration Grinder

The paper notes the feasibility of a vibration-based method for feed grain grinding. However, preference should be placed on dynamic machine configurations that enhance energy efficiency and increase the overall structural reliability. In this regard, it is worth considering the vibration grinder proposed in Patent RU 2688424C1. (Research purpose) The study aims to improve the technical capabilities of feed grain vibration grinders through the utilization of self-synchronization effects in vibration exciters and anti-resonance in working components. (Materials and methods) The authors developed a mathematical model for the dynamics of the working bodies in this type of a grain vibration grinder, taking into consideration the design of these bodies and their interaction with the technological environment. (Results and discussion) The findings show that effective execution of the technological process requires counter-rotating unbalance shafts and fine-tuning the working bodies to operate in an anti-resonance mode. The experiment confirms stable self-synchronization of vibration exciters in the anti-resonance mode of the working bodies, although the phasing of the unbalance shafts deviates slightly from the theoretical 180-degree mark, measuring between 168 and 170 degrees. This deviation does not have an adverse impact on the grinding process. As a result, the initial hypothesis combining the effects of self-synchronization in vibration exciters and anti-resonance in working bodies has received both theoretical and experimental confirmation. (Conclusions) It has been established that effective implementation of the technological process necessitates the counter-rotation of unbalance shafts, resulting in the self-synchronization of vibration exciters, and adjustment of the working bodies to an anti-resonance mode.

A 2D stability analysis of the rock surrounding underground liquified natural gas storage cavern based on COMSOL Multiphysics

Underground liquified natural gas (LNG) storage is essential in guaranteeing national energy strategic reserves, and its construction is being accelerated. The stability of surrounding rock of underground LNG storage caverns under stress-low temperature coupling effect is the key factor determining the feasibility of LNG storage. First, a mathematical model used for controlling the stress-low temperature coupling and the processes of rock damage evolution is given, followed by a 2-D numerical execution process of the mathematical model mentioned above described based on Comsol Multiphysics and Matlab code. Finally, a series of 2-D simulations are performed to study the influence of LNG storage cavern layout, burial depth, temperature and internal pressure on the stability of surrounding rocks of these underground storage caverns. The results indicate that all the factors mentioned above affect the evolution of deformation and plastic zone of surrounding rocks. The research results contribute to the engineering design of underground LNG storage caverns.

A matter of new life and cell death: programmed cell death in the mammalian ovary.

The mammalian ovary is a unique organ that displays a distinctive feature of cyclic changes throughout the entire reproductive period. The estrous/menstrual cycles are associated with drastic functional and morphological rearrangements of ovarian tissue, including follicular development and degeneration, and the formation and subsequent atrophy of the corpus luteum. The flawless execution of these reiterative processes is impossible without the involvement of programmed cell death (PCD). PCD is crucial for efficient and careful clearance of excessive, depleted, or obsolete ovarian structures for ovarian cycling. Moreover, PCD facilitates selection of high-quality oocytes and formation of the ovarian reserve during embryonic and juvenile development. Disruption of PCD regulation can heavily impact the ovarian functions and is associated with various pathologies, from a moderate decrease in fertility to severe hormonal disturbance, complete loss of reproductive function, and tumorigenesis. This comprehensive review aims to provide updated information on the role of PCD in various processes occurring in normal and pathologic ovaries. Three major events of PCD in the ovary-progenitor germ cell depletion, follicular atresia, and corpus luteum degradation-are described, alongside the detailed information on molecular regulation of these processes, highlighting the contribution of apoptosis, autophagy, necroptosis, and ferroptosis. Ultimately, the current knowledge of PCD aberrations associated with pathologies, such as polycystic ovarian syndrome, premature ovarian insufficiency, and tumors of ovarian origin, is outlined. PCD is an essential element in ovarian development, functions and pathologies. A thorough understanding of molecular mechanisms regulating PCD events is required for future advances in the diagnosis and management of various disorders of the ovary and the female reproductive system in general.

Relationship Between Cognitive Abilities and Basic Auditory Processing in Young Adults.

