Arsonists or firefighters? Affectiveness in agile software development

In this paper, we present an analysis of more than 500K comments from open-source repositories of software systems developed using agile methodologies. Our aim is to empirically determine how developers interact with each other under certain psychological conditions generated by politeness, sentiment and emotion expressed within developers' comments. Developers involved in an open-source projects do not usually know each other; they mainly communicate through mailing lists, chat, and tools such as issue tracking systems. The way in which they communicate a ects the development process and the productivity of the people involved in the project. We evaluated politeness, sentiment and emotions of comments posted by agile developers and studied the communication ow to understand how they interacted in the presence of impolite and negative comments (and vice versa). Our analysis shows that \ re ghters" prevail. When in presence of impolite or negative comments, the probability of the next comment being impolite or negative is 13% and 25%, respectively; ANGER however, has a probability of 40% of being followed by a further ANGER comment. The result could help managers take control the development phases of a system, since social aspects can seriously a ect a developer's productivity. In a distributed agile environment this may have a particular resonance

A Relational Event Approach to Modeling Behavioral Dynamics

This chapter provides an introduction to the analysis of relational event data (i.e., actions, interactions, or other events involving multiple actors that occur over time) within the R/statnet platform. We begin by reviewing the basics of relational event modeling, with an emphasis on models with piecewise constant hazards. We then discuss estimation for dyadic and more general relational event models using the relevent package, with an emphasis on hands-on applications of the methods and interpretation of results. Statnet is a collection of packages for the R statistical computing system that supports the representation, manipulation, visualization, modeling, simulation, and analysis of relational data. Statnet packages are contributed by a team of volunteer developers, and are made freely available under the GNU Public License. These packages are written for the R statistical computing environment, and can be used with any computing platform that supports R (including Windows, Linux, and Mac).

Stochastic Blockmodeling for the Analysis of Big Data

The aim of this paper is to consider the stochastic blockmodel to obtain clusters of units as regards patterns of similar relations; moreover we want to analyze the relations between clusters. Blockmodeling is a technique usually applied in social network analysis focusing on the relations between \u201cactors\u201d i.e. units. In our time people and devices constantly generate data. The network is generating location and other data that keeps services running and ready to use in every moment. This rapid development in the availability and access to data has induced the need for better analysis techniques to understand the various phenomena. Blockmodeling techniques and Clustering algorithms, can be used for this aim. In this paper application regards the Web

Distribution of sound pressure around a singing cricket: radiation pattern and asymmetry in the sound field

Male field crickets generate calls to attract distant females through tegminal stridulation: the rubbing together of the overlying right wing which bears a file of cuticular teeth against the underlying left wing which carries a sclerotised scraper. During stridulation, specialised areas of membrane on both wings are set into oscillating vibrations to produce acoustic radiation. The location of females is unknown to the calling males and thus increasing effective signal range in all directions will maximise transmission effectiveness. However, producing an omnidirectional sound field of high sound pressure levels may be problematic due to the mechanical asymmetry found in this sound generation system. Mechanical asymmetry occurs by the right wing coming to partially cover the left wing during the closing stroke phase of stridulation. As such, it is hypothesised that the sound field on the left-wing side of the animal will contain lower sound pressure components than on the right-wing side as a result of this coverage. This hypothesis was tested using a novel method to accurately record a high resolution, three dimensional mapping of sound pressure levels around restrained Gryllus bimaculatus field crickets singing under pharmacological stimulation. The results indicate that a bilateral asymmetry is present across individuals, with greater amplitude components present in the right wing side of the animal. Individual variation in sound pressure to either the right or left-wing side is also observed. However, statistically significant differences in bilateral sound field asymmetry as presented here may not affect signalling in the field

Structural basis for CRISPR RNA-guided DNA recognition by Cascade

The CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) immune system in prokaryotes uses small guide RNAs to neutralize invading viruses and plasmids. In Escherichia coli, immunity depends on a ribonucleoprotein complex called Cascade. Here we present the composition and low-resolution structure of Cascade and show how it recognizes double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) targets in a sequence-specific manner. Cascade is a 405-kDa complex comprising five functionally essential CRISPR-associated (Cas) proteins (CasA1B2C6D1E1) and a 61-nucleotide CRISPR RNA (crRNA) with 5′-hydroxyl and 2′,3′-cyclic phosphate termini. The crRNA guides Cascade to dsDNA target sequences by forming base pairs with the complementary DNA strand while displacing the noncomplementary strand to form an R-loop. Cascade recognizes target DNA without consuming ATP, which suggests that continuous invader DNA surveillance takes place without energy investment. The structure of Cascade shows an unusual seahorse shape that undergoes conformational changes when it binds target DNA.

