Entrepreneurial orientation and business challenges : a study of eThekwini-based construction companies.

Master of Business Administration. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville 2014.The construction industry in South Africa has been identified by Government to address the high unemployment rate in the country while simultaneously improving the country’s infra-structure needs ie. roads, water, sanitation and housing programmes. This is apparent from the initiatives that have been implemented to develop emerging Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) into the industry. However, contrary to Government’s ambitions, there is a high failure rate of these SMEs in the construction industry and it has become urgent to research into the factors that will facilitate SME survival. In response to this concern, this study identifies the importance of entrepreneurial orientation in coping with the challenges facing SMEs in the construction sector. It is a widely growing phenomenon of entrepreneurship theory and the literature review advocates that entrepreneurial orientation contributes to improved business performance and competitive advantage. It is a measure of the entrepreneur’s ability to be innovative, proactive and risk averse and these characteristics are identified as precursors to business success. The focus of this study is to evaluate the entrepreneurial orientation of eThekwini-based SMEs together with their perceptions of the business challenges prevalent in the construction industry. One hundred and six (106) contractors were invited to participate in this research and sixty three (63) respondents returned completed questionnaires through online facilities. The findings show that respondents exhibit strong actualisation of entrepreneurial orientation. Data analysis through inferential statistics indicates that high actualisation of entrepreneurial orientation correlates with reduced perceived levels of business challenges. It is recommended that training institutions and Government mentorship programmes incorporate entrepreneurial orientation development amongst SME entrepreneurs to facilitate improved business success among them. There is no evidence of similar research being conducted previously, especially on the South African construction industry, therefore this study represents new research

A new approach to numerical characterisation of wear particle surfaces in three-dimensions for wear study

In the wear and tear process of synovial joints, wear particles generated and released from articular cartilage within the joints have surface topography and mechanical property which can be used to reveal wear conditions. Three-dimensional (3D) particle images acquired using laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) contain appropriate surface information for quantitatively characterizing the surface morphology and changes to seek a further understanding of the wear process and wear features. This paper presents a new attempt on the 3D numerical characterisation of wear particle surfaces using the field and feature parameter sets which are defined in ISO/FDIS 25178-2. Based on the innovative pattern recognition capability, the feature parameters are, for the first time, employed for quantitative analysis of wear debris surface textures. Through performing parameter classification, ANOVA analysis and correlation analysis, typical changing trends of the surface transformation of the wear particles along with the severity of wear conditions and osteoarthritis (OA) have been observed. Moreover, the feature parameters have shown a significant sensitivity with the wear particle surfaces texture evolution under OA development. A correlation analysis of the numerical analysis results of cartilage surface texture variations and that of their wear particles has been conducted in this study. Key surface descriptors have been determined. Further research is needed to verify the above outcomes using clinic samples

Synthesis and Structural Characterization of Novel Dimers of Dipyridothiazine as Promising Antiproliferative Agents

Many new isomeric dipyridothiazine dimers have been presented as molecules with anticancer potential. These compounds were obtained in efficient syntheses of 1,6-, 1,8-, 2,7- and 3,6-diazaphenothiazines with selected alkylaromatic linkers. The structures of these compounds has been proven with two-dimensional spectroscopic techniques (COSY, NOESY, HSQC and HMBC) and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). In silico analyses of probable molecular targets were performed using the Way2Drug server. All new dimers were tested for anticancer activity against breast cancer line MCF7 and colon cancer line SW480. Cytotoxicity was assessed on normal L6 muscle cells. The tested dimers had high anticancer potential expressed as IC50 and the selectivity index SI. The most active derivative, 4c, showed an IC50 activity of less than 1 µM and an SI selectivity index higher than 100. Moreover, the compounds were characterized by low toxicity towards normal cells, simultaneously indicating a high cytostatic potential