AIDS And The Funeral Industry In Southeastern Africa

This paper examines the impact of AIDS on the Funeral Industry in Southeastern Africa.  It first presents an overview of AIDS in Southeastern Africa and then it delves into an examination of family funeral customs in select countries and how they have been affected by the AIDS epidemic.  These countries include:  Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, South Africa, Botswana, and Uganda.  Next, this paper takes a look at the impact of AIDS on hospital mortuaries in Zimbabwe.  This is followed by an examination of the rise in the number of orphans along with the effect of AIDS on the classroom setting.  Finally, four suggestions for fighting the disease are presented

Usability Challenges with Insulin Pump Devices in Diabetes Care: What Trainers Observe with First-time Pump Users

Insulin pumps are designed for the self-management of diabetes mellitus in patients and are known for their complexity of use. Pump manufacturers engage trainers to help patients use the devices correctly to control the symptoms of their disease. Usability research related to insulin pumps and other infusion pumps has centered on the relationship between user interface design and the effectiveness of task completion by a single evaluator perspective, namely first-time users. From a different perspective, there is a lack of insight into the experiences of insulin pump trainers during learning sessions with first-time users. The focus of the study is to present the lived experiences and shared impressions of the insulin pump trainers. Their narratives will be used to conduct an interpretive examination of the phenomena uncovered and to provide the essence of their lived experiences

Towards an Assessment of Pause Periods on User Habituation in Mitigation of Phishing Attacks

Social engineering is the technique in which the attacker sends messages to build a relationship with the victim and convinces the victim to take some actions that lead to significant damages and losses. Industry and law enforcement reports indicate that social engineering incidents costs organizations billions of dollars. Phishing is the most pervasive social engineering attack. While email filtering and warning messages have been implemented for over three decades, organizations are constantly falling for phishing attacks. Prior research indicated that attackers use phishing emails to create an urgency and fear response in their victims causing them to use quick heuristics, which leads to human errors. Humans use two types of decision-making processes: a heuristic decision, which is a quick, instinctual decision-making process known as ‘System One’, and a second, known as ‘System Two,’ that is a slow, logical process requiring attention. ‘System Two’ is often triggered by a pause in the decision-making process. Additionally, timers were found in other research fields (medicine, transportation, etc.) to affect users’ judgement and reduce human errors. Therefore, the main goal of this work-in-progress research study is to determine through experimental field study whether requiring email users to pause by displaying a phishing email warning with a timer, has any effect on users falling to simulated phishing attacks. This paper will outline the rationale and the process proposed for the validation of the field experiments with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). Limitations of the proposed study and recommendation for further research are provided

Designing an online dissertation research community of practice

This design case describes phase one (pilot phase) of an intervention strategy aimed to support students in a limited–residency doctoral program. Specifically, this case documents the process and decisions that were made along the way to design an online research community of practice (CoP) for students who have completed coursework and are working on their dissertations in the field of instructional design and technology. The case includes the designers’ guiding framework, a detailed description of the case including the site, participant and platform selection, and the preliminary state of the design. To date, a design team is in place, a guiding framework for the design of the CoP is established, a needs analysis has been conducted, the participants have been identified, the CoP strategy has been defined, the site has launched, and students are just now beginning to become a part of this online community. It will take time to cultivate the community and determine whether the design is effective in achieving the community’s goals. Data collection and documentation of design decisions continue as the design and development of the online CoP emerges

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY TO ASSESS THE IMPACT OF TIMERS ON USER SUSCEPTIBILITY TO PHISHING ATTACKS

Social engineering costs organizations billions of dollars. It exploits the weakest link of information systems security, the users. It is well-documented in literature that users continue to click on phishing emails costing them and their employers significant monetary resources and data loss. Training does not appear to mitigate the effects of phishing much; other solutions are warranted. Kahneman introduced the concepts of System-One and System-Two thinking. System-One is a quick, instinctual decision-making process, while System-Two is a process by which humans use a slow, logical, and is easily disrupted. The key aim of our experimental field study was to investigate if requiring the user to pause by presenting a countdown or count-up timer when a possible phishing email is opened will influence the user to enter System-Two thinking. In this study, we designed, developed, and empirically tested a Pause-and-Think (PAT) mobile app that presented a user with a warning dialog and a countdown or count-up timer. Our goal was to determine whether requiring users to wait with a colored warning and a timer has any effect on phishing attempts. The study was completed in three phases with 42 subject matter experts and 107 participants. The results indicated that a countdown timer set at 3-seconds accompanied by red warning text was most effective on the user’s ability to avoid clicking on a malicious link or attachment. Recommendations for future research include enhancements to the PAT mobile app and investigating what effect the time of day has on susceptibility to phishing

A Grounded Theory of Connectivity and Persistence in a Limited Residency Doctoral Program

Limited-residency and online doctoral programs have an attrition rate significantly higher than traditional programs. This grounded-theory study focused on issues pertaining to communication between students, their peers and faculty and how interpersonal communication may affect persistence. Data were collected from 17 students actively working on their dissertation in a limited-residency educational technology program. The resultant theory indicated that students felt communication between themselves and peers is possible but not common. Students also indicated that dissertation supervisors are readily accessible but longer than expected response times may contribute to a lack of student success. The results suggest the development and effective use of an online community of practice will support the communication needs of students and faculty