The diagnosis of auditory processing disorder (APD) is controversial particularly due to the influence of higher order factors of language and cognition on the diagnostic APD testing. As a result, there might be a need for testing for other domains (e.g., cognition) along with conducting the diagnostic APD testing to rule out the influence of other domains. In order to make recommendations on whether cognitive testing is needed along with the auditory processing testing, as a starting point, the current study was conducted to examine the relationship between cognitive abilities and basic auditory processing in young adults. A total of 38 young adults with normal audiometric thresholds between 250 and 8000 Hz participated in this study. They were tested on their executive function, language, processing speed, working memory, and episodic memory components of cognitive testing and tests for temporal fine structure and spectrotemporal sensitivity for auditory processing testing. No significant correlation was found between the cognitive tests and the tests for basic auditory processing in young adults. These findings present contrast to the existing findings in children and older adults where a stronger correlation between cognitive abilities and auditory processing has been found. The current findings suggest that testing for cognitive abilities may not be needed when testing for basic auditory processing in young adults.

Web service reliability and scalability determination using optimized depth wise separable convolutional neural network

AbstractWeb service composition (WSC), a distributed architecture, creates new services atop existing ones. Ensuring trust and assessing performance and dependability in online services coordination is essential. In this paper, “Web Service Reliability and Scalability Determination Using Depth Wise Separable Convolutional Neural Network” (WSRS‐DWSCNN) is proposed to assess the trustworthiness of online service compositions, particularly focusing on performance and dependability. This work addresses the need to predict the reliability and scalability of Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) composite web services. The proposed approach transforms the BPEL specification into a Depth Wise Separable Convolutional Neural Network (DWSCNN) and annotates it with probabilistic properties for prediction. The DWSCNN model classifies the outcomes as correct or incorrect, and to enhances the prediction of web service composition scalability and reliability, we optimize the DWSCNN's weight parameters using the Adolescent Identity Search Algorithm (AISA). The proposed technique is activated in Python and its efficacy is analyzed under some metrics, such as reliability, scalability, accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, precision, F‐measure. The proposed method provides 12.36%, 45.39%, and 25.97% better reliability, 41.39%, 11.39%, 34.16% better accuracy compared with existing methods like, Web service reliability prediction depending on machine learning (WSRS‐K‐means), reliability prediction method for multiple state cloud/edge‐basis network utilizing deep neural network (WSRS‐DNN‐BO), and improving reliability of mobile social cloud computing utilizing machine learning in content addressable network (WSRS‐CAN), respectively.

Neuropsychological correlates of early grief in bereaved older adults.

Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) is associated with impairments in cognitive functioning, but the neuropsychological correlates of early grief in older adults are poorly understood. This preliminary study cross-sectionally examined neuropsychological functioning in bereaved adults with high and low grief symptoms and a non-bereaved comparison sample and further explored the relationship between multidomain cognitive measures and grief severity. A total of ninety-three nondemented older adults (high grief: n = 44; low grief: n = 49) within 12 months post-bereavement and non-bereaved comparison participants (n = 43) completed neuropsychological battery including global and multiple domain-specific cognitive functioning. Linear regression models were used to analyze differences in multidomain cognitive measures between the groups and specifically examine the associations between cognitive performance and grief severity in the bereaved, after covariate adjustment, including depressive symptoms. Bereaved older adults with higher grief symptoms performed worse than those with lower symptoms and non-bereaved participants on executive functioning and attention and processing speed measures. In the bereaved, poorer executive functioning, attention and processing speed correlated with higher grief severity. Attention/processing speed-grief severity correlation was seen in those with time since loss ≤ 6 months, but not > 6 months. Intense early grief is characterised by poorer executive functioning, attention, and processing speed, resembling findings in PGD. The putative role of poorer cognitive functioning during early grief on the transition to integrated grief or the development of PGD remains to be elucidated.

SecurityCloak: Protection against cache timing and speculative memory access attacks

Microarchitectural innovations such as deep cache hierarchies, out-of-order execution, branch prediction and speculative execution in modern processors have made possible to meet ever-increasing demands for performance. However, these innovations have inadvertently introduced vulnerabilities that are exploited by cache-side channel attacks such as Flush & Reload, Prime & Probe, Evict & Time, and attacks such as Spectre and Meltdown that exploit speculative executions. These attacks can potentially leak information which should be secured.Mitigating the attacks while preserving the performance of out-of-order execution has been a challenge. Previous hardware mitigation techniques against cache timing or side-channel attacks include complex cache indexing mechanisms, encrypting addresses, partitioning cache memories, assigning specific ways of a set for each process, or obfuscating cache accesses by using ghost threads. Previous techniques for preventing or at least mitigating attacks based on speculative executions include hiding speculative data accesses using separate buffers or caches, or undoing the effects of speculation throughout program execution. Most techniques address either attacks that exploit speculation such as Spectre or cache side-channel attacks but not both. In many cases, changes to the microarchitecture with additional hardware are needed to implement the security protection. In some cases the mitigations cause performance penalties. In contrast we present very simple designs aimed at preventing both timing based cache side-channel attacks and Spectre style attacks based on speculative executions. Our approach combines obfuscation of cache timing making it more difficult for side-channel attacks to succeed and delaying speculative data accesses that miss in cache until the speculation is resolved. We will show that these approaches prevent both timing attacks such as Flush & Reload, Prime & Probe, Evict & Time as well as speculative attacks such as Spectre. Our technique requires very minimal changes to hardware.

