Autonomous agile teams: Challenges and future directions for research

According to the principles articulated in the agile manifesto, motivated and empowered software developers relying on technical excellence and simple designs, create business value by delivering working software to users at regular short intervals. These principles have spawned many practices. At the core of these practices is the idea of autonomous, self-managing, or self-organizing teams whose members work at a pace that sustains their creativity and productivity. This article summarizes the main challenges faced when implementing autonomous teams and the topics and research questions that future research should address

Implementation of uniform information on fetal movement in a Norwegian population reduced delayed reporting of decreased fetal movement and stillbirths in primiparous women - a clinical quality improvement

Background. Delayed maternal reporting of decreased fetal movement (DFM) is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. Inconsistent information on fetal activity to women during the antenatal period may result in delayed reporting of DFM. We aimed to evaluate an intervention of implementation of uniform information on fetal activity to women during the antenatal period. Methods. In a prospective before-and-after study, singleton women presenting DFM in the third trimester across 14 hospitals in Norway were registered. Outcome measures were maternal behavior regarding reporting of DFM, concerns and stillbirth. In addition, cross-sectional studies of all women giving birth were undertaken to assess maternal concerns about fetal activity, and population-based data were obtained from the Medical Birth Registry Norway. Results. Pre- and post-intervention cohorts included 19 407 and 46 143 births with 1 215 and 3 038 women with DFM respectively. Among primiparous women with DFM, a reduction in delayed reporting of DFM (48 hrs) OR 0.61 (95% CI 0.47-0.81) and stillbirths OR 0.36 (95% CI 0.19-0.69) was shown in the post-intervention period. No difference was shown in rates of consultations for DFM or maternal concerns. Stillbirth rates and maternal behavior among women who were of non-Western origin, smokers, overweight or >34 years old were unchanged. Conclusions. Uniform information on fetal activity provided to pregnant women was associated with a reduction in the number of primiparous women who delayed reporting of DFM and a reduction of the stillbirth rates for primiparous women reporting DFM. The information did not appear to increase maternal concerns or rate of consultation. Due to different imperfections in different clinical settings, further studies in other populations replicating these findings are required

Evaluating the contribution of APOBEC3G haplotypes, on influencing HIV infection in a Zimbabwean paediatric population

Background. Apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing catalytic polypeptide like-3G (APOBEC3G) is an antiviral enzyme that reduces viral fitness by introducing uracil to thymidine hypermutations in viral genomes. Thus, polymorphisms in the APOBEC3G gene have been implicated in differential outcomes of HIV infection and disease progression. However, there is insufficient evidence on the role of APOBEC3G gene variants on HIV infection, especially in African populations. This study therefore describes polymorphisms in the APOBEC3G gene in a Zimbabwean paediatric population and evaluates their effects on susceptibility to HIV infection among children born to HIV-infected mothers. Methods. A total of 104 children aged between 7 and 9 years, comprising 68 perinatally exposed to HIV (32 born infected (EI) and 36 born uninfected (EU)) and 36 unexposed and uninfected (UEUI) controls were recruited. Allelic variants (n=5) in the APOBEC3G gene were characterised. Results. Frequencies for minor APOBEC3G alleles in the HIV-uninfected groups (EU and UEUI) were c.557G (40%), g.-90C (32%), g.-571C (12%), c.467-85C (42%), and c.582-162G (6%). APOBEC3G c.467-85C frequency was statistically significantly different when compared to the Masai of Kinyawa, Kenya population (42% v. 18%). None of the single nucleotide polymorphisms individually or as part of haplotypes were significantly associated with HIV infection when comparing the EI and EU groups. Conclusions. Our findings suggest that APOBEC3G polymorphisms alone may not have significant predictive power for inferring genetic susceptibility to vertical transmission of HIV in children perinatally exposed to HIV

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

Ischemic preconditioning improves maximal performance in humans

Repeated episodes of ischemia followed by reperfusion, commonly referred to as ischemic preconditioning (IPC), represent an endogenous protective mechanism that delays cell injury. IPC also increases blood flow and improves endothelial function. We hypothesize that IPC will improve physical exercise performance and maximal oxygen consumption. The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of ischemic preconditioning in leg skeletal muscles on cycling exercise performance in healthy individuals. Fifteen healthy, well-trained subjects performed two incremental maximal exercise tests on a bicycle ergometer. Power output, oxygen consumption, ventilation, respiratory quotient, and heart rate were measured continuously. Blood pressure and blood lactate were measured before and after the test. One exercise test was performed after the application of ischemic preconditioning, using a protocol of three series of 5-min ischemia at both legs with resting periods of 5 min in between. The other maximal cycling test served as a control. Tests were conducted in counterbalanced order, at least 1 week apart, at the same time of the day. The repeated ischemic periods significantly increased maximal oxygen consumption from 56.8 to 58.4 ml/min per kg (P = 0.003). Maximal power output increased significantly from 366 to 372 W (P = 0.05). Ischemic preconditioning had no effect on ventilation, respiratory quotient, maximal heart rate, blood pressure or on blood lactate. Repeated short-term leg ischemia prior to an incremental bicycle exercise test improves maximal oxygen consumption by 3% and power output by 1.6%. This protocol, which is suggested to mimic the effects of ischemic preconditioning, may have important implications for exercise performance

Congenital rubella syndrome and autism spectrum disorder prevented by rubella vaccination - United States, 2001-2010

