A study of the Scrum Master’s role

Scrum is an increasingly common approach to software development adopted by organizations around the world. However, as organizations transition from traditional plan-driven development to agile development with Scrum, the question arises as to which Scrum role (Product Owner, Scrum Master, or Scrum Team Member) corresponds to a Project Manager, or conversely which Scrum role should the Project Managers adopt? In an attempt to answer this question, we adopted a mixed-method research approach comprising a systematic literature review and embedded case study of a commercial software development team. Our research has identified activities that comprise the Scrum Master role, and which additional roles are actually performed by Scrum Masters in practice. We found nine activities that are performed by Scrum Masters. In addition, we found that Scrum Masters also perform other roles, most importantly as Project Managers. This latter situation results in tension and conflict of interest that could have a negative impact on the performance of the team as a whole. These results point to the need to re-assess the role of Project Managers in organizations that adopt Scrum as a development approach. We hypothesize that it might be better for Project Managers to become Product Owners, as aspects of this latter role are more consistent with the traditional responsibilities of a Project Manager

Historical roots of Agile methods: where did “Agile thinking” come from?

The appearance of Agile methods has been the most noticeable change to software process thinking in the last fifteen years [16], but in fact many of the “Agile ideas” have been around since 70’s or even before. Many studies and reviews have been conducted about Agile methods which ascribe their emergence as a reaction against traditional methods. In this paper, we argue that although Agile methods are new as a whole, they have strong roots in the history of software engineering. In addition to the iterative and incremental approaches that have been in use since 1957 [21], people who criticised the traditional methods suggested alternative approaches which were actually Agile ideas such as the response to change, customer involvement, and working software over documentation. The authors of this paper believe that education about the history of Agile thinking will help to develop better understanding as well as promoting the use of Agile methods. We therefore present and discuss the reasons behind the development and introduction of Agile methods, as a reaction to traditional methods, as a result of people's experience, and in particular focusing on reusing ideas from histor

Single-Cell Glia and Neuron Gene Expression in the Central Amygdala in Opioid Withdrawal Suggests Inflammation With Correlated Gut Dysbiosis.

Drug-seeking in opioid dependence is due in part to the severe negative emotion associated with the withdrawal syndrome. It is well-established that negative emotional states emerge from activity in the amygdala. More recently, gut microflora have been shown to contribute substantially to such emotions. We measured gene expression in single glia and neurons gathered from the amygdala using laser capture microdissection and simultaneously measured gut microflora in morphine-dependent and withdrawn rats to investigate drivers of negative emotion in opioid withdrawal. We found that neuroinflammatory genes, notabl

Gram-Negative Bacteremia upon Hospital Admission: When Should Pseudomonas aeruginosa Be Suspected?

Background. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an uncommon cause of community-acquired bacteremia among patients without severe immunodeficiency. Because tension exists between the need to limit unnecessary use of anti-pseudomonal agents and the need to avoid a delay in appropriate therapy, clinicians require better guidance regarding when to cover empirically for P. aeruginosa. We sought to determine the occurrence of and construct a model to predict P. aeruginosa bacteremia upon hospital admission. Methods. A retrospective study was conducted in 4 tertiary care hospitals. Microbiology databases were searched to find all episodes of bacteremia caused by gram-negative rods (GNRs) ⩽48 h after hospital admission. Patient data were extracted from the medical records of 151 patients with P. aeruginosa bacteremia and of 152 randomly selected patients with bacteremia due to Enterobacteriaceae. Discriminative parameters were identified using logistic regression, and the probabilities of having P. aeruginosa bacteremia were calculated. Results. P. aeruginosa caused 6.8% of 4114 unique patient episodes of GNR bacteremia upon hospital admission (incidence ratio, 5 cases per 10,000 hospital admissions). Independent predictors of P. aeruginosa bacteremia were severe immunodeficiency, age >90 years, receipt of antimicrobial therapy within past 30 days, and presence of a central venous catheter or a urinary device. Among 250 patients without severe immunodeficiency, if no predictor variables existed, the likelihood of having P. aeruginosa bacteremia was 1:42. If ⩾2 predictors existed, the risk increased to nearly 1:3. Conclusions. P. aeruginosa bacteremia upon hospital admission in patients without severe immunodeficiency is rare. Among immunocompetent patients with suspected GNR bacteremia who have ⩾2 predictors, empirical anti-pseudomonal treatment is warrante

Fluoroquinolones Protective against Cephalosporin Resistance in Gram-negative Nosocomial Pathogens

In a matched case-control study, we studied the effect of prior receipt of fluoroquinolones on isolation of three third-generation cephalosporin-resistant gram-negative nosocomial pathogens. Two hundred eighty-two cases with a third-generation cephalosporin-resistant pathogen (203 with Enterobacter spp., 50 with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and 29 with Klebsiella pneumoniae) were matched on length of stay to controls in a 1:2 ratio. Case-patients and controls were similar in age (mean 62 years) and sex (54% male). Variables predicting third-generation cephalosporin resistance were surgery (p = 0.005); intensive care unit stay (p < 0.001); and receipt of a β-lactam/β-lactamase inhibitor (p < 0.001), a ureidopenicillin (p = 0.002), or a third-generation cephalosporin (p < 0.001). Receipt of a fluoroquinolone was protective against isolation of a third-generation cephalosporin-resistant pathogen (p = 0.005). Interventional studies are required to determine whether replacing third-generation cephalosporins with fluoroquinolones will be effective in reducing cephalosporin resistance and the effect of such interventions on fluoroquinolone resistance

A Single Cell Transcriptomics Map of Paracrine Networks in the Intrinsic Cardiac Nervous System

We developed a spatially-tracked single neuron transcriptomics map of an intrinsic cardiac ganglion, the right atrial ganglionic plexus (RAGP) that is a critical mediator of sinoatrial node (SAN) activity. This 3D representation of RAGP used neuronal tracing to extensively map the spatial distribution of the subset of neurons that project to the SAN. RNA-seq of laser capture microdissected neurons revealed a distinct composition of RAGP neurons compared to the central nervous system and a surprising finding that cholinergic and catecholaminergic markers are coexpressed, suggesting multipotential phenotypes that can drive neuroplasticity within RAGP. High-throughput qPCR of hundreds of laser capture microdissected single neurons confirmed these findings and revealed a high dimensionality of neuromodulatory factors that contribute to dynamic control of the heart. Neuropeptide-receptor coexpression analysis revealed a combinatorial paracrine neuromodulatory network within RAGP informing follow-on studies on the vagal control of RAGP to regulate cardiac function in health and disease