Influential factors of aligning Spotify squads in mission-critical and offshore projects – a longitudinal embedded case study

Changing the development process of an organization is one of the toughest and riskiest decisions. This is particularly true if the known experiences and practices of the new considered ways of working are relative and subject to contextual assumptions. Spotify engineering culture is deemed as a new agile software development method which increasingly attracts large-scale organizations. The method relies on several small cross-functional self-organized teams (i.e., squads). The squad autonomy is a key driver in Spotify method, where a squad decides what to do and how to do it. To enable effective squad autonomy, each squad shall be aligned with a mission, strategy, short-term goals and other squads. Since a little known about Spotify method, there is a need to answer the question of: How can organizations work out and maintain the alignment to enable loosely coupled and tightly aligned squads? In this paper, we identify factors to support the alignment that is actually performed in practice but have never been discussed before in terms of Spotify method. We also present Spotify Tailoring by highlighting the modified and newly introduced processes to the method. Our work is based on a longitudinal embedded case study which was conducted in a real-world large-scale offshore software intensive organization that maintains mission-critical systems. According to the confidentiality agreement by the organization in question, we are not allowed to reveal a detailed description of the features of the explored project

The influence of urban green systems on the Urban Heat Island effect in London

Urban areas are typically warmer than rural ones. This is mainly due to denser configuration dominated by impermeable surfaces such as buildings and roads, compared to rural areas which are less densely built and mainly dominated by open spaces. Rapid urban expansion in dense cities bares direct impact on surface and air temperature patterns within street canyons; a phenomena which is known as the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. Thus, several UK city councils such as Birmingham, Manchester, and London have started to develop strategies aiming at enhancing urban green systems (UGS) through trees, green walls and green roofs. Some of those strategies include considering the green space factor, and increasing green areas within the cities to improve street canyon microclimate and reduce UHI. The Mayor of London has adopted a strategy for London 2050 aspiring to transform it to be the greenest city in the world by increasing the green areas up to 50%. This paper investigates the influence of increasing the UGS percentage which is considered as a key solution to mitigate UHI effect which will, in turn, provide thermally comfortable outdoor environments for pedestrians. The investigation is undertaken by comparing the morphology of precincts and streets in relation to air temperature, mean radiant temperature and surface temperature within Oxford Street canyons in London city centre; being one of the world’s busiest streets. The results from this research demonstrate that different UGS interventions with varying percentage are required depending on particular canyon orientations and geometries. The study found that, in general, more trees would have significant thermal comfort effect followed by living façade, while high albedo pavement (HAP) came last. However, HAP had high influence on improving thermal comfort in North-South orientated streets with minor variance to trees and living facades which, changing their percentage levels was insignificant

Antidepressant treatment and cultural differences - a survey of the attitudes of physicians and patients in Sweden and Turkey

<b>Background</b><br></br> The presenting symptoms of depression can be influenced by cultural differences. This study was conducted to compare the presenting symptoms and response to antidepressant medication of patients in Sweden and Turkey, two culturally different European countries. <br></br> <b>Methods</b><br></br> Recruitment was triggered when adult patients were diagnosed with a depressive or anxiety disorder by a primary care physician and prescribed an antidepressant. Physicians and patients recorded presenting symptoms and completed relevant questionnaires just before and 8 weeks after starting treatment with an antidepressant. These included the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Clinical Global Impressions (CGI) scale, the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS), and Likert scales gauging the importance of physical and psychological symptoms. Patients also rated severity of prominent symptoms (depression, anxiety, stress, sleep and pain) from zero to ten. The outcomes were compared between patients from Sweden and Turkey using Fisher's Exact test and two-sample t-tests. <br></br> <b>Results</b><br></br> The study was conducted in 460 patients (107, 23.3% in Sweden; 353, 76.7% in Turkey). Presenting symptoms differed between Sweden and Turkey, with Turkish patients more likely to present with physical symptoms, and report a higher number of physical symptoms (mean 2.4 vs. 1.4, p<0.001). In both countries, the diagnosis made by the physician differed from that derived from the HADS score at the start of the study. The HADS diagnosis varied between the countries with significantly different proportions of patients in each country being diagnosed with depression alone, anxiety alone or depression with anxiety. While all symptoms improved after antidepressant treatment in both countries, Turkish patients showed a greater degree of response than Swedish patients in depression (p=0.048), stress (p=0.014) and pain (p<0.001) as measured by the prominent symptoms assessment (PSA). <b>Conclusions</b><br></br> The presenting symptoms of patients diagnosed with a depressive or anxiety disorder by a primary care physician and prescribed an antidepressant differ between Turkey and Sweden. Patients in Turkey were more likely to present with physical symptoms than patients in Sweden and present with more physical symptoms. After 8 weeks of antidepressant treatment, the improvement from baseline was greater in Turkish patients, and this was reflected in their improved functioning

