Readiness assessment of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education to deliver on the mandated ICT strategy.

Master of Business Administration. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville 2015.ICT has the potential to truly transform the institutions that govern and provide social services. Its role in the public sector can, according to Le Dantec and Edwards (2010), be conceived as that of a boundary object, or perhaps more clearly as a bridge between citizens, government and public/private institutions that act on the behalf of both. Existing literature does suggest that while substantial benefits can be gained from Information Technology (IT), according to Kanungo and Jain (2011), the projects themselves often incur additional expenditures and delays. What frustrates deployment even further is that many systems either don’t deliver on the requirements or expectations, or end up too complex for operational pieces. The implications of this is that a proper roadmap for implementation and an in-depth understanding of these obstacles is needed in order to ensure that ICT implementations are able to deliver effectiveness, efficiency and responsiveness for government. This study evaluates the KZN Department of Education in terms of its e-Readiness levels with regard to the implementation of its IT Strategy, and further identifies challenges in implementing this strategy. Recommendations arising out of this study are then presented. The Technology Acceptance Model was utilised in order to evaluate the usage of ICT by staff in the Department. Additionally, the e-Readiness Assessment Framework, as developed by Yesser (2007) for self-assessment in the Saudi e-Government rollout plan, was used to evaluate the Department’s e- Readiness level. Challenges in terms of Human Resources, Finance, Governance, and Infrastructure were identified through interviews with key officials in Human Resources, Finance, Information Technology (IT) Services, Information Communication Technology and Maths Science Technology (ICT & MST), and Education Management Information Systems (EMIS). Questionnaires were also circulated to the primary system users in HR and Finance. The study found that the IT Strategy does align well with the Department’s strategy, and in terms of technical interdependencies between the initiatives. It also revealed however, that finance constraints may not be the primary inhibiting factor to ICT implementation, despite the limited budget availability. Rather it recommends that issues around the governance structures for ICT in the Department and HR issues in the form of insufficient staffing and unskilled staff are the priority issues to be addressed prior to attempting any implementation of complex system development

Ultrasound clinical progress monitoring: Who, where and how?

Prior to assessment of final ultrasound clinical competency it is important to monitor clinical progress, provide high quality feedback and encourage skills development. The role of the supervisor, mentor and assessor are fundamental to the on-going progress monitoring of ultrasound trainees. This article forms the second part of a larger project which was to elicit ultrasound practitioners’ opinions on how progress should be monitored, where and by whom. An on-line questionnaire was used to gain opinions from ultrasound practitioners. Totally, 116 responses were received from professionals with an interest in ultrasound assessment. Results suggested that experienced, qualified ultrasound practitioners should undertake the role of supervisor and assessor, having been prepared for that role by the training centre. Formative monitoring should take place both within the clinical department and possibly the training centre, using a range of methods. Following completion of the training, practitioners should have a preceptorship period to consolidate their knowledge and skills for 3 to 6 months or until further competencies have been demonstrated. Formative progress monitoring should be a recognised part of ultrasound training. Essentially, staff undertaking supervision and assessor roles should be supported and trained to ensure a high quality, consistent learning experience for ultrasound trainees. Additionally, they should provide appropriate feedback to the trainee and education centre

The Kinetics of the Hydrogen/Deuterium Exchange of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Ligands

Five highly homologous epidermal growth factor receptor ligands were studied by mass spectral analysis, hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange via attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy, and two-dimensional correlation analysis. These studies were performed to determine the order of events during the exchange process, the extent of H/D exchange, and associated kinetics of exchange for a comparative analysis of these ligands. Furthermore, the secondary structure composition of amphiregulin (AR) and heparin-binding-epidermal growth factor (HB-EGF) was determined. All ligands were found to have similar contributions of 310-helix and random coil with varying contributions of β-sheets and β-turns. The extent of exchange was 40%, 65%, 55%, 65%, and 98% for EGF, transforming growth factor-α (TGF-α), AR, HB-EGF, and epiregulin (ER), respectively. The rate constants were determined and classified as fast, intermediate, and slow: for EGF the 0.20 min−1 (Tyr), 0.09 min−1 (Arg, β-turns), and 1.88 × 10−3 min−1 (β-sheets and 310-helix); and for TGF-α 0.91 min−1 (Tyr), 0.27 min−1 (Arg, β-turns), and 1.41 × 10−4 min−1 (β-sheets). The time constants for AR 0.47 min−1 (Tyr), 0.04 min−1 (Arg), and 1.00 x 10−4 min−1 (buried 310-helix, β-turns, and β-sheets); for HB-EGF 0.89 min−1 (Tyr), 0.14 min−1 (Arg and 310-helix), and 1.00 x 10−3 min−1 (buried 310-helix, β-sheets, and β-turns); and for epiregulin 0.16 min−1 (Tyr), 0.03 min−1 (Arg), and 1.00 x 10−4 min−1 (310-helix and β-sheets). These results provide essential information toward understanding secondary structure, H/D exchange kinetics, and solvation of these epidermal growth factor receptor ligands in their unbound state

Portfolio of Compositions for Creative Musicians and Accompanying Commentary

The portfolio works and accompanying thesis explore various structural possibilities for involving participants in the creative process of making a musical work. Improvisation of various kinds is a common feature of all the pieces, which are designed to be played, ideally, by improvising musicians able to engage proactively with the material using their own developed, personal musical languages and initiative. I have explored the idea of ‘musician as material’ in developing the portfolio and some of the many ways in which personalised individual languages can be harnessed in the creation of time-specific works. Fundamental to my research has been the questioning of the role of the composer in developing a basis for genuine collaboration and shared creative input. In devising the pieces as frameworks for collective or individual activity, I am indifferent as to both how they might become transformed or used in the future, and to their potential for attaining any state of permanence. This is because I consider them as springboards for adaptation and realisation by other individuals and also because I consider them as means of social activity designed to generate imaginative thinking rather than as fixed entities. Various formats have been used to document the pieces ranging from the tabular in Guests and Tickbox, in which verbal descriptions of sounds of undetermined sequence are set out, to the more formal sequential notation of the pieces mutant cp, Liquorice Licks, epochal natter and olinola. The musicians taking part in the pieces will deploy a range of practices from completely open improvisation, through choosing from variously specified materials in what has been termed aleatoric practice, to the occasional realisation of formally notated passages

The business of care: the moral labour of care workers

Drawing on a case study conducted in a private residential care home, this article examines the emotional labour of care workers in relation to the moral construction of care and the practical experiences of work. An examination of the company's discursive attempts to construct, manage and demarcate its employees’ emotional labour was carried out alongside an exploration of the carers’ own interpretations of, and enrolment in, the care-giving role. The potential economic and emotional consequences of these occurrences were a key focus of the inquiry. The study found that carers, encouraged by the company, naturalised their emotional labour, and that this had contradictory consequences. On the one hand it justified the economic devaluation of the carer's work and left her vulnerable to emotional over-involvement and client aggression. On the other, it allowed the worker to defend the moral interests of those within her care and to see when those interests were in conflict with the economic motivations of her employer