Systems Development Organization Research Articles

Single cell RNA sequencing of human FAPs reveals different functional stages in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Background: Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a genetic disease produced by mutations in the dystrophin gene characterized by early onset muscle weakness leading to severe and irreversible disability. Muscle degeneration involves a complex interplay between multiple cell lineages spatially located within areas of damage, termed the degenerative niche, including inflammatory cells, satellite cells (SCs) and fibro-adipogenic precursor cells (FAPs). FAPs are mesenchymal stem cell which have a pivotal role in muscle homeostasis as they can either promote muscle regeneration or contribute to muscle degeneration by expanding fibrotic and fatty tissue. Although it has been described that FAPs could have a different behavior in DMD patients than in healthy controls, the molecular pathways regulating their function as well as their gene expression profile are unknown. Methods: We used single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) with 10X Genomics and Illumina technology to elucidate the differences in the transcriptional profile of isolated FAPs from healthy and DMD patients. Results: Gene signatures in FAPs from both groups revealed transcriptional differences. Seurat analysis categorized cell clusters as proliferative FAPs, regulatory FAPs, inflammatory FAPs, and myofibroblasts. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between healthy and DMD FAPs included upregulated genes CHI3L1, EFEMP1, MFAP5, and TGFBR2 in DMD. Functional analysis highlighted distinctions in system development, wound healing, and cytoskeletal organization in control FAPs, while extracellular organization, degradation, and collagen degradation were upregulated in DMD FAPs. Validation of DEGs in additional samples (n = 9) using qPCR reinforced the specific impact of pathological settings on FAP heterogeneity, reflecting their distinct contribution to fibro or fatty degeneration in vivo. Conclusion: Using the single-cell RNA seq from human samples provide new opportunities to study cellular coordination to further understand the regulation of muscle homeostasis and degeneration that occurs in muscular dystrophies.

Identifying Antidepressant Effects of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and IDO1 in the Mouse Model Based on RNA-Seq Data.

Deletion of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and upregulation of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) are associated with depression severity in animals. The neurotransmitter hypothesis of depression at the transcriptomic level can be tested using BDNF- and IDO1-knockout mouse models and RNA-seq. In this study, BDNF+/−, IDO1−/−, and chronic ultra-mild stress (CUMS)-induced depression mouse models and controls were developed, and the differentially expressed genes were analyzed. Furthermore, the ceRNA package was used to search the lncRNA2Target database for potential lncRNAs. Finally, a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed using STRINGdb. By comparing the control and CUMS model groups, it was found that pathway enrichment analysis and ceRNA network analysis revealed that most differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were associated with protection of vulnerable neuronal circuits. In addition, we found the enriched pathways were associated with nervous system development and synapse organization when comparing the control and BDNF+/−model groups. When replicating the neurotransmitter disruption features of clinical patients, such comparisons revealed the considerable differences between CUMS and knockdown BDNF models, and the BDNF+/−model may be superior to the classic CUMS model. The data obtained in the present study implicated the potential DEGs and their enriched pathway in three mouse models related to depression and the regulation of the ceRNA network-mediated gene in the progression of depression. Together, our findings may be crucial for uncovering the mechanisms underlying the neurotransmitter hypothesis of depression in animals.

Diversity of Seniority in a Digital Innovation Challenge Experiment

Many system development organizations face difficulties in ensuring innovation in digital innovation processes. This paper reports from an interpretive case study of an experiment where two system development teams compete to design a novel application. The paper explores how variation in seniority can support digital innovations and hence improve organizational learning and practice. The experiment indicates how the rules of engagement play a key role in balancing the challenge within a busy work life and provide positive outcomes in the form of hard and soft skills for individuals and for the case organization. The paper concludes by suggesting a stepwise challenge design guide and conceptual model that illustrates how the challenges concept could be included in the practitioner fields of digital innovation.

The impact of human resources (HR) activities on competitive advantage in private schools in Jordan

The aim of this study was to identify the impact of HR activities on competitive advantage in private schools. The study uses primary data collected with the help of a well-structured questionnaire that was developed and distributed among a sample of 92 respondents (49 female and 43 male), questionnaire results were statistically analyzed to test the hypotheses that were developed to identify the impact of HR activities on competitive advantages. Multiple regression analysis was used as a statistical tool and technique to identify five key elements: recruitment and reward system, training and skill development activities, organization climate, employee participation and empowerment; and effective communication system to determine competitive advantage in private schools in Jordan. The results indicated that there is a statistically significant effect of HR activities on the competitive advantage; On the other hand, there is no impact of other variables.

