The Global System for Mobile (GSM) cellular standard, having been in existence for over two decades, is the most widely deployed wireless technology in the world. While third generation networks and beyond, such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and Long Term Evolution (LTE), are undergoing extraordinary growth and driving a large share of current cellular development, technologies and deployments based on GSM are still dominant on a global scale and, like more recent standards, continue to evolve very rapidly. The software-defined radio (SDR) base station is one technology that is driving rapid change in cellular infrastructure. While commercial vendors have now embraced SDR, there is another movement that has recently gained prominence. That movement is the convergence of open source software and hardware with cellular implementation. OpenBTS, a deployable implementation of the GSM radio air interface, and the Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP), a RF hardware platform, are two primary examples of such open source software and hardware products. OpenBTS and the USRP underlie three GSM features that are implemented and presented in this thesis. This thesis describes the extension of the OpenBTS software-defined radio transceiver in the three critical areas of user capacity, transmit signal integrity, and the embedded small form factor. First, an optimized wideband multicarrier implementation is presented that substantially increases the capacity beyond that of a single carrier system. Second, the GSM modulator is examined in depth and extended to provide performance that exceeds standards compliance by a significant margin. Third, operation of the GSM transceiver on an E100 embedded platform with ARM and fixed point DSP processors will be explored, optimized, and tested. / Master of Science

Community-based Open Source Software (OSS) projects are generally self-organized and dynamic, receiving contributions from volunteers spread across the globe. These communities survival, long-term success, and continuity demand a constant influx of newcomers. However, newcomers face many barriers when making their first contribution to an OSS project, leading in many cases to dropouts. Therefore, a major challenge for OSS projects is to provide ways to support newcomers during their first contribution. In this thesis, our goal was to identify and understand the barriers newcomers face and provide appropriate strategies to lower these barriers. Toward this end, we conducted multiple studies, using multiple research methods. To identify the barriers, we used data collected from: semi-structured interviews with 35 developers from 13 different projects; 24 answers to an open questionnaire conducted with OSS developers; feedback from 9 graduate and undergraduate students after they tried to join OSS projects; and 20 primary studies gathered via a systematic literature review. The data was analyzed using Grounded Theory procedures: namely, open and axial coding. Subsequently, the analysis resulted in a preliminary conceptual model composed of 58 barriers grouped into six categories: cultural differences, newcomers characteristics, reception issues, newcomers orientation, technical hurdles, and documentation problems. Based on the conceptual model, we developed FLOSScoach, a portal to support newcomers making their first OSS project contribution. To assess the portal, we conducted a study with undergraduate students, relying on qualitative data from diaries, self-efficacy questionnaires, and the Technology Acceptance Model. By applying the model to a practical application and assessing it, we could evaluate and improve the barriers model, changing it according to improvements identified during the conception of the tool, as well as suggestions received from the study participants. The FLOSScoach study results indicate that the portal played an important role guiding newcomers and lowering barriers related to the orientation and contribution process, whereas it was inefficient in lowering technical barriers. We also found that the portal is useful, easy to use, and increased newcomers confidence to contribute. The main contributions of this thesis are: (i) empirical identification and modeling of barriers faced by OSS project newcomers; and (ii) a portal providing information to support OSS project newcomers. / Projetos de software livre baseados em comunidade são, geralmente, auto-organizados e dinâmicos, e recebem contribuições de voluntários espalhados por todo o globo. A sobrevivência dessas comunidades, o sucesso a longo prazo, e sua continuidade exigem a entrada constante de novatos. No entanto, os novatos enfrentam muitas barreiras ao tentarem fazer a sua