Open source software contributors\u27 motivations in a community of practice

The success of open source software is gaining more attention from software users as well as educators. A variety of open source Software exists for different operating systems (Windows, Macintosh, and Linux) for users in many languages contributed and maintained primarily by volunteers. To learn more about what drives them to devote their time and expertise to creating, debugging, and supporting these widely-used applications, an online survey with Likert-scaled items measuring different types of motivations was distributed to contributors to Mozilla, Moodle, OpenOffice, Koha, and Limesurvey. The survey included comments that were used to check the validity of the Likert-scaled items and open-ended questions that allowed respondents to express their reasons for participating in these open source communities. The Likert-scaled items showed that the open source contributors (n=110, 38 paid and 72 volunteers) are motivated primarily by intrinsic desire: altruism, creation, and learning. Receiving payment for their work did not significantly impact reasons for contributing to OSS projects. The comments and open-ended questions validated the findings and indicated that building a Utopian community--the desire to help for the greater good worldwide--is one of the most important motivators. Also, the freedom to create free software and share a pool of knowledge with those from inside and outside the community is a main reason why contributors join and remain members of open source communities. The conclusion suggests using the community of open source software as an example of collaboration not only in the online learning but also for participation in classrooms

Public reactions to the disaster COVID-19: a comparative study in Italy, Lebanon, Portugal, and Serbia

A new coronavirus emerged in December 2019 and quickly spread globally, causing unprecedented social, psychological, and economic damage. This study aimed to investigate people's emotional reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic. The dataset for this study consisted of 2,013 adults (962 males and 1,053 females) in four countries (Italy, Lebanon, Portugal, and Serbia). A snowball sampling technique that focused on recruiting the general public living in countries during the COVID-19 epidemic was utilized. An online survey was disseminated at the same time, in March-April 2020, when many countries were exposed to COVID-19. Results indicated that, with regard to gender, females had more psychological reactions to COVID-19 than did males. People who had one child were more stressed than people with no children. Extensive knowledge of COVID-19 was found to trigger more anxiety. Results showed that stress and overall emotional reactions increased with age. The findings can be used to develop psychological interventions to improve mental health and psychological resilience during the COVID-19 epidemic

Why do commercial companies contribute to open source software?

This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link belowMany researchers have pointed out that the opensource movement is an interesting phenomenon that is difficult to explain with conventional economic theories. However, while there is no shortage on research on individuals’ motivation for contributing to opensource, few have investigated the commercial companies’ motivations for doing the same. A case study was conducted at three different companies from the IT service industry, to investigate three possible drivers: sale of complimentary services, innovation and open sourcing (outsourcing). We offer three conclusions. First, we identified three main drivers for contributing to opensource, which are (a) selling complimentary services, (b) building greater innovative capability and (c) cost reduction through open sourcing to an external community. Second, while previous research has documented that the most important driver is selling complimentary services, we found that this picture is too simple. Our evidence points to a broader set of motivations, in the sense that all our cases exhibit combinations of the three drivers. Finally, our findings suggest that there might be a shift in how commercial companies view opensource software. The companies interviewed have all expressed a moral obligation to contribute to open source

Institutional and Individual Factors Affecting Scientists\u27 Data-Sharing Behaviors: A Multilevel Analysis

The objective of this research was to investigate the institutional and individual factors that influence scientists\u27 data-sharing behaviors across different scientific disciplines. Two theoretical perspectives, institutional theory, and theory of planned behavior, were employed in developing a research model that showed the complementary nature of the institutional and individual factors influencing scientists\u27 data-sharing behaviors. This research used a survey method to examine to what extent those institutional and individual factors influence scientists\u27 data-sharing behaviors in a range of scientific disciplines. A national survey (with 1,317 scientists in 43 disciplines) showed that regulative pressure by journals, normative pressure at a discipline level, and perceived career benefit and scholarly altruism at an individual level had significant positive relationships with data-sharing behaviors, and that perceived effort had a significant negative relationship. Regulative pressure by funding agencies and the availability of data repositories at a discipline level and perceived career risk at an individual level were not found to have any significant relationships with data-sharing behaviors

Influence of firm size on the competencies required to management engineers in the Jordanian telecommunications sector

