Burrow utilization by springhares (Pedetes capensis) in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Peinke, Dean , Brown, C R
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/447073 , vital:74582 , https://doi.org/10.1080/15627020.2005.11407307
- Description: The use of burrows by springhares was investigated in the Eastern Cape, South Africa using radio telemetry. Springhares utilized 4–27 different burrows scattered over areas ranging from 0.6–28.5 ha, with maximum distances of 170–1000 m between burrows. Springhares frequently changed burrows, seldom spending more than a few consecutive days in each, unless rearing young. The number of burrows used by individuals was correlated with the length of time they were tracked and, even after a year, some individuals were still occupying burrows previously unused by them. Males and females did not differ significantly in the mean number of burrows used, the mean area over which these were distributed, or the mean maximum distance between burrows. Springhares were generally solitary and occupied burrows were, with few exceptions, apparently avoided by conspecifics.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Peinke, Dean , Brown, C R
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/447073 , vital:74582 , https://doi.org/10.1080/15627020.2005.11407307
- Description: The use of burrows by springhares was investigated in the Eastern Cape, South Africa using radio telemetry. Springhares utilized 4–27 different burrows scattered over areas ranging from 0.6–28.5 ha, with maximum distances of 170–1000 m between burrows. Springhares frequently changed burrows, seldom spending more than a few consecutive days in each, unless rearing young. The number of burrows used by individuals was correlated with the length of time they were tracked and, even after a year, some individuals were still occupying burrows previously unused by them. Males and females did not differ significantly in the mean number of burrows used, the mean area over which these were distributed, or the mean maximum distance between burrows. Springhares were generally solitary and occupied burrows were, with few exceptions, apparently avoided by conspecifics.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Burrow utilization by springhares (Pedetescapensis) in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Peinke, D M , Brown, C R
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6962 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012025
- Description: The use of burrows by springhares was investigated in the Eastern Cape, South Africa using radio telemetry. Springhares utilized 4–27 different burrows scattered over areas ranging from 0.6–28.5 ha, with maximum distances of 170–1000 m between burrows. Springhares frequently changed burrows, seldom spending more than a few consecutive days in each, unless rearing young. The number of burrows used by individuals was correlated with the length of time they were tracked and, even after a year, some individuals were still occupying burrows previously unused by them. Males and females did not differ significantly in the mean number of burrows used, the mean area over which these were distributed, or the mean maximum distance between burrows. Springhares were generally solitary and occupied burrows were, with few exceptions, apparently avoided by conspecifics.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Peinke, D M , Brown, C R
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6962 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012025
- Description: The use of burrows by springhares was investigated in the Eastern Cape, South Africa using radio telemetry. Springhares utilized 4–27 different burrows scattered over areas ranging from 0.6–28.5 ha, with maximum distances of 170–1000 m between burrows. Springhares frequently changed burrows, seldom spending more than a few consecutive days in each, unless rearing young. The number of burrows used by individuals was correlated with the length of time they were tracked and, even after a year, some individuals were still occupying burrows previously unused by them. Males and females did not differ significantly in the mean number of burrows used, the mean area over which these were distributed, or the mean maximum distance between burrows. Springhares were generally solitary and occupied burrows were, with few exceptions, apparently avoided by conspecifics.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Characterization of the hydantoin-hydrolysing system of Pseudomonas putida RU-KM3s
- Authors: Matcher, Gwynneth Felicity
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Hydantoin Hydrolysis Pseudomonas Enzymes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3939 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003998
- Description: The biocatalytic conversion of 5-monosubstituted hydantoin derivatives to optically pure amino acids involves two reaction steps: the hydrolysis of hydantoin to N-carbamylamino acid by an hydantoinase or dihydropyrimidinase enzyme, followed by conversion of the Ncarbamylamino acid to the corresponding amino acid by an N-carbamoylase enzyme. This biocatalytic process has been successfully applied in several industrial processes for the production of enantiomerically pure amino acids used in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, insecticides, hormones, and food additives. P. putida RU-KM3S was selected for study based on inherent high levels of hydantoinase and N-carbamoylase activity. Subsequent biocatalytic analysis of the enzyme activity within this strain revealed unique properties thus prompting further characterization. The main focus of this research was the isolation of the genes encoding the hydantoin-hydrolysing pathway in RU-KM3S. A genomic library was constructed and screened for heterologous expression of the hydantoin-hydrolysing enzymes. However, this approach was unsuccessful prompting the use of transposon mutagenesis in order to circumvent the drawbacks associated with complementation studies. The enzymes