Coexisting Plan-driven and Agile Methods: How Tensions Emerge and Are Resolved

Fast changing products, processes, and services caused by digital technologies require organizations to adopt agile methods after having used plan-driven approaches for decades. Adopting agile methods only to software development, can lead to a challenging coexistence of methods. To date, little empirical understanding exists with regard to the difficulties that emerge when organizations introduce agile teams in plan-driven environments. Consequently, we investigate the coexistence of agile and plan-driven methods and study its impacts. We conducted an exploratory multiple case study of four organizations and draw from adaptive structuration theory to study how agile methods are adopted on team level to an environment of deeply entrenched plan-driven methods. We find that this coexistence causes several tensions between agile and plan-driven teams (i.e., budgeting, knowledge, planning, process, responsibility, and cultural tension). Further, we reveal how organizations and teams overcome these tensions with balanced and blended resolutions

ART restorations for occluso-proximal cavities in primary molars: a two-year survival and cost analysis of an RCT comparing two GIC brands

There are many glass ionomer cements available on the Brazilian market for Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART), however, there is still a gap in the literature regarding their cost-effectiveness. Objectives: To evaluate the influence of restorative materials (Ketac Molar, 3M ESPE; and Vitro Molar, Nova DFL) in the two-year survival rate and cost-effectiveness of occluso-proximal ART restorations in primary molars. Methodology: A total of 117 children (aged four to eight years) with at least one occluso-proximal carious lesion in primary molars were selected and randomly divided in treatment groups (KM or VM) in this parallel randomized controlled trial. Treatments followed ART premises and were conducted in public schools by trained operators in Barueri, Brazil. A trained, calibrated, and blinded examiner performed the evaluations after two, six, 12, and 24 months (k=0.92). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to estimate restoration survival and Cox regression was used to test the association with clinical factors (α=5%). For cost analysis, material and professional costs were considered. Monte Carlo analysis was used to generate a cost-effectiveness plane and bootstrapping was used to compare material costs over the years. Results: The overall survival rate was 36.9% after two years (48.6% for KM and 25.4% for VM). Restorations with VM failed more than those with KM (HR=1.70; 95% CI=1.06–2.73; p=0.027). VM presented lower initial cost, but no difference was observed between groups considering the two-year incremental cost. Conclusion: After a two-year evaluation, KM proved to be a better option than VM for occluso-proximal ART restorations in primary molars. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT0226772

ART restorations for occluso-proximal cavities in primary molars: a two-year survival and cost analysis of an RCT comparing two GIC brands

There are many glass ionomer cements available on the Brazilian market for Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART), however, there is still a gap in the literature regarding their cost-effectiveness. Objectives To evaluate the influence of restorative materials (Ketac Molar, 3M ESPE; and Vitro Molar, Nova DFL) in the two-year survival rate and cost-effectiveness of occluso-proximal ART restorations in primary molars. Methodology A total of 117 children (aged four to eight years) with at least one occluso-proximal carious lesion in primary molars were selected and randomly divided in treatment groups (KM or VM) in this parallel randomized controlled trial. Treatments followed ART premises and were conducted in public schools by trained operators in Barueri, Brazil. A trained, calibrated, and blinded examiner performed the evaluations after two, six, 12, and 24 months (k=0.92). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to estimate restoration survival and Cox regression was used to test the association with clinical factors (α=5%). For cost analysis, material and professional costs were considered. Monte Carlo analysis was used to generate a cost-effectiveness plane and bootstrapping was used to compare material costs over the years. Results The overall survival rate was 36.9% after two years (48.6% for KM and 25.4% for VM). Restorations with VM failed more than those with KM (HR=1.70; 95% CI=1.06–2.73; p=0.027). VM presented lower initial cost, but no difference was observed between groups considering the two-year incremental cost. Conclusion After a two-year evaluation, KM proved to be a better option than VM for occluso-proximal ART restorations in primary molars. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02267720 Atraumatic Restorative Treatment; Glass ionomer cement; Clinical trial; Cost-effectiveness; Restoration survival percentage; Primary teeth; Pediatric dentistr

