bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Software Project Risk Management Practice in Ethiopia
Authors: Teklemariam Mihret Abeselom , Mnkandla Ernest 
Published: December 2017

AbstractIn a country like Ethiopia, where information and communication systems are in the early stage of development, software projects may face several challenges. Risk is one of the factors that challenges project performance, and even causes failure. Risk management helps project managers to control the effect of risks. However, risk management appears to be the least practiced component of project management. To help understand the software risk management practice in the developing countries (DC) context, this study explores the risk management practice of Ethiopian software projects. It also investigates the level of adoption of formal risk management models and which steps are included in the ad‐hoc risk management exercise. Finally, it looks into the relationship between risk management practice and project success. We conducted a survey of 45 banks, insurance companies and United Nations agency offices in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In this study, a very low rate of application of formal risk management models was observed. We observed a different perception of risk management whereby only watching projects to see if any risks occur during implementation without performing risk identification and mitigation or response plan was considered as a risk management practice by project managers. It was also found that some project managers were not able to confidently tell whether risk management processes have taken place in the projects they manage.
Researching the Emergence of 3D Printing, Makerspaces, Hackerspaces and FabLabs in the Global South: A Scoping Review and Research Agenda on Digital Innovation and Fabrication Networks
Authors: Seo‐Zindy Ryoung , Heeks Richard 
Published: December 2017

AbstractEnabled by ICTs and digital fabrication tools such as 3D printing, and facilitated by shared workspaces such as makerspaces and FabLabs, digital innovation and fabrication networks (DIFNs) are emerging globally. To open the debate on this nascent phenomenon in the global South, this paper examines the current state of knowledge and offers future research directions. Through a systematic scoping review of 70 articles, it identifies a need for more empirical and more conceptualised research, particularly on under‐researched regions including Latin America, Africa and most of Asia. Three research topic areas are identified for immediate attention: the nature of production processes within DIFNs; the relationship between DIFNs and the wider innovation systems within which they sit; and the tension between the open and closed worldviews manifest in DIFNs.
A Strategy for a Cybersecurity Culture: A South African Perspective
Authors: Gcaza Noluxolo , von Solms Rossouw 
Published: December 2017

AbstractNowadays, having Internet access is deemed to be a basic human right. The South African government has embraced this notion; and as a result, free Wireless Internet (WiFi) has been rolled out in numerous cities in the country. This national effort to connect South African citizens is, however, not matched with adequate national cybersecurity efforts. Across nations, cultivating a culture in pursuing cybersecurity is well appreciated as a fundamental approach. In line with this, the South Africa government envisages a culture of cybersecurity amongst its citizens. However, there is an apparent lack of a practical plan to cultivate such a cybersecurity culture in South Africa. This paper proposes a national strategy for promoting a cybersecurity culture in South Africa.
The Influence of Telecentre Components on the Psychological Empowerment of Underserved Community Members in the Western Cape, South Africa
Authors: Osman Muhammad Ameer , Tanner Maureen 
Published: December 2017

AbstractICTs and ICT4Ds are powerful socio‐economic enablers within developing countries and provide members of “underserved” communities within these countries with tools for self‐empowerment and circumvention of inequalities. Telecentres provide public access to ICTs to meet the educational, social, psychological and economic needs of a community. However, few studies have focused on the influence that telecentres have on the psychological empowerment of members of “underserved” communities in which they are situated. This study addresses this gap by investigating the perceived influence of telecentre components on the psychological empowerment of “underserved” community members in Cape Town, South Africa. This study is interpretive and has been executed through the use of a qualitative case study. Deductive in nature, the research was guided by a conceptual model depicting constructs (intrapersonal factors, interactional factors and behavioural factors) related to the psychological empowerment of telecentre users. The research findings confirm that the various components of telecentres such as services, computer training and entrepreneurial support can positively influence and contribute to the perceived psychological empowerment of “underserved” community members. The findings could improve our understanding of the relevance of various components of telecentres towards leveraging psychological empowerment. In practice, emphasis could be placed on the implementation and elaboration of the most significant components of telecentres within “underserved” communities.
Challenges Facing the Use of Mobile Applications for E‐Commerce in Kenya's Manufacturing Industry
Authors: Waithaka Stephen Titus , Mnkandla Ernest 
Published: December 2017

