Factors Affecting Employee Intentions to Comply With Password Policies

Password policy compliance is a vital component of organizational information security. Although many organizations make substantial investments in information security, employee-related security breaches are prevalent, with many breaches being caused by negative password behavior such as password sharing and the use of weak passwords. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the relationship between employees’ attitudes towards password policies, information security awareness, password self-efficacy, and employee intentions to comply with password policies. This study was grounded in the theory of planned behavior and social cognitive theory. A cross-sectional survey was administered online to a random sample of 187 employees selected from a pool of qualified Qualtrics panel members. Participants worked for organizations in the United States and were aware of the password policies in their own organizations. The collected data were analyzed using 3 ordinal logistic regression models, each representing a specific measure of employees’ compliance intentions. Attitudes towards policies and password self-efficacy were significant predictors of employees’ intentions to comply with password policies (odds ratios ≥ 1.257, p \u3c .05), while information security awareness did not have a significant impact on compliance intentions. With more knowledge of the controllable predictive factors affecting compliance, information security managers may be able to improve password policy compliance and reduce economic loss due to related security breaches. An implication of this study for positive social change is that a reduction in security breaches may promote more public confidence in organizational information systems

Distribution of selected cardiovascular disease risk factors among hemodialysis patients: a cross-sectional study, Cameroon

Objective: To determine the distribution of conventional cardiovascular disease risk factors in hemodialyzed patients in a novel Cameroonian regional hemodialysis center.Methods: This was cross-sectional study carried out at the hemodialysis center of the Garoua Regional Hospital during the period April to August 2014. Sociodemographic, clinical, anthropometric and biochemical data were assessed.Results: Our sample population constituted 35 patients with stage V chronic kidney disease (CKD) undergoing hemodialysis. Among them, 74.3% were physically inactive while 22.9% and 2.9% presented with alcohol and tobacco consumption, respectively. The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemias, overweight and obesity were estimated at 91.4%, 22.9%, 85.7%, 25.7% and 14.8%, respectively. There was a significant difference between men and women concerning the mean values of diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.036) and HDL cholesterol (p = 0.024). Moreover, the mean systolic (P = 0.028) and diastolic (P = 0.005) blood pressures were significantly highest in patients with less than a year of hemodialysis.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that dyslipidemias and other cardiovascular disease risk factors frequently occur in hemodialyzed patients in our setting.Keywords: Cardiovascular Diseases, Chronic Kidney Disease, Renal Dialysis, Risk Factor

Three Instances of Western Colonial Governments and Christian Missions in Cameroon Education: 1884-1961

This dissertation is a historical comparative education study that revisits colonial education in Cameroon. The purpose of the study is to undertake a broad, documentary, synthetic analysis of the colonial policies of the three formidable Western powers that colonized the country: the Germans (1884-1914), the British (1914-19621), and the French (1914-1960). This study focuses on the interactions that these Western colonial governments had with various Western Christian missionary organizations; these interactions and collaborations led to the establishment of the German, British, and French colonial formal schools in Cameroon up until Independence from colonial rule in 1960 and 1961. The official languages of the country have been German and, currently, English and French. This is an indication that Cameroon has been the most Western-colonized country on the African continent, the one that has had the greatest number of foreign powers exerting colonial rule over it. Colonial government documents and documents from the League of Nations and the United Nations have been for the most part the central sources that this study is based upon. The conceptual framework of the study is the center/periphery dynamic that is used in colonial and comparative education. This concept is used to analyze the colonial policies and practices that the Western European powers (center), as colonizers, and Christian missions used in formulating and implementing colonial education schemes based on the colonial education and language policies in their colonies (peripheries). This was done to establish colonial formal schools for acculturating the natives in order to achieve the colonial objectives, such as training natives specifically for colonial manpower needs and Christian objectives of evangelism for mission expansion. The study also counters some of the arguments by Bassey (1999), specifically in the case of the Cameroon colonial education experience. The study addresses the advertent or inadvertent exclusion of the Bambui Fondom by Gumne (1987, p. 13) that is and has always been a major Tikar group in the grassland region of Cameroon that hosted early German explorers such as Zintgraff, according to Chilver (1966). The study further explains why certain aspects of British education, such as English, are still popular globally as the official international language of aviation. The study also uncovers my personal academic interest as well as how some of my personal oral ancestral family history is embedded in the history of colonialism and colonial education in Cameroon. Finally, the study also reveals some of the significant aspects of colonial education legacies in Cameroon. Again, as a review of colonial education scholarship, this study will illuminate possibilities for further scholarship in the field of comparative and international education

Frequency of Specific Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors among Cameroonian Patients on Dialysis: The Cases of Anaemia, Inflammation, Phosphate, and Calcium