primeira contribuição para um projeto de software livre, o que leva, em muitos casos, a desistências. Portanto, um grande desafio para projetos de software livre é proporcionar maneiras de apoiar os novatos durante a realização de sua primeira contribuição. Nesta tese, nosso objetivo foi identificar e compreender as barreiras que os novatos enfrentam e fornecer estratégias adequadas para reduzir essas barreiras. Para isso, realizamos diversos estudos, utilizando vários métodos de pesquisa. Para identificar as barreiras, foram utilizados dados coletados a partir de: entrevistas semiestruturadas com 36 desenvolvedores de 14 projetos diferentes; 24 respostas a um questionário aberto realizado com desenvolvedores de software livre; feedback de 9 estudantes depois de tentarem contribuir para projetos de software livre; e 20 estudos obtidos por meio de uma revisão sistemática da literatura. Os dados foram analisados utilizando-se procedimentos da Grounded Theory: codificação aberta e axial. Posteriormente, a análise resultou em um modelo conceitual preliminar composto por 58 barreiras agrupadas em seis categorias: diferenças culturais, características dos novatos, problemas de recepção, orientação dos novatos, obstáculos técnicos, e problemas de documentação. Com base no modelo conceitual, desenvolvemos o FLOSScoach, um portal para apoiar os novatos no curso de sua primeira contribuição a projetos de software livre. Para avaliar o portal, realizamos um estudo com alunos de graduação, utilizando dados qualitativos de diários, questionários de autoeficácia (self-efficacy), e o modelo de aceitação tecnológica (TAM, do inglês Technology Acceptance Model). Ao aplicar o modelo em uma aplicação prática e experimentá-lo, pudemos avaliar e melhorar o modelo de barreiras, adequando-o de acordo com as melhorias identificadas durante a concepção da ferramenta, bem como sugestões recebidas dos participantes do estudo. Os resultados do estudo indicam que o portal FLOSScoach desempenhou um papel importante no direcionamento dos novatos e na redução das barreiras relacionadas com o processo de orientação e contribuição, enquanto não foi muito eficiente na redução de barreiras técnicas. Evidenciamos ainda que o portal é útil, fácil de usar, e aumentou a confiança dos novatos. As principais contribuições desta tese são: (i) identificação empírica e modelagem de barreiras enfrentadas pelos novatos em projetos de software livre; e (ii) um portal de informação para apoiar os novatos em projetos de software livre.

Diese Dissertation behandelt Fragen des Wettbewerbs auf Softwaremärkten. Konkret geht es um folgende Frage: Welchen Einfluss haben kleine und mittelständische Unternehmen (KMUs) auf die Wettbewerbskonditionen in der Softwarebranche vor dem Hintergrund des zunehmenden Einsatzes von rechtlichen Maßnahmen zum Schutze des geistigen Eigentums? Theoretischer Teil: Wir untersuchen theoretisch Übertragungseffekte (Spillovers) zwischen KMUs und größeren Softwareunternehmen im Kontext von gebündelten Produkten (bundling). Während Bundling und die resultierenden wettbewerbspolitischen Optionen in einem statischen Kontext gut verstanden sind, gibt es noch offene Fragen im dynamischen Kontext. Hier untersuchen wir, inwieweit die Standardargumente gegen Bundling an Gültigkeit verlieren. Wir kommen zum Schluss, dass Wettbewerbspolitik in Softwaremärkten in einem dynamischen Kontext Bundling durchaus in Betracht ziehen sollte. Empirischer Teil: Wir untersuchen, ob der zunehmende Einsatz von Schutzrechten durch KMUs dazu führt, dass der Wettbewerb im Bereich der Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien (IuK) zunimmt. Diese empirisch fundierte Arbeit analysiert einen Datensatz von KMUs aus der IuK-Industrie unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von Softwareherstellern. Mit Hilfe einer Varianzanalyse untersuchen wir den Einfluss von vier Faktoren auf den Einsatz von Schutzrechten, nämlich: Globalisierung, rechtliches Umfeld, kooperative Forschung und Open Source Software-Nutzung. / This dissertation focuses on competition within the software market. Specifically it aims to provide further understanding and insights to the following question: In the context of intellectual property rights (IPR), what impact do small and medium sized enterprises (SME) have on competition in the software industry? Normative contribution to the dynamic policy literature: Bundling and the resulting competition policy measures are well understood under static conditions. In this essay, we theoretically examine the spillover exchange between SME and large software firms in the context of bundling. Based on the findings of our static model, we suggest that competition policy in the software market should