Business Value Is not only Dollars - Results from Case Study Research on Agile Software Projects

Business value is a key concept in agile software development. This paper presents results of a case study on how business value and its creation is perceived in the context of agile projects. Our overall conclusion is that the project participants almost never use an explicit and structured approach to guide the value creation throughout the project. Still, the application of agile methods in the studied cases leads to satisfied clients. An interesting result of the study represents the fact that the agile process of many projects differs significantly from what is described in the agile practitioners’ books as best practices. The key implication for research and practice is that we have an incentive to pursue the study of value creation in agile projects and to complement it by providing guidelines for better client’s involvement, as well as by developing structured methods that will enhance the value-creation in a project

Integrating farm and air pollution studies in search for immunoregulatory mechanisms operating in protective and high-risk environments

Background Studies conducted in farm environments suggest that diverse microbial exposure promotes children's lung health. The underlying mechanisms are unclear, and the development of asthma-preventive strategies has been delayed. More comprehensive investigation of the environment-induced immunoregulation is required for better understanding of asthma pathogenesis and prevention. Exposure to air pollution, including particulate matter (PM), is a risk factor for asthma, thus providing an excellent counterpoint for the farm-effect research. Lack of comparable data, however, complicates interpretation of the existing information. We aimed to explore the immunoregulatory effects of cattle farm dust (protective, Finland) and urban air PM (high-risk, China) for the first time using identical research methods. Methods We stimulated PBMCs of 4-year-old children (N = 18) with farm dust and size-segregated PM and assessed the expression of immune receptors CD80 and ILT4 on dendritic cells and monocytes as well as cytokine production of PBMCs. Environmental samples were analysed for their composition. Results Farm dust increased the percentage of cells expressing CD80 and the cytokine production of children's immune cells, whereas PM inhibited the expression of important receptors and the production of soluble mediators. Although PM samples induced parallel immune reactions, the size-fraction determined the strength of the effects. Conclusions Our study demonstrates the significance of using the same research framework when disentangling shared and distinctive immune pathways operating in different environments. Observed stimulatory effects of farm dust and inhibitory effects of PM could shape responses towards respiratory pathogens and allergens, and partly explain differences in asthma prevalence between studied environments.Peer reviewe

In vivo biocompatibility assessment of (PTFE–PVDF–PP) terpolymer-based membrane with potential application for glaucoma treatment

The aim of the work was to evaluate the in vivo biological behaviour of polymeric membrane materials for glaucoma implants. The base material was biostable synthetic terpolymer (PTFE–PVDF–PP) with proved biocompability (PN-EN ISO 10993). The samples manufactured in the form a membrane were subjected to chemical and physical treatment to create an open pore system within the polymer matrix. As a porogenic phase biodegradable natrium alginate in a fibrous form was employed. The non-perforating deep sclerectomy technique was performed in a rabbit model. The clinical observations were made after 14 and 30 days. During the study clinical symptoms of a moderate degree were observed, and histopathological changes were typical for foreign body implantation. At the end stage of the study no significant difference in histopathological assessment was found between control and experimental group. Similarities observed in both groups and relatively mild histopathological changes in the tissue surrounding the implant indicate that the observed symptoms come from a deep scleral trauma caused by surgery, and not by the presence of the implant itself

Exhaust particle number and composition for diesel and gasoline passenger cars under transient driving conditions : Real-world emissions down to 1.5 nm

Recent recommendations given by WHO include systematic measurements of ambient particle number concentration and black carbon (BC) concentrations. In India and several other highly polluted areas, the air quality problems are severe and the need for air quality related information is urgent. This study focuses on particle number emissions and BC emissions of passenger cars that are technologically relevant from an Indian perspective. Particle number and BC were investigated under real-world conditions for driving cycles typical for Indian urban environments. Two mobile laboratories and advanced aerosol and trace gas instrumentation were utilized. Our study shows that passenger cars without exhaust particle filtration can emit in real-world conditions large number of particles, and especially at deceleration a significant fraction of particle number can be even in 1.5–10 nm particle sizes. The mass concentration of exhaust plume particles was dominated by BC that was emitted especially at acceleration conditions. However, exhaust particles contained also organic compounds, indicating the roles of engine oil and fuel in exhaust particle formation. In general, our study was motivated by serious Indian air quality problems, by the recognized lack of emission information related to Indian traffic, and by the recent WHO air quality guidance; our results emphasize the importance of monitoring particle number concentrations and BC also in Indian urban areas and especially in traffic environments where people can be significantly exposed to fresh exhaust emissions.Peer reviewe

Influence of wood species on toxicity of log-wood stove combustion aerosols: A parallel animal and air-liquid interface cell exposure study on spruce and pine smoke

Background Wood combustion emissions have been studied previously either by in vitro or in vivo models using collected particles, yet most studies have neglected gaseous compounds. Furthermore, a more accurate and holistic view of the toxicity of aerosols can be gained with parallel in vitro and in vivo studies using direct exposure methods. Moreover, modern exposure techniques such as air-liquid interface (ALI) exposures enable better assessment of the toxicity of the applied aerosols than, for example, the previous state-of-the-art submerged cell exposure techniques. Methods We used three different ALI exposure systems in parallel to study the toxicological effects of spruce and pine combustion emissions in human alveolar epithelial (A549) and murine macrophage (RAW264.7) cell lines. A whole-body mouse inhalation system was also used to expose C57BL/6 J mice to aerosol emissions. Moreover, gaseous and particulate fractions were studied separately in one of the cell exposure systems. After exposure, the cells and animals were measured for various parameters of cytotoxicity, inflammation, genotoxicity, transcriptome and proteome. Results We found that diluted (1:15) exposure pine combustion emissions (PM1 mass 7.7 ± 6.5 mg m− 3, 41 mg MJ$^{Zahl}$) contained, on average, more PM and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) than spruce (PM1 mass 4.3 ± 5.1 mg m− 3, 26 mg MJ− 1) emissions, which instead showed a higher concentration of inorganic metals in the emission aerosol. Both A549 cells and mice exposed to these emissions showed low levels of inflammation but significantly increased genotoxicity. Gaseous emission compounds produced similar genotoxicity and a higher inflammatory response than the corresponding complete combustion emission in A549 cells. Systems biology approaches supported the findings, but we detected differing responses between in vivo and in vitro experiments. Conclusions Comprehensive in vitro and in vivo exposure studies with emission characterization and systems biology approaches revealed further information on the effects of combustion aerosol toxicity than could be achieved with either method alone. Interestingly, in vitro and in vivo exposures showed the opposite order of the highest DNA damage. In vitro measurements also indicated that the gaseous fraction of emission aerosols may be more important in causing adverse toxicological effects. Combustion aerosols of different wood species result in mild but aerosol specific in vitro and in vivo effects

Training a Scoring Function for the Alignment of Small Molecules

A comprehensive data set of aligned ligands with highly similar binding pockets from the Protein Data Bank has been built. Based on this data set, a scoring function for recognizing good alignment poses for small molecules has been developed. This function is based on atoms and hydrogen-bond projected features. The concept is simply that atoms and features of a similar type (hydrogen-bond acceptors/donors and hydrophobic) tend to occupy the same space in a binding pocket and atoms of incompatible types often tend to avoid the same space. Comparison with some recently published results of small molecule alignments shows that the current scoring function can lead to performance better than those of several existing methods