Human-computer interaction for development (HCI4D):the Southern African landscape

Human-Computer interaction for development (HCI4D) research aims to maximise the usability of interfaces for interacting with technologies designed specifically for under-served, under-resourced, and under-represented populations. In this paper we provide a snapshot of the Southern African HCI4D research against the background of the global HCI4D research landscape.We commenced with a systematic literature review of HCI4D (2010-2017) then surveyed Southern African researchers working in the area. The contribution is to highlight the context- specific themes and challenges that emerged from our investigation

West African English in Digital Discourse

This paper applies sociolinguistic and discourse-analytical approaches to examine the features of West African English (WAE) in digital discourse. Data comprises 23,374 posts and responses from some popular social and political online forums hosted by Nigerians (i.e. Nairaland and Naijapals); Ghanaians (i.e. Ghanaforum.com), and Sierra Leoneans (i.e. Sierra Online club and Sierra Leone Forum). These digital forums have served as social media platforms for discussions and debates on, and responses to recent socio-political events in those countries. Findings show that three varieties of WAE are evident in online discourse namely, the acrolect (high), mesolect (middle), and basilect (low), which sometimes depend on the educational level of the users. The local pidgin is also frequently used especially in the Nigerian forums. These varieties in turn reflect features that are characteristic of WAE such as (i) loan words within the standard (acrolect) variety (ii) code-switching between the standard variety and pidgin/Krio (iii) evidence of deviants/errors characteristic of the basilect variety and (iv) linguistic creativity such as coinages, and the language style of the Internet. Findings further show that West African online communicators in English have adapted their socio-cultural nuances of language use to modern information technology

No. 26: Social Media, The Internet and Diasporas for Development

The recent focus on diasporas by policy-makers researchers has highlighted the rich potential of migrants as a force for shaping development activities in their countries of origin. The study of diasporas in development presents researchers a number of significant challenges. As Vertovec and Cohen suggest, ‘one of the major changes in migration patterns is the growth of populations anchored … neither at their places of origin nor at their places of destination’. The fluid, multi-sited and multi-generational nature of diaspora groupings poses considerable methodological challenges of definition, identification, location, sampling and interviewing. As the nature of African diasporas are constantly in flux so too should the methodologies we use to study them. In practice, traditional approaches lead to the same methodological roadblocks. Census and immigration data (particularly from destination countries) can provide an overall picture of diaspora stocks, flows and locations. However, privacy issues generally preclude these sources from providing disaggregated data at the level of the individual migrant or migrant household. Surveys of diaspora members have therefore become the standard means of collecting information on diaspora characteristics, identities, activities and linkages. This immediately raises a set of problems and challenges. Census data can tell us the size of the population to sample but not who the individuals are, where they live and how to contact them. Without a sampling frame, researchers tend to rely instead on ‘snowball’, ‘purposive’ or ‘convenience’ sampling. This has produced a disproportionate number of studies that rely on key informant and focus group interviews in order to create a profile of diasporas and their development-related activities. Diasporas are often geographically dispersed within a country and across different countries. Cost and time constraints and the bias of snowball and convenience sampling lead to a focus on sub-sets. Studies of diaspora members in particular cities or regions are especially common. While sample sizes vary considerably, there is a marked reliance on very small samples, which raises obvious questions about the representativeness and generalizability of the findings. The mail-out survey is still the preferred method of reaching members of a geographically dispersed diaspora, although response rates remain stubbornly low. To contact members of the diaspora, mailing lists are compiled from organizations that keep, and are willing to share, membership lists (such as diaspora organizations, embassies, alumni associations, immigrant service agencies and religious organizations). However, this means an inherent sampling bias since data collected from these individuals and groups has the potential to be skewed towards diaspora members actively engaged with their origin country. This method of ‘accessing the diaspora through the diaspora’ is also unlikely to provide much information on ‘hidden’ members of a diaspora whose immigration status may be undocumented or uncertain and who are wary of disclosing personal information directly to researchers. Researchers have also noted that members of vulnerable populations such as asylum seekers and refugees might be reluctant to provide personal information due to fear and trust issues. To identify and connect with larger numbers, different strategies need to be adopted. In this context, the potential of the internet has rarely been considered. Since the advent of the internet age, more than one billion people have become connected to the World Wide Web (WWW), creating seemingly limitless opportunities for communication. The past decade has also seen a major increase in the use of the internet by diaspora individuals and groupings. The internet has not only facilitated remittance transfers, but has increased communication among and between diasporas and influenced the formation of diasporic identities. In this context, the potential of web-based methodologies in diaspora research appears promising. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, we argue for supplementing conventional approaches with new methodologies that embrace the connectivity of diasporas, the emergence of social media and the potential of online surveys. Second, we illustrate the potential of this approach through discussion of the methods adopted in our current research on the African diaspora in Canada

The consequences of online information dissemination on stock market liquidity and efficiency: Implications on African markets

From the Efficient Market Hypothesis, a market is efficient if security prices fully and correctly reflect all available information that is relevant for the stock’s pricing. This requires a medium of information dissemination and transaction ordering with both speed and accuracy. This paper chronologically presents arguments in favour of the internet as one such medium. The internet has also enabled the transmission and archiving of bulky information in a ready-to-use format. And abnormal returns are now quickly observed and arbitraged away to non-existence. Using correlation analysis, we find a positive relationship between the internet and some stock market development indicators.Efficient market hypothesis; internet; online information; stock market; development indicators; Africa