consider bundling under dynamic competition because it could lead to a different conclusion resulting from the factors unique to the software market e.g., OSS programmers. Positive contribution to IPR literature: We empirically examine whether increased IPR adoption by small and medium sized enterprises enables greater competition within the information and communications sector. The analysis is based on a dataset of SME in the information and communications sector which also includes the software industry. We make use of the analysis of variance in order to study the impact of four factors on SME adoption of intellectual property rights, namely; globalization, legal frameworks, cooperative research and open source software use and development. i

Community-based Open Source Software (OSS) projects are generally self-organized and dynamic, receiving contributions from volunteers spread across the globe. These communities survival, long-term success, and continuity demand a constant influx of newcomers. However, newcomers face many barriers when making their first contribution to an OSS project, leading in many cases to dropouts. Therefore, a major challenge for OSS projects is to provide ways to support newcomers during their first contribution. In this thesis, our goal was to identify and understand the barriers newcomers face and provide appropriate strategies to lower these barriers. Toward this end, we conducted multiple studies, using multiple research methods. To identify the barriers, we used data collected from: semi-structured interviews with 35 developers from 13 different projects; 24 answers to an open questionnaire conducted with OSS developers; feedback from 9 graduate and undergraduate students after they tried to join OSS projects; and 20 primary studies gathered via a systematic literature review. The data was analyzed using Grounded Theory procedures: namely, open and axial coding. Subsequently, the analysis resulted in a preliminary conceptual model composed of 58 barriers grouped into six categories: cultural differences, newcomers characteristics, reception issues, newcomers orientation, technical hurdles, and documentation problems. Based on the conceptual model, we developed FLOSScoach, a portal to support newcomers making their first OSS project contribution. To assess the portal, we conducted a study with undergraduate students, relying on qualitative data from diaries, self-efficacy questionnaires, and the Technology Acceptance Model. By applying the model to a practical application and assessing it, we could evaluate and improve the barriers model, changing it according to improvements identified during the conception of the tool, as well as suggestions received from the study participants. The FLOSScoach study results indicate that the portal played an important role guiding newcomers and lowering barriers related to the orientation and contribution process, whereas it was inefficient in lowering technical barriers. We also found that the portal is useful, easy to use, and increased newcomers confidence to contribute. The main contributions of this thesis are: (i) empirical identification and modeling of barriers faced by OSS project newcomers; and (ii) a portal providing information to support OSS project newcomers. / Projetos de software livre baseados em comunidade são, geralmente, auto-organizados e dinâmicos, e recebem contribuições de voluntários espalhados por todo o globo. A sobrevivência dessas comunidades, o sucesso a longo prazo, e sua continuidade exigem a entrada constante de novatos. No entanto, os novatos enfrentam muitas barreiras ao tentarem fazer a sua primeira contribuição para um projeto de software livre, o que leva, em muitos casos, a desistências. Portanto, um grande desafio para projetos de software livre é proporcionar maneiras de apoiar os novatos durante a realização de sua primeira contribuição. Nesta tese, nosso objetivo foi identificar e compreender as barreiras que os novatos enfrentam e fornecer estratégias adequadas para reduzir essas barreiras. Para isso, realizamos diversos estudos, utilizando vários métodos de pesquisa. Para identificar as barreiras, foram utilizados dados coletados a partir de: entrevistas semiestruturadas com 36 desenvolvedores de 14 projetos diferentes; 24 respostas a um questionário aberto realizado com desenvolvedores de software livre; feedback de 9 estudantes depois de tentarem contribuir para projetos de software livre; e 20 estudos obtidos por meio de uma revisão sistemática da literatura. Os dados foram analisados utilizando-se procedimentos da Grounded Theory: codificação aberta e axial. Posteriormente, a análise resultou em um modelo conceitual preliminar composto por 58 barreiras agrupadas