DevOps and its Philosophy : Education Matters!

DevOps processes comply with principles and offer practices with main objective to support efficiently the evolution of IT systems. To be efficient a DevOps process relies on a set of integrated tools. DevOps is among the first competencies together with Agile method required by the industry. As a new approach it is necessary to develop and offer to the academy and to the industry training programs to prepare our engineers in the best possible way. In this chapter we present the main aspects of the educational effort made in the recent years to educate to the concepts and values of the DevOps philosophy. This includes principles, practices, tools and architectures, primarily the microservices architectural style, which shares many aspects of DevOps approaches especially the modularity and flexibility which enables continuous change and delivery. Two experiences have been made, one at academic level as a master program course and the other, as an industrial training. Based on those two experiences, we provide a comparative analysis and some proposals in order to develop and improve DevOps education for the future

An ESTRO-ACROP guideline on quality assurance and medical physics commissioning of online MRI guided radiotherapy systems based on a consensus expert opinion.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this consensus expert opinion was to define quality assurance (QA) tests for online magnetic resonance image (MRI) guided radiotherapy (oMRgRT) systems and to define the important medical physics aspects for installation and commissioning of an oMRgRT system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten medical physicists and two radiation oncologists experienced in oMRgRT participated in the survey. In the first round of the consensus expert opinion, ideas on QA and commissioning were collected. Only tests and aspects different from commissioning of a CT guided radiotherapy (RT) system were considered. In the following two rounds all twelve participants voted on the importance of the QA tests, their recommended frequency and their suitability for the two oMRgRT systems approved for clinical use as well as on the importance of the aspects to consider during medical physics commissioning. RESULTS: Twenty-four QA tests were identified which are potentially important during commissioning and routine QA on oMRgRT systems compared to online CT guided RT systems. An additional eleven tasks and aspects related to construction, workflow development and training were collected. Consensus was found for most tests on their importance, their recommended frequency and their suitability for the two approved systems. In addition, eight aspects mostly related to the definition of workflows were also found to be important during commissioning. CONCLUSIONS: A program for QA and commissioning of oMRgRT systems was developed to support medical physicists to prepare for safe handling of such systems

Right Scaling for Right Pricing: A Case Study on Total Cost of Ownership Measurement for Cloud Migration

Cloud computing promises traditional enterprises and independent software vendors a myriad of advantages over on-premise installations including cost, operational and organizational efficiencies. The decision to migrate software configured for on-premise delivery to the cloud requires careful technical consideration and planning. In this chapter, we discuss the impact of right-scaling on the cost modelling for migration decision making and price setting of software for commercial resale. An integrated process is presented for measuring total cost of ownership, taking in to account IaaS/PaaS resource consumption based on forecast SaaS usage levels. The process is illustrated with a real world case study

The ownership of digital infrastructure: Exploring the deployment of software libraries in a digital innovation cluster

Boundary resources have been shown to enable the arm’s-length relationships between platform owners and third-party developers that underlie digital innovation in platform ecosystems. While boundary resources that are owned by open-source communities and smaller-scale software vendors are also critical components in the digital infrastructure, their role in digital innovation has yet to be systematically explored. In particular, software libraries are popular boundary resources that provide functionality without the need for continued interaction with their owners. They are used extensively by commercial vendors to enable customization of their software products, by communities to disseminate open-source software, and by big-tech platform owners to provide functionality that does not involve control. This paper reports on the deployment of such software libraries in the web and mobile (Android) contexts by 107 startup companies in London. Our findings show that libraries owned by big-tech companies, product vendors, and communities coexist; that the deployment of big-tech libraries is unaffected by the scale of the deploying startup; and that context evolution paths are consequential for library deployment. These findings portray a balanced picture of digital infrastructure as neither the community-based utopia of early open-source research nor the dystopia of the recent digital dominance literature

Innovative solutions to sticky situations: Antiadhesive strategies for treating bacterial infections

ABSTRACT Bacterial adherence to host tissue is an essential process in pathogenesis, necessary for invasion and colonization and often required for the efficient delivery of toxins and other bacterial effectors. As existing treatment options for common bacterial infections dwindle, we find ourselves rapidly approaching a tipping point in our confrontation with antibiotic-resistant strains and in desperate need of new treatment options. Bacterial strains defective in adherence are typically avirulent and unable to cause infection in animal models. The importance of this initial binding event in the pathogenic cascade highlights its potential as a novel therapeutic target. This article seeks to highlight a variety of strategies being employed to treat and prevent infection by targeting the mechanisms of bacterial adhesion. Advancements in this area include the development of novel antivirulence therapies using small molecules, vaccines, and peptides to target a variety of bacterial infections. These therapies target bacterial adhesion through a number of mechanisms, including inhibition of pathogen receptor biogenesis, competition-based strategies with receptor and adhesin analogs, and the inhibition of binding through neutralizing antibodies. While this article is not an exhaustive description of every advancement in the field, we hope it will highlight several promising examples of the therapeutic potential of antiadhesive strategies.</jats:p

To servitize is to (re)position : utilizing a Porterian view to understand servitization and value systems

Drawing on the case of a global servitizing company in the ship power industry, we use a Porterian toolkit for analyzing the implications of industry power and its consequences on firm vertical (re)positioning within the value system. Whereas repositioning has been seen as a way of moving closer to customers and obtaining new competencies, strategic moves aimed at increasing companies’ sphere of influence were neglected. This chapter illustrates how the power approach to repositioning, through different alternative mechanisms, complements the widespread capability view and contributes to value system analysis in servitization.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Review of nutrient actions on age-related macular degeneration

The actions of nutrients and related compounds on age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are explained in this review. The findings from 80 studies published since 2003 on the association between diet and supplements in AMD were reviewed. Antioxidants and other nutrients with an effect on AMD susceptibility include carotenoids (lutein and zeaxanthin, β-carotene), vitamins (vitamin A, E, C, D, B), mineral supplements (zinc, copper, selenium), dietary fatty acids [monounsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA both omega-3 PUFA and omega-6 PUFA), saturated fatty acids and cholesterol], and dietary carbohydrates. The literature revealed that many of these antioxidants and nutrients exert a protective role by functioning synergistically. Specifically, the use of dietary supplements with targeted actions can provide minimal benefits on the onset or progression of AMD; however, this does not appear to be particularly beneficial in healthy people. Furthermore, some supplements or nutrients have demonstrated discordant effects on AMD in some studies. Since intake of dietary supplements, as well as exposure to damaging environmental factors, is largely dependent on population habits (including dietary practices) and geographical localization, an overall healthy diet appears to be the best strategy in reducing the risk of developing AMD. As of now, the precise mechanism of action of certain nutrients in AMD prevention remains unclear. Thus, future studies are required to examine the effects that nutrients have on AMD and to determine which factors are most strongly correlated with reducing the risk of AMD or preventing its progression