Computational Predictive Framework towards the Control and Reduction of Malaria incidences in Africa

Malaria persists as a problematic disease in Africa. It is the main cause of morbidity and mortality of children and efforts are currently being pooled to increase the control measures within endemic countries. With this in mind, we developed and applied a malaria control strategy from a computational perspective, to analyze, predict and offer appropriate recommendations and control measures of malaria data obtained from WHO ten Sub Saharan countries malaria report of 2008 . The analytical tool used is based on the C# programming language embedded artificial neural network intelligence system. From the outcome obtained, the system demonstrated some level of intelligence and showed the effects and impacts of some controllable factors on future malaria occurrence. The system at 90% prediction intensity showed malaria infection course to decline sharply by 2014 in all the study countries, ranging from 15.71% in Madagascar, 35.46% in Malawi, 38.44% in Nigeria, 38.98% in Sudan , 39.05% in Ethiopia 39.09% in Zambia, 40,08% in Ghana, 42.61% in Kenya, 45.21% in Uganda and 46.63% Mozambique respectively. Therefore, more future prevention, control and management interventions are needed in Madagascar and Mozambique by 2014 as compared to the rest of the countries studied. In conclusion, the tool can be used to produce sensible and logical results which can be applied to achieve reduction of possible future malaria occurrences by governmental, NGOs and other relevant health agencies for proper public health planning

Special Libraries, December 1974

Volume 65, Issue 12https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_sl_1974/1008/thumbnail.jp

Escaping from American intelligence : culture, ethnocentrism and the Anglosphere

The United States and its closest allies now spend over $100 billion a year on intelligence. Ten years after 9/11, the intelligence machine is certainly bigger - but not necessarily better. American intelligence continues to privilege old-fashioned strategic analysis for policy-makers and exhibits a technocratic approach to asymmetric security threats, epitomized by the accelerated use of drone strikes and data-mining. Distinguished commentators have focused on the panacea of top-down reform, while politicians and practitioners have created entire new agencies. However these prescriptions for change remain conceptually limited because of underlying Anglo-Saxon presumptions about what intelligence is. Although intelligence is a global business, when we talk about intelligence we tend to use a vocabulary that is narrowly derived from the experiences of America and its English-speaking nebula. This article deploys the notion of strategic culture to explain this why this is. It then explores the cases of China and South Africa to suggest how we might begin to rethink our intelligence communities and their tasks. It argues that the road to success is about individuals, attitudes and cultures rather than organizations. Future improvement will depend on our ability to recognize the changing nature of the security environment and to practice the art of ‘intelligence among the people’. While the United States remains the world’s most significant military power, its strategic culture is unsuited to this new terrain and arguably other countries do these things rather better

A Systematic Review of Pregnancy Prevention Programs for Minority Youth in the U.S.: A Critical Analysis and Recommendations for Improvement

African American and Latino youth experience disproportionate rates of both intended and unintended pregnancy in the United States. A public health priority to ameliorate the high rates among this population has been the creation and proposed expansion of pregnancy prevention programs designed specifically for minority youth. However, little is known about the role of incorporating cultural components into program curricula. To better understand the components and outcomes of existing programs for this population, this systematic review analyzed published outcome evaluations of adolescent pregnancy prevention programs for minority youth. This review of literature published from January 2002 to June 2012 and retrieved from databases PsycInfo and PubMed abstracted results from 10 outcome evaluations, meeting all inclusion criteria. These publications were assessed for intervention characteristics including use of theory, setting, and culturally specific aspects. In addition, aspects of the evaluation including design, outcome variables, and measures were assessed. Nine of the ten evaluations found statistically significant results for a main pregnancy prevention variable (e.g., ever had sex, contraceptive use, or previous birth). The review also indicated areas for improvement in methodological quality, and consistency in cultural components, variables and measures. Implications of this research indicate a positive impact from adolescent pregnancy prevention programs for minority youth, and a need to expand standardized measures and program components as well as increase rigor in research methodology

Dermatological Malignancies at a University Teaching Hospital in north-western Tanzania: A Retrospective Review of 154 Cases

Dermatological malignancies are among the most common form of cancers and the global incidence has been increasing at an alarming rate. A retrospective study was conducted to determine the prevalence, histopathological pattern, anatomical distribution and treatment outcome of dermatological malignancies at Bugando Medical Centre in North-western Tanzania. Data were collected from patients’ files kept in the Medical record department; the surgical wards, operating theatre and histopathology laboratory and analyzed using Statistical package for social sciences system. A total of 154 patients with a histopathological diagnosis of dermatological malignancy were studied. Generally, males outnumbered females by a ratio of 1.4:1. The majority of patients were in the 5th and 6th decades of life. Malignant melanoma was the most common dermatological malignancy (67.5%) followed by Kaposi’s sarcoma (10.4%), Squamous cell carcinoma (8.4%) and Basal cell carcinoma(7.8%). The lower limbs were the most frequent site accounting for 55.8%. Wide local excision was the most common surgical procedure performed in 79.2% of cases. Post-operative wound infection was the most common complication in 58.3% of patients. Mortality rate was 3.8%. Dermatological malignancies are more prevalent in our setting. A high index of suspicion is needed to avoid labelling malignancies “chronic ulcers” and all suspected lesions should be biopse