A strategic framework for e-government adoption in public sector organisations

E-government has been recognized as a change agent for public sector reform. Through this change, the public sector organisation plans to increase operating efficiencies, build information-sharing partnerships and improve communication with other organisations, as well as with the public. Several studies have discussed how e-government will transform public sector organisations from traditional paper-based systems to electronic delivery that leads self-service operations that develop efficiently managed internal business process. However, a number of voids exist in the immature e-government literature, regarding its adoption strategy and process. This paper looks at the implementation aspect of e-government in public sector organisations. The paper critically reviews the issues of e-government adoption and identifies factors that affect the implementation process, such as, technical, organisational, and environmental. In addition, the authors discuss the benefits and barriers that might influence the decision making process toward the adoption of e-government in public sector. Since, e-government is an emerging research area, there is limited literature explaining the framework of e-government adoption. Therefore, this study suggests a strategic framework for e-government adoption that will assist decision makers in public sector organisations to support their egovernment adoption strategy and guide the IT developers for implementation process of e-government project

Probe Branes Thermalization in External Electric and Magnetic Fields

We study thermalization on rotating probe branes in AdS_5 x S^5 background in the presence of constant external electric and magnetic fields. In the AdS/CFT framework this corresponds to thermalization in the flavour sector in field theory. The horizon appears on the worldvolume of the probe brane due to its rotation in one of the sphere directions. For both electric and magnetic fields the behaviour of the temperature is independent of the probe brane dimension. We also study the open string metric and the fluctuations of the probe brane in such a set-up. We show that the temperatures obtained from open string metric and observed by the fluctuations are larger than the one calculated from the induced metric.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figure

A concern about younger drivers in Perth

© 2015 WIT Press. This paper highlights the concerns about younger drivers in Perth. Evidence suggests that this group of drivers were speeding at different levels particularly the highly excessive. Despite 60 km/h being considered a higher speed limit than the other two limits under this study, it was found that younger drivers are speeding and taking higher risks on roads that belong to the 40 and 50 km/h speed limits. The On the spot' detection found roads, which belong to 50 km/h, were also of concern. Male drivers were dominating the speeding on roads for the three speed limits roads studied. Pedestrian crash data also supported this evidence in concluding that the leading number of drivers who hit pedestrians belongs to this younger age group. Speeding and pedestrian crashes on 40 km/h on non-school zone roads are also examined and discussed. It is recommended that along with enforcement, two levels policy need to be targeted in parallel. First, a safety audit to the 50 and 60 km/h limits as a comprehensive municipal programme that may lower the limits to a safer speed on these roads needs to be adopted. Second, authorities may focus on younger drivers' licence regulations in terms of speeding violations and accidents history and real scenario training that relates to that age group. Such policy direction may bring high returns in sustaining safer roads

Fabrication and room temperature operation of semiconductor nano-ring lasers using a general applicable membrane transfer method

This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. This article appeared in Appl. Phys. Lett. 110, 171105 (2017) and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4982621.Semiconductor nanolasers are potentially important for many applications. Their design and fabrication are still in the early stage of research and face many challenges. In this paper, we demonstrate a generally applicable membrane transfer method to release and transfer a strain-balanced InGaAs quantum-well nanomembrane of 260 nm in thickness onto various substrates with a high yield. As an initial device demonstration, nano-ring lasers of 1.5 μm in outer diameter and 500 nm in radial thickness are fabricated on MgF2 substrates. Room temperature single mode operation is achieved under optical pumping with a cavity volume of only 0.43λ03 (λ0 in vacuum). Our nano-membrane based approach represents an advantageous alternative to other design and fabrication approaches and could lead to integration of nanolasers on silicon substrates or with metallic cavity

Are estimates of socioeconomic inequalities in chronic disease artefactually narrowed by self-reported measures of prevalence in low-income and middle-income countries? Findings from the WHO-SAGE survey

