What Do We Know about Agile Software Development?

From 1,996 studies available in the agile software development literature, the authors identified 36 research studies of acceptable rigor, credibility, and relevance to include in a systematic review of empirical evidence for agile development's benefits and limitations. The review results suggest that despite some limitations, agile development can improve job satisfaction, project productivity, and customer satisfaction.     

Subsea Maintenance Service Delivery： Mapping Factors Influencing Scheduled Service Duration

The oil and gas (O&G) industry on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) leads the world in terms of the number of subsea O&G installations. Ensuring the dependability of these assets is critical. Non-intrusive inspection, maintenance and repair (IMR) services are therefore needed to reduce risks. These services are planned and executed using a mono-hull offshore vessel complete with remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), a module handling system and an active heave compensated crane. Vessel time is shared between competing jobs, using a prioritized forward-looking schedule. Extension in planned job duration may have an impact on O&G production, service costs and health, safety, and environmental (HSE) risks. This paper maps factors influencing the job schedule efficiency. The influence factors are identified through reviews of literature as well as interviews with experts in one of the large IMR subsea service providers active on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. The findings show that the most obvious factors are weather disruption and water depth. Other factors include job complexity, job uncertainty, IMR equipment availability, as well as the mix of job complexity.     

Using electricity as a tool in quality studies of Atlantic salmon

In order to reveal what role anaerobe muscle activity has on the fillet quality in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), 18 rested fish were killed on site and immediately filleted. One fillet was used as control group while the other was electrically exercised using 10 V, 5 Hz pDC for 3 min. Fillet weight and muscle pH was measured before the fillets were wrapped in aluminum foil and stored on ice. After 7 days muscle pH, color, and weight was measured. Texture profile analysis (TPA) was estimated using a 20 mm cylindrical probe compressing either at 40, 60 or 80% into the fillet and the shear force was estimated by slicing standardized muscles samples with a blade. Results show that electrical stimulation forces the muscle to contract and the muscle pH to drop by 0.5 units, leading to higher drip loss and loss of color. Comparing the fillets in pairs (paired t test) strengthens evidence on drip loss and color loss, but revealed also softer texture. Optimum compression rate for detecting differences in salmon muscle is at 60% compression. We conclude that electrical stimulation is a powerful tool for simulating anaerobe muscle activity enabling comparative studies within the same individual, hence isolating the variation amongst individuals and the location of sampling. Furthermore electrical stimulation reduces the need for live animal experimentation in quality studies.     

Electrochemical, atomic force microscopy and infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy studies of pre-formed mussel adhesive protein films on carbon steel for corrosion protection

Electrochemical measurements, in situ and ex situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) experiments and infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRAS) analysis were performed to investigate the formation and stability as well as corrosion protection properties of mussel adhesive protein (Mefp-1) films on carbon steel, and the influence of cross-linking by NaIO₄ oxidation. The in situ AFM measurements show flake-like adsorbed protein aggregates in the film formed at pH 9. The ex situ AFM images indicate multilayer-like films and that the film becomes more compact and stable in NaCl solution after the cross-linking. The IRAS results reveal the absorption bands of Mefp-1 on carbon steel before and after NaIO₄ induced oxidation of the pre-adsorbed protein. Within a short exposure time, a certain corrosion protection effect was noted for the pre-formed Mefp-1 film in 0.1 M NaCl solution. Cross-linking the pre-adsorbed film by NaIO₄ oxidation significantly enhanced the protection efficiency by up to 80%.     

Use of stable nitrogen isotope fractionation to estimate denitrification in small constructed wetlands treating agricultural runoff

Constructed wetlands (CWs) in the agricultural landscape reduce non-point source pollution through removal of nutrients and particles. The objective of this study was to evaluate if measurements of natural abundance of (15)NO(3)(-) can be used to determine the fate of NO(3)(-) in different types of small CWs treating agricultural runoff. Nitrogen removal was studied in wetland trenches filled with different filter materials (T1--sand and gravel; T3--mixture of peat, shell sand and light-weight aggregates; T8--barley straw) and a trench formed as a shallow pond (T4). The removal was highest during summer and lowest during autumn and winter. Trench T8 had the highest N removal during summer. Measurements of the natural abundance of (15)N in NO(3)(-) showed that denitrification was not significant during autumn/winter, while it was present in all trenches during summer, but only important for nitrogen removal in trench T8. The (15)N enrichment factors of NO(3)(-) in this study ranged from -2.5 to -5.9 per thousand (T3 and T8, summer), thus smaller than enrichment factors found in laboratory tests of isotope discrimination in denitrification, but similar to factors found for denitrification in groundwater and a large CW. The low enrichment factors compared to laboratory studies was attributed to assimilation in plants/microbes as well as diffusion effect. Based on a modified version of the method presented by Lund et al. [Lund LJ, Horne AJ, Williams AE, Estimating denitrification in a large constructed wetland using stable nitrogen isotope ratios. Ecol Engineer 2000; 14: 67-76], denitrification and assimilation were estimated to account for 53 to 99 and 1 to 47%, respectively, of the total N removal during summer. This method is, however, based on a number of assumptions, and there is thus a need for a better knowledge of the effect of plant uptake, microbial assimilation as well as nitrification on N isotopic fractionation before this method can be used to evaluate the contribution of dinitrification in CWs.     

Characterisation of the bacterial flora of modified atmosphere packaged farmed Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) by PCR-DGGE of conserved 16S rRNA gene regions

The present article describes the use of broad-range molecular analyses to characterise the microbial population of farmed Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) packaged for the retail market. Cod was filleted post rigor, packaged in air or in modified atmosphere (MA) (50% CO(2):50% N(2) or 50% CO(2):50% O(2)) and stored at 0 degrees C for 11 days. To determine the community profiles of the samples the variable V3-region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene were amplified by PCR, before the PCR products were separated by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). From sequence analyses Pseudomonas spp. were found to be the predominant bacteria in oxygen enriched atmospheres, whereas the spoilage bacteria Photobacterium sp., Shewanella putrefaciens and Pseudomonas spp. dominated in CO(2):N(2) and air packaged samples. Additional microbial analyses by cultivation methods observed highest bacterial numbers in air stored samples, and both MA mixtures gave growth inhibition when measuring aerobic plate count, psychrotrophic bacteria and H(2)S-producing bacteria. The results show that PCR-DGGE can be applied to examine bacterial diversity and population shifts among different MA-packaged products.     

The effect of bark content on quality parameters of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) pellets

Increased use of pellets has resulted in a shortage of the traditional raw materials required for pellet making, including saw dust, shavings and cuttings from saw mills. Therefore, the pellets industry has started to look for alternative raw materials. Limited consumption of pulpwood from Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in Norway has made it a potential raw material for the pellets industry.A study on how bark content affects the quality of pellets is reported in this paper. Pellets from pinewood containing zero, five, 10, 30 and 100 percent bark were produced, and their quality parameters were evaluated. Combustion tests were also performed on the produced pellets.Pellets made from pure bark had the best mechanical properties compared with pellets made of wood containing various concentrations of bark. The differences were not substantial and the durability for all chosen assortments was in the same quality class in the CEN standard. A positive effect off the amount of steam added was found. The bulk densities of the blend pellets were higher than those of pure wood and bark. The ash content increased with the amount of bark in the pellets. There were no problems with sintering when the bark content was low (five and 10 percent). For pure bark pellets some sintering was registered.