There is a wide variety of drivers for business process modelling initiatives, reaching from organisational redesign to the development of information systems. Consequently, a common business process is often captured in multiple models that overlap in content due to serving different purposes. Business process management aims at exible adaptation to changing business needs. Hence, changes of business processes occur frequently and have to be incorporated in the respective process models. Once a process model is changed, related process models have to be updated accordingly, despite the fact that those process models may only be loosely coupled. In this article, we introduce an approach that supports change propagation between related process models. Given a change in one process model, we leverage the behavioural abstraction of behavioural profiles for corresponding activities in order to determine a change region in another model. Our approach is able to cope with changes in pairs of models that are not related by hierarchical refinement and show behavioural inconsistencies. We evaluate the applicability of our approach with two real-world process model collections. To this end, we either deduce change operations from different model revisions or rely on synthetic change operations.

Yes / The objective of every wind energy producer is to reduce operational costs associated to the production as a way to increase profits. One other issue that must be looked carefully is the equipment maintenance. Increase the availability of wind turbines by reducing the downtime associated to failures is a good strategy to achieve the main goal of increase profits. As a way to help in the definition of the best maintenance strategies, condition monitoring systems (CMS) have an important role to play. Informatics tools to make the condition monitoring of the wind turbines were developed and are now being installed as a way to help producers reducing the operational costs. There are a lot of developed systems to do the monitoring of a wind turbine or the whole wind park, in this paper will be made an overview of the most important systems.

Bakalauro darbo tikslas buvo išsiaiškinti Taikomosios elgesio analizės (toliau – ABA) metodo taikymo veiksmingumą. Remiantis pedagoginės, psichologinės literatūros analize, atskleisti autizmo sindromo mokslinę sampratą; išnagrinėti vaikų, pasižyminčių autizmo sindromu, ugdymo(si) ypatumus. Pravedant vaikų, pasižyminčių autizmo sindromu, veiklos tyrimą, išanalizuoti komunikacijos ir kalbos įgūdžių įgijimo ypatumus, palyginti savarankiškumo lygmens kitimą, dirbant skirtingais metodais. Taip pat įrodyti naudojamų paskatinimų įtaką, dirbant ABA metodu, komunikacijos ir kalbos įgūdžių įgijimo spartai. Tyrime dalyvavo dvidešimt Kauno vaikų abilitacijos centro ugdytinių, pasižyminčių autizmo sindromu ar turinčių autizmo bruožų. Iš jų pagal lytį: keturios mergaitės ir šešiolika berniukų. Keturių tiriamųjų amžiaus vidurkis – 3,6 metai, šešių tiriamųjų – 4 metai, keturių tiriamųjų – 5 metai ir šešių tiriamųjų – 6 metai. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad ikimokyklinio amžiaus vaikų, pasižyminčių autizmo sindromu ar turinčių autizmo bruožų, komunikacijos ir kalbos raida yra sudėtingas procesas, reikalaujantis nuodugnaus vaiko pažinimo, darbo pagal specialiąsias ugdymo programas, specialiųjų metodų ir priemonių taikymo. Rezultatų analizė leidžia teigti, kad, naudojant ABA metodą, komunikacijos ir kalbos įgūdžiai įgyjami sparčiau nei dirbant įprastiniais darbo metodais. ABA metodas lemia aukštesnį komunikacijos ir kalbos įgūdžių savarankiškumo lygmenį, paskatinimų įvairovė daro įtaką... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The aim of the paper is to find out the efficiency of the ABA method. Recently there have been more and more theories explaining autism, at the same time new ways and methods of intervention have been discussed and used. One of them – the ABA (Applied Behavioural Analysis) method, with the help of which specialists try to increase intelectual and academic capacity, social and emotional behaviour of children with autism. The teaching programme covers all areas of functioning, but is especially useful in developing speech and communication for autistic children. The tasks of the paper are to reveal the scientific meaning of an autism syndrom, referring to the analysis of pedagogical and psychological literature; also, to analyse the peculiarities of the development of autistic children. Another task is to analyse the peculiarities of acquiring speech and communication skills using the ABA method, to compare the change of independence level applying this method and usual methods working with autistic children. Moreover, we try to reveal the influence of different forms of stimulation on speech and communication.We propose the hypothesis that the application of the ABA method encourages more effective formation of speech and communication skills. 20 autistic children from Kaunas Abilitation Centre participated in the research: 4 girls and 16 boys – four children aged 3,5; six children - 4 years old, four participants aged 5 and six children - 6 years old. According to the age... [to full text]

