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Research on project management and new product development (NPD) identifies both strategy and tactics as important for success. Whilst there is a lot of attention on strategy, few studies address the role of tactics in NPD projects. In the pursuit for increasing organisational abilities to manage uncertainty, agile is increasingly getting traction in large firms. Both tactical activities and agile methodology deal with adapting to emergent challenges and handling uncertainty in projects. This motivated this study of how an agile transformation initiative influences tactical activities within NPD projects. The paper is based on a longitudinal case study of Volvo Car Group's autonomous car project. The case firm's transformation from waterfall to agile method provided the possibility to understand how tactical activities differ between the two methods. By using observations from the case, we argue that agile development method facilitates the use of tactics in NPD projects. © 2024 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Aim and research questions: The aim of this survey study was to increase the understanding of motivational factors in Swedish competition riders by investigating passion, mindfulness, and age. Three research questions were central for this study:1. To which extent do Swedish competition riders exhibit harmonious passion and obsessive passion? 2. To which extent do Swedish competition riders exhibit mindfulness? 3. Are there any correlations between harmonious passion, obsessive passion, age, and mindfulness in Swedish competition riders? Method: This study used a quantitative approach with a cross-sectional study design and survey as data collection method. The study had 236 participants who were Swedish riders competing in either dressage or jumping at no lower than 2* (regional) level. Participation was voluntary, and the survey was answered anonymously. The data was collected during a period of six weeks. The data was processed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. Results: Participants showing higher levels of harmonious passion also showed higher levels of obsessive passion and were more able to refocus. Participants showing higher levels of obsessive passion were loss able to refocus. Riders exhibiting higher levels of harmonious passion also felt more aware regardless of age and level of obsessive passion. Conclusion: The conclusion for this study was that according to passion theory, Swedish competition riders can be described as motivated athletes. The results indicate that harmoniously passionate riders are more mindful and accepting, while obsessively passionate riders are more self-judgmental., Syfte och frågeställningar: Syftet med denna studie var att öka förståelsen för motivationsfaktorer hos svenska tävlingsryttare genom att undersöka passion, medveten närvaro och ålder. Tre frågeställningar var centrala för studien:1. I vilken utsträckning uppvisar svenska tävlingsryttare harmonisk passion och tvångsmässig passion?2. I vilken utsträckning uppvisar svenska tävlingsryttare medveten närvaro? 3. Finns det samband mellan harmonisk passion, tvångsmässig passion, ålder och medveten närvaro hos svenska tävlingsryttare? Metod: Metoden var en tvärsnittsstudie som studiedesign och enkät som datainsamlingsmetod genom en kvantitativ ansats. I studien deltog 236 svenska tävlingsryttare inom dressyr eller hoppning på lägst 2* (regional) nivå. Deltagandet i studien var frivilligt och enkäten besvarades anonymt. Datainsamlingen pågick under sex veckor. Den insamlade data behandlades genom deskriptiv statistik, korrelationsanalys samt multipel linjär regressionsanalys. Resultat: Deltagare med högre nivåer av harmonisk passion uppvisade också högre nivåer avtvångsmässig passion och beskrev sig kunna fokusera om i högre utsträckning. Deltagare med högre nivåer av tvångsmässig passion kunde fokusera om i lägre utsträckning. Ryttare med högre nivåer av harmonisk passion samt lägre nivåer av tvångsmässig passion upplevde sig vara mera medvetet närvarande, oavsett ålder. Slutsats: Slutsatsen för denna studie var att utifrån passionsteorin kan svenska tävlingsryttare beskrivas som motiverade idrottare. Resultaten i studien indikerar att harmoniskt passionerade ryttare är mer medvetet närvarande och accepterande, medan tvångsmässigt passionerade ryttare är mer dömande mot sig själva.

Background Out-of-hospital Emergency Medical Services (OHEMS) require fast and accurate assessment of patients and efficient clinical judgment in the face of uncertainty and ambiguity. Guidelines and protocols can support staff in these situations, but there is significant variability in their use. Therefore, the aim of this study was to increase our understanding of physician decision-making in OHEMS, in particular, to characterize the types of decisions made and to explore potential facilitating and hindering factors. Methods Qualitative interview study of 21 physicians in a large, publicly-owned and operated OHEMS in Croatia. Data was subjected to an inductive content analysis. Results Physicians (mostly young, female, and early in their career), made three decisions (transport, treat, and if yes on either, how) after an initial patient assessment. Decisions were influenced by patient needs but to a greater extent by factors related to themselves and patients (microsystem), their organization (mesosystem), and the larger health system (macrosystem). This generated a high variability in quality and outcomes. Participants desired support through further training, improved guidelines, formalized feedback, supportive management, and health system process redesign to better coordinate and align care across organizational boundaries. Conclusions The three decisions were made complex by contextual factors that largely lay outside physician control at the mesosystem level. However, physicians still took personal responsibility for concerns more suitably addressed at the organizational level. This negatively impacted care quality and staff well-being. If managers instead adopt a learning orientation, the path from novice to expert physician could be more ably supported through organizational demands and practices aligned with real-world practice. Questions remain on how managers can better support the learning needed to improve quality, safety, and physicians’ journey fro

Digitala plattformar fortsätter att vara ett centralt strategiskt verktyg för många företag, inte minst inom bilindustrin. Men lejonparten av dessa plattformar är helt beroende av tillgång på olika typer av data, och synen på denna data och dess värde skiljer sig mellan de olika aktörerna i innovationssystemet, vilket försvårar för innovation.