RNA editing signature during myeloid leukemia cell differentiation

Adenosine deaminases acting on RNA (ADARs) are key proteins for hematopoietic stem cell self-renewal and for survival of differentiating progenitor cells. However, their specific role in myeloid cell maturation has been poorly investigated. Here we show that ADAR1 is present at basal level in the primary myeloid leukemia cells obtained from patients at diagnosis as well as in myeloid U-937 and THP1 cell lines and its expression correlates with the editing levels. Upon phorbol-myristate acetate or Vitamin D3/granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF)-driven differentiation, both ADAR1 and ADAR2 enzymes are upregulated, with a concomitant global increase of A-to-I RNA editing. ADAR1 silencing caused an editing decrease at specific ADAR1 target genes, without, however, interfering with cell differentiation or with ADAR2 activity. Remarkably, ADAR2 is absent in the undifferentiated cell stage, due to its elimination through the ubiquitin–proteasome pathway, being strongly upregulated at the end of the differentiation process. Of note, peripheral blood monocytes display editing events at the selected targets similar to those found in differentiated cell lines. Taken together, the data indicate that ADAR enzymes play important and distinct roles in myeloid cells

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma in type 2 progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>BSEP disease results from mutations in ABCB11, which encodes the bile salt export pump (BSEP). BSEP disease is associated with an increased risk of hepatobiliary cancer.</p> <p>Case Presentation</p> <p>A 36 year old woman with BSEP disease developed pancreatic adenocarcinoma at age 36. She had been treated with a biliary diversion at age 18. A 1.7 × 1.3 cm mass was detected in the pancreas on abdominal CT scan. A 2 cm mass lesion was found at the neck and proximal body of the pancreas. Pathology demonstrated a grade 2-3 adenocarcinoma with invasion into the peripancreatic fat.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Clinicians should be aware of the possibility of pancreatic adenocarcinoma in patients with BSEP disease.</p

Hepatic Sarcoidosis Presenting as Portal Hypertension and Liver Cirrhosis: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Systemic sarcoidosis is a disease of unknown etiology, with the liver being the third most commonly affected organ. Most cases of hepatic sarcoidosis are not clinically apparent, but a few can progress to liver cirrhosis, portal hypertension and ultimately liver failure. The diagnosis of hepatic sarcoidosis is difficult, considering that no single laboratory test or radiographic finding can definitively diagnose this systemic disease. Diagnosis of hepatic sarcoidosis relies heavily on histopathologic evaluation of two or more organs, a diagnostic modality that is invasive and may not be applicable to all patients. The treatment of hepatic sarcoidosis is challenging, with no large randomized controlled trials done to date. Physicians must be aware of the complications of hepatic sarcoidosis, and must include the same in the differential diagnosis of liver cirrhosis. We present a case of hepatic sarcoidosis complicated by portal hypertension and liver cirrhosis

Information flows at inter-team boundaries in agile information systems development

Agile software development methods are being used on larger projects thus the study of inter-team communication are becoming an important topic of interest for researchers. This research addresses inter-team communication by exploring the tools and three different boundaries, inter-team, team and customers, and geographically separated teams. In this research, we gathered data from semi-structured face-to-face interviews which were analyzed following the grounded theory approach. Our study reveals consensus from different teams on the importance of virtual Kanban boards. Also, some teams members tend to adapt to other teams’ preferred communication tool. We observed challenges around interdependent user stories among the different teams and highlighted the problems that rise at the different boundaries. Keywords: agile information system development • inter-team communication • agile team boundary • communication • agile methods • cooperating agile team