AbstractEver‐evolving wireless technology has given rise to a new way of conducting business, namely by using mobile devices that are ubiquitous and convenient to use in electronic commerce (e‐commerce). Moreover, a new type of e‐commerce has come into play, where business is conducted using applications installed on mobile devices – apps which can be tailored to perform specific services for each organisation. While the use of these apps has the capability of improving the profitability of an organisation, their uptake in Kenya has been low, and there is a paucity of information to explain why. Given this background, the current study was done to establish the challenges faced by users of these apps in Kenya's manufacturing industries. Grounded theory methodology was used to collect and analyse data, which identified technological, security, cost, computer literacy and environmental issues as the main obstacles to the use of these apps. Strategies to overcome such challenges are proposed. The article contributes to the literature by exploring the gaps between the characteristics of mobile applications for e‐commerce and their ability to attract usage in manufacturing industries in Kenya. The research may also prove useful in guiding researchers who wish to use grounded theory methodology in their work.
An Evaluation of Participatory GIS (PGIS) for Land Use Planning in Malaysia
Authors: Zolkafli Amirulikhsan , Brown Greg , Liu Yan 
Published: December 2017

AbstractPublic participation for land use planning in developing countries is challenged by multiple barriers including low public awareness and engagement with the process. This paper evaluates the capacity of the general public to effectively contribute to land use planning outcomes in Malaysia using Participatory GIS (PGIS). Spatial attributes that identify place values and land use preferences were collected from the public through a web‐based PGIS using facilitated and self‐administered methods and compared with land use zones developed by planning experts. We assessed the quality of the PGIS mapped data by analysing participants' mapping effort and the consistency of the mapped data with existing land use zones. The results indicate logical consistency between the mapped attributes—place values and preferences—and land use zones contained in the expert‐driven land use plans. The results further indicate that the facilitated PGIS process produced higher quality spatial data compared with the self‐administered PGIS survey. Our results suggest that PGIS can provide planning authorities with a viable platform to enhance public participation for land use planning in Malaysia, but that a facilitated PGIS process will be required to increase public participation and the quality of spatial data generated.
An Evaluation of Information Systems Students Internship Programs in Nigeria: A Capability Perspective
Authors: Dasuki Salihu Ibrahim , Quaye Ago MacGranaky , Abubakar Naima Hafiz 
Published: December 2017

AbstractMost published research on Information Systems (IS) education in developing countries have focused on curriculum design, transfer and implementation issues. Research focusing on the evaluation of these programs and concrete analysis in terms of their long‐term developmental impact have been limited. In this paper, Amartya Sen's capability approach served as a theoretical lens for assessing the effectiveness of internship programs for IS students and their contributions to human development. We use the key elements of the capability approach to focus on the developmental impact. We based our evaluation on IS students industrial work scheme in Nigeria. Our analysis shows that, even though the scheme has been designed to further the development of student, the lack of conversion factors makes the program contextually problematic. The study concludes with some recommendations for policy makers advancing an agenda for the improvement of IS education and internships programs for students in tertiary institutions.
Policies, Regulations and Procedures and their Effects on Mobile Money Systems in Uganda
Authors: Kanobe Frederick , Alexander Patricia M , Bwalya Kelvin J 
Published: December 2017

AbstractThe introduction of mobile money systems in emerging economies has enabled the would‐be unbanked population to gain access to financial services. The number of mobile money users and value of transactions is on the increase. This rapid growth of mobile money services and value transactions in emerging economies is attributed to the light‐touch regulatory framework which allows minimal limitations on who should operate mobile money system and few restrictions on who can function as an agent. These increases both in services and transactions indicate that mobile money systems hold a lot of valuable customer financial information that needs to be jealously protected against information breaches and abuse by the various stakeholders in the mobile money ecosystem.Taking an interpretive qualitative approach, Activity Theory (AT) has been used to analyse the mobile money management activities focusing on information security policies, regulations and procedures. In order to comprehend the aspects revealed by the Activity Theory analysis that raise information security management concerns in mobile money operations, Mobile Network Operator (MNO) management issues, in terms of the security of mobile money operations, are detailed.Our findings look at the reasons given by various stakeholders for information security management gaps in mobile money operations in emerging economies. Our findings disclose the roles of MNO staff, who are not information security experts, in the development and compliance monitoring of policies, regulations and procedures related to the safety of financial information in mobile money systems.
Increased affinity of endothelial cells to NiTi using ultraviolet irradiation: An in vitro study
Authors: Tateshima Satoshi , Kaneko Naoki , Yamada Masahiro , Duckwiler Gary , Vinuela Fernando , Ogawa Takahiro 
Published: December 2017

