Section27

Purpose: This article examines how Government Information Technology Officers (GITOs) in South Africa's public sector navigate leadership strategically amidst persistent institutional inflexibility, bureaucratic slowdowns, and tight budgets.Despite the good intentions behind formal ICT governance frameworks-like the Corporate Governance of ICT Policy Framework, the Public Finance Management Act, and the SITA Act, all designed for accountability and efficiency-actual real-world data tells a different story.The research involved 55 GITOs who worked at national, provincial and local government levels and found that current organizational structures hinder both agility and innovation in the ICT sector.Our research lays bare how GITOs exhibit remarkable adaptive agency, a truth illuminated by looking through lenses like strategic leadership, street-level bureaucracy, and institutional work.These GITOs are far from just carrying out orders; they're actively working through and around existing regulations.They achieve this through their ability to manipulate situations by forming strategic alliances and negotiating the compliance terms..This article contributes to ICT governance and public administration literature by foregrounding the lived practices of digital leadership in the Global South and calls for more contextsensitive, flexible governance models that recognise discretion, adaptation, and influence as essential features of public sector ICT leadership.

The participation of non-state actors in global health law has undergone tremendous change over the years, with non-state actors playing an increasingly important role in the formation of global health law - in terms of engagement in international health governance forums and health policy decision processes. Global health movements and advocacy groups dedicated to specific diseases (for instance HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria) and health rights have been increasingly pivotal in ensuring that global health policies are rights-based. This article interrogates the role that nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have played in shaping global health law. Looking at how the historical and traditional roles of NGOs have evolved over time, this article analyzes the contribution that NGOs have made in advancing and defining a rights-based approach to health.

In this study, a novel fluoro-substituted Schiff base ligand (HL) was synthesized through a condensation reaction between 2-bromo-4-(trifluoromethoxy)aniline and 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde in methanol solvent at room temperature. The ligand was subsequently reacted with copper(II) acetate to produce the corresponding Cu(II) complex (CuL2). Both the ligand and its complex underwent characterization using various techniques including nuclear magnetic resonance, ultraviolet-visible, Fourier-transform infrared, thermogravimetric analysis, elemental analysis, and mass spectroscopy. In addition, the solid-state structure of the complex was determined through single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, confirming the successful isolation of the compounds. Subsequently, the nematicidal activities of the ligand and its complex were assessed through in vitro egg hatching inhibition and mortality rate assays, in comparison to the control, carbofuran (Crf), at concentrations of 50 and 100 µM over a 24-72-h period. The results indicated the ligand's superiority over the complex in both assays at lower concentrations. At a concentration of 50 µM, the ligand HL demonstrated 100% egg-hatching inhibition at 24, 48, and 72 h, whereas the complex CuL2 showed egg-hatching inhibition rates of 93.86 ± 0.22%, 98.76 ± 0.14%, and 99.33 ± 0.52% at the same time intervals. The control, Crf, exhibited inhibition rates of 56.33 ± 0.33%, 69.94 ± 0.6%, and 67.00 ± 0.34% over the same time period. Similarly, at a concentration of 100 µM, both the ligand and complex demonstrated 100% egg-hatching inhibition at 24, 48, and 72 h, while the control showed egg-hatching rates of 88.16 ± 0.84%, 89.9 ± 0.55%, and 90.8 ± 0.50%. Regarding the mortality rate, at 50 and 100 µM, the ligand HL exhibited a 100% mortality rate within 24 to 72 h, whereas the complex CuL2 displayed mortality rates of 56.66 ± 0.33%, 63.3 ± 0.23%, and 86.66 ± 0.13% at 24, 48, and 72 h, respectively, with a mortality rate of 100% at 100 µM within the same time intervals. The control, Crf, demonstrated mortality rates of 54%-67% at 50 µM and 62%-78% at 100 µM within 24-72 h. Additionally, the density-functional theory study revealed the electronic properties of the compounds, reinforcing the experimental findings.

Open distance learning (ODL) education has been developing rapidly in South Africa. The main reason behind the growth is the demand for online studies created due to the corona pandemic. The ODL system involves study that is not limited by geographical boundaries and extends to many knowledge areas electronically. In practice the study tends to extend to knowledge areas beyond those offered by the standard contact or traditional universities. At the University of South Africa (UNISA), the adoption of the ODL framework to theoretical subjects has been successful by making use of the Sakai virtual learning environment (VLE). The practical subjects or practical knowledge areas on the other hand have previously been taught face-to-face. Therefore, the practical modules have not been effectively taught online particularly in the electrical engineering curriculum. This issue can contribute to graduates who are unskilled in the practical component of a knowledge area, which can lead to unemployment. Virtual learning environments (VLE's) play a vital role when it comes to teaching and learning online. In this paper, the impact of VLE's on the practical skills of students and practical knowledge is investigated. This is done by analyzing the change in pass rates of students in a practical subject such as Electrical Engineering when taught face-to-face as compared to when taught through a VLE such as Sakai online. Two groups termed as emerging centered learner (ECL) and a developed centered learner (DCL) are investigated. The method evaluates students who study electrical engineering practical module part-time. In this paper the Sakai platform was used as a VLE to teach and then evaluate students in the electrical engineering practical module. The practical guide with the full set of experiments was uploaded on Sakai under additional resources. The students were given the necessary guidelines and tasks via Sakai online, examined and then the pass rates achieved were analyzed at the end of the program and compared to the pass rates achieved using previous face-to-face teaching method used for the same practical's. It was determined that a VLE can be used to improve the pass rates of a practical module such as electrical engineering taught online in ODL.

