310 research outputs found
A human environmentalist approach to diffusion in ICT policies: A case study of the FOSS policy of the South African Government
Purpose – Through an evaluation of the information technology (IT) adoption and diffusion models and the free and/or open source policy of the South African Government, the underlying assumption is that the developmental divide between those with and those without access to technology is purely technical. This paper aims to illustrate that if Free and/or Open Source Software is to be used as a building block to bridge the “digital divide” a more social and environmental perspective, which embraces the philosophy behind the software, needs to complement the technical perspective. The human environmental model is presented as a useful alternative which, if embraced, can inform more holistic information and communication technology (ICT) policies. Design/methodology/approach – Through a review of diffusion of innovations models an alternative diffusion framework is described and applied to an interpretive open source case study in South Africa. Findings – Contemporary diffusion and innovation models are narrowly focused on IT as a purely technological linear phenomenon. This perspective also underlies many ICT policies. A more socio-technical adoption model can assist in providing amore holistic approach to ICTpolicy development. Originality/value – The application of a new innovation model, the human environmental model, to ICT policy provides a holistic framework in which the complexity of the innovation process can be reflected in policy. Such an approach to ICT policy formulation will assist with broadening the perspective of policy makers from IT as a technical solution to IT as part of a socio-technical solution and recognise the duality of the innovation process
Aligning national policy imperatives with internal information systems innovations: a case study of an open source enterprise content management system in the South African public sector
This paper addresses the question: Can changes in internal organisational practices be effectively aligned with contentious national policy imperatives? One of the authors followed the implementation process of an Open Source Enterprise Management System in the South African Public Sector. During this process change management was observed in relation to challenges and opportunities in the alignment of the internal organisational changes to the imperatives of the national Free and Open Source Software policy. Based on this reflection it is proposed that the alignment of the organisational environment, change management strategies and \u22technologies in practice\u22 is required to address many of the \u22common\u22 change management challenges. However, this approach does not assist in addressing the major challenge of attaining harmonious internal organisational changes which attempt to implement contentious national policy
Editorial: Selected Papers from IFIP Working Group 9.4, Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries, Assessing the Contribution of ICT to Development Goals
The guest editors of this issue are the organizers of the 10th International Conference of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) 9.4 working group on Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries. This special issue of Information Technologies \u26 International Development presents selected papers from the conference
On the learning journey : what helps and hinders the development of social work students’ core pre-placement skills?
Implementing open source software to conform to national policy
PURPOSE – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implementation process of an open source
(OS) enterprise management system in the South African Public Sector. Change management was
observed in relation to challenges and opportunities in the alignment of the internal organisational
changes to the imperatives of the national free and OS software policy.
DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH – An interpretive case study, using interviews, observation and
document review was used.
FINDINGS – Alignment of the organisational environment, change management strategies and
technology is required to address many of the “common” change management challenges. However,
information and communication technology policies are formed and adopted in a highly complex
environment and have embedded property and power relations which impact the nature and direction
of their implementation. In this case one of the main challenges arose from the alignment of internal
organisational change to a national policy which did not seem to have the full support of the agency
which was tasked with implementing it.
ORIGINALITY/VALUE – Many of the challenges faced by the public sector department are commonly
described in change management literature, such as inadequate consideration for the social context in
which the change was to take place. What emerges from this paper is a caution that there is not a sole
voice within government and in a multi-levelled and multi-sectoral institution there exist many
different rationalities. The internal alignment of the divergent voices within government would be a
prerequisite for the organisational environment, change management strategies and technology to be
aligned.http://www.emeraldinsight.com/1328-7265.ht
The small group subtlety of using ICT for participatory governance : a South African experience
The greater number of government efforts to stimulate participative governance in communities using Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) often fall short of expectations. In South Africa extending egovernment
to communities has been in the form of more and/or better equipped ICT-enabled community
centres, called Thusong Service Centres. In this paper, based on action research experiences, we report outcomes
of interpretive research into ICT-enabled approaches to participative governance in communities.
