Exploring the relationship between software process adaptive capability and organisational performance

Software development is a complex socio-technical activity, with the result that software development organisations need to establish and maintain robust software development processes. While much debate exists regarding the effectiveness of various software development approaches, no single approach is perfectly suited to all settings and no setting is unchanging. The capability to adapt the software process is therefore essential to sustaining an optimal software process. We designed an exploratory study to concurrently examine software process adaptive capability and organisational performance in 15 software development organisations, finding that companies with greater software process adaptive capability are shown to also experience greater business success. While our exploratory study of the complex relationship between these phenomena is limited in some respects, the findings indicate that software process adaptive capability may be worthy of further integration into software process engineering techniques. Software process adaptive capability may be an important organisational strength when deriving competitive advantage, and those responsible for the creation and evolution of software process models and methodologies may want to focus some of their future efforts in this area

Penetration of rod projectiles in semi-infinite targets : a validation test for Eulerian X-FEM in ALEGRA.

The finite-element shock hydrodynamics code ALEGRA has recently been upgraded to include an X-FEM implementation in 2D for simulating impact, sliding, and release between materials in the Eulerian frame. For validation testing purposes, the problem of long-rod penetration in semi-infinite targets is considered in this report, at velocities of 500 to 3000 m/s. We describe testing simulations done using ALEGRA with and without the X-FEM capability, in order to verify its adequacy by showing X-FEM recovers the good results found with the standard ALEGRA formulation. The X-FEM results for depth of penetration differ from previously measured experimental data by less than 2%, and from the standard formulation results by less than 1%. They converge monotonically under mesh refinement at first order. Sensitivities to domain size and rear boundary condition are investigated and shown to be small. Aside from some simulation stability issues, X-FEM is found to produce good results for this classical impact and penetration problem

Penetration of rod projectiles in semi-infinite targets : a validation test for Eulerian X-FEM in ALEGRA.

The finite-element shock hydrodynamics code ALEGRA has recently been upgraded to include an X-FEM implementation in 2D for simulating impact, sliding, and release between materials in the Eulerian frame. For validation testing purposes, the problem of long-rod penetration in semi-infinite targets is considered in this report, at velocities of 500 to 3000 m/s. We describe testing simulations done using ALEGRA with and without the X-FEM capability, in order to verify its adequacy by showing X-FEM recovers the good results found with the standard ALEGRA formulation. The X-FEM results for depth of penetration differ from previously measured experimental data by less than 2%, and from the standard formulation results by less than 1%. They converge monotonically under mesh refinement at first order. Sensitivities to domain size and rear boundary condition are investigated and shown to be small. Aside from some simulation stability issues, X-FEM is found to produce good results for this classical impact and penetration problem

Reduction and Simultaneous Removal of 99Tc and Cr by Fe(OH)2(s) Mineral Transformation.

Technetium (Tc) remains a priority remediation concern due to persistent challenges, including mobilization due to rapid reoxidation of immobilized Tc, and competing comingled contaminants, e.g., Cr(VI), that inhibit Tc(VII) reduction and incorporation into stable mineral phases. Here Fe(OH)2(s) is investigated as a comprehensive solution for overcoming these challenges, by serving as both the reductant, (Fe(II)), and the immobilization agent to form Tc-incorporated magnetite (Fe3O4). Trace metal analysis suggests removal of Tc(VII) and Cr(VI) from solution occurs simultaneously; however, complete removal and reduction of Cr(VI) is achieved earlier than the removal/reduction of comingled Tc(VII). Bulk oxidation state analysis of the final magnetite solid phase by XANES shows that the majority of Tc is Tc(IV), which is corroborated by XPS measurements. Furthermore, EXAFS results show successful, albeit partial, Tc(IV) incorporation into magnetite octahedral sites. Cr XPS analysis indicates reduction to Cr(III) and the formation of a Cr-incorporated spinel, Cr2O3, and Cr(OH)3 phases. Spinel (modeled as Fe3O4), goethite (α-FeOOH), and feroxyhyte (δ-FeOOH) are detected in all reacted final solid phase samples analyzed by XRD. Incorporation of Tc(IV) has little effect on the spinel lattice structure. Reaction of Fe(OH)2(s) in the presence of Cr(III) results in the formation of a spinel phase that is a solid solution between magnetite (Fe3O4) and chromite (FeCr2O4)