em seis categorias: diferenças culturais, características dos novatos, problemas de recepção, orientação dos novatos, obstáculos técnicos, e problemas de documentação. Com base no modelo conceitual, desenvolvemos o FLOSScoach, um portal para apoiar os novatos no curso de sua primeira contribuição a projetos de software livre. Para avaliar o portal, realizamos um estudo com alunos de graduação, utilizando dados qualitativos de diários, questionários de autoeficácia (self-efficacy), e o modelo de aceitação tecnológica (TAM, do inglês Technology Acceptance Model). Ao aplicar o modelo em uma aplicação prática e experimentá-lo, pudemos avaliar e melhorar o modelo de barreiras, adequando-o de acordo com as melhorias identificadas durante a concepção da ferramenta, bem como sugestões recebidas dos participantes do estudo. Os resultados do estudo indicam que o portal FLOSScoach desempenhou um papel importante no direcionamento dos novatos e na redução das barreiras relacionadas com o processo de orientação e contribuição, enquanto não foi muito eficiente na redução de barreiras técnicas. Evidenciamos ainda que o portal é útil, fácil de usar, e aumentou a confiança dos novatos. As principais contribuições desta tese são: (i) identificação empírica e modelagem de barreiras enfrentadas pelos novatos em projetos de software livre; e (ii) um portal de informação para apoiar os novatos em projetos de software livre.

The thesis contains basic information about image documents digitalization. A brief list of common used standards in Czech republic is shown. The standards can be used in description of digitalized documents by institutions such as libraries, scientific departments and universities. The thesis specifically solves the dilemma of the preservation and the accessing of B.P.Molls large map collection stored in Moravian Library in Brno city. It analyses step by step the characteristics of the saved documents, style of their interlacing and data representation. In terms of deposition and manipulation it comes with description list of open-source digital libraries and it chooses the Fedora repository. It solves methods of object-model implementation while using this digital library. The functional parts are web presentation of the mentioned map collection and an effectiveness test showing large-scale maps using the flash Zoomify browser. Web presentation uses the repository services as often as possible, and thus allows searching and searching through the bibliographic records of the presented documents. The end of the thesis sums up the obtained results and presents the incoming development course of presentation and popularization of the map collection.

Sowohl in der Klinischen Labormedizin, der Klinischen Mikrobiologie als auch in der Pathologie ist die Massenspektrometrie (MS) ein bedeutender Bestandteil der Diagnostik geworden. Der Fortschritt in der Gerätetechnik ermöglicht in kurzer Zeit viele, hochaufgelöste Spektren zu generieren. Diese Informationsvielfalt macht die manuelle Auswertung durch den Anwender sehr kompliziert bis unmöglich. Aus diesem Grund ist die Unterstützung durch bioinformatische Programme notwendig. Für die Reproduzierbarkeit der Ergebnisse und die Qualitätskontrolle ist es essentiell, dass die verwendeten Algorithmen transparent und die Programme als Open Source Software (OSS) frei verfügbar sind (Aebersold and Mann, 2003). Das Ziel dieser Arbeit war die Entwicklung von MALDIquant, einer unter der GNU General Public License (GPL) stehenden, flexiblen OSS, die für die o.g. Anwendungsbereiche modernste Algorithmen für die komplette Analyse bietet und in der freien Programmiersprache R (R Core Team, 2014) geschrieben ist. Im Zusammenspiel mit dem dazugehörigen Paket MALDIquantForeign ist MALDIquant in der Lage die üblichen Dateiformate der verschiedenen MS-Geräte zu verarbeiten. Dadurch ist MALDIquant hersteller- und geräteunabhängig und eignet sich nicht nur für MALDI/TOF, sondern für alle zweidimensionalen MS-Daten. Angefangen vom Datenimport über die Prozessierung bis hin zur Analyse der Spektren bietet MALDIquant eine komplette Analyse-Pipeline und implementiert state-of-the-art Methoden. Neben weit verbreiteten Verfahren zur Baseline Correction und Peak Detection zeichnet sich MALDIquant besonders durch ein hervorragendes Peak Alignment aus. Dieses ist sehr genau und aufgrund des Fokus auf die Peaks schneller als die meisten anderen Verfahren und weitestgehend unabhängig von der Qualität der Intensitätenkalibrierung. Eine weitere Stärke von MALDIquant ist die Möglichkeit, eigene Algorithmen zu integrieren, sowie den Ablauf der Analyse den individuellen Bedürfnissen anzupassen. In der beispielhaften Analyse der Daten von Fiedler et al. (2009) konnten durch