responsible for hydantoin-hydrolysis were identified by insertional inactivation as a dihydropyrimidinase and b-ureidopropionase encoded by dhp and bup respectively. A third open reading frame, encoding a putative transport protein, was identified between the dhp and bup genes and appeared to share a promoter with bup. Analysis of the amino acid sequence deduced from bup and dhp substantiated the distinctive properties and potential industrial application of the L-enantioselective b-ureidopropionase and provided targets for potential optimisation of the substrate-selectivity and activity of the dihydropyrimidinase by site directed mutagenesis. Several transposon-generated mutants with an altered phenotype for growth on minimal medium with hydantoin as the sole source of nitrogen were also isolated. Analysis of the insertion events in these mutants revealed disruptions of genes encoding key elements of the Ntr global regulatory pathway. However, inactivation of these genes had no effect on the dihydropyrimidinase and b-ureidopropionase activity levels. An additional mutant in which the gene coding for the dihydrolipoamide succinyltransferase, which is involved in the TCA cycle, was isolated with reduced levels of both dihydropyrimidinase and b-ureidopropionase activities. These results indicated that the hydantoin-hydrolysis pathway in RU-KM3S is regulated by carbon rather than nitrogen catabolite repression. This was confirmed by the reduction of hydantoin-hydrolysis in cells grown in excess carbon as opposed to nitrogen. Identification of a putative CRP-binding site within the promoter region of these enzymes further supported the regulatory role of carbon catabolite repression (CCR). As CCR in Pseudomonads is poorly understood, elucidation of the mechanism by which the hydantoinhydrolysing pathway in RU-KM3S is regulated would provide valuable insight into this complex process.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Matcher, Gwynneth Felicity
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Hydantoin Hydrolysis Pseudomonas Enzymes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3939 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003998
- Description: The biocatalytic conversion of 5-monosubstituted hydantoin derivatives to optically pure amino acids involves two reaction steps: the hydrolysis of hydantoin to N-carbamylamino acid by an hydantoinase or dihydropyrimidinase enzyme, followed by conversion of the Ncarbamylamino acid to the corresponding amino acid by an N-carbamoylase enzyme. This biocatalytic process has been successfully applied in several industrial processes for the production of enantiomerically pure amino acids used in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, insecticides, hormones, and food additives. P. putida RU-KM3S was selected for study based on inherent high levels of hydantoinase and N-carbamoylase activity. Subsequent biocatalytic analysis of the enzyme activity within this strain revealed unique properties thus prompting further characterization. The main focus of this research was the isolation of the genes encoding the hydantoin-hydrolysing pathway in RU-KM3S. A genomic library was constructed and screened for heterologous expression of the hydantoin-hydrolysing enzymes. However, this approach was unsuccessful prompting the use of transposon mutagenesis in order to circumvent the drawbacks associated with complementation studies. The enzymes responsible for hydantoin-hydrolysis were identified by insertional inactivation as a dihydropyrimidinase and b-ureidopropionase encoded by dhp and bup respectively. A third open reading frame, encoding a putative transport protein, was identified between the dhp and bup genes and appeared to share a promoter with bup. Analysis of the amino acid sequence deduced from bup and dhp substantiated the distinctive properties and potential industrial application of the L-enantioselective b-ureidopropionase and provided targets for potential optimisation of the substrate-selectivity and activity of the dihydropyrimidinase by site directed mutagenesis. Several transposon-generated mutants with an altered phenotype for growth on minimal medium with hydantoin as the sole source of nitrogen were also isolated. Analysis of the insertion events in these mutants revealed disruptions of genes encoding key elements of the Ntr global regulatory pathway. However, inactivation of these genes had no effect on the dihydropyrimidinase and b-ureidopropionase activity levels. An additional mutant in which the gene coding for the dihydrolipoamide succinyltransferase, which is involved in the TCA cycle, was isolated with reduced levels of both dihydropyrimidinase and b-ureidopropionase activities. These results indicated that the hydantoin-hydrolysis pathway in RU-KM3S is regulated by carbon rather than nitrogen catabolite repression. This was confirmed by the reduction of hydantoin-hydrolysis in cells grown in excess carbon as opposed to nitrogen. Identification of a putative CRP-binding site within the promoter region of these enzymes further supported the regulatory role of carbon catabolite repression (CCR). As CCR in Pseudomonads is poorly understood, elucidation of the mechanism by which the hydantoinhydrolysing pathway in RU-KM3S is regulated would provide valuable insight into this complex process.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Cholera in KwaZulu-Natal : probing institutional governmentality and indigenous hand-washing practices
- Authors: O’Donoghue, Rob
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6094 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008616