How to benefit from newbies' domain ignorance in software development projects

• Some say that ignorance of the domain of a computer-based system to be built helps in doing some development tasks. • A survey of software development managers determined what development tasks are perceived as helped by domain ignorance. • New hires and immigrants, i.e., newbies, are generally initially ignorant of the domain of their new project. • Mining third-party interviews of newbies determined what tasks were assigned to newbies that had successful immigrations. • It appears that newbies who are assigned tasks perceived as helped by domain ignorance might have successful immigrations. A big problem in a computer-based systems (CBSs) development organization is how to improve the immigration of a newbie (a new hire to the organization or a mover within the organization) into a CBS development project of the organization that is already in progress. The newbie, who is ignorant of the domain of the CBS, must be brought to the same awareness of the domain that the project veterans have (1) without becoming a drain on his or her mentor and (2) while becoming useful to the project as soon as possible. Based on other work that shows that some CBS development activities benefit from the out-of-the-box thinking of a domain ignorant, it is hypothesized that a newbie who starts his or her immigration with CBS development activities requiring or enhanced by domain ignorance has a more successful immigration than a newbie who starts with other activities. The current paper reports a two-part empirical test of the hypothesis. First, a survey was conducted among CBS development managers of varying experience to determine what CBS development activities they thought were helped by domain ignorance. Second, transcripts from fourteen interviews of domain-ignorant immigrants to new CBS development projects at one large company were examined to determine if the activities performed by those with the most successful immigrations were activities that are considered by CBS development managers to be helped by domain ignorance. In the end, there is some modest support for the hypothesis, despite all the opportunities for the data to show a different conclusion because of the existence of many other factors that influence immigration success. Following a discussion of the threats to the validity of the result, the paper concludes with recommendations for tasks to assign to newbies to improve their immigrations, recommendations for project staffing in general, and recommendations for future research.

Does every formal peer review really need to take place? An industrial case study

Existing studies on formal peer reviews (FPR) are mostly based on design and code review practices observed from the open source software (OSS) community, and there is a lack of studies and evidence from proprietary, large scale software development in systems engineering settings. This study fills the gap by reporting an industrial case study on FPR practices in a safety-critical embedded system development organization. First, we follow the Goal-Question-Metric (GQM) methodology to establish a set of metrics for understanding FPR practices and the resulting effectiveness. Second, we collect the metric data from 100 programs employing FPR practices on a variety of document types. Third, we analyze the data and derive answers to a set of questions defined in the GQM. The study contributes to more comprehensive understanding of FPR practices and effectiveness evaluation, and the findings reported here may serve as a basis for process improvements initiatives in similar settings.

An Evaluation of Requirements Specification Capability Index

It is well known that requirements specification is the critical success factor for developing information systems. However, the quantitative index to evaluate the requirements specification capability of the system development organizations has not been known. This paper proposes a requirements specification capability index to evaluate information system development organizations. The requirements specification capability index is defined based on the 6 dimensions, that are requirements vision development, requirements communication, requirements product design, requirements process design, requirements investment, and requirements human resource development. The proposed capability index has also been applied to several Japanese software development organizations. The result shows that the capability index can effectively be applied to visualize the requirements specification activities of the organizations from the 6 dimensions.