MALDIquant Peaks gefunden werden, die Patienten mit Pankreaskarzinom von nicht erkrankten Probanden unterscheiden. Einige dieser Peaks wurden bereits in anderen Publikationen beschrieben. Neben diesem Beispiel hat MALDIquant seine Nützlichkeit bereits in verschiedenen Anwendungsbereichen und Publikationen bewiesen, wie etwa in Ouedraogo et al. (2013) oder Jung et al. (2014).:Bibliographische Beschreibung (III) Abbildungsverzeichnis (V) Tabellenverzeichnis (VII) Abkürzungsverzeichnis (IX) 1 Einleitung (1) 1.1 Intention (1) 1.2 Eigene Beiträge (2) 1.3 Übersicht (3) 2 Hintergrund (5) 2.1 Proteomik (5) 2.2 Massenspektrometrie (6) 2.3 Bioinformatik (7) 3 Methoden (9) 3.1 Überblick (9) 3.2 Import der Rohdaten (9) 3.3 Transformation der Intensitäten (11) 3.4 Korrektur der Grundlinie (11) 3.5 Kalibrierung der Intensitäten (13) 3.6 Identifizierung von Merkmalen (15) 3.7 Kalibrierung der m/z-Werte (17) 3.8 Nachbearbeitung (19) 4 Ergebnisse (23) 4.1 Implementierung (23) 4.2 Anwendungsbeispiel Fiedler et al. 2009 (23) 4.3 Vorbehandlung der Daten aus Fiedler et al. 2009 mit MALDIquant (24) 4.4 Multivariate Analyse (24) 4.5 Mögliche Biomarker (26) 5 Diskussion (29) 6 Zusammenfassung (31) 7 Literaturverzeichnis (35) A Publikation (45) B Übersicht Codeumfang (49) C Analyse Fiedler et al. 2009 (51) D Erklärung über die eigenständige Abfassung der Arbeit (69) E Lebenslauf (71) F Danksagung (75)

ICT development and deployment and supporting policies take place within a fiercely contested globalised political economy. For organisations there is a pervasiveness of change processes, often externally imposed, which are rising with these globalising effects. This not only implies that the context in which organisations are situated is continuously changing, but also that the nature of the organisation itself is subject to change (Van Tonder, 2004). However, the external influences imposed on an organisation are often heterogeneous and make the management of adapting to the external environment extremely complex. This thesis explores such an externally imposed change on an organisation around the implementation of a contentious national policy. This entails not only dealing with the more usual dimensions of change in an organisation, but also the implications of the national debate and contentions around the national policy playing out in the local setting of the organisation. In this thesis the change explored is within a government department from a proprietary Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system to an open source ECM system. An interpretative approach was followed, using a longitudinal case study. Two main aspects of this change process are explored. The first is the impact of the national open source policy on government departments - an externally imposed change of mission, vision and values. The second is how internally the government department changed its internal work processes and information systems to comply with that policy. These two aspects are intertwined. Alignment of the organisation mission, values and objectives, with the proposed technological innovation and change management models emerges as a necessary condition for managing change. However, what emerged as a more challenging issue was whether internal organisational changes can be aligned with contentious national policy imperatives. Three theoretical lenses are used to explore this contentious issue: the HEM model of Du Plooy’s (1998); the improvisational change management model of Orlikowski and Hofman (1997); and institutional theory as it applies to Information Systems. The improvisational change model of Orlikowski and Hofman (1997) in combination with Du Plooy’s (1998) HEM model, was used to understand the change process unfolding in the implementation of an OS ECM system in a Government department in SA. The result of this application is some practical recommendations for government officials on future OS implementations, as well as a theoretical add-on to extend the change management model applied. The researcher found that models can increase our understanding and reveal how one can ‘cultivate’ the human environment within which technology is to be implemented. However, the process of developing an understanding of how national policy was developed and the rationale for it was also found to be important, as is developing an understanding of the rationale of this particular department for choosing to implement the OS ECM system. By adding to, or expanding on Orlikowski and Hoffman’s (1997) model to include a fourth element, indicating the external forces in the environment, such as government regulations; government policy; and the debate on global and national FOSS versus PS, highlights the need