- Description: The paper reviews education activities in a successful anti-cholera campaign amongst rural communities in eastern southern Africa. It is centred on probing how a modern institutional governmentality was relatively blind to an historical legacy of Nguni hand-washing practices and came to exclude use of simple tests for coliform contamination in rural health education activities. The study examines institutional processes, probing discontinuities between the health education message and the complex social ecology of cholera. In so doing, it uncovers how a post-apartheid institutional rhetoric of participation, empowerment and social transformation is playing out in communicative interventions to instil healthier practices amongst the rural poor. Institutional perspectives such as this are rooted in an institutional legacy of appropriation and control. Despite the current rhetoric of participation, instrumental orientations are being sustained as the radical critique of struggle for freedom and change gives way, through comfortable submission and intellectual conformity, to an instrumental conservatism in many post-apartheid institutional settings today. The study notes and probes a surprising resonance between the ecology of the disease and an intergenerational social capital of indigenous hand-washing practices. The evidence suggests that these patterns of hand-washing practice would have served to contain the disease in earlier times and points to this social capital as a focus for co-engaged action on environment and health concerns. The findings suggest that an opposing of institutional and indigenous knowledge is not a simple matter and that moving beyond a legacy of cultural exclusion and marginalisation remains a challenge as the first decade of post-apartheid democratic governance comes to a close.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: O’Donoghue, Rob
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6094 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008616
- Description: The paper reviews education activities in a successful anti-cholera campaign amongst rural communities in eastern southern Africa. It is centred on probing how a modern institutional governmentality was relatively blind to an historical legacy of Nguni hand-washing practices and came to exclude use of simple tests for coliform contamination in rural health education activities. The study examines institutional processes, probing discontinuities between the health education message and the complex social ecology of cholera. In so doing, it uncovers how a post-apartheid institutional rhetoric of participation, empowerment and social transformation is playing out in communicative interventions to instil healthier practices amongst the rural poor. Institutional perspectives such as this are rooted in an institutional legacy of appropriation and control. Despite the current rhetoric of participation, instrumental orientations are being sustained as the radical critique of struggle for freedom and change gives way, through comfortable submission and intellectual conformity, to an instrumental conservatism in many post-apartheid institutional settings today. The study notes and probes a surprising resonance between the ecology of the disease and an intergenerational social capital of indigenous hand-washing practices. The evidence suggests that these patterns of hand-washing practice would have served to contain the disease in earlier times and points to this social capital as a focus for co-engaged action on environment and health concerns. The findings suggest that an opposing of institutional and indigenous knowledge is not a simple matter and that moving beyond a legacy of cultural exclusion and marginalisation remains a challenge as the first decade of post-apartheid democratic governance comes to a close.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Cholera in KwaZulu-Natal: Probing institutional governmentality and indigenous hand-washing practices
- Authors: O'Donoghue, Rob B
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/373574 , vital:66704 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122699"
- Description: The paper reviews education activities in a successful anti-cholera campaign amongst rural communities in eastern southern Africa. It is centred on probing how a modern institutional governmentality was relatively blind to an historical legacy of Nguni hand-washing practices and came to exclude use of simple tests for coliform contamination in rural health education activities. The study examines institutional processes, probing discontinuities between the health education message and the complex social ecology of cholera. In so doing, it uncovers how a post-apartheid institutional rhetoric of participation, empowerment and social transformation is playing out in communicative interventions to instil healthier practices amongst the rural poor. Institutional perspectives such as this are rooted in an institutional legacy of appropriation and control. Despite the current rhetoric of participation, instrumental orientations are being sustained as the radical critique of struggle for freedom and change gives way, through comfortable submission and intellectual conformity, to an instrumental conservatism in many post-apartheid institutional settings today. The study notes and probes a surprising resonance between the ecology of the disease and an intergenerational social capital of indigenous hand-washing practices. The evidence suggests that these patterns of hand-washing practice would have served to contain the disease in earlier times and points to this social capital as a focus for co-engaged action on environment and health concerns. The findings suggest that an opposing of institutional and indigenous knowledge is not a simple matter and that moving beyond a legacy of cultural exclusion and marginalisation remains a challenge as the first decade of post-apartheid democratic governance comes to a close.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: O'Donoghue, Rob B
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/373574 , vital:66704 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122699"