After Apollo? Richard Nixon and the American Space Program by John M. Logsdon

Reviewed by: After Apollo? Richard Nixon and the American Space Programby John M. Logsdon Matthew Shindell (bio) After Apollo? Richard Nixon and the American Space Program. by John M. Logsdon. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. Pp. 356. $35. In 1970 John Logsdon published The Decision to Go to the Moon: Project Apollo and the National Interest. This book would become the standard text on the decision-making process within the Kennedy administration that sent humans to the Moon. Logsdon's new book, which can be viewed as a sequel to the first, takes on a question that has remained more elusive [End Page 598]over the intervening years: What decisions were made within the Nixon White House that brought Apollo to an early end and set NASA's human spaceflight program on its diminished course? Logsdon presents the history of what he terms the "Nixon Space Doctrine" in two "acts." The first act examines the evolution of Nixon's attitude toward NASA and space exploration, paying close attention to the ongoing negotiations between his administration and NASA administrators over what the agency's future should be. The second act examines the decision to focus NASA's manned space-flight program on routinizing space travel through the Space Transportation System (STS, or the Space Shuttle) and activities in Earth orbit. Seven presidential administrations have come and gone since Nixon's resignation from office. Nonetheless, the decisions made in the Nixon White House have continued to shape NASA for the past four decades. According to Logsdon, three major decisions were made by Nixon and his associates that reshaped NASA. First, they decided to stop treating NASA as a special, high-priority agency and to begin treating it as a normal government agency, subject to budget constraints reflecting its place among other national priorities. Second, they decided not to set another challenging space goal that would require a crash program like Apollo. Finally, they decided to keep manned spaceflight alive through the STS, but without linking the shuttle to any long-term plans for its use. These decisions led to a space doctrine with two main elements. First, the space program would be one among many normal government activities, and space would be not a place of great leaps and triumphs, but "a normal and regular part of our national life" (Nixon space statement, quoted in Logsdon, page 279). Second, NASA would have to compete for priority and budget with other government agencies. Space was thus decoupled from larger geopolitical goals. In short order, NASA saw its share of the federal budget drastically reduced. The infrastructure that had cost billions of public dollars to develop (namely the Saturn V launch system and its production facilities) was scrapped. The possibility of an expansive future in space, and the symbol that the United States could "do in space whatever was in its national interest" (p. 123), was abandoned. NASA was unhappy with this space doctrine. Under the leadership of its third administrator, Thomas O. Paine, the space agency wished to maintain its "identity as an engineering and systems development organization, not just as an operator of existing space capabilities" (p. 56). NASA wanted to continue breaking new ground, and to offer the nation ever-greater technological triumphs. The STS program would provide the agency with opportunities to do this, but with limited resources and no physical frontiers to explore. This left NASA in the position of trying to do more with less, as its ambitions in space never diminished to match its [End Page 599]budget constraints. Logsdon suggests that in order to remain competitive with other government agencies, it dared not become less ambitious. Although the STS failed to fulfill many of the claims that were used to sell it (for example, it only flew 4.3 missions per year rather than the promised 40–60, and the cost and effort to service the shuttles between missions were much greater than expected), Logsdon concludes that the three-decades-long program "served the nation well as a focus for US space leadership and the resultant prestige and pride" (p. 292). It also opened up space to scientists and other "specialist" astronauts, rather than keeping...

CMMI 기반 시스템공학과 프로젝트관리 통합 프로세스 아키텍처 개발

시스템의 규모와 요구기능은 점점 대형화되고 복잡해지고 있다. 이러한 시스템 개발 프로젝트의 성공적인 수행을 위해서는 프로세스에 따른 체계적인 시스템공학(SE)과 프로젝트관리(PM) 활동이 요구되고 있다. 시스템 개발 조직에서는 SE&PM 프로세스 개선 및 능력평가 모델인 CMMI를 채택하여 SE&PM 능력 확보에 노력하고 있으며, 이를 위해 조직의 비즈니스 특성에 맞는 조직 표준 프로세스를 구축하여 적용하고 있다. 하지만 시스템 개발조직 현장에서는 CMMI 프로세스영역 간 상호연관성에 대한 충분한 이해부족으로 조직 프로세스 구축에 어려움이 따르고 있다. 또한 SE와 PM활동은 시스템 개발에 있어서 상호 밀접하게 연관되어 있기 때문에 SE와 PM 프로세스는 상호 통합 및 연계성이 확보되어야만 효과적이고 효율적인 프로젝트 수행이 될 것이다. 본 논문에서는 시스템 개발 조직에서 CMMI 기반 조직 프로세스 구축에 참조되고 활용될 수 있는 조직의 SE&PM 통합 프로세스 아키텍처를 제시한다. 【The scale and required functionality of modern systems have increased and become more complicated. To successfully carry out the systems development projects, appropriate systems engineering (SE) and project management (PM) activities are required for the underlying process. In a system development organization, it is an effort to secure the SE & PM capability by adopting the CMMI is an evaluation model of improvement and ability of SE&PM process. To achieve the goal each organization establishes and uses its own organizational standard process, which satisfies the business characteristics. However, in practice, due to the lack of sufficient understanding on the interrelationship among different CMMI process areas, there still exist some difficulties with constructing organization processes. In systems development, the activities of SE are closely related with those of PM. Thus, the processes of SE and PM need to be fully integrated and explicitly linked to each other in order to complete the projects successfully. In this paper, we propose a SE&PM integration process architecture of organization that can be utilized in the system development organization is referenced in the construction of CMMI-based organizational process.】