Plasma steroid concentrations reflect acute disease severity and normalise during recovery in people hospitalised with COVID-19

Objective: Endocrine systems are disrupted in acute illness, and symptoms reported following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are similar to those found with clinical hormone deficiencies. We hypothesised that people with severe acute COVID-19 and with post-COVID symptoms have glucocorticoid and sex hormone deficiencies. Design/Patients: Samples were obtained for analysis from two UK multicentre cohorts during hospitalisation with COVID-19 (International Severe Acute Respiratory Infection Consortium/World Health Organisation [WHO] Clinical Characterization Protocol for Severe Emerging Infections in the UK study), and at follow-up 5 months after hospitalisation (Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 study). Measurements: Plasma steroids were quantified by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. Steroid concentrations were compared against disease severity (WHO ordinal scale) and validated symptom scores. Data are presented as geometric mean (SD). Results: In the acute cohort (n = 239, 66.5% male), plasma cortisol concentration increased with disease severity (cortisol 753.3 [1.6] vs. 429.2 [1.7] nmol/L in fatal vs. least severe, p < .001). In males, testosterone concentrations decreased with severity (testosterone 1.2 [2.2] vs. 6.9 [1.9] nmol/L in fatal vs. least severe, p < .001). In the follow-up cohort (n = 198, 62.1% male, 68.9% ongoing symptoms, 165 [121–192] days postdischarge), plasma cortisol concentrations (275.6 [1.5] nmol/L) did not differ with in-hospital severity, perception of recovery, or patient-reported symptoms. Male testosterone concentrations (12.6 [1.5] nmol/L) were not related to in-hospital severity, perception of recovery or symptom scores. Conclusions: Circulating glucocorticoids in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 reflect acute illness, with a marked rise in cortisol and fall in male testosterone. These findings are not observed 5 months from discharge. The lack of association between hormone concentrations and common post-COVID symptoms suggests steroid insufficiency does not play a causal role in this condition

Leveraging global multi-ancestry meta-analysis in the study of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis genetics

The research of rare and devastating orphan diseases, such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has been limited by the rarity of the disease itself. The prognosis is poor—the prevalence of IPF is only approximately four times the incidence, limiting the recruitment of patients to trials and studies of the underlying biology. Global biobanking efforts can dramatically alter the future of IPF research. We describe a large-scale meta-analysis of IPF, with 8,492 patients and 1,355,819 population controls from 13 biobanks around the globe. Finally, we combine this meta-analysis with the largest available meta-analysis of IPF, reaching 11,160 patients and 1,364,410 population controls. We identify seven novel genome-wide significant loci, only one of which would have been identified if the analysis had been limited to European ancestry individuals. We observe notable pleiotropy across IPF susceptibility and severe COVID-19 infection and note an unexplained sex-heterogeneity effect at the strongest IPF locus MUC5B.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Association study of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) variants and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

IntroductionIdiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic interstitial pneumonia marked by progressive lung fibrosis and a poor prognosis. Recent studies have highlighted the potential role of infection in the pathogenesis of IPF and a prior association of theHLA-DQB1gene with idiopathic fibrotic interstitial pneumonia (including IPF) has been reported. Due to the important role that the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) region plays in the immune response, here we evaluated if HLA genetic variation was associated specifically with IPF risk.MethodsWe performed a meta-analysis of associations of the HLA region with IPF risk in individuals of European ancestry from seven independent case-control studies of IPF (comprising a total of 5159 cases and 27 459 controls, including the prior study of fibrotic interstitial pneumonia). Single nucleotide polymorphisms, classical HLA alleles and amino acids were analysed and signals meeting a region-wide association thresholdp&lt;4.5×10−4and a posterior probability of replication &gt;90% were considered significant. We sought to replicate the previously reportedHLA-DQB1association in the subset of studies independent of the original report.ResultsThe meta-analysis of all seven studies identified four significant independent single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with IPF risk. However, none met the posterior probability for replication criterion. TheHLA-DQB1association was not replicated in the independent IPF studies.ConclusionVariation in the HLA region was not consistently associated with risk in studies of IPF. However, this does not preclude the possibility that other genomic regions linked to the immune response may be involved in the aetiology of IPF