- Description: The paper reviews education activities in a successful anti-cholera campaign amongst rural communities in eastern southern Africa. It is centred on probing how a modern institutional governmentality was relatively blind to an historical legacy of Nguni hand-washing practices and came to exclude use of simple tests for coliform contamination in rural health education activities. The study examines institutional processes, probing discontinuities between the health education message and the complex social ecology of cholera. In so doing, it uncovers how a post-apartheid institutional rhetoric of participation, empowerment and social transformation is playing out in communicative interventions to instil healthier practices amongst the rural poor. Institutional perspectives such as this are rooted in an institutional legacy of appropriation and control. Despite the current rhetoric of participation, instrumental orientations are being sustained as the radical critique of struggle for freedom and change gives way, through comfortable submission and intellectual conformity, to an instrumental conservatism in many post-apartheid institutional settings today. The study notes and probes a surprising resonance between the ecology of the disease and an intergenerational social capital of indigenous hand-washing practices. The evidence suggests that these patterns of hand-washing practice would have served to contain the disease in earlier times and points to this social capital as a focus for co-engaged action on environment and health concerns. The findings suggest that an opposing of institutional and indigenous knowledge is not a simple matter and that moving beyond a legacy of cultural exclusion and marginalisation remains a challenge as the first decade of post-apartheid democratic governance comes to a close.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Clay sculpture within an object relational therapy: a phenomenological-hermeneutic case study
- Authors: Masters, Carin-Lee
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Art -- Psychology , Art therapy -- Case studies , Psychotherapy , Modeling -- Therapeutic use
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3015 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002524 , Art -- Psychology , Art therapy -- Case studies , Psychotherapy , Modeling -- Therapeutic use
- Description: The overall aim of this thesis is to explore the process of working with the Edwards claywork method with a psychotherapy client who had significant relational difficulties and feared being exposed as defective. Within this there are particular aims: Firstly, to investigate whether the distancing that art therapy can create, can help the client with relational difficulties to tolerate unexpressed disavowed feelings, in particular her sense of shame about being exposed as defective; and secondly, to examine whether material evoked through the claywork process can assist in furthering the psychological formulation of this kind of client. The research was a phenomenological-hermeneutic case study of a psychotherapy client, called Kim. Kim’s experience of therapy, including two claywork sessions, was documented. This comprises a thematic narrative of her therapy process prior to the claywork process, as well as a thematic narrative focusing on the two claywork sessions. Her clay sculpture was photographed and alphabetically labeled according to the chronological order in which she made the eight pieces comprising her sculpture. A hermeneutic reading of the narratives was conducted using theoretical perspectives including object relations, Adlerian psychology and art therapy. It was concluded that, firstly, the distancing that art therapy can create does help the client, who is afraid of being exposed as defective, to tolerate previously disavowed and unexpressed feelings; and secondly, art therapy such as the Edwards claywork method, does deepen psychological formulation of the client’s affective and relational difficulties. However, although the image may graphically symbolize unconscious aspects of a client’s psyche, the present study illustrates that a client may not always be able to enter into a relationship with the image or dialogue between conscious and unconscious states. In this respect, the present study focuses on aspects of art therapy of which there is limited literature.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Masters, Carin-Lee
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Art -- Psychology , Art therapy -- Case studies , Psychotherapy , Modeling -- Therapeutic use
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3015 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002524 , Art -- Psychology , Art therapy -- Case studies , Psychotherapy , Modeling -- Therapeutic use
- Description: The overall aim of this thesis is to explore the process of working with the Edwards claywork method with a psychotherapy client who had significant relational difficulties and feared being exposed as defective. Within this there are particular aims: Firstly, to investigate whether the distancing that art therapy can create, can help the client with relational difficulties to tolerate unexpressed disavowed feelings, in particular her sense of shame about being exposed as defective; and secondly, to examine whether material evoked through the claywork process can assist in furthering the psychological formulation of this kind of client. The research was a phenomenological-hermeneutic case study of a psychotherapy client, called Kim. Kim’s experience of therapy, including two claywork sessions, was documented. This comprises a thematic narrative of her therapy process prior to the claywork process, as well as a thematic narrative focusing on the two claywork sessions. Her clay sculpture was photographed and alphabetically labeled according to the chronological order in which she made the eight pieces comprising her sculpture. A hermeneutic reading of the narratives was conducted using theoretical perspectives including object relations, Adlerian psychology and art therapy. It was concluded that, firstly, the distancing that art therapy can create does help the client, who is afraid of being exposed as defective, to tolerate previously disavowed and unexpressed feelings; and secondly, art therapy such as the Edwards claywork method, does deepen psychological formulation of the client’s affective and relational difficulties. However, although the image may graphically symbolize unconscious aspects of a client’s psyche, the present study illustrates that a client may not always be able to enter into a relationship with the image or dialogue between conscious and unconscious states. In this respect, the present study focuses on aspects of art therapy of which there is limited literature.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Coastal dune dynamics and management at the Bushman's River mouth, Kenton-on-Sea
