Recommendations from analyzing the state-of-the-art of business process management research

Business Process Management (BPM) as a research field integrates different perspectives from the disciplines computer science, management science and information systems research. Its evolution has by been shaped by the corresponding conferences series, the International Conference on Business Process Management (BPM conference). As much as in other academic discipline, there is an ongoing debate that discusses the identity, the quality and maturity of the BPM field. In this paper, we review and summarize the major findings a larger study that will be published in the Business & Information Systems Engineering journal in 2016. In the study, we investigate the identity and progress of the BPM conference research community through an analysis of the BPM conference proceedings. Based on our findings from this analysis, we formulate recommendations to further develop the conference community in terms of methodological advance, quality, impact and progression.

Top-predator control-induced trophic cascades: an alternative hypothesis to the conclusion of Colman et al.

Recently argued that observed positive relationships between dingoes and small mammals were a result of top-down processes whereby lethal dingo control reduced dingoes and increased mesopredators and herbivores, which then suppressed small mammals. Here, I show that the prerequisite negative effects of dingo control on dingoes were not shown, and that the same positive relationships observed may simply represent well-known bottom-up processes whereby more generalist predators are found in places with more of their preferred prey. Identification of top-predator controlinduced trophic cascades first requires demonstration of some actual effect of control on predators, typically possible only through manipulative experiments with the ability to identify cause and effect.

The global distribution of Banana bunchy top virus reveals little evidence for frequent recent, human-mediated long distance dispersal events

Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV; family Nanoviridae, genus Babuvirus) is a multi-component single-stranded DNA virus, which infects banana plants in many regions of the world, often resulting in large-scale crop losses. Weanalyzed 171 banana leaf samples from fourteen countries and recovered, cloned, and sequenced 855 complete BBTV components including ninety-four full genomes. Importantly, full genomes were determined from eight countries, where previously no full genomes were available (Samoa, Burundi, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Indonesia, the Philippines, and the USA [HI]). Accounting for recombination and genome component reassortment, we examined the geographic structuring of global BBTV populations to reveal that BBTV likely originated in Southeast Asia, that the current global hotspots of BBTV diversity are Southeast Asia/Far East and India, and that BBTV populations circulating elsewhere in the world have all potentially originated from infrequent introductions. Most importantly, we find that rather than the current global BBTV distribution being due to increases in human-mediated movements of bananas over the past few decades, it is more consistent with a pattern of infrequent introductions of the virus to different parts of the world over the past 1,000 years.

Reputation model based on rating data and application in recommender systems

This thesis introduced two novel reputation models to generate accurate item reputation scores using ratings data and the statistics of the dataset. It also presented an innovative method that incorporates reputation awareness in recommender systems by employing voting system methods to produce more accurate top-N item recommendations. Additionally, this thesis introduced a personalisation method for generating reputation scores based on users' interests, where a single item can have different reputation scores for different users. The personalised reputation scores are then used in the proposed reputation-aware recommender systems to enhance the recommendation quality.

Nutrition during noninvasive ventilation: clinical determinants and key practical recommendations

Malnutrition and poor nutritional intake have been identified as key issues associated with poorer clinical outcomes in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. There is strong evidence showing nutritional support is effective in treating malnutrition in stable COPD, but there is only limited research regarding nutritional status in patients treated with noninvasive ventilation (NIV). The impact of NIV during acute exacerbations of respiratory disease on nutritional status requires further investigation.