Specific cardiovascular risk factors are known to contribute to increasing cardiovascular mortality in patients with chronic renal disease. However, little is known about their distribution in our population. This study aimed at determining the prevalence of anaemia, inflammation, and phosphocalcium disorders in Cameroonian patients on dialysis. Thirty-five participants with stage V chronic kidney disease (defined by glomerular filtration rate, GFR < 15 mL/1.73 m3) of age at least 20 years on haemodialysis were randomly recruited. A control group composed of persons without a history of renal or cardiovascular disease was also recruited. Haemoglobin concentration, serum phosphate concentration, serum calcium concentration, and CRP status as a marker of inflammation were determined for all participants. Anaemia, phosphocalcium metabolic disorders, and a positive CRP result among haemodialysed patients were estimated at 94.3%, 61.6%, and 77.1%, respectively. Anaemia was diagnosed in all female patients compared to 92% in males, while a positive CRP result was recorded in 90% of females and 72% of males. No significant differences were observed on the distribution of studied specific cardiovascular risk factors with duration of dialysis. Among the factors studied, anaemia was the most encountered

Association between blood Pressure, waist circumference, cholesterolaemia and triglyceridaemia in a population of Cameroonian adults

Objective: Blood pressure (BP) is one of the main cardiovascular risk indicators, but studies on its relationship with waist circumference, triglycerides and cholesterol are rare in low and middle income countries and even non-existent in some areas like the north of Cameroon. The aim of our study was to determine the associations between blood pressure parameters and age, waist circumference, triglycerides and total cholesterol in a north Cameroonian adult population.Method: A cross sectional community-based study was carried out in Ngaoundere (Adamawa region, Cameroon) from June to August 2015. Participants aged 20 years and above were recruited using a multistage sampling technique. Sociodemographic, clinical and biological data were collected and analysed using Microsoft Excel 2013® and SPSS version 20.0® softwares.Results: In total 948 participants met our selection criteria. The prevalence of prehypertension (Pre- HTN), Stage 1 hypertension (HTN) and Stage 2 HTN were 37.55%, 26.48% and 18.57% respectively. The prevalence of Stage 2 HTN was found to rise with age, waist circumference, serum triglycerides and cholesterol levels. The mean values ?of systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), pulse pressure (PP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were 131.27 ± 24.07 mmHg, 86.56 ± 14.45 mmHg, 44.71 ± 15.45 mmHg and 101 ± 16.72 mmHg respectively. BP parameters correlated positively and significantly with age, waist circumference, triglycerides and total cholesterol (P&lt;0.001).Conclusion: This study demonstrates a positive correlation of blood pressure parameters with age, abdominal obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia, thus the need for stakeholders to strengthen measures towards cardiovascular risk awareness and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) prevention in the general population.Keywords: Blood pressure, pulse pressure, age, waist circumference, triglycerides, total cholesterol

A Comparison of three Methods to Estimate the Glomerular Filtration Rate in Diabetic Patients at the Ngaoundere Regional Hospital (Cameroon)

Estimation of Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) can be done using different methods. The cheaper and most available are those with formulas to determine the estimated GFR. The majority of these formulas have been developed among extra- African populations. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 3 formulas are almost used to estimate GFR which are MDRD, CG and CKD-EPI. This present study was conducted to assess the importance of these formulas as estimators of GFR for diabetic among African Populations. The study was conducted at the Ngaoundere Regional Hospital. Only diabetics from 30 to 78 years attending the regional hospital were enrolled in the study. After enrolment, diabetics with very high values of urea and/or creatinine were excluded. We evaluated CG, MDRD and CKD–EPI as estimators of GFR. Creatinine clearance of 24 hours has been considered as gold standard method. 60 participants were included for sex ratio (M/F) 1.5. The average eGFR of diabetics with high Blood Pressure was lower (91.2 ml / min) than diabetics with lower Blood Pressure (102 ml / min) according to ClCr24. A significant correlation (0.975) between MDRD and CKD-EPI was found when measuring eGFR. It was less significant between CG and MDRD (0.663) and; between CG and CKD-EPI (0.729). A strong similarity was noticed between MDRD and CKD-EPI (92%) while it was smaller between MDRD and CG (55%) and between CKD-EPI and CG (63%) when estimating the stage of kidney diseases. Compared to ClCr24, similarity in half results was found with MDRD (50%) and less than half with CKD-EPI (48%) and CG (38%). The study shown higher value of fasting blood glucose of diabetics attending the Ngaoundere Regional Hospital (212.1 ± 83.0 mg / dl) than the normal recommandation (127-144 mg / dl) for diabetic patients. The average value of the eGFR with MDRD (76.6 ± 20.0 mL / min) was closer to CKD-EPI (78.8 ± 20.4 ml / min) (P&lt;0,001 ; X2=0,976). eGFR was lower in diabetics with high Blood Pressure compared to diabetics with low Blood Pressure. Estimation of CKD stages using MDRD and CKD shown significant similarity. In conclusion, CKD-EPI and MDRD estimated better the GFR. MDRD presented values that were closer to the Creatinine clearance of 24 hours. Further studies are needed with more participants to evaluate the best formula between MDRD and CKD-EPI for the estimation of GFR in Sub-Saharan diabetic population