Using the Diffusion of Innovations theory as an analytic lens, the findings reveal a subtlety that is not often
mentioned in the call for participative e-governance; people from communities prefer to work in groups
rather than individually. The collectiveness inclination is a common denominator of many developing countries
where people choose to come together to leverage the few available resources. Individuals become apprehensive
when made to work on their own using the ICT. The research reveals the necessity to re-design
ICT to suit small groups as part of participative e-governance rather than the normative ICT design that
suits individual work styles. Additionally, the research reveals that by working in groups, communities are
more willing to accept the government initiatives that are being energised with the use of ICT. Methodologically,
the research revealed the ethical issue that arises from action research in its raising of unrealistic expectations
in a community.http://www.elsevier.com/locate/govin
Increased colonic propionate reduces anticipatory reward responses in the human striatum to high-energy foods
Background: Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), metabolites produced through the microbial fermentation of nondigestible dietary components, have key roles in energy homeostasis. Animal research suggests that colon-derived SCFAs modulate feeding behavior via central mechanisms. In humans, increased colonic production of the SCFA propionate acutely reduces energy intake. However, evidence of an effect of colonic propionate on the human brain or reward-based eating behavior is currently unavailable.
Objectives: We investigated the effect of increased colonic propionate production on brain anticipatory reward responses during food picture evaluation. We hypothesized that elevated colonic propionate would reduce both reward responses and ad libitum energy intake via stimulation of anorexigenic gut hormone secretion.
Design: In a randomized crossover design, 20 healthy nonobese men completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) food picture evaluation task after consumption of control inulin or inulin-propionate ester, a unique dietary compound that selectively augments colonic propionate production. The blood oxygen level–dependent (BOLD) signal was measured in a priori brain regions involved in reward processing, including the caudate, nucleus accumbens, amygdala, anterior insula, and orbitofrontal cortex (n = 18 had analyzable fMRI data).
Results: Increasing colonic propionate production reduced BOLD signal during food picture evaluation in the caudate and nucleus accumbens. In the caudate, the reduction in BOLD signal was driven specifically by a lowering of the response to high-energy food. These central effects were partnered with a decrease in subjective appeal of high-energy food pictures and reduced energy intake during an ad libitum meal. These observations were not related to changes in blood peptide YY (PYY), glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), glucose, or insulin concentrations.
Conclusion: Our results suggest that colonic propionate production may play an important role in attenuating reward-based eating behavior via striatal pathways, independent of changes in plasma PYY and GLP-1. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00750438
Targeting the 19S proteasomal subunit, Rpt4, for the treatment of colon cancer.
Deregulation of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway has been frequently observed in a number of malignancies. Using quantitative Western blotting of normal and matched tumour tissue, we here identified a significant increase in the 19S proteasome subunit Rpt4 in response to chemoradiation in locally advanced rectal cancer patients with unfavourable outcome. We therefore explored the potential of Rpt4 reduction as a therapeutic strategy in colorectal cancer (CRC). Utilizing siRNA to down regulate Rpt4 expression, we show that silencing of Rpt4 reduced proteasomal activity and induced endoplasmic reticulum stress. Gene silencing of Rpt4 also inhibited cell proliferation, reduced clonogenic survival and induced apoptosis in HCT-116 colon cancer cells. We next developed a cell penetrating peptide-based nanoparticle delivery system to achieve in vivo gene silencing of Rpt4. Administration of Rpt4 siRNA nanoparticles reduced tumour growth and improved survival in a HCT-116 colon cancer xenograft tumour model in vivo. Collectively, our data suggest that inhibition of Rpt4 represents a novel strategy for the treatment of CRC
IMPROVING QUALITY AND REDUCING FREQUENCY OF HOSPITAL CARE FOR ALCOHOL-USE DISORDER PATIENTS: A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY-TEAM APPROACH
Self-efficacy and outcomes : validating a measure comparing social work students' perceived and assessed ability in core pre-placement skills
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