An agency-based model of executive and metacognitive regulation

In the context of agentive decision making and action, both executive and metacognitive processes serve self-regulatory functions—just on different hierarchical tiers. In the agency-based model proposed here executive processes monitor and control action and attention from an executive tier of operation, and metacognitive processes monitor and control those executive processes from a second-order metacognitive tier of operation-both with the function of facilitating effective and efficient behavioral decisions. Each is best conceptualized as comprising three key components: (i) what is regulated, (ii) how, via what processes, is it regulated, and (iii) where, in what cognitive workspace, is it regulated—either in individual or in shared agencies. Developmentally, evidence is presented that executive processes for regulating both individual and joint agencies emerge only after 9–12 months of age, and metacognitive processes for regulating both individual and collective agencies emerge only after 3–4 years of age. Cognitive flexibility, as an important outcome, derives from the child's attempts to metacognitively regulate differing social perspectives within shared agencies.

Processing speed and executive functioning in relation to off-topic verbosity among young adults and older adults

Purpose Off-topic verbosity (OTV) is a tendency towards excessive, off-topic speech and has been linked with age-related deficits in executive functioning, particularly inhibition. However, there are numerous disagreements within the literature on what constitutes OTV, and there is a further lack of investigation into alternative cognitive explanations for the link between inhibition and OTV. The purpose of this study was to investigate the speech characteristics of OTV in young and older adults as well as to examine whether variations in OTV are better explained by diminished executive functioning or processing speed, as measured by the D-KEFS Stroop test. Methods Young adults (n = 65; age 18–28) and older adults (n = 85; age 60–98) completed the D-KEFS Color-Word Interference Test and provided verbal samples of autobiographical episodic and procedural speech. These speech samples were rated on three facets of OTV: tangentiality, egocentrism and quantity of speech. Results Procedural autobiographical speech was found to best measure age cohort variations in OTV, and higher OTV was associated with poorer Stroop test performance in older adults but not in young adults. In fact, young adults only displayed associations between poorer Stroop performance and a reduction in speech quantity. Finally, processing speed deficits were more associated with increased OTV in older adults than executive functioning. Conclusion These results provide support for links between age-related cognitive decline and OTV, but the results suggest that processing speed may be more implicated than executive functioning.

Bacterial chemotaxis control process analysis with SysML

AbstractThis paper looks at the bacteria chemotaxis control process utilizing the System Modeling Language (SysML) to leverage well‐defined and proven engineering tools for architecting, analyzing, and refining complex systems. It proposes a new methodology called reverse‐engineering object‐oriented systems engineering method (RE‐OOSEM) that converts descriptive biology research information into descriptive systems engineering information. It utilizes SysML and model‐based systems engineering (MBSE) to capture system architecture from biological system knowledge and inputs them into systems engineering tools. From an engineering point of view, this allows greater insight into how biological systems operate and suggests how much model detail is required to uncover a top‐down system understanding. RE‐OOSEM methodology guides the SysML chemotaxis control capture process. SysML syntax is used instead of biological syntax to facilitate biological chemotaxis control system analysis from an engineered system point of view. The model can act as a scaffolding to help uncover system function, the relationships of system components and processes, and bioinformatic phenotype and genotype correlation. An executable MathWorks Stateflow chemotaxis control process model based on the SysML architectural model is included. The results show the following engineering perspective observations. (1) Several control components are not dedicated but are available and utilized when needed. (2) Individual chemoreceptors act together as a sensor array. (3) Phosphate groups act as a signaling mechanism. (4) Methylation via CH3 groups of the chemoreceptor results in sensitivity adaptation. (5) Closed‐loop control collaboratively utilizes ligand bonding, phosphorylation, and methylation. (6) Timing relationships of the control subprocesses give insight into the system's architecture.