A Mobile Money Solution for Illiterate Users

Existing mobile money platforms have text based interfaces and target literate people. Illiterate people, without the assistance of literate individuals, cannot use such platforms. Applying user-centered requirements gathered in an Ethiopian context, this paper presents the design and development of a mobile money solution that targets illiterate people. Particular emphasis is given to how illiterate users deal with cash money in their everyday life and how such practices can be mapped into financial technology design. Given the ubiquity of mobile telephony in Africa, our solution is based on the widely available, relatively inexpensive and open source Android mobile web platform. The proposed system enables illiterate individuals to count money bills, while providing the facility to accept and make payments. In so doing, we provide an example of how a pervasive technology such as smartphones can empower a hitherto often neglected user category of illiterate users

The Zn-vacancy Related Green Luminescence and Donor–acceptor Pair Emission in ZnO Grown By Pulsed Laser Deposition

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Vacancy cluster in ZnO films grown by pulsed laser deposition

© 2019, The Author(s). Undoped and Ga-doped ZnO films were grown on c-sapphire using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) at the substrate temperature of 600 °C. Positron annihilation spectroscopy study (PAS) shows that the dominant V Zn -related defect in the as-grown undoped ZnO grown with relative low oxygen pressure P(O 2 ) is a vacancy cluster (most likely a V Zn -nV O complex with n = 2, 3) rather than the isolated V Zn which has a lower formation energy. Annealing these samples at 900 °C induces out-diffusion of Zn from the ZnO film into the sapphire creating the V Zn  at the film/sapphire interface, which favors the formation of vacancy cluster containing relatively more V Zn . Increasing the P(O 2 ) during growth also lead to the formation of the vacancy cluster with relatively more V Zn . For Ga-doped ZnO films, the oxygen pressure during growth has significant influence on the electron concentration and the microstructure of the V Zn -related defect. Green luminescence (GL) and yellow luminescence (YL) were identified in the cathodoluminescence study (CL) study, and both emission bands were quenched after hydrogen plasma treatment. The origin of the GL is discussed

Integration of heterogeneous requirements using ontologies

Ontology-driven approaches are used to sustain the requirement engineering process. Ontologies can be used to define information and knowledge semantics during the requirements engineering phases, such as analysis, specification, validation and management of requirements. However, requirement analysts face difficulties in using ontologies for requirement engineering. In this study, a framework has been proposed to integrate heterogeneous requirements by using local and global ontologies

Impedance analysis of secondary phases in a Co-implanted ZnO single crystal

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Current insights into matrix metalloproteinases and glioma progression: transcending the degradation boundary

Abstract: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) remains one of the most deadly cancers, with modest advances in overall survival despite significant improvements in imaging, surgery, and molecular genomic understanding. The highest-grade glioma, GBM is a primary brain cancer that is molecularly heterogeneous among patients and even within the same patient. Key hallmarks include glioma-cell invasion, angiogenesis, and therapeutic resistance. While once considered a major player in glioma invasion, members of the MMP family are also associated with other key pathological hallmarks of glioma. Investigations into understanding MMP function in GBM were slowed due to the failed MMP-inhibitor trials for GBM in the 2000s. In contrast, the field of MMPs in other brain pathologies has flourished in such areas as traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, and stroke. In the past decade, the increase in publicly available data sets documenting patient-biopsy molecular information has empowered laboratory investigations into the spectrum of genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic changes associated with glioma, including MMPs. In this review, we selected one of these data sets to illustrate a small sample of information that can be obtained from such analyses. Combined with recent reports on the use of MMP-cleavable peptides for imaging and the multifunctionality of MMPs, including intracellular nonproteolytic actions in various cell types, this paves the way for new avenues of MMP research. Understanding the function of MMPs in host–tumor interactions both spatially and temporally during tumor progression and in response to treatment will be crucial for the advancement of targeting specific MMPs in GBM. The opportunities to explore MMP regulation, expression, and function further in GBM have never been so great with progress in modern bioinformatics and molecular techniques, and it is hoped that advancements will translate in some way to patients diagnosed with GBM