AbstractNickel–titanium alloy (NiTi) is one of the most popular materials used endovascularly because of its shape memory and superelasticity. The NiTi device needs to be covered by endothelial cells after being placed in the blood vessel to reduce ischemic complications. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of ultraviolet (UV) irradiation on the biocompatibility of NiTi surfaces with endothelial cells. NiTi sheets were treated with UV irradiation for 48 h and human aorta derived endothelial cells were used in this study. UV irradiation converted the NiTi surface to hydrophilic state and increased albumin adsorption. The number of endothelial cell migration, attachment, proliferation as well as their metabolic activity were significantly increased on UV treated NiTi. This study provides the first evidence of the photoactivation of NiTi surfaces by UV irradiation and demonstrates improved biocompatibility of UV‐treated NiTi surfaces with vascular endothelial cells. These results suggest that UV irradiation may promote endothelialization of NiTi devices in blood vessels. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 106A: 1034–1038, 2018.
Magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MIONs) cross‐linked natural polymer‐based hybrid gel beads: Controlled nano anti‐TB drug delivery application
Authors: Kesavan Mookkandi Palsamy , Ayyanaar Srinivasan , Vijayakumar Vijayaparthasarathi , Dhaveethu Raja Jeyaraj , Annaraj Jamespandi , Sakthipandi Kathiresan , Rajesh Jegathalaprathaban 
Published: December 2017

AbstractThe nanosized rifampicin (RIF) has been prepared to increase the solubility in aqueous solution, which leads to remarkable enhancement of its bioavailability and their convenient delivery system studied by newly produced nontoxic, biodegradable magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MIONs) cross‐linked polyethylene glycol hybrid chitosan (mCS‐PEG) gel beads. The functionalization of both nano RIF and mCS‐PEG gel beads were studied using various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. The size of prepared nano RIF was found to be 70.20 ± 3.50 nm. The mechanical stability and swelling ratio of the magnetic gel beads increased by the addition of PEG with a maximum swelling ratio of 38.67 ± 0.29 g/g. Interestingly, this magnetic gel bead has dual responsive assets in the nano drug delivery application (pH and the magnetic field). As we expected, magnetic gel beads show higher nano drug releasing efficacy at acidic medium (pH = 5.0) with maximum efficiency of 71.00 ± 0.87%. This efficacy may also be tuned by altering the external magnetic field and the weight percentage (wt%) of PEG. These results suggest that such a dual responsive magnetic gel beads can be used as a potential system in the nano drug delivery applications. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 106A: 1039–1050, 2018.
Falls Predict Fractures Independently of FRAX Probability: A Meta-Analysis of the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) Study
Authors: Harvey Nicholas C , Odén Anders , Orwoll Eric , Lapidus Jodi , Kwok Timothy , Karlsson Magnus K , Rosengren Björn E , Ljunggren Östen , Cooper Cyrus , McCloskey Eugene , Kanis John A , Ohlsson Claes , Mellström Dan , Johansson Helena 
Published: December 2017

ABSTRACT

Although prior falls are a well-established predictor of future fracture, there is currently limited evidence regarding the specific value of falls history in fracture risk assessment relative to that of other clinical risk factors and bone mineral density (BMD) measurement. We therefore investigated, across the three Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) Study cohorts, whether past falls predicted future fracture independently of FRAX and whether these associations varied with age and follow-up time. Elderly men were recruited from MrOS Sweden, Hong Kong, and USA. Baseline data included falls history (over the preceding 12 months), clinical risk factors, BMD at femoral neck, and calculated FRAX probabilities. An extension of Poisson regression was used to investigate the associations between falls, FRAX probability, and incident fracture, adjusting for age, time since baseline, and cohort in base models; further models were used to investigate interactions with age and follow-up time. Random-effects meta-analysis was used to synthesize the individual country associations. Information on falls and FRAX probability was available for 4365 men in USA (mean age 73.5 years; mean follow-up 10.8 years), 1823 men in Sweden (mean age 75.4 years; mean follow-up 8.7 years), and 1669 men in Hong Kong (mean age 72.4 years; mean follow-up 9.8 years). Rates of past falls were similar at 20%, 16%, and 15%, respectively. Across all cohorts, past falls predicted incident fracture at any site (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.69; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.49, 1.90), major osteoporotic fracture (MOF) (HR = 1.56; 95% CI 1.33, 1.83), and hip fracture (HR = 1.61; 95% CI 1.27, 2.05). Relationships between past falls and incident fracture remained robust after adjustment for FRAX probability: adjusted HR (95% CI) any fracture: 1.63 (1.45, 1.83); MOF: 1.51 (1.32, 1.73); and hip: 1.54 (1.21, 1.95). In conclusion, past falls predicted incident fracture independently of FRAX probability, confirming the potential value of falls history in fracture risk assessment. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research Published by Wiley Periodicals Inc.
Menopause-Related Appendicular Bone Loss is Mainly Cortical and Results in Increased Cortical Porosity
Authors: Bjørnerem Åshild , Wang Xiaofang , Bui Minh , Ghasem-Zadeh Ali , Hopper John L , Zebaze Roger , Seeman Ego 
Published: December 2017