- Authors: Fraser, Claire
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Sand dunes -- South Africa -- Management , Sand dune ecology -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea , Coastal ecology -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea , Coastal zone management -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4192 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003761 , Sand dunes -- South Africa -- Management , Sand dune ecology -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea , Coastal ecology -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea , Coastal zone management -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea
- Description: A study of the dynamics and functions of a coastal dunefield at the Bushman’s River Mouth in Kenton-on-Sea was conducted to provide essential information for the formulation of a management strategy based on an ecosystem approach. Bi-monthly tacheometric surveys were undertaken at the Westbourne Road Car Park dunefield to investigate the sedimentological processes. Changes in the topography, the amount and rate of sand accretion were monitored. Accretion and progradation were the dominant long-term sedimentological processes at the site. Long-term spatial variation in these processes corresponded to the temporal pattern of sedimentation in the river mouth while short-term variation resulted from dynamics inherent to the types of dunes present. Factors affecting aeolian accretion at the site are topography, river mouth configuration, dune types and the presence of vegetation as well as the seasonal wind regime. A vegetation study, recording species present, cover and abundance of the plants along the surveyed transects, was also conducted to examine the progressive establishment of vegetation. Five plant communities were discerned namely, saltmarsh, pioneer, enriched pioneer, open scrub, closed scrub and scrub-thicket communities. The spatial distribution of these communities coincided with the north-westerly development of the sandbank. A successional trend in community change occurred along a gradient of increasing diversity, complexity and age. Initially, autogenic changes wrought by pioneer species facilitated the recruitment and survival of other species and commenced succession at the study site. Multiple successional pathways were discussed in relation to subsequent species establishment that occurred after facilitation. The amalgamation of ecological data with a social study in the form of public perception surveys allowed for a greater understanding of the present interactions between the ecosystem and the demands placed on it. The area primarily functions as a recreational site that offered numerous beach and water-related activities. A lack of information regarding the ecology and management programmes influenced public perception of the environment and management issues in general. Different management perspectives and the use of the information presented in this study were also discussed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Fraser, Claire
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Sand dunes -- South Africa -- Management , Sand dune ecology -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea , Coastal ecology -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea , Coastal zone management -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4192 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003761 , Sand dunes -- South Africa -- Management , Sand dune ecology -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea , Coastal ecology -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea , Coastal zone management -- South Africa -- Kenton-on-Sea
- Description: A study of the dynamics and functions of a coastal dunefield at the Bushman’s River Mouth in Kenton-on-Sea was conducted to provide essential information for the formulation of a management strategy based on an ecosystem approach. Bi-monthly tacheometric surveys were undertaken at the Westbourne Road Car Park dunefield to investigate the sedimentological processes. Changes in the topography, the amount and rate of sand accretion were monitored. Accretion and progradation were the dominant long-term sedimentological processes at the site. Long-term spatial variation in these processes corresponded to the temporal pattern of sedimentation in the river mouth while short-term variation resulted from dynamics inherent to the types of dunes present. Factors affecting aeolian accretion at the site are topography, river mouth configuration, dune types and the presence of vegetation as well as the seasonal wind regime. A vegetation study, recording species present, cover and abundance of the plants along the surveyed transects, was also conducted to examine the progressive establishment of vegetation. Five plant communities were discerned namely, saltmarsh, pioneer, enriched pioneer, open scrub, closed scrub and scrub-thicket communities. The spatial distribution of these communities coincided with the north-westerly development of the sandbank. A successional trend in community change occurred along a gradient of increasing diversity, complexity and age. Initially, autogenic changes wrought by pioneer species facilitated the recruitment and survival of other species and commenced succession at the study site. Multiple successional pathways were discussed in relation to subsequent species establishment that occurred after facilitation. The amalgamation of ecological data with a social study in the form of public perception surveys allowed for a greater understanding of the present interactions between the ecosystem and the demands placed on it. The area primarily functions as a recreational site that offered numerous beach and water-related activities. A lack of information regarding the ecology and management programmes influenced public perception of the environment and management issues in general. Different management perspectives and the use of the information presented in this study were also discussed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Comparison of maximal aerobic capacity during running and lifting activities : research article
