Software Service Innovation: An Action Research into Release Cycle Management

Fierce competition in the market is driving software vendors to rely on Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) strategies and to continuously match new software versions with customers’ needs and competitors’ moves. Although release management as a recurrent activity related to SaaS arguably shapes how a vendor services its customers, the literature is surprisingly limited on how software releases are managed to support SaaS strategies. Against this backdrop, we present a collaborative action-research study with Software Inc., a large multi-national software provider, focused on improving the release cycle management process for a complex security software service. The study is part of a comprehensive intervention into Software Inc. that combines a perspective rooted in software process improvement and engineering practices with one rooted in service delivery and customer interactions. The part that is reported in this dissertation draws on the service-dominant logic framework to analyze how the release cycle management process was organized to improve Software Inc.’s ongoing value co-creation with its customers. As a result, the study contributed to improving release cycle management at Software Inc. and it expands industry knowledge about the challenges and opportunities for software vendors to manage releases and improve the value delivered to and co-created with their customers. This added knowledge is of interest to both practitioners and researchers as SaaS strategies increasingly shape the industry with important implications for how software is released

Understanding the nature of specificity of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry2A toxins against Plutella xylostella

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a gram positive spore forming bacterium that has entomopathogenic properties. It has the ability to synthesize insecticidal proteins in the sporulation phase of its life cycle and package them as parasporal crystals. These so-called Cry proteins are known to have insecticidal activity against many insect orders including Hymenoptera, nematodes, Lepidoptera, Diptera and Coleoptera. This study aimed to understand the basis of the specificity of the Cry2A family of toxins against the diamondback moth Plutella xylostella. The Cry2A toxins were characterized and bioassayed against P. xylostella, the results of which were used to inform the design of hybrid and mutant proteins. These were used to establish the relationship between toxin sequence and function with respect to their activity against this insect. The results showed that both domain I and II of the Cry2A toxins influenced specificity towards P. xylostella and that different populations of this insect show dramatically different susceptibilities to individual Cry2A toxins. Two different expression systems were compared and whilst differences in yield and purity were observed, there were no differences in the specific activity of the expressed toxins. Finally, an attempt was made to interchange the activity of Cry2Ac against P. xylostella and the activity of Cry41Aa against human cancer cells through domain swaps

Cost-effectiveness analysis of Enzalutamide, Abiraterone acetate plus prednisone, Cabazitaxel plus prednisone for the treatment of visceral metastatic Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer (mCRPC) after Docetaxel therapy

Background: Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of death after lung cancer among men in the US. The America Cancer Society predicts 164,690 new cases and 29,430 prostate cancer deaths in 2018. In 2014, nearly US $13.4 billion was spent on prostate cancer in the US and expected to reach US$15.4 billion by 2020. Objective: To conduct a cost-effective analysis of visceral mCRPC therapies post-docetaxel failure from a US healthcare payer perspective utilizing life-time horizon Markov model. These medications received highest National Comprehensive Cancer Network guideline recommendation to treat visceral mCRPC post-docetaxel failure. Methods: A pharmacoeconomic model was constructed using Microsoft Excel® supported by visual basic codes and macros functions to estimate the cost-effectiveness [cost per Life Year Gained (LYG)] and cost-utility analyses [cost per Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY)] of visceral mCRPC therapies. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the robustness of base-case analysis and provide cost-effectiveness acceptability curve at various willingness-to-pay thresholds. Results: About (98.7 %) of patients who receive abiraterone acetate plus prednisone, (83.8 %) who receive cabazitaxel plus prednisone and (86.8 %) who receive enzalutamide are expected to die in 3 years. Enzalutamide provided higher rates (36.1 %) of progression-free survival than cabazitaxel plus prednisone (3.2 %) and abiraterone acetate plus prednisone (12.8 %). Enzalutamide was found to be more effective (1.58 LYG and 0.79 QALY) compared to abiraterone plus prednisone (1.20 LYG and 0.58 QALY) and cabazitaxel plus prednisone (1.48 LYG and 0.56 QALY). Enzalutamide was also associated with lower incremental costs ($157,830) compared to abiraterone acetate plus prednisone ($235,853) and cabazitaxel plus prednisone ($496,756). Conclusion: Enzalutamide is cost-effective compared to abiraterone acetate plus prednisone and cabazitaxel plus prednisone from a US healthcare perspective. In addition, abiraterone acetate plus prednisone is less effective and less costly compared to cabazitaxel plus prednisone