Editorial

Editorial

An Empirical Study of Conflict and Conflict Management on the Dual Commitment in Information System Development Organizations

An Empirical Study of Conflict and Conflict Management on the Dual Commitment in Information System Development Organizations

Gene Expression Profiling of Lymphoblasts from Autistic and Nonaffected Sib Pairs: Altered Pathways in Neuronal Development and Steroid Biosynthesis

Despite the identification of numerous autism susceptibility genes, the pathobiology of autism remains unknown. The present “case-control” study takes a global approach to understanding the molecular basis of autism spectrum disorders based upon large-scale gene expression profiling. DNA microarray analyses were conducted on lymphoblastoid cell lines from over 20 sib pairs in which one sibling had a diagnosis of autism and the other was not affected in order to identify biochemical and signaling pathways which are differentially regulated in cells from autistic and nonautistic siblings. Bioinformatics and gene ontological analyses of the data implicate genes which are involved in nervous system development, inflammation, and cytoskeletal organization, in addition to genes which may be relevant to gastrointestinal or other physiological symptoms often associated with autism. Moreover, the data further suggests that these processes may be modulated by cholesterol/steroid metabolism, especially at the level of androgenic hormones. Elevation of male hormones, in turn, has been suggested as a possible factor influencing susceptibility to autism, which affects ∼4 times as many males as females. Preliminary metabolic profiling of steroid hormones in lymphoblastoid cell lines from several pairs of siblings reveals higher levels of testosterone in the autistic sibling, which is consistent with the increased expression of two genes involved in the steroidogenesis pathway. Global gene expression profiling of cultured cells from ASD probands thus serves as a window to underlying metabolic and signaling deficits that may be relevant to the pathobiology of autism.

Making Statistics Part of Decision Making in an Engineering Organization

This article reports our experiences deploying statistical methods at BAE Systems Network Systems (BAE NS), a software and systems development organization. We focus not on the methods' mathematical details but on the problem of deploying them to managers and practitioners. Of course, misunderstanding and misuse of these methods will interfere with their successful deployment, so some knowledge of statistical methods is required.

Managing change in an information systems development organization: understanding developer transitions from a structured to an object‐oriented development environment1

Abstract. Object‐oriented systems development has attracted great interest in the information systems (IS) field because of a belief that using object‐oriented development (OD) makes it easier to develop and maintain software plus achieve software reuse. However, the transition from structured to OD may be especially challenging for IS developers. In fact, some argue that structured development (SD) knowledge may interfere with the ability to learn OD approaches because of a form of proactive interference.To understand how knowledge of SD concepts influences the ability to gain OD knowledge, we assessed a team of IS developers' understanding of structured and object‐oriented concepts at the beginning of their first OD project and repeated our assessment 1 year later. Developers increased their understanding of some object‐oriented concepts, but these changes were associated with increases in understanding of one of the SD concepts. Further, at the beginning and end of the project, developers' mental models were highly consistent with one another and that of an OD expert with regard to most OD concepts. It appears that the formal training that developers received allowed them to attain a good understanding of most object‐oriented concepts. These findings challenge the idea that structured developers must ‘unlearn’ SD to adopt OD approaches. Future research may wish to examine the different types of software development knowledge to ascertain which are amenable to positive transfer and which are more likely to suffer from proactive interference.

Can Agile and Traditional Systems Development Approaches Coexist? An Ambidextrous View

Emerging evidence seems to indicate that most systems development organizations are attempting to utilize both agile and traditional approaches. This study aims to understand the reasons organizations feel the need for this unlikely juxtaposition and the organizational challenges in sustaining the opposing cultures. Drawing on the extensive literature in organizational theory and management, we advocate ambidexterity as a viable solution to systems development organizations attempting to harness the benefits of both agile and traditional development.