- Christie, Candice J, Scott, Patricia A
- Authors: Christie, Candice J , Scott, Patricia A
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6745 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1009314
- Description: Acknowledging the specificity of assessing maximal output, the purpose of this paper was to compare the physiological and perceptual responses during a traditional running activity and the common industrial task of lifting; both were taken to maximal effort. The responses of eight male participants were measured during both physical activities separated by at least five days: i) a progressive speed protocol (PSP) involved running on a treadmill at increasing speeds, starting at 10 km.h[superscript -1] and increasing by 1 km.h[superscript -1] every minute until exhaustion; ii) a progressive frequency protocol (PFP) required participants to lift a load of 20% body mass at increasing lifting frequencies, starting at one lift every 10s and reducing the time between lifts by 1s every minute until exhaustion. Physiological responses were measured using a portable on-line system, the K4b[superscript 2] (Cosmed(r)). "Central" perceptual measures were obtained every minute using the rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale. Results: Responses increased progressively with augmented exercise intensity in both protocols; however, oxygen consumption and peak oxygen values were both lower during the lifting protocol compared to the running protocol. In contrast to the oxygen uptake responses, peak RER values were significantly higher during lifting (mean of 1.32) than running (mean of 1.18), while maximal heart rate and perceptual responses revealed no significant difference between the two protocols. These findings caution against using the 'traditional' treadmill protocol to assess the aerobic capacity of manual labourers involved in lifting, as it is evident that the traditional lower body protocol will indicate a higher capacity than the maximum capacity of an upper body activity, which could lead to manual labourers being taxed beyond acceptable limits.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Christie, Candice J , Scott, Patricia A
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6745 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1009314
- Description: Acknowledging the specificity of assessing maximal output, the purpose of this paper was to compare the physiological and perceptual responses during a traditional running activity and the common industrial task of lifting; both were taken to maximal effort. The responses of eight male participants were measured during both physical activities separated by at least five days: i) a progressive speed protocol (PSP) involved running on a treadmill at increasing speeds, starting at 10 km.h[superscript -1] and increasing by 1 km.h[superscript -1] every minute until exhaustion; ii) a progressive frequency protocol (PFP) required participants to lift a load of 20% body mass at increasing lifting frequencies, starting at one lift every 10s and reducing the time between lifts by 1s every minute until exhaustion. Physiological responses were measured using a portable on-line system, the K4b[superscript 2] (Cosmed(r)). "Central" perceptual measures were obtained every minute using the rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale. Results: Responses increased progressively with augmented exercise intensity in both protocols; however, oxygen consumption and peak oxygen values were both lower during the lifting protocol compared to the running protocol. In contrast to the oxygen uptake responses, peak RER values were significantly higher during lifting (mean of 1.32) than running (mean of 1.18), while maximal heart rate and perceptual responses revealed no significant difference between the two protocols. These findings caution against using the 'traditional' treadmill protocol to assess the aerobic capacity of manual labourers involved in lifting, as it is evident that the traditional lower body protocol will indicate a higher capacity than the maximum capacity of an upper body activity, which could lead to manual labourers being taxed beyond acceptable limits.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Computers and African languages in education: an ICT tool for the promotion of multilingualism at a South African university: conversations
- Dalvit, Lorenzo, Murray, Sarah, Mini, Buyiswa, Terzoli, Alfredo, Zhao, Xiaogeng
- Authors: Dalvit, Lorenzo , Murray, Sarah , Mini, Buyiswa , Terzoli, Alfredo , Zhao, Xiaogeng
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/428911 , vital:72545 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC87340
- Description: This article describes a web-based application designed to provide meaningful access to the study of Computer Science to speakers of an African language who have limited experience of using English for ac-ademic purposes. Our research is focused upon students of Computer Skills in the Extended Studies Programme at Rhodes University who have studied English as a second language for the matriculation exam-ination. The intervention involves the cooperative production and shar-ing of multilingual support material in both English and the students' home languages. The article illustrates how the use of computers has the potential to solve some of the problems traditionally associated with the use of African languages as additional media of instruction in ter-tiary education (i.e. lack of terminology and resources in the African languages, stigma attached to their use, etc.). We maintain that learning about computers partly in their stronger language (i.e. their home lan-guage) could give students increased and more meaningful access to an educationally and economically empowering field of study.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Dalvit, Lorenzo , Murray, Sarah , Mini, Buyiswa , Terzoli, Alfredo , Zhao, Xiaogeng