Background: The use of self-reported measures of chronic disease may substantially underestimate prevalence in low-income and middle-income country settings, especially in groups with lower socioeconomic status (SES). We sought to determine whether socioeconomic inequalities in the prevalence of non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs) differ if estimated by using symptom-based or criterion-based measures compared with self-reported physician diagnoses. Methods: Using population-representative data sets of the WHO Study of Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE), 2007–2010 (n=42 464), we calculated wealth-related and education-related concentration indices of self-reported diagnoses and symptom-based measures of angina, hypertension, asthma/chronic lung disease, visual impairment and depression in three ‘low-income and lower middle-income countries’—China, Ghana and India—and three ‘upper-middle-income countries’—Mexico, Russia and South Africa. Results: SES gradients in NCD prevalence tended to be positive for self-reported diagnoses compared with symptom-based/criterion-based measures. In China, Ghana and India, SES gradients were positive for hypertension, angina, visual impairment and depression when using self-reported diagnoses, but were attenuated or became negative when using symptom-based/criterion-based measures. In Mexico, Russia and South Africa, this distinction was not observed consistently. For example, concentration index of self-reported versus symptom-based angina were: in China: 0.07 vs −0.11, Ghana: 0.04 vs −0.21, India: 0.02 vs −0.16, Mexico: 0.19 vs −0.22, Russia: −0.01 vs −0.02 and South Africa: 0.37 vs 0.02. Conclusions: Socioeconomic inequalities in NCD prevalence tend to be artefactually positive when using self-report compared with symptom-based or criterion-based diagnostic criteria, with greater bias occurring in low-income countries. Using standardised, symptom-based measures would provide more valid estimates of NCD inequalities

Field evaluation of rK39 test and direct agglutination test for diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis in a population with high prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus in Ethiopia

Accuracy of an rK39 rapid diagnostic test (DiaMed-IT-Leish ) for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) was compared with splenic aspiration and the direct agglutination test (DAT) in a population with a high prevalence of infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Ethiopia. There were 699 patients clinically suspected of having VL (153 parasitologically confirmed, 482 DAT confirmed, and 130 DAT negative), and 97 DAT-negative controls. A total of 84% were tested for HIV and 34% were HIV positive. Sensitivity of the rK39 test in parasitologically confirmed VL patients was 84% (77% in HIV positive and 87% in HIV negative; P = 0.25). Sensitivity of the DAT was higher (94%; P = 0.01), 89% in HIV-positive patients and 95% in HIV-negative patients; P = 0.27). Specificity of the rK39 test was 99% in DAT-negative controls and 92% in DAT-negative patients clinically suspected of having VL. A diagnostic algorithm combining DAT and the rK39 test had a sensitivity of 98% in HIV-positive VL patients and 99% in HIV-negative VL patients. Despite the lower sensitivity in a population with a high prevalence of HIV, the DiaMed-IT-Leish rK39 test enables decentralization of diagnosis. Patients clinically suspected of having VL who show negative results on the rK39 antigen test should undergo follow-up DAT testing, especially if they are HIV positive

Prevalence of alcohol use disorders and associated factors among people with epilepsy attending Amanuel Mental Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

IntroductionAlcohol use disorders represent one of the leading causes of preventable death, illness, and injury in many societies throughout the world. Heavy alcohol consumption has multiple negative consequences for people with epilepsy such as precipitation of seizure, exacerbation of seizure, poor seizure control, increased side effects of antiepileptic drugs, noncompliance to antiepileptic drugs, alcohol withdrawal seizures, long-term hospital admission, status epilepticus, sudden unexpected death, and premature mortality.MethodsAn institution-based cross sectional study was conducted from April 15, 2014 to May 15, 2014 with the aim of assessing prevalence of alcohol use disorders and associated factors among people with epilepsy attending Amanuel Mental Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A total of 413 randomly selected epileptic patients were included in this study. Data were structured using the 10-item Alcohol Use Disorders Identification questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS Version 20. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to study the association, and variables with P-value ResultsA total of 423 study participants were selected, of whom 413 completely filled the questionnaire making the response rate 97.6%. The mean age of the respondents was 31.9 years with standard deviation of ±10.97, and 248 (60%) were males. The prevalence of alcohol use disorder was 17.4%. Educational status (grade 9-12) (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =3.25, [1.21, 8.69]), not living with family members (AOR =1.89, [1.06, 3.39]), availability of house (AOR =2.04, [1.10, 3.78]), taking carbamazepine (AOR =2.38, [1.13, 5.01]), and drinking alcohol to find relief from stress (AOR =4.28, [1.89, 9.67]) were significantly associated with alcohol use disorder among people with epilepsy.Conclusion and recommendationThe findings of this study revealed that the prevalence of alcohol use disorder among people with epilepsy was high. Routine screening of epileptic patients with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test is recommended