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) is associated with several negative outcomes, including autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The objective of this study was to estimate the numbers of CRS and ASD cases prevented by rubella vaccination in the United States from 2001 through 2010.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Prevention estimates were calculated through simple mathematical modeling, with values of model parameters determined from published literature. Model parameters included pre-vaccine era CRS incidence, vaccine era CRS incidence, the number of live births per year, and the percentage of CRS cases presenting with an ASD.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Based on our estimates, 16,600 CRS cases (range: 8300-62,250) were prevented by rubella vaccination from 2001 through 2010 in the United States. An estimated 1228 ASD cases were prevented by rubella vaccination in the United States during this time period. Simulating a slight expansion in ASD diagnostic criteria in recent decades, we estimate that a minimum of 830 ASD cases and a maximum of 6225 ASD cases were prevented.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We estimate that rubella vaccination prevented substantial numbers of CRS and ASD cases in the United States from 2001 through 2010. These findings provide additional incentive to maintain high measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination coverage.</p

Motor development of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Objective: To compare both global and specific domains of motor development of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with that of typically developing children. Methods: Two hundred children (50 children with clinical diagnoses of ADHD, according to the DSM-IV-TR and 150 typically developing controls), aged 5 to 10 years, participated in this crosssectional study. The Motor Development Scale was used to assess fine and global motricity, balance, body schema, and spatial and temporal organization. Results: Between-group testing revealed statistically significant differences between the ADHD and control groups for all domains. The results also revealed a deficit of nearly two years in the motor development of children with ADHD compared with the normative sample. Conclusion: The current study shows that ADHD is associated with a delay in motor development when compared to typically developing children. The results also suggested difficulties in certain motor areas for those with ADHD. These results may point to plausible mechanisms underlying the relationship between ADHD and motor difficulties

Genetic and Epigenetic Factors at COL2A1 and ABCA4 Influence Clinical Outcome in Congenital Toxoplasmosis

Background: Primary Toxoplasma gondii infection during pregnancy can be transmitted to the fetus. At birth, infected infants may have intracranial calcification, hydrocephalus, and retinochoroiditis, and new ocular lesions can occur at any age after birth. Not all children who acquire infection in utero develop these clinical signs of disease. Whilst severity of disease is influenced by trimester in which infection is acquired by the mother, other factors including genetic predisposition may contribute.Methods and Findings: In 457 mother-child pairs from Europe, and 149 child/parent trios from North America, we show that ocular and brain disease in congenital toxoplasmosis associate with polymorphisms in ABCA4 encoding ATP-binding cassette transporter, subfamily A, member 4. Polymorphisms at COL2A1 encoding type II collagen associate only with ocular disease. Both loci showed unusual inheritance patterns for the disease allele when comparing outcomes in heterozygous affected children with outcomes in affected children of heterozygous mothers. Modeling suggested either an effect of mother's genotype, or parent-of-origin effects. Experimental studies showed that both ABCA4 and COL2A1 show isoform-specific epigenetic modifications consistent with imprinting.Conclusions: These associations between clinical outcomes of congenital toxoplasmosis and polymorphisms at ABCA4 and COL2A1 provide novel insight into the molecular pathways that can be affected by congenital infection with this parasite

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) types Western blot (WB) band profiles as potential surrogate markers of HIV disease progression and predictors of vertical transmission in a cohort of infected but antiretroviral therapy naïve pregnant women in Harare, Zimbabwe

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Expensive CD4 count and viral load tests have failed the intended objective of enabling access to HIV therapy in poor resource settings. It is imperative to develop simple, affordable and non-subjective disease monitoring tools to complement clinical staging efforts of inexperienced health personnel currently manning most healthcare centres because of brain drain. Besides accurately predicting HIV infection, sequential appearance of specific bands of WB test offers a window of opportunity to develop a less subjective tool for monitoring disease progression.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>HIV type characterization was done in a cohort of infected pregnant women at 36 gestational weeks using WB test. Student-t test was used to determine maternal differences in mean full blood counts and viral load of mothers with and those without HIV <it>gag </it>antigen bands. Pearson Chi-square test was used to assess differences in lack of bands appearance with vertical transmission and lymphadenopathy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among the 64 HIV infected pregnant women, 98.4% had pure HIV-1 infection and one woman (1.7%) had dual HIV-1/HIV-2 infections. Absence of HIV pol antigen bands was associated with acute infection, p = 0.002. All women with chronic HIV-1 infection had antibody reactivity to both the HIV-1 envelope and polymerase antigens. However, antibody reactivity to gag antigens varied among the women, being 100%, 90%, 70% and 63% for p24, p17, p39 and p55, respectively. Lack of antibody reactivity to gag p39 antigen was associated with disease progression as confirmed by the presence of lymphadenopathy, anemia, higher viral load, p = 0.010, 0.025 and 0.016, respectively. Although not statistically significant, women with p39 band missing were 1.4 times more likely to transmit HIV-1 to their infants.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Absence of antibody reactivity to pol and gag p39 antigens was associated with acute infection and disease progression, respectively. Apart from its use in HIV disease diagnosis, WB test could also be used in conjunction with simpler tests like full blood counts and patient clinical assessment as a relatively cheaper disease monitoring tool required prior to accessing antiretroviral therapy for poor resource settings. However, there is also need to factor in the role of host-parasite genetics and interactions in disease progression.</p

Jowett’s Thucydides: A corpus-based analysis of translation as political intervention

Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War is a key text in the classical Greek canon and an important source of insights into the structures and tensions at the heart of ancient Athenian democracy. Consequently, modern interpretations of his analysis have repeatedly played a major role in shaping debates on the viability and desirability of democratic rule. This paper aims to build on previous discussion of Benjamin Jowett's 1881 translation of Thucydides by applying a comparative corpus-based methodology to explore how this translator's own personal politics shaped his re-presentation of this text. The analysis reveals a striking emphasis on the position and activity of democratic leaders throughout Jowett’s version, strongly consistent with the ideology of leadership that he developed during his career as Master of Balliol College, Oxford