Zebrafish, a novel vertebrate model organism, has a high nucleotide sequence homology with human genes. Its transparent and fast developing embryo allows the analysis of physiological and anatomical characteristics, many of which are similar to those of mammals. Although the prolific nature of zebrafish can facilitate genetic studies, linking genes and behaviour is difficult because behaviour is not well investigated in zebrafish. The aim of this project is to develop robust behavioural tests that can quantify shoaling with conspecifics and fear responses to natural predators. Eight conditions using different computer-animated stimuli were used to induce behavioural responses. The results demonstrate that shoaling behaviours and fear responses can be successfully induced. More importantly, the behaviours caused by the computer-animated images confirm previous research findings using natural conspecifics and predators. Thus, computer-animated images will help standardize behavioural tests in zebrafish and will lead the way to more sophisticated and better controlled experiments.

Zebrafish, a novel vertebrate model organism, has a high nucleotide sequence homology with human genes. Its transparent and fast developing embryo allows the analysis of physiological and anatomical characteristics, many of which are similar to those of mammals. Although the prolific nature of zebrafish can facilitate genetic studies, linking genes and behaviour is difficult because behaviour is not well investigated in zebrafish. The aim of this project is to develop robust behavioural tests that can quantify shoaling with conspecifics and fear responses to natural predators. Eight conditions using different computer-animated stimuli were used to induce behavioural responses. The results demonstrate that shoaling behaviours and fear responses can be successfully induced. More importantly, the behaviours caused by the computer-animated images confirm previous research findings using natural conspecifics and predators. Thus, computer-animated images will help standardize behavioural tests in zebrafish and will lead the way to more sophisticated and better controlled experiments.

The phenomenon of serial murder is a crime characterised by a paucity of scientific information and an excess of popularised fictional material, contributing to the existence of inaccurate perceptions of serial murder. Although serial murder has been committed since the fourteenth century it only gained notoriety with the intense media coverage of the Jack the Ripper case in 1888. One of the most important reasons for society’s morbid fascination with this phenomenon is because of the view of it as a “motiveless crime”. Available literature shows that research undertaken to determine the origin and the motivation behind serial homicide generally focuses on singular aspects of serial murder. In most cases the research is directed by theories of the psychoanalytic school, most notably that of Sigmund Freud. Another research approach is to develop models and methods for classifying serial killers. Despite the value of these models and the research that has been done the information they can provide is limited. In most cases the research and the models focus on singular aspects associated with the development of serial murderers, for example, the internal conflicts experienced by the child. The goal of this study is to determine which internal and external factors influence the personality development of the serial murderer. The research therefore focuses on how these factors were internalised and expressed behaviourally by the individual. To achieve this the psychosocial perspective, which consisted of three psychological theories, was used to determine the role of both internal and external influences in the personality development of the individual. The method of research deemed most suitable to undertake the study is the qualitative approach, and more specifically the explanatory case study method. The data for the research was obtained by using a semi-structured interview and relevant documentation concerning each of the two case studies. Seven research questions were formulated to find answers to the personality development of the serial murderer and his behaviour. The questions were also formulated to ensure the validity of the data and to substantiate the findings based on the psychosocial perspective. The psychosocial perspective was used to analyse the two case studies and to compile a detailed explanation for the personality development and the personality structure of each of the serial murderers. The three psychological theories were combined in such a way that it could show the influence of internal and external factors on the personality development. This included the influence of the family atmosphere as well as behaviour and personality types that developed. In conclusion the extent to which answers were obtained regarding the seven research questions and the extent to which the aim of the research has been achieved is highlighted. Finally recommendations are made concerning future research and possible areas on which researchers should focus. / Dissertation (MA (Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Psychology / unrestricted