Novel Employer-Oriented Frameworks to Manage Delay Causes in Traditional (Non-BIM) and Building Information Modelling (BIM)-Enabled Construction Projects

Construction delays are considered among the foremost common issues that inflict adverse effects on project owners and employers. Thus, it is essential to identify the causes of delays to attenuate and reduce the delays and related expenses. No prior research has addressed employer delays separately in a detailed manner from the more comprehensive coverage of countries or continents. A few studies on delays consider traditional and building information modelling (BIM) current practices for different continents. Hence, this research aimed to develop a novel and comprehensive framework to address or prevent construction delays caused by employers

Labour Effects of Corporate Groups in Canada

In Canada, the norms of capitalist legality are deeply entrenched. As a result, businesses are generally free to structure their affairs in any way that serves their interests. One of the most foundational norms is that each corporation has a distinct legal personality. Not only does this protect shareholders and directors from personal responsibility for the corporation’s liabilities, but it also means that one corporation is not normally liable for the obligations of another corporation even though both corporations are owned and controlled by the same individuals

Sudan's Access to Medicine: To TRIPS or Not to TRIPS

Examines how Sudan might improve its access to medicines prior to acceding to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights 1994. Reviews economic factors influencing such access, potential improvements to the intellectual property regime, and how industry standards and foreign direct investment might be strengthened. Discusses Sudan's potential as a generic drug manufacturer

The Effectiveness of Educational Scaffolding Strategies in Developing Basic Scientific Operations of Kindergarten Children in Jordan

This study aimed to characterize the effectiveness of educational scaffolding strategies in developing basic scientific operations of kindergarten children in Jordan, the study sample consists of (45) children of kg2 level (5-6) years, was chosen intentionally, distributed to the two study groups: (22) children in the experimental group, and (23) children in the control group. They were chosen from the Islamic Educational College IEC Kindergarten affiliated with the Ministry of Education in Amman, for the academic year 2019/2020.To achieve the study goals, the researchers prepared the study tools represented in: list of basic scientific operations for kindergarten children, educational guide using educational scaffolding strategies, and basic scientific operations test for kindergarten children after making sure of its validity and reliability.The results of the study showed a difference in the adjusted mean scores of the educational scaffolding strategies group and the control group in favor of the educational scaffolding strategies group, ANCOVA was used to analyze children scores based on the variable of the teaching method, there is a significant difference at (α = 0.05) between the adjusted mean scores of the overall performance on the Post-Test in favor of the experimental group, taught with educational scaffolding strategies compared with the control group who have been taught with traditional method. The adjusted mean of the experimental group was found to be (27.03) in comparison with the mean score of the control group (12.39), who were taught in the traditional method. Keywords: kindergarten Children, scaffolding Strategies, Basic Scientific Operations, Educational Scaffolding. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-33-08 Publication date: November 30th 202

Modalities for Imaging of Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the second most common cause of cancer deaths among males in the United States. Prostate screening by digital rectal examination and prostate-specific antigen has shifted the diagnosis of prostate cancer to lower grade, organ confined disease, adding to overdetection and overtreatment of prostate cancer. The new challenge is in differentiating clinically relevant tumors from ones that may otherwise never have become evident if not for screening. The rapid evolution of imaging modalities and the synthesis of anatomic, functional, and molecular data allow for improved detection and characterization of prostate cancer. However, the appropriate use of imaging is difficult to define, as many controversial studies regarding each of the modalities and their utilities can be found in the literature. Clinical practice patterns have been slow to adopt many of these advances as a result. This review discusses the more established imaging techniques, including Ultrasonography, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, MR Spectroscopy, Computed Tomography, and Positron Emission Tomography. We also review several promising techniques on the horizon, including Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI, Diffuse-Weighted Imaging, Superparamagnetic Nanoparticles, and Radionuclide Scintigraphy