Firms often establish internal product platforms to reap economies of scale and scope, and to build competitive advantage over time. The aim is to create a “stable center” on which customer adaptations and addons can be built. The same firms simultaneously strive to improve their flexibility in terms of responsiveness to change through agile practice, as adhering to external or internal change requests is an likewise and increasingly important competitive advantage. This research note is inspired by the possible tension between the two practices and aims to examine the consequences of internal product platform strategy for agile practice in an inter-organizational context. Based on interviews with innovation managers and software developers at two collaborating automotive suppliers, we suggest that there is an intricate tension between the two practices per their common strive for a balance between stability and flexibility. We also suggest that the establishment of product platforms among several actors affect their joint possibilities to respond to changes, because of the complex nested dependencies between the platforms. Ultimately, we argue that more research is needed to understand how product platform strategy and agile practices combine.

Recognized for its multifaceted functions, melatonin is a hormone found in both animals and plants. In the plant kingdom, it plays diverse roles, regulating growth, development, and stress responses. Notably, melatonin demonstrates its significance by mitigating the effects of abiotic stresses like drought. However, understanding the precise regulatory mechanisms controlling melatonin biosynthesis genes, especially during monocots' response to stresses, requires further exploration. Seeking to understand the molecular basis of drought stress tolerance in wheat, we analyzed RNA-Seq libraries of wheat exposed to drought stress using bioinformatics methods. In light of our findings, we identified that the Myelocytomatosis oncogenes 2 (MYC2) transcription factor is a hub gene upstream of a main melatonin biosynthesis gene, N-acetylserotonin methyltransferase (ASMT), in the wheat drought response-gene network. Promoter analysis of the ASMT gene suggested that it might be a target gene of MYC2. We conducted a set of molecular and physiochemical assays along with robust machine learning approaches to elevate those findings further. MYC2 and ASMT were co-regulated under Jasmonate, drought, and a combination of them in the leaf tissues of wheat was detected. A meaningful correlation was observed among gene expression profiles, melatonin contents, photosynthetic activities, antioxidant enzyme activities, H2O2 levels, and plasma membrane damage. The results indicated an evident relationship between jasmonic acid and the melatonin biosynthesis pathway. Moreover, it seems that the MYC2-ASMT module might contribute to wheat drought tolerance by regulating melatonin contents., © 2023 Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society.Correspondence: Roohollah Shamloo-Dashtpagerdi, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Higher Education Center of Eghlid, Eghlid, Iran. Email:shamloo.r@gmail.comWe acknowledge support from the department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Higher Education Center of Eghlid.

Innovation in ecosystems becomes increasingly attractive for incumbents as the technical complexity increases and complementarities play an increasingly important role for global competition. Digital platforms are becoming one of the primary means to that end, where incumbents can gain scale effects and reap the benefits of the creative crowd while maintaining ownership of the core product. But a lion’s share of these platforms hinges on the accessibility of data, and the view of the value of this data differs among actors in the system. This paper accounts for a case study of two type actors in an innovation ecosystem: the core actor (OEM) and the peripheral actor (third party service provider). From interviews with representatives of these actors, we find that their perspectives on the data and its usefulness outside its intended context differ. We label the perspectives purposive and multi-contextual; we formulate their descriptions and outline managerial implications. We argue that these differing perspectives are at the crux of establishing innovation capabilities in ecosystems based on digital platforms. Copyright © 2023 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

BACKGROUND: Androgens may play a role in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and host responses as the virus is dependent on the androgen-regulated protein transmembrane serine protease 2 for cell entry. Studies have indicated that prostate cancer patients receiving androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) are at reduced risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and serious complications compared with patients without ADT, but data are inconsistent. METHODS: A total of 655 prostate cancer patients who were under surveillance at two urology departments in Sweden on April 1, 2020 were included in the study as well as 240 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). At follow-up early in 2021, the participants completed a questionnaire containing information about symptoms compatible with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Blood samples were also collected for the assessment of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies (SARS-CoV-2 Total; Siemens). We used multivariable logistic regression models to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between ADT and the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. RESULTS: The cumulative incidence of SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity was 13.4% among patients receiving ADT and 10.4% among patients without ADT. After adjusting for potential confounders, we observed no differences in symptoms or risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection between patients with and without ADT (OR: 0.98; 95% CI: 0.52-1.85). Higher body mass index, Type 1 diabetes, and prostate cancer severity, defined by high Gleason score (8-10; OR: 2.06; 95% CI: 1.04-4.09) or elevated levels of prostate-specific antigen (>20 µg/l; OR: 2.15; 95% CI: 1.13-4.07) were associated with increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Overall, the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection was not higher among men with prostate cancer than among men with BPH. CONCLUSIONS: Our results do not support the hypothesis that ADT use in prostate cancer patients reduces the risk or symptom, Funding agency:Örebro County Research Foundation