Dapsone induced cholangitis as a part of dapsone syndrome: a case report

BACKGROUND: Dapsone can rarely cause a hypersensitivity reaction called dapsone syndrome, consisting of fever, hepatitis, exfoliative dermatitis, lymphadenopathy and hemolytic anemia. Dapsone syndrome is a manifestation of the DRESS (drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms) syndrome which is a serious condition that has been reported in association with various drugs. Cholangitis in dapsone syndrome has not been reported so far in the world literature. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a patient who presented with fever, exfoliative dermatitis, jaundice and anemia within three weeks of starting of dapsone therapy. These features are typical of dapsone syndrome, which is due to dapsone hypersensitivity and is potentially fatal. Unlike previous reports of hepatitic or cholestatic injury in dapsone syndrome we report here a case that had cholangitic liver injury. It responded to corticosteroids. CONCLUSION: We conclude that cholangitis, though unusual, can also form a part of dapsone syndrome. Physicians should be aware of this unusual picture of potentially fatal dapsone syndrome

Quantum dynamics in strong fluctuating fields

A large number of multifaceted quantum transport processes in molecular systems and physical nanosystems can be treated in terms of quantum relaxation processes which couple to one or several fluctuating environments. A thermal equilibrium environment can conveniently be modelled by a thermal bath of harmonic oscillators. An archetype situation provides a two-state dissipative quantum dynamics, commonly known under the label of a spin-boson dynamics. An interesting and nontrivial physical situation emerges, however, when the quantum dynamics evolves far away from thermal equilibrium. This occurs, for example, when a charge transferring medium possesses nonequilibrium degrees of freedom, or when a strong time-dependent control field is applied externally. Accordingly, certain parameters of underlying quantum subsystem acquire stochastic character. Herein, we review the general theoretical framework which is based on the method of projector operators, yielding the quantum master equations for systems that are exposed to strong external fields. This allows one to investigate on a common basis the influence of nonequilibrium fluctuations and periodic electrical fields on quantum transport processes. Most importantly, such strong fluctuating fields induce a whole variety of nonlinear and nonequilibrium phenomena. A characteristic feature of such dynamics is the absence of thermal (quantum) detailed balance.Comment: review article, Advances in Physics (2005), in pres

Modelling the Dynamics of Feral Alfalfa Populations and Its Management Implications

BACKGROUND: Feral populations of cultivated crops can pose challenges to novel trait confinement within agricultural landscapes. Simulation models can be helpful in investigating the underlying dynamics of feral populations and determining suitable management options. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We developed a stage-structured matrix population model for roadside feral alfalfa populations occurring in southern Manitoba, Canada. The model accounted for the existence of density-dependence and recruitment subsidy in feral populations. We used the model to investigate the long-term dynamics of feral alfalfa populations, and to evaluate the effectiveness of simulated management strategies such as herbicide application and mowing in controlling feral alfalfa. Results suggest that alfalfa populations occurring in roadside habitats can be persistent and less likely to go extinct under current roadverge management scenarios. Management attempts focused on controlling adult plants alone can be counterproductive due to the presence of density-dependent effects. Targeted herbicide application, which can achieve complete control of seedlings, rosettes and established plants, will be an effective strategy, but the seedbank population may contribute to new recruits. In regions where roadside mowing is regularly practiced, devising a timely mowing strategy (early- to mid-August for southern Manitoba), one that can totally prevent seed production, will be a feasible option for managing feral alfalfa populations. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Feral alfalfa populations can be persistent in roadside habitats. Timely mowing or regular targeted herbicide application will be effective in managing feral alfalfa populations and limit feral-population-mediated gene flow in alfalfa. However, in the context of novel trait confinement, the extent to which feral alfalfa populations need to be managed will be dictated by the tolerance levels established by specific production systems for specific traits. The modelling framework outlined in this paper could be applied to other perennial herbaceous plants with similar life-history characteristics