We propose that a Right to Health Capacity Fund (R2HCF) be created as a central institution of a reimagined global health architecture developed in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Such a fund would help ensure the strong health systems required to prevent disease outbreaks from becoming devastating global pandemics, while ensuring genuinely universal health coverage that would encompass even the most marginalized populations. The R2HCF’s mission would be to promote inclusive participation, equality, and accountability for advancing the right to health. The fund would focus its resources on civil society organizations, supporting their advocacy and strengthening mechanisms for accountability and participation. We propose an initial annual target of US$500 million for the fund, adjusted based on needs assessments. Such a financing level would be both achievable and transformative, given the limited right to health funding presently and the demonstrated potential of right to health initiatives to strengthen health systems and meet the health needs of marginalized populations—and enable these populations to be treated with dignity. We call for a civil society-led multi-stakeholder process to further conceptualize, and then launch, an R2HCF, helping create a world where, whether during a health emergency or in ordinary times, no one is left behind.

The accuracy of predictive models (also known as mechanistic or causal models) of animal responses to climate change depends on properly incorporating the principles of heat transfer and thermoregulation into those models. Regrettably, proper incorporation of these principles is not always evident. We have revisited the relevant principles of thermal physiology and analysed how they have been applied in predictive models of large mammals, which are particularly vulnerable, to climate change. We considered dry heat exchange, evaporative heat transfer, the thermoneutral zone and homeothermy, and we examined the roles of size and shape in the thermal physiology of large mammals. We report on the following misconceptions in influential predictive models: underestimation of the role of radiant heat transfer, misassignment of the role and misunderstanding of the sustainability of evaporative cooling, misinterpretation of the thermoneutral zone as a zone of thermal tolerance or as a zone of sustainable energetics, confusion of upper critical temperature and critical thermal maximum, overestimation of the metabolic energy cost of evaporative cooling, failure to appreciate that the current advantages of size and shape will become disadvantageous as climate change advances, misassumptions about skin temperature and, lastly, misconceptions about the relationship between body core temperature and its variability with body mass in large mammals. Not all misconceptions invalidate the models, but we believe that preventing inappropriate assumptions from propagating will improve model accuracy, especially as models progress beyond their current typically static format to include genetic and epigenetic adaptation that can result in phenotypic plasticity.

Abstract In a country like Ethiopia, where information and communication systems are in the early stage of development, software projects may face several challenges. Risk is one of the factors that challenges project performance, and even causes failure. Risk management helps project managers to control the effect of risks. However, risk management appears to be the least practiced component of project management. To help understand the software risk management practice in the developing countries (DC) context, this study explores the risk management practice of Ethiopian software projects. It also investigates the level of adoption of formal risk management models and which steps are included in the ad‐hoc risk management exercise. Finally, it looks into the relationship between risk management practice and project success. We conducted a survey of 45 banks, insurance companies and United Nations agency offices in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In this study, a very low rate of application of formal risk management models was observed. We observed a different perception of risk management whereby only watching projects to see if any risks occur during implementation without performing risk identification and mitigation or response plan was considered as a risk management practice by project managers. It was also found that some project managers were not able to confidently tell whether risk management processes have taken place in the projects they manage.

Recombinant factor IX fusion protein (rIX-FP) has been developed to improve the pharmacokinetic (PK) profile of factor IX (FIX), allowing maintenance of desired FIX activity between injections at extended intervals, ultimately optimizing haemophilia B treatment. To determine the efficacy and safety of rIX-FP in the perioperative setting. Subjects were adult and paediatric patients with severe to moderately severe haemophilia B (FIX ≤ 2%) participating in three Phase III clinical trials and undergoing a surgical procedure. PK profiles were established prior to surgery for each patient. Haemostatic efficacy was assessed by the investigator for up to 72 h after surgery. Safety measurements during the study included adverse events and inhibitors to FIX. FIX activity was monitored during and after surgery to determine if repeat dosing was required. Twenty-one, both major and minor, surgeries were performed in 19 patients. Haemostatic efficacy was rated as excellent (n = 17) or good (n = 4) in all surgeries. A single preoperative dose maintained intraoperative haemostasis in 20 of 21 surgeries. Nine major orthopaedic surgeries were conducted in eight patients with a mean of 7 (range: 6-12) rIX-FP injections during surgery and the 14-day postoperative period. Median rIX-FP consumption for orthopaedic surgeries was 87 IU kg(-1) preoperatively and 375 IU kg(-1) overall. No subject developed inhibitors to FIX or antibodies to rIX-FP. Recombinant factor IX fusion protein was well tolerated and effectively maintained haemostasis during and after surgery. Stable FIX activity was achieved with a prolonged dosing interval and reduced consumption compared to conventional or currently available long-acting recombinant FIX.