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/428911 , vital:72545 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC87340
- Description: This article describes a web-based application designed to provide meaningful access to the study of Computer Science to speakers of an African language who have limited experience of using English for ac-ademic purposes. Our research is focused upon students of Computer Skills in the Extended Studies Programme at Rhodes University who have studied English as a second language for the matriculation exam-ination. The intervention involves the cooperative production and shar-ing of multilingual support material in both English and the students' home languages. The article illustrates how the use of computers has the potential to solve some of the problems traditionally associated with the use of African languages as additional media of instruction in ter-tiary education (i.e. lack of terminology and resources in the African languages, stigma attached to their use, etc.). We maintain that learning about computers partly in their stronger language (i.e. their home lan-guage) could give students increased and more meaningful access to an educationally and economically empowering field of study.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Conceptualizing and implementing the meaning of Africa's new partnership with the industrialized north : implications and possibilities for the renaissance
- Authors: Somhlaba, Zamokwakhe Ludidi
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: New Partnership for Africa's Development , Sustainable development -- Africa , Economic development -- Africa , Africa -- Foreign economic relations , Africa -- Economic conditions -- 1960-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2841 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004655 , New Partnership for Africa's Development , Sustainable development -- Africa , Economic development -- Africa , Africa -- Foreign economic relations , Africa -- Economic conditions -- 1960-
- Description: This study is a contribution to the on-going debate about the path that Africa has taken in realising the vision of its renewal. The central theme of the study is the idea of Africa's 'new partnership' with the industrialised North, which is envisaged under the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). Acknowledging that asymmetrical partnerships have existed between Africa and the North, particularly in the last century, the question this study poses is: to what extent does the idea of the 'new partnership' represent something new? The study argues two points. Firstly, it argues that the idea of the new partnership has become a terrain of contestation between the Africanist and the post-modernist social forces. Secondly, the study argues that it is unlikely that conceptualising the idea of the new partnership in post-modernist terms will result in sustainable development and rebirth of Africa. That is particularly the case, because post-modernity suggests a certain degree of loyalty to the prevailing and asymmetrical global order. Against this background, the study concludes that the extent to which Africa will enjoy the benefits of a truly revised partnership with the North, and thus fulfil the vision of its rebirth, will be determined, by and large, by the modalities of accommodation and struggle between these social forces.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Somhlaba, Zamokwakhe Ludidi
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: New Partnership for Africa's Development , Sustainable development -- Africa , Economic development -- Africa , Africa -- Foreign economic relations , Africa -- Economic conditions -- 1960-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2841 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004655 , New Partnership for Africa's Development , Sustainable development -- Africa , Economic development -- Africa , Africa -- Foreign economic relations , Africa -- Economic conditions -- 1960-
- Description: This study is a contribution to the on-going debate about the path that Africa has taken in realising the vision of its renewal. The central theme of the study is the idea of Africa's 'new partnership' with the industrialised North, which is envisaged under the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). Acknowledging that asymmetrical partnerships have existed between Africa and the North, particularly in the last century, the question this study poses is: to what extent does the idea of the 'new partnership' represent something new? The study argues two points. Firstly, it argues that the idea of the new partnership has become a terrain of contestation between the Africanist and the post-modernist social forces. Secondly, the study argues that it is unlikely that conceptualising the idea of the new partnership in post-modernist terms will result in sustainable development and rebirth of Africa. That is particularly the case, because post-modernity suggests a certain degree of loyalty to the prevailing and asymmetrical global order. Against this background, the study concludes that the extent to which Africa will enjoy the benefits of a truly revised partnership with the North, and thus fulfil the vision of its rebirth, will be determined, by and large, by the modalities of accommodation and struggle between these social forces.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Consolidating democracy, building civil society : the South African Council of Churches in