Information Systems and Nongovernmental Development Organizations: Advocacy, Organizational Learning, and Accountability

This article highlights a set of critical issues for information systems research that can be fruitfully explored through the study of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in developing countries. At the same time, the article argues that research on development NGOs needs to draw more fully on the study of information systems. A case study of the Association for Credit and Empowerment (ACE), a large NGO in Bangladesh that is currently reviewing its information management systems, forms the main part of the article. Our analysis identifies contextual factors that influence the effectiveness of information systems and the overall management of NGOs.

The 2G method for doubly grounding evaluation frameworks

Abstract. There are a number of approaches open to an information system (IS) development organization wishing to evaluate the potential relevance of an IT product for use in their own organization. This work considers method support for evaluation of CASE tools, as a complex example of an IT product. Our interest is in evaluation for selection, namely the evaluation of products prior to experience of their use in the defined context. Certain weaknesses are apparent in existing evaluation methods proposed in the literature for evaluation for selection. Our primary concern in this paper is to present a new method which, we claim, addresses these weaknesses. We provide a rationale and a detailed description of the new method, which is referred to as 2G. The method specifically addresses the important early phases of an evaluation, during which an evaluation framework is to be established. The method is to be used within the intended usage context for the IT product, so the resulting evaluation framework will be situated rather than general. We identify weaknesses in previously available methods, and discuss the advantages offered by the 2G method. The method has a solid basis in underlying theory, something which has influenced our presentation of it. Equally importantly, our presentation is strongly influenced by our experience with the method in actual usage situations, in small and medium IS development organizations. We claim that 2G is a practical candidate for any IS development organization wishing to undertake evaluations of CASE tools prior to adoption.

The Disruptive Nature of Information Technology Innovations: The Case of Internet Computing in Systems Development Organizations

Information technology (IT) innovation can be defined as the creation and new organizational application of digital computer and communication technologies. The paper suggests that IT innovation theory needs to be expanded to analyze IT innovations in kind that exhibit atypical discontinuities in IT innovation behaviors by studying two questions. First, can a model of disruptive IT innovations be created to understand qualitative changes in IT development processes and their outcomes so that they can be related to architectural discontinuities in computing capability? Second, to what extent can the observed turmoil among systems development organizations that has been spawned by Internet computing be understood as a disruptive IT innovation? To address the first question, a model of disruptive IT innovation is developed. The model defines a disruptive IT innovation as an architectural innovation originating in the information technology base that has subsequent pervasive and radical impacts on development processes and their outcomes. These base innovations establish necessary but not sufficient conditions for subsequent innovation behaviors. To address the second question, the impact of Internet computing on eight leading-edge systems development organizations in the United States and Finland is investigated. The study shows that the adoption of Internet computing in these firms has radically impacted their IT innovation both in development processes and services.

Integration of Systemic Quality and the Balanced Scorecard

This article presents the integration of systemic quality (balance between product and process effectiveness and efficiency) as a strategy of systems development organizations, through the balanced scorecard (BSC) method, to balance the different forces that drive the organization. the proposal contemplates a series of tasks that would be undertaken through the strategic plan. Each task assures one aspect of the organization, in addition to creating a strategic map and a series of indicators that demonstrate the cause and effect relationship between systemic quality and the organization. This article also illustrates a case study in which a dynamic simulation technique was used, recreating the present situation of a Venezuelan organization over a five-year period. This strategy was used to try to determine the impact of systemic quality on financial prospects, especially in increasing shareholder value, starting with the simulation of the present state of the company and then introducing systemic quality.

The Brave New World of development in the internetwork computing architecture (InterNCA): or how distributed computing platforms will change systems development

This essay is a speculation of the impact of the next generation technological platform — the internetwork computing architecture (InterNCA) — on systems development. The impact will be deep and pervasive and more substantial than when computing migrated from closed computer rooms to ubiquitous personal computers and flexible client‐server solutions. Initially, by drawing upon the notion of a technological frame, the InterNCA, and how it differs from earlier technological frames, is examined. Thereafter, a number of hypotheses are postulated with regard to how the architecture will affect systems development content, scope, organization and processes. Finally, some suggestions for where the information systems research community should focus its efforts (if the call for relevance is not to be taken lightly) are proposed.