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A joint comparison between two separate case studies is presented in this paper. The studies targeted an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and a selected software supplier to the OEM. Two different measuring methods based on a quantitative and a qualitative approach were used in the compared studies. These two different perspectives are integrated by cross analysis and triangulation into a synthetic understanding of what problems are in common for the two companies and how these interrelate. The studies, with focus on information management issues aimed at identifying improvement areas for performance in product development. It is concluded that factors like cross-functional collaboration and information structure were targeted as areas for critical improvement in both case studies.

The live attenuated yellow fever virus 17D vaccine provides a well-controlled model to study T cell responses to an acute viral infection in humans. Here, we have studied the temporal dynamics, composition and character of the primary human T cell response to YFV. The acute YFV-specific effector CD8 T cell response was broad and complex, composed both of dominant responses that persisted into the memory population, as well as of transient subdominant responses that were not detected at the memory stage. Furthermore, HLA-A2- and HLA-B7-restricted YFV epitope-specific effector cells predominantly displayed a CD45RA-CCR7-PD- 1+CD27high phenotype, which transitioned into a CD45RA+CCR7-PD-1-CD27low memory population phenotype. The functional profile of the YFV-specific CD8 T cell response changed in composition as it matured from an effector- to a memory-type response, and tended to become less polyfunctional in the course of this transition. Interestingly, activation of CD4 T cells as well as FoxP3+ T regulatory cells in response to YFV vaccination preceded the kinetics of the CD8 T cell response. The present results contribute to our understanding of how immunodominance patterns develop, as well as the phenotypic and functional characteristics of the primary human T cell response to a viral infection as it evolves and matures into memory.

Little is known about the human fetal immune system, but it has for long been considered as immature and unresponsive. Here we have investigated the development and function of human fetal natural killer (NK) cells. Using advanced flow cytometry, the phenotype and function of fetal NK cells was examined. In contrast to the notion that the fetal immune system is immature, we found that human fetal NK cells differentiate as early as gestational week 15 in utero, evidenced by the presence of NK cells with decrease in CD94/NKG2A and increase in CD16 and KIR expression. NK cells with varying degrees of differentiation were found in the fetal lung, liver, spleen, lymph nodes and bone marrow. Moreover, we show that fetal NK cells are highly responsive to cytokine stimulation and are capable of killing target cells both via natural cytotoxicity and by antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. Strikingly, and in contrast to the education of adult NK cells, we demonstrate that while education via CD94/NKG2A was established in fetal NK cells, both self- and non-self KIR expression rendered fetal NK cells hyporesponsive, thus potentially blunting the response to maternal allogeneic cells. Fetal NK cells were also found to be highly sensitive to TGF-β-mediated inhibition as compared to adult NK cells. Taken together, our data indicate a fundamental difference in the education and regulation of fetal compared to adult NK cells, which have implications for fetal-maternal tolerance in utero.