for this external alignment as well as prevents the focus on internal alignment only. Institutional theory was consequently applied in an attempt to unpack the organisational and change management dimensions of the change model, aiming at understanding the institutional forces which legitimates or contradicts the technical/rational ideas and actions of the change. The findings were threefold. Firstly, the role played by IS as an institutional process in and of itself and the way in which this could have affected the implementation of the new OS ECM system was discussed, pointing to the possibility that the new system was not necessarily being implemented to streamline the work practices, but rather due to its institutional status of being a ‘rational myth’; something which had to be done as ‘it’s just the right thing to do.” Secondly, OSS and PS were argued to be different ‘types’ of institutions. Using the institutional pillars it was argued that OSS and PS were driven by different institutional forces, with PS leaning towards the regulative pillar and OSS being more in line with the normative pillar. These two institutions were found to mainly differ with regard to their basis of compliance and the logic behind them. The insights offered by this argument revealed that when changing from OSS to PS, it would be very valuable to recognise that OSS and PS are two different ‘types’ of institutions, and to not only understand that the new system could therefore change the organisational processes when it is implemented, but to also acknowledge the change which will take place within the IS/IT institution itself – moving from the regulative to the normative. The change should thus be understood both within the two different IS innovations themselves, and in how these two innovations interact. Lastly, the research in this thesis went beyond the technical/rational actions of the stakeholders, and included an in depth analysis of the institutional forces at play in the broader social context of the Government department. It explained the institutions which were at play on the international, national and organisational levels, pointing out which of these forces worked in favour of or against the technical/rational actions, and in the process contributed to the unexpected outcome of the new OS ECM implementation process. / Thesis (PhD-- University of Pretoria, 2014 / Informatics / unrestricted

Open-source software is in average used in more than 65% of the applications within the domains of enterprise software, retail and e-commerce, cybersecurity and internet of things (Synopsys, 2019). With the frequent use of open-source software, security issues arise which need to be handled. These include among other issues; non-patched vulnerabilities and malicious code (Schryen, 2011). Security guidelines for open-source software usage have been defined by numerous security organizations as an effort to increase effective security handling of open source software within organizations. These guidelines often cover directives on many layers of an organization and are often lacking information necessary for them to be understandable, reliable, and useful to the person using them.The purpose of this study is to contribute to increased software security related to open-source software usage, by exploring and providing information on the topic, and by defining a set of improved security guidelines that cover both what measures to take to minimize security risks, and how to implement it, based on the published state-of-the-art security guidelines for using open-source software.The subject was investigated through a research process focused on answering whether the current state-of-the-art security guidelines could be improved, using a qualitative research type based on a document analysis data collection method. The research was exploratory in its design and the main focus was to explore the subject by trying to answer the posed research question.By investigating the state of contemporary security guidelines found in literature, and evaluating them against a set of desirable attributes for high quality guidelines, it became evident that the contemporary guidelines couldbe improved. An effort was therefore made to build on the found guidelines and improve them by trying to resolve the issues found through the evaluation.The effort of trying to improve existing guidelines resulted in a new set of guidelines including added information and reformulations, however, the changes made could not be said to be conclusive or objective improvements. Instead they present suggestions for how and in what aspects the contemporary guidelines could be improved. / Mjukvara med öppen källkod (open-source software) används