Canadian Stroke Best Practice Recommendations: Mood, Cognition and Fatigue Following Stroke practice guidelines, update 2015

Every year, approximately 62 000 people with stroke and transient ischemic attack are treated in Canadian hospitals, and the evidence suggests one-third or more will experience vascular-cognitive impairment, and/or intractable fatigue, either alone or in combination. The 2015 update of the Canadian Stroke Best Practice Recommendations: Mood, Cognition and Fatigue Module guideline is a comprehensive summary of current evidence-based recommendations for clinicians in a range of settings, who provide care to patients following stroke. The three consequences of stroke that are the focus of the this guideline (poststroke depression, vascular cognitive impairment, and fatigue) have high incidence rates and significant impact on the lives of people who have had a stroke, impede recovery, and result in worse long-term outcomes. Significant practice variations and gaps in the research evidence have been reported for initial screening and in-depth assessment of stroke patients for these conditions. Also of concern, an increased number of family members and informal caregivers may also experience depressive symptoms in the poststroke recovery phase which further impact patient recovery. These factors emphasize the need for a system of care that ensures screening occurs as a standard and consistent component of clinical practice across settings as stroke patients transition from acute care to active rehabilitation and reintegration into their community. Additionally, building system capacity to ensure access to appropriate specialists for treatment and ongoing management of stroke survivors with these conditions is another great challenge.

Single top quark events at Fermilab

According to a press release dated 9 March 2009, the two experiments CDF (Collider Detector at Fermilab) and DZero have announced the discovery of ‘single top quark’ events, which represent a spectacular discovery and confirmation of the standard model of elementary particle physics. The results of their findings are now available as preprints which have been submitted for publication in Physical Review Letters1,2.

Measurements of the top-quark mass using charged particle tracking

We present three measurements of the top-quark mass in the lepton plus jets channel with approximately 1.9 fb-1 of integrated luminosity collected with the CDF II detector using quantities with minimal dependence on the jet energy scale. One measurement exploits the transverse decay length of b-tagged jets to determine a top-quark mass of 166.9+9.5-8.5 (stat) +/- 2.9 (syst) GeV/c2, and another the transverse momentum of electrons and muons from W-boson decays to determine a top-quark mass of 173.5+8.8-8.9 (stat) +/- 3.8 (syst) GeV/c2. These quantities are combined in a third, simultaneous mass measurement to determine a top-quark mass of 170.7 +/- 6.3 (stat) +/- 2.6 (syst) GeV/c2.

Measurement of the top quark mass in the dilepton channel using mT2 at CDF

We present measurements of the top quark mass using the \mT2, a variable related to the transverse mass in events with two missing particles. We use the template method applied to t\tbar dilepton events produced in p\pbar collisions at Fermilab's Tevatron and collected by the CDF detector. From a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.4 \invfb, we select 236 t\tbar candidate events. Using the \mT2 distribution, we measure the top quark mass to be M_{Top} = 168.0^{+4.8}_{-4.0} $\pm$ {2.9} GeV/c^{2}. By combining the \mT2 with the reconstructed top mass distributions based on a neutrino weighting method, we measure M_{top}=169.3 $\pm$ 2.7 $\pm$ 3.2 GeV/c^{2}. This is the first application of the \mT2 variable in a mass measurement at a hadron collider.

Measurement of the Single Top Quark Production Cross Section at CDF

We report a measurement of the single top quark production cross section in 2.2 ~fb-1 of p-pbar collision data collected by the Collider Detector at Fermilab at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV. Candidate events are classified as signal-like by three parallel analyses which use likelihood, matrix element, and neural network discriminants. These results are combined in order to improve the sensitivity. We observe a signal consistent with the standard model prediction, but inconsistent with the background-only model by 3.7 standard deviations with a median expected sensitivity of 4.9 standard deviations. We measure a cross section of 2.2 +0.7 -0.6(stat+sys) pb, extract the CKM matrix element value |V_{tb}|=0.88 +0.13 -0.12 (stat+sys) +- 0.07(theory), and set the limit |V_{tb}|>0.66 at the 95% C.L.