GRUPO DE ESTUDO EM PSICOFISIOLOGIA DO EXERCÍCIO (GEPSE/LABFEX/UNOESC CHAPECÓ) : RELATO DO SEGUNDO ANO DE ATIVIDADE

No segundo ano o Grupo de estudo em Psicofisiologia do Exercício - GEPsE amplia suas linhas de pesquisa para três: a) Aspectos psicológicos e fisiológicos do exercício físico e Envelhecimento; b) Aspectos psicológicos e fisiológicos do exercício físico no ambiente de trabalho e c) Aspectos psicológicos e fisiológicos do exercício físico em diferentes populações e ambientes. O GEPsE é o grupo oficial do Laboratório de Fisiologia do Exercício - LABFEx, portanto, esse relato tem como objetivo registrar as ações desenvolvidas pelo grupo e pelo laboratório no decorrer do ano de 2019.No segundo ano o Grupo de estudo em Psicofisiologia do Exercício - GEPsE amplia suas linhas de pesquisa para três: a) Aspectos psicológicos e fisiológicos do exercício físico e Envelhecimento; b) Aspectos psicológicos e fisiológicos do exercício físico no ambiente de trabalho e c) Aspectos psicológicos e fisiológicos do exercício físico em diferentes populações e ambientes. O GEPsE é o grupo oficial do Laboratório de Fisiologia do Exercício - LABFEx, portanto, esse relato tem como objetivo registrar as ações desenvolvidas pelo grupo e pelo laboratório no decorrer do ano de 2019

Regulation of WUSCHEL Transcription in the Stem Cell Niche of the Arabidopsis Shoot Meristem

Pluripotent stem cells are localized in specialized microenvironments, called stem cell niches, where signals from surrounding cells maintain their undifferentiated status. In the Arabidopsis thaliana shoot meristem, the homeobox gene WUSCHEL (WUS) is expressed in the organizing center underneath the stem cells and integrates regulatory information from several pathways to define the boundaries of the stem cell niche. To investigate how these boundaries are precisely maintained within the proliferating cellular context of the shoot meristem, we analyzed the transcriptional control of the WUS gene. Our results show that the WUS promoter contains distinct regulatory regions that control tissue specificity and levels of transcription in a combinatorial manner. However, a 57-bp regulatory region is all that is required to control the boundaries of WUS transcription in the shoot meristem stem cell niche, and this activity can be further assigned to two adjacent short sequence motifs within this region. Our results indicate that the diverse regulatory pathways that control the stem cells in the shoot meristem converge at these two short sequence elements of the WUS promoter, suggesting that the integration of regulatory signals takes place at the level of a central transactivating complex

Antenatal psychobiological predictors of psychological response to childbirth

Several psychological and obstetric predictors of a negative childbirth experience and traumatic response to delivery have been identified. However, the influence of antepartum physiological stress parameters has not been elucidated

GRUPO DE ESTUDO EM PSICOFISIOLOGIA DO EXERCÍCIO (GEPSE/LABFEX/UNOESC CHAPECÓ) : RELATO DO SEGUNDO ANO DE ATIVIDADE

No segundo ano o Grupo de estudo em Psicofisiologia do Exercício - GEPsE amplia suas linhas de pesquisa para três: a) Aspectos psicológicos e fisiológicos do exercício físico e Envelhecimento; b) Aspectos psicológicos e fisiológicos do exercício físico no ambiente de trabalho e c) Aspectos psicológicos e fisiológicos do exercício físico em diferentes populações e ambientes. O GEPsE é o grupo oficial do Laboratório de Fisiologia do Exercício - LABFEx, portanto, esse relato tem como objetivo registrar as ações desenvolvidas pelo grupo e pelo laboratório no decorrer do ano de 2019.No segundo ano o Grupo de estudo em Psicofisiologia do Exercício - GEPsE amplia suas linhas de pesquisa para três: a) Aspectos psicológicos e fisiológicos do exercício físico e Envelhecimento; b) Aspectos psicológicos e fisiológicos do exercício físico no ambiente de trabalho e c) Aspectos psicológicos e fisiológicos do exercício físico em diferentes populações e ambientes. O GEPsE é o grupo oficial do Laboratório de Fisiologia do Exercício - LABFEx, portanto, esse relato tem como objetivo registrar as ações desenvolvidas pelo grupo e pelo laboratório no decorrer do ano de 2019