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in European Journal of Engineering Education on [13 jun 2016], available online:http://www.tandfonline.com/ doi/abs/10.1080/03043797.2016.1197890.[EN] The objective of this study is to identify the competencies required to achieve success in the transition from higher education to the labour market based on the perceptions of employers. This paper analyses the assessments made by a group of engineering company employers. An item-battery of 20 competencies was grouped into 3 dimensions by using factor analysis. Subsequently, respondents scores were also clustered into three groups and characterised through contingency tables. The competencies demanded by employers were grouped into business and finance, problem-solving and strategic planning. 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Common characteristics of open source software development and applicability for drug discovery: a systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Innovation through an open source model has proven to be successful for software development. This success has led many to speculate if open source can be applied to other industries with similar success. We attempt to provide an understanding of open source software development characteristics for researchers, business leaders and government officials who may be interested in utilizing open source innovation in other contexts and with an emphasis on drug discovery.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A systematic review was performed by searching relevant, multidisciplinary databases to extract empirical research regarding the common characteristics and barriers of initiating and maintaining an open source software development project.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Common characteristics to open source software development pertinent to open source drug discovery were extracted. The characteristics were then grouped into the areas of participant attraction, management of volunteers, control mechanisms, legal framework and physical constraints. Lastly, their applicability to drug discovery was examined.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We believe that the open source model is viable for drug discovery, although it is unlikely that it will exactly follow the form used in software development. Hybrids will likely develop that suit the unique characteristics of drug discovery. We suggest potential motivations for organizations to join an open source drug discovery project. We also examine specific differences between software and medicines, specifically how the need for laboratories and physical goods will impact the model as well as the effect of patents.</p

Social Media Tools for Educational Sustainability in Conflict-Affected Regions

This conceptual paper demonstrates the potential role of social media in providing students with access to education during emergency situations when schools cannot ensure students’ safety or provide safe learning environments. It is based on conceptual analysis that transforms face-to-face education into a cost-free, online educational environment by relying on social-media learning tools during short-term disruptions caused by violence and conflict. This article proposes a framework that outlines how technology can be used to maintain education in schools during conflicts and emergency situations: cloud computing to access administrative resources and social media tools to maintain teaching/learning resources and student–teacher as well as student–student interactions. The proposed strategy could be greatly beneficial to educational leaders and administrators in regions vulnerable to sectarian conflicts where student safety and the delivery of educational services can become major challenges. This paper contributes to the literature by emphasising the advantages of social media tools for educational delivery in conflict-afflicted regions

Synthesis of gastrointestinal contractile activity from myoelectric activity

The circular muscle contractions of the gastrointestinal tract produce its mixing and propulsive movements. The amplitude, duration and propagation distance of these contractions are correlated with transit. In animals, these contractions are recorded usually with surgically implanted strain gauge transducers. These transducers are sutured to the seromuscular layer. This technique cannot be used in humans. However, in several studies bipolar electrodes have been implanted intraoperatively to record myoelectric activity. The electrical control activity (ECA or slow waves), thus recorded, controls the maximum frequency and timing of contractions, whereas the electrical response activity (ERA or spike burst) is correlated with contractions. Our objectives were to develop a procedure to analyze the contractile activity as well as the myoelectric activity recorded from canine ileum, to investigate the correlation between the parameters of ERA and of corresponding contractions, and to synthesize the contractile activity from the myoelectric activity. Results. A pattern recognition method was developed to analyze the contractile activity and determine the starting time, amplitude, duration and area under contractions. A procedure to analyze the myoelectric activity was also developed. The frequency of ECA and the start of ECA depolarization\u27s were determined. The parameters of ERA: time lag between the start of ECA and ERA, duration of ERA, number of spikes and power in each burst, were identified. Multiple linear regression was used to determine the correlation coefficients between the parameters of contractions, ECA and ERA. The amplitude of contractions was correlated significantly with the number, amplitude and power of spikes. The duration of contractions was correlated significantly with the number and duration of spikes. The area under contractions was correlated significantly with the amplitude, power, number and duration of spikes. All three parameters of contractions were correlated inversely with the time lag between the start of ECA and ERA. Using these correlations, contractions synthesized from ERA closely resembled the contractions recorded by strain gauge transducers. Conclusions. The canine gastrointestinal contractile activity can be synthesized from the myoelectric activity. The synthesis of contractions may be an important tool to synthesize human gastrointestinal contractions from myoelectric activity recorded by electrodes

Dynamic Model of Human Postural Stability

Three mathematical models of the linkage dynamics in an upright quiet standing human are developed. The standing human is modeled in the sagittal plane as one-segment, two-segment, and three-segment linkages. These models are used to study the effect of respiration on the stable standing position. Respiration is simulated as a sinusoidal displacement of the location of the center of mass of the top segment in each model. The equations derived in all three models are second order differential equations. These equations are reduced to a set of first order differential equations. A fourth order Runge Kutta method (RK4) is used to solve the set of first order differential equations obtained. A predetermined accuracy in the solution is achieved by exerting some adaptive control over the progress of (RK4) by making frequent changes in the step size. Microsoft C6.0 is used to compile all the above three routines on an IBM 386 machine to generate our simulations. The program generates time series for the angles, the angular velocities, and the projection of Center Of Gravity (COG) of the model on the ground. The projection of COG obtained is compared with the anterior-posterior coordinate of the Center Of Pressure