Measurement of the top quark mass with dilepton events selected using neuroevolution at CDF

We report a measurement of the top quark mass $M_t$ in the dilepton decay channel $t\bar{t}\to b\ell'^{+}\nu'_\ell\bar{b}\ell^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\ell}$. Events are selected with a neural network which has been directly optimized for statistical precision in top quark mass using neuroevolution, a technique modeled on biological evolution. The top quark mass is extracted from per-event probability densities that are formed by the convolution of leading order matrix elements and detector resolution functions. The joint probability is the product of the probability densities from 344 candidate events in 2.0 fb$^{-1}$ of $p\bar{p}$ collisions collected with the CDF II detector, yielding a measurement of $M_t= 171.2\pm 2.7(\textrm{stat.})\pm 2.9(\textrm{syst.})\mathrm{GeV}/c^2$.

Exclusion of an Exotic Top Quark with -4/3 Electric Charge Using Soft Lepton Tagging

We present a measurement of the electric charge of the top quark using $\ppbar$ collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.7~fb$^{-1}$ at the CDF II detector. We reconstruct $\ttbar$ events in the lepton+jets final state and use kinematic information to determine which $b$-jet is associated with the leptonically- or hadronically-decaying $t$-quark. Soft lepton taggers are used to determine the $b$-jet flavor. Along with the charge of the $W$ boson decay lepton, this information permits the reconstruction of the top quark's electric charge. Out of 45 reconstructed events with $2.4\pm0.8$ expected background events, 29 are reconstructed as $\ttbar$ with the standard model $+$2/3 charge, whereas 16 are reconstructed as $\ttbar$ with an exotic $-4/3$ charge. This is consistent with the standard model and excludes the exotic scenario at 95\% confidence level. This is the strongest exclusion of the exotic charge scenario and the first to use soft leptons for this purpose.

Direct Top-Quark Width Measurement at CDF

We present a measurement of the top-quark width using $t\bar{t}$ events produced in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at Fermilab's Tevatron collider and collected by the CDF II detector. In the mode where the top quark decays to a $W$ boson and a bottom quark, we select events in which one $W$ decays leptonically and the other hadronically~(lepton + jets channel) . From a data sample corresponding to 4.3~fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity, we identify 756 candidate events. The top-quark mass and the mass of $W$ boson that decays hadronically are reconstructed for each event and compared with templates of different top-quark widths~($\Gamma_t$) and deviations from nominal jet energy scale~($\Delta_{JES}$) to perform a simultaneous fit for both parameters, where $\Delta_{JES}$ is used for the {\it in situ} calibration of the jet energy scale. By applying a Feldman-Cousins approach, we establish an upper limit at 95$\%$ confidence level~(CL) of $\Gamma_t $

Measurement of W-Boson Polarization in Top-Quark Decay in pp̅ Collisions at √s=1.96 TeV

We report measurements of the polarization of W bosons from top-quark decays using 2.7 fb^-1 of ppbar collisions collected by the CDF II detector. Assuming a top-quark mass of 175 GeV/c^2, three measurements are performed. A simultaneous measurement of the fraction of longitudinal (f_0) and right-handed (f_+) W bosons yields the model-independent results f_0 = 0.88 \pm 0.11 (stat) \pm 0.06 (syst) and f_+ = -0.15 \pm 0.07 (stat) \pm 0.06 (syst) with a correlation coefficient of -0.59. A measurement of f_0 (f_+) constraining f_+ (f_0) to its standard model value of 0.0 (0.7) yields f_0 = 0.70 \pm 0.07 (stat) \pm 0.04 (syst) (f_+ = -0.01 \pm 0.02 (stat) \pm 0.05 (syst)). All these results are consistent with standard model expectations.

Measurement of the top pair production cross section in the dilepton decay channel in pp̅ collisions at √s=1.96 TeV

A measurement of the $\ttbar$ production cross section in $\ppbar$ collisions at $\sqrt{{\rm s}}$ = 1.96 TeV using events with two leptons, missing transverse energy, and jets is reported. The data were collected with the CDF II Detector. The result in a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity 2.8 fb$^{-1}$ is: $\sigma_{\ttbar}$ = 6.27 $\pm$ 0.73(stat) $\pm$ 0.63(syst) $\pm$ 0.39(lum) pb. for an assumed top mass of 175 GeV/$c^{2}$.