ABSTRACT

After menopause, remodeling becomes unbalanced and rapid. Each of the many remodeling transactions deposits less bone than it resorbed, producing microstructural deterioration. Trabecular bone is said to be lost more rapidly than cortical bone. However, because 80% of the skeleton is cortical, we hypothesized that most menopause-related bone loss and changes in bone microstructure are cortical, not trabecular in origin, and are the result of intracortical remodeling. Distal tibial and distal radial microstructure were quantified during 3.1 years (range, 1.5 to 4.5 years) of follow-up using high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography and StrAx software in 199 monozygotic and 125 dizygotic twin pairs aged 25 to 75 years in Melbourne, Australia. The annual increases in tibial cortical porosity accelerated, being 0.44%, 0.80%, and 1.40% in women remaining premenopausal, transitioning to perimenopause, and from perimenopausal to postmenopause, respectively. Porosity increased in the compact-appearing, outer, and inner transitional zones of the cortex (all p &lt; 0.001). The annual decrease in trabecular bone volume/tissue volume (BV/TV) also accelerated, being 0.17%, 0.26%, and 0.31%, respectively. Little bone loss was observed before menopause. The reduction in BV/TV was due to a decrease in trabecular number (p &lt; 0.001). The greatest bone loss, 7.7 mg hydroxyapatite (HA) annually, occurred in women transitioning from perimenopausal to postmenopause and of this, 6.1 mg HA (80%) was cortical. Results were similar for the distal radius. Despite microarchitectural changes, no significant bone loss was observed before menopause. Over 90% of appendicular bone loss occurs during and after menopause, over 80% is cortical, and this may explain why 80% of fractures are appendicular. © 2017 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Repeatability of pleural adenosine deaminase measurements in diagnostic evaluation of pleural effusions
Authors: Kotsiou Ourania S. , Tzortzi Panagiota , Beta Rafailia A. A. , Kyritsis Athanasios , Gourgoulianis Konstantinos I. 
Published: December 2017

BackgroundA follow‐up thoracentesis is proposed in suspected atypical tuberculosis cases. The study aimed to define the variability of pleural ADA values across repeated thoracenteses in different types of pleural effusions (PEs) and to evaluate whether ADA variance, in regard to the cutoff value of 40 U/L, affected final diagnosis.MethodsA total of 131 patients with PEs of various etiologies underwent three repeated thoracenteses. ADA values were subsequently estimated.Results82% and 55% of patients had greater than 10% and 20% deviation from the highest ADA value, respectively. From those patients who had a variance of 20%, 36% had only increasing ADA values, while 19% had only decreasing values. Considering the cutoff value of 40 U/L, only in two cases, ADA decreased below this threshold, which concerned a man with tuberculous pleurisy and a woman with lymphoma both in the course of treatment. Furthermore, only in two cases with rising values, ADA finally exceeded the cutoff limit, which concerned a man with rheumatoid pleurisy and a man with tuberculous pleurisy. Surprisingly, malignant PEs (MPEs) showed a higher percentage of increasing values compared to all other exudates that did not, however, exceed the threshold.ConclusionThe determination of pleural ADA levels is a reproducible method for rapid tuberculosis diagnosis. The detected measurement deviations do not appear to affect final diagnosis. In specific situations, repeated ADA measurements may be valuable in directing further diagnostic evaluation. More investigation is needed to elucidate the possible prognostic significance of the increasing trend in ADA values in MPEs.
Local and global anatomy of antibody‐protein antigen recognition
Authors: Wang Meryl , Zhu David , Zhu Jianwei , Nussinov Ruth , Ma Buyong 
Published: December 2017

AbstractDeciphering antibody‐protein antigen recognition is of fundamental and practical significance. We constructed an antibody structural dataset, partitioned it into human and murine subgroups, and compared it with nonantibody protein‐protein complexes. We investigated the physicochemical properties of regions on and away from the antibody‐antigen interfaces, including net charge, overall antibody charge distributions, and their potential role in antigen interaction. We observed that amino acid preference in antibody‐protein antigen recognition is entropy driven, with residues having low side‐chain entropy appearing to compensate for the high backbone entropy in interaction with protein antigens. Antibodies prefer charged and polar antigen residues and bridging water molecules. They also prefer positive net charge, presumably to promote interaction with negatively charged protein antigens, which are common in proteomes. Antibody‐antigen interfaces have large percentages of Tyr, Ser, and Asp, but little Lys. Electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions in the Ag binding sites might be coupled with Fab domains through organized charge and residue distributions away from the binding interfaces. Here we describe some features of antibody‐antigen interfaces and of Fab domains as compared with nonantibody protein‐protein interactions. The distributions of interface residues in human and murine antibodies do not differ significantly. Overall, our results provide not only a local but also a global anatomy of antibody structures.