Software development performance in remote student teams in international computer science collaboration

Approximately two-thirds of software projects are late because project teams encounter challenges that threaten their success. In addition, many projects are developed using remote collaboration, due to pressure of time, distribution of expertise, and organisational constraints. In parallel, technology has developed that allows effective remote collaboration.The purpose of this research was to investigate what characterises high performance in software development in remote student teams. The data was drawn from the Runestone Project, which involved Swedish and American computer science students in international collaboration on a substantial software development project. Runestone gave students the opportunity to use different technologies for collaboration across time and distance, as well the chance to develop problem-solving experience with different cultures in a team-based environment.This research tracked the progress and changes in the entire electronic communication for 8 student teams identified as the 4 highest- and lowest- 4 performers in the 2000 presentation of Runestone. A set of categories was developed to characterise over 31,000 lines of communication, focusing on the amount and nature of communication for each team, and on decision-making patterns throughout the software development process. The research also looked at students' use of available communication technology.Results indicate that both communication and the process and timing of specific actions are crucial to a team's success. Teams communicated differently, with high performing groups communicating less. High performing teams were more organised in the way they conducted their meetings and work. The management of the software development process as a whole was crucial, as was leadership style. An effective use of the software development process can also mean that key decisions are made during the times in the software process where they will be most effective. This research has implications for remote collaboration in both education and industry

The Conservation of Climatically Adaptive Genetic Variation

Anthropogenic climate change poses a significant threat to plant populations and communities because the resulting environmental changes are expected to exceed the capacity of the individuals comprising many populations to reproduce or survive. Evolutionary adaptation can provide plant populations with the capacity to alter their climate tolerance, buffering them against the adverse effects of climate change, but requires the presence of climatically-adaptive standing genetic variation. Microclimatic variation—variability in climatic conditions over fine spatial scales—represents one potential source of such genetic variation, because locally prevailing climatic conditions differ from those in the surrounding areas, and have the potential to drive selection for variant genotypes that confer fitness advantages under those specific conditions, supporting diversity at larger spatial scales. Little is known about the capacity of microclimatic variation in landscapes to support climatically adaptive genetic variation and provide a buffer against future climate change. Furthermore, the success of ecological restoration projects that create new populations and habitats from seed might depend upon the inclusion of relevant climatically adaptive variation, yet we know almost nothing regarding the impacts of seed production techniques on the maintenance of these variants within seed stocks used in restoration. In this thesis I investigate the extent to which microclimatic conditions drive selection for distinct phenotypes and genotypes that may be climatically adaptive, in the ecological model forage grass Festuca ovina. I use two different study systems to address these issues, one based on naturally-occurring microclimatic variation across a landscape, and one in which climate conditions have been experimentally manipulated for almost 30 years. Additionally, I investigate the effects of commercial seed production on genetic diversity within F. ovina, with the aim of assessing the maintenance of climatically adaptive genetic variation in ecological restoration projects. I found that microclimatic variation linked to north- and south-facing valley slopes in the Peak District (UK ) is consistently associated with a suite of plant phenotypes and genotypes that are likely to be adaptive in the distinct conditions of different microclimates. F. ovina populations from cooler/ wetter microclimates tend to prioritise vegetative growth over reproduction, potentially increasing their ability to compete in these environments, whereas those from warmer drier microclimates prioritise sexual reproduction, which may increase the capacity of populations to persist through stressful abiotic conditions. Gene loci that are carry a signature of climatically adaptive genetic differentiation had functions linked to stress tolerance, reproductive timing and disease resistance. I documented similar genomic differentiation between experimental climate treatments at the Buxton Climate Change Impacts Laboratory, and furthermore provide evidence that the evolutionary changes there are functionally equivalent to those seen in naturally occurring microclimate populations in the wider Peak District. Finally, I compared the genetic structure of a wild F. ovina source population to later generation artificial populations derived from the source for commercial seed production and ecological restoration at Emorsgate Seeds (Norfolk, UK). Here I found that there was no signal of artificial selection during the process of raising seed commercially, between the wild source population and the fourth and sixth generation of cultivated stock. The results presented here demonstrate that microclimatic heterogeneity provides an important source of naturally occurring, climatically-adaptive genetic variation, with the potential to buffer populations against the effects of climate change by enabling adaptive evolutionary responses. Furthermore, the facts that F. ovina is obligately outcrossing, long-lived and wind pollinated appears to encourage retention of genetic variation within populations, including under long term cultivation for ecological restoration. On the basis of my results, I recommend that microclimatic heterogeneity and associated climatically adaptive variation should be carefully considered in conservation projects and in projections of species’ responses to climate change. Furthermore, the existence of climatically relevant variation in plant phenotypes and genotypes suggests that seed sourcing and commercial propagation should be undertaken to capture and retain as much of this variation as possible

Greater Cairo Earthquake Loss Assessment and its Implications on the Egyptian Economy

This study develops a loss estimation model for assessing the seismic economic implications resulting from damage to Greater Cairo’s building stock, as well as natural gas and electricity lifelines. The model estimates both the direct and indirect economic losses resulting from seismic occurrences. The developed model is composed of three modules. The first of which is the ground shaking module which estimates ground-motion throughout Greater Cairo. This is done through investigating the seismicity of Egypt and its surroundings, in order to develop recurrence relationships. Furthermore, through the use of geological and geotechnical data, seismic geological classification is conducted. This investigation is used along with three attenuation relationships to estimate ground-motion throughout Greater Cairo. The second module evaluates the damage to the building stock as well as natural gas and electricity lifelines. This is done through developing a building inventory database, and classifying structures in this database according to various classes. Moreover, data regarding components in the natural gas and electricity networks is collected, and through the use of minimum cut sets the networks’ behaviour is assessed. Finally, through the use of fragility curves the vulnerability of structures and components is evaluated. The final module estimates the direct economic losses associated with repairing damaged components. Furthermore, the indirect costs associated with business interruption resulting from disruption to elements in the built environment are also estimated. This study will pave the way for developing countries to recognize the impacts of earthquakes on their economies. Moreover, it will be useful for countries that exhibit a centralized economy that is dependant on major cities. Furthermore it provides a step forward in earthquake loss estimation to model multiple lifelines, rather than past research which modelled each lifeline separately

Novel approaches in complement profiling; application in kidney transplantation

The first choice for patients with end-stage kidney failure is transplantation. Complement activation plays an important role in the cause of kidney failure after transplantation. This is a defense mechanism of the human body against foreign cells like bacteria, but also against a transplanted kidney. In this thesis we explored the pathomechanisms of the complement system in kidney transplant recipients, focusing on both systemic and cellular complement activation. In the first part of this thesis we found that the presence of the complement proteins properdine and C5b-9 in the urine are strongly associated with kidney failure after transplantation. Thereafter we investigated the mechanism of properdin mediated complement activation and found molecular structures that are able to interact with properdin and described several complement activation inhibitors.In the second part of this thesis we focused on complement activation mediated by antibodies, because an important cause of rejection is the presence of antibodies against the donor kidney. We developed a method to isolate endothelial cells from perfused human donor kidneys and performed donor-recipient crossmatch assays using these cells. We show that this test, next tot he detection of antibodies, also effectively monitors the removal of antibodies from the blood of patients. At last we showed that it could very well be that complement-independent mechanisms also play an important role in the development of antibody mediated rejection.The results described in this thesis could add important value to a better prediction of whether an individual patient has a higher or a lower risk of rejection and that immunosuppresive medicine can be adjusted if required