Measuring affective well-being at work using short-form scales : implications for affective structures and participant instructions

Measuring affective well-being in organizational studies has become increasingly widespread, given its association with key work-performance and other markers of organizational functioning. As such, researchers and policy-makers need to be confident that well-being measures are valid, reliable and robust. To reduce the burden on participants in applied settings, short-form measures of affective well-being are proving popular. However, these scales are seldom validated as standalone, comprehensive measures in their own right. In this article, we used a short-form measure of affective well-being with 10 items: the Daniels five-factor measure of affective well-being (D-FAW). In Study 1, across six applied sample groups (N = 2624), we found that the factor structure of the short-form D-FAW is robust when issued as a standalone measure, and that it should be scored differently depending on the participant instruction used. When participant instructions focus on now or today, then affect is best represented by five discrete emotion factors. When participant instructions focus on the past week, then affect is best represented by two or three mood-based factors. In Study 2 (N = 39), we found good construct convergent validity of short-form D-FAW with another widely used scale (PANAS). Implications for the measurement and structure of affect are discussed

Xanthomonas rydalmerensis sp. nov., a non-pathogenic member of Group 1 Xanthomonas.

Five bacterial isolates were isolated from Fragaria × ananassa in 1976 in Rydalmere, Australia, during routine biosecurity surveillance. Initially, the results of biochemical characterisation indicated that these isolates represented members of the genus Xanthomonas. To determine their species, further analysis was conducted using both phenotypic and genotypic approaches. Phenotypic analysis involved using MALDI-TOF MS and BIOLOG GEN III microplates, which confirmed that the isolates represented members of the genus Xanthomonas but did not allow them to be classified with respect to species. Genome relatedness indices and the results of extensive phylogenetic analysis confirmed that the isolates were members of the genus Xanthomonas and represented a novel species. On the basis the minimal presence of virulence-associated factors typically found in genomes of members of the genus Xanthomonas, we suggest that these isolates are non-pathogenic. This conclusion was supported by the results of a pathogenicity assay. On the basis of these findings, we propose the name Xanthomonas rydalmerensis, with DAR 34855T = ICMP 24941 as the type strain

Genetic variation and exercise-induced muscle damage: implications for athletic performance, injury and ageing.

Prolonged unaccustomed exercise involving muscle lengthening (eccentric) actions can result in ultrastructural muscle disruption, impaired excitation-contraction coupling, inflammation and muscle protein degradation. This process is associated with delayed onset muscle soreness and is referred to as exercise-induced muscle damage. Although a certain amount of muscle damage may be necessary for adaptation to occur, excessive damage or inadequate recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage can increase injury risk, particularly in older individuals, who experience more damage and require longer to recover from muscle damaging exercise than younger adults. Furthermore, it is apparent that inter-individual variation exists in the response to exercise-induced muscle damage, and there is evidence that genetic variability may play a key role. Although this area of research is in its infancy, certain gene variations, or polymorphisms have been associated with exercise-induced muscle damage (i.e. individuals with certain genotypes experience greater muscle damage, and require longer recovery, following strenuous exercise). These polymorphisms include ACTN3 (R577X, rs1815739), TNF (-308 G>A, rs1800629), IL6 (-174 G>C, rs1800795), and IGF2 (ApaI, 17200 G>A, rs680). Knowing how someone is likely to respond to a particular type of exercise could help coaches/practitioners individualise the exercise training of their athletes/patients, thus maximising recovery and adaptation, while reducing overload-associated injury risk. The purpose of this review is to provide a critical analysis of the literature concerning gene polymorphisms associated with exercise-induced muscle damage, both in young and older individuals, and to highlight the potential mechanisms underpinning these associations, thus providing a better understanding of exercise-induced muscle damage