Remote Monitoring Technologies in Dementia Care: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Family Caregivers’ Experiences

The desire to maintain an independent lifestyle is one shared by an increasing number of older adults. Adult children, spouses, siblings, and other relatives, also known as family caregivers, play an integral role in helping their loved ones maintain independence. Remote monitoring technologies (RMTs) such as wearable sensors, mobile emergency devices, smartphone apps, and webcams can be used to monitor, sense, record, and communicate a person’s daily activities. However, understanding is limited of the family caregiver’s needs and perceptions of RMTs used in a home-based setting. The purpose was to explore how family caregivers perceive RMTs and their use for monitoring and supporting their care recipients who choose to live independently. We used a survey to capture some basic characteristics of family caregivers, what they know about RMTs, and to recruit interview participants. We conducted semi-structured interviews with four participants who shared the commonality of caring for a relative with dementia. We reported the survey data using descriptive statistics and we applied interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to analyze and report results from the interviews. Four themes emerged including the unique relationships that exist in family care, the risk-benefit conundrum that accompanies benefits and tradeoffs of RMT use, human-technology interaction and usability, and the importance of creating tailored solutions to facilitate RMT adoption and use. Our findings provide insight into factors impacting adoption and use

The Next Decade of Online Learning in Higher Education: Blue Ocean Strategies for the Design and Delivery of Graduate IS Programs

The market demand for online learning continues to increase and so do online enrollments in higher education. Online learning is gaining a strategic focus among academic leaders while at the same time we are seeing an emergence of new and innovative models of information systems (IS) graduate programs and instruction delivery methods. Given these trends, what does the future hold? What are our “blue oceans”? The objective is to engage in a conversation about how technology is changing teaching and learning in higher education and specifically, in the design and delivery of graduate degree programs in IS. An international panel with members representing academic administrators, faculty, and online learning researchers will share their perspectives about the progress and direction of online learning. The overarching questions are: How are online technologies transforming higher education for the better or worse? As IS educators, what are our blue oceans

Unsettled integration: Pre- and post-migration factors in Congolese refugee women’s resettlement experiences in the United States

By 2019, the United States plans to resettle approximately 50,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The purpose of this study was to identify and understand the challenges, risks, and strengths of adult Congolese refugee women resettled in the United States to help policymakers, service providers, and other stakeholders prepare for the arrival of Congolese women and their families. Researchers conducted in-depth interviews and focus groups with Congolese refugee women (n = 28) and resettlement service providers (n = 29) in three US cities. The findings of this study reveal the complex and dynamic nature of Congolese refugee women’s resettlement experiences in the United States and highlight the importance of recognizing the intersection of pre- and post-migration factors during resettlement. This article offers concrete implications for the social work profession and practitioners.Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (IDVSA

High Intensity Resistive and Rowing Exercise Countermeasures Do Not Prevent Orthostatic Intolerance Following 70 Days of Bed Rest

More than 60% of US astronauts participating in Mir and early International Space Station missions (greater than 5 months) were unable to complete a 10min 80 deg headup tilt test on landing day. This high incidence of postspaceflight orthostatic intolerance may be related to limitations of the inflight exercise hardware that prevented high intensity training. PURPOSE: This study sought to determine if a countermeasure program that included intense lowerbody resistive and rowing exercises designed to prevent cardiovascular and musculoskeletal deconditioning during 70 days of 6 deg head-down tilt bed rest (BR), a spaceflight analog, also would protect against post BR orthostatic intolerance. METHODS: Sixteen males participated in this study and performed no exercise (Control, n=10) or performed an intense supine exercise protocol with resistive and aerobic components (Exercise, n=6). On 3 days/week, exercise subjects performed lower body resistive exercise and a 30min continuous bout of rowing (greater than or equal to 75% max heart rate). On 3 other days/week, subjects performed only highintensity, intervalstyle rowing. Orthostatic intolerance was assessed using a 15min 80 deg headup tilt test performed 2 days (BR2) before and on the last day of BR (BR70). Plasma volume was measured using a carbon monoxide rebreathing technique on BR3 and before rising on the first recovery day (BR+0). RESULTS: Following 70 days of BR, tilt tolerance time decreased significantly in both the Control (BR2: 15.0 +/- 0.0, BR70: 9.9 +/- 4.6 min, mean +/- SD) and Exercise (BR2: 12.2 +/- 4.7, BR70: 4.9 +/- 1.9 min) subjects, but the decreased tilt tolerance time was not different between groups (Control: 34 +/- 31, Exercise: 56 +/- 16%). Plasma volume also decreased (Control: 0.56 +/- 0.40, Exercise: 0.48 +/- 0.33 L) from pre to postBR, with no differences between groups (Control: 18 +/- 11%, Exerciser: 15 +/-1 0%). CONCLUSIONS: These findings confirm previous reports in shorter BR studies that the performance of an exercise countermeasure protocol by itself during BR does not prevent orthostatic intolerance or plasma volume loss. This suggests that protection against orthostatic intolerance in astronauts following longduration spaceflight will require an additional intervention, such as periodic orthostatic stress, fluid repletion, and/or lowerbody compression garments