Bakgrund: Substansbrukssyndrom är ett begrepp som innefattar beroendeproblematik oavsett substans. Substansbrukssyndrom är starkt kopplat till stigma, vilket kan beskrivas med att ha ett attribut som är nedvärderat inom en viss kontext. Stigma påverkar personen som upplever det på flera olika sätt och påverkar också sjukvården och samhället i stort. Syfte: Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var att beskriva upplevelsen av stigma hos personer med substansbrukssyndrom inom hälso- och sjukvården. Metod: En litteraturstudie med inifrånperspektiv genomfördes för att besvara syftet. Litteratursökningen genomfördes i Pubmed, PsycInfo och Cinahl och resulterade i sju vetenskapliga artiklar med kvalitativt innehåll. En innehållsanalys med manifest ansats genomfördes enligt Graneheim och Lundmans (2004) metodartikel. Resultat: Analysen resulterade i fyra slutkategorier: Att mötas av dömande och nedsättande attityder, Att bli sedd som drogsökande och mötas av misstro, Att komma i andra hand och inte få likvärdig vård, Att uppleva rädsla inför vårdkontakter och anpassa sig. Slutsats: Personerna beskrev hur stigma påverkade alla aspekter av vårdupplevelsen. Från att uppleva sämre bemötande, en bristande vårdkvalité till en rädsla inför att söka vård. Stigma utgör ett hinder för personcentrerad vård och vård på lika villkor och en utökad kunskap om ämnet kan vara av betydelse i målet att uppnå en jämlik hälso- och sjukvård.

The hippocampus has been shown to have a major role in learning and memory, but also to participate in the regulation of emotions. However, its specific role(s) in memory is still unclear. Hippocampal damage or dysfunction mainly results in memory issues, especially in the declarative memory but, in animal studies, has also shown to lead to hyperactivity and difficulty in inhibiting responses previously taught. The brain structure is affected in neuropathological disorders, such as Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, and schizophrenia, and also by depression and stress. The hippocampus structure is far from mature at birth and undergoes substantial development throughout infant and juvenile life. The aim of this study was to survey genes highly expressed throughout the postnatal period in mouse hippocampus and which have also been linked to an abnormal phenotype through mutational studies to achieve a greater understanding about hippocampal functions during postnatal development. Publicly available gene expression data from C57BL/6 mouse hippocampus was analyzed; from a total of 5 time points (at postnatal day 1, 10, 15, 21, and 30), 547 genes highly expressed in all of these time points were selected for analysis. Highly expressed genes are considered to be of potential biological importance and appear to be multifunctional, and hence any dysfunction in such a gene will most likely have a large impact on the development of abilities during the postnatal and juvenile period. Phenotypic annotation data downloaded from Mouse Genomic Informatics database were analyzed for these genes, and the results showed that many of them are important for proper embryo development and infant survival, proper growth, and increase in body size, as well as for voluntary movement functions, motor coordination, and balance. The results also indicated an association with seizures that have primarily been characterized by uncontrolled motor activity and the development of proper grooming abilities. Th, CC BY 4.0The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Melatonin is a master regulator of diverse biological processes, including plant's abiotic stress responses and tolerance. Despite the extensive information on the role of melatonin in response to abiotic stress, how plants regulate endogenous melatonin content under stressful conditions remains largely unknown. In this study, we computationally mined Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) libraries of salinity-exposed Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa) to identify the most reliable differentially expressed miRNA and its target gene(s). In light of these analyses, we found that miR168a potentially targets a key melatonin biosynthesis gene, namely O-METHYLTRANSFERASE 1 (OMT1). Accordingly, molecular and physiochemical evaluations were performed in a separate salinity experiment using contrasting B. rapa genotypes. Then, the association between B. rapa salinity tolerance and changes in measured molecular and physiochemical characteristics was determined. Results indicated that the expression profiles of miR168a and OMT1 significantly differed between B. rapa genotypes. Moreover, the expression profiles of miR168a and OMT1 significantly correlated with more melatonin content, robust antioxidant activities, and better ion homeostasis during salinity stress. Our results suggest that miR168a plausibly mediates melatonin biosynthesis, mainly through the OMT1 gene, under salinity conditions and thereby contributes to the salinity tolerance of B. rapa. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the role of miR168a and OMT1 in B. rapa salinity response., This research was supported by Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Higher Education Center of Eghlid, Eghlid, Iran.