Standard of knowledge about their disease among patients with diabetes in Karachi, Pakistan

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the standard of knowledge among people with diabetes.METHOD: Two hundred and thirty patients were randomly chosen from outpatient clinics and a 34-item multiple choice questionnaire administered to them. The questionnaire was structured to assess knowledge about the disease state, diagnostic tests, complications and management.Results: The average score of correct answers for the group was 40%. A significantly higher score correlated with younger age (16-30 years), educational status and regular follow-up with a diabetic clinic. There was no significant difference in the knowledge score between males and females or between those on oral hypoglycemic agents (OHA) and insulin. Fifty percent of the patients could correctly answers questions regarding food and nutrition and only 60% were aware of target blood glucose levels for optimal control. It was alarming to learn that 75% of those on insulin did not know that using U-40 or U-100 insulin does not change the dose required.CONCLUSION: The study emphasizes the need for diabetes education at all levels, both for the patients as well as the health care providers to counter the pandemic of diabetes-related complications globally

Doppler Spread Estimation in MIMO Frequency-Selective Fading Channels

One of the main challenges in high-speed mobile communications is the presence of large Doppler spreads. Thus, accurate estimation of maximum Doppler spread (MDS) plays an important role in improving the performance of the communication link. In this paper, we derive the data-aided (DA) and non-data-aided (NDA) Cramér-Rao lower bounds (CRLBs) and maximum likelihood estimators (MLEs) for the MDS in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) frequency-selective fading channel. Moreover, a low-complexity NDA-moment-based estimator (MBE) is proposed. The proposed NDA-MBE relies on the second- and fourth-order moments of the received signal, which are employed to estimate the normalized squared autocorrelation function of the fading channel. Then, the problem of MDS estimation is formulated as a non-linear regression problem, and the least-squares curve-fitting optimization technique is applied to determine the estimate of the MDS. This is the first time in the literature, when DA- and NDA-MDS estimation is investigated for MIMO frequency-selective fading channel. Simulation results show that there is no significant performance gap between the derived NDA-MLE and NDA-CRLB, even when the observation window is relatively small. Furthermore, the significant reduced-complexity in the NDA-MBE leads to low root-mean-square error over a wide range of MDSs, when the observation window is selected large enough

Ultrafast quasi-particle dynamics of charge/orbital ordered and ferromagnetic clusters in La0.7Ca0.3MnO3

We report on the quasi- particle dynamics of the charge/orbital ordered (COO) and ferromagnetic clusters in the optimally doped manganite, La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (LCMO) single crystal by time-resolved two-color pump-probe spectroscopy. Pump photons with energies of similar to 1.55 and similar to 0.21 eV were employed in our transient optical spectroscopy to investigate the percolative phase separation including the COO and ferromagnetic clusters from 4 to 480 K. At 1.55 eV, the transient reflectivity change, Delta R/R, at Delta t = 0 shows a similar temperature dependence as that in resistivity and in neutron scattering intensity. We attribute the reflectivity signal to the characteristic optical response of the COO domains. We identify a new temperature scale T* similar to 400K for the clean limit to the formation of COO clusters in LCMO. In contrast, the temperature-dependent amplitude of the transient reflectivity change in the mid-infrared(IR) absorption band (similar to 5 mu m) scales with the volume fraction of the ferromagnetic metallic (FM) phases. Our results suggest ultrafast optical spectroscopy to be a powerful probe to reveal the correlated polarons and charge disorders in phase-separated manganites