i genomsnitti mer än 65% av applikationerna för mjukvara till företag, detaljoch e-imageimageimageimagehandel, cybersäkerhet och sakernas internet (Synopsys, 2019). Den frekventa användningen av öppen källkod ger upphov till säkerhetsrisker som behöver motverkas. Dessa risker inkluderar bland annat; skadlig kod och säkerhetsbrister som inte åtgärdas (Schryen, 2011). Säkerhetsriktlinjer har blivit definierade av ett flertal organisationer med målet att effektivisera säkerhetshanteringen av öppen källkod och på så sätt minska risken för attacker. Dessa riktlinjer täcker ofta många olika delar av en organisations hierarki och saknar ofta information som är nödvändig för att göra dem begripliga, pålitliga och användbara för de personer som använder dem. Syftet med denna studieär att bidra till enökad säkerhet vid användan-det av öppen källkod genom att dels öka kunskapen om ämnet, och genom att definiera en samling förbättrade säkerhetsriktlinjer som både beskriver vad som ska göras för att minska säkerhetsrisker och hur det ska göras. De förbättrade riktlinjerna ska baseras på befintliga säkerhetsriktlinjer för användning av öppen källkod. Ämnet studerades genom en forskningsprocess med fokus på att besvara frågan om huruvida befintliga säkerhetsriktlinjer kan förbättras, där information samlades in genom en kvalitativ forskningstyp baserad på dokumentanalys. Forskningsdesignen var av utforskande karaktär, där huvudfokuset låg i att utforska ämnet genom att försöka besvara forskningsfrågan.Genom att undersöka kvalitén av befintliga säkerhetsriktlinjer som hittats i litteraturen och utvärdera dessa med stöd av en stor samling önskvärda egenskaper hos riktlinjer av hög kvalitet, blev det uppenbart att befintliga riktlinjer kan förbättras. Däför genomfördes ett försök att vidareutveckla befintliga riktlinjer för att förbättra dem genom att lösa de problem som hittats genom utvärderingen. Försöket att förbättra existerande riktlinjer resulterade i en ny uppsättning riktlinjer med tillagd information och omformuleringar. Dessa förändringar kan dock inte sägas representera konklusiva eller objectiva förbättringar. Istället representerar de förbättrade riktlinjerna ett förslag på hur riktlinjer skulle kunna förbättras.

Modern research in the life sciences is unthinkable without computational methods for extracting, quantifying and visualising information derived from microscopy imaging data of biological samples. In the past decade, we observed a dramatic increase in available software packages for these purposes. As it is increasingly difficult to keep track of the number of available image analysis platforms, tool collections, components and emerging technologies, we provide a conservative overview of software that we use in daily routine and give insights into emerging new tools. We give guidance on which aspects to consider when choosing the platform that best suits the user's needs, including aspects such as image data type, skills of the team, infrastructure and community at the institute and availability of time and budget.

Companies are increasingly drawing on their user communities to generate promising ideas for new products, which are then marketed as "user-designed" products to the broader consumer market. We demonstrate that nonparticipating, observing consumers prefer to buy from user-rather than designer-driven firms because of an enhanced identification with the firm that has adopted this user-driven philosophy. Three experimental studies validate a newly proposed social identification account underlying this effect. Because consumers are also users, their social identities connect to the user-designers, and they feel empowerment by vicariously being involved in the design process. This formed connection leads to preference for the firm's products. Importantly, this social identification account also effectively predicts when the effect does not materialize. First, we find that if consumers feel dissimilar to participating users, the effects are attenuated. We demonstrate that this happens when the community differs from consumers along important demographics (i.e., gender) or when consumers are nonexperts in the focal domain (i.e., they feel that they do not belong to the social group of participating users). Second, the effects are attenuated if the user-driven firm is only selectively rather than fully open to participation from all users (observing consumers do not feel socially included). These findings advance the emerging theory on user involvement and offer practical implications for firms interested in pursuing a user-driven philosophy. Data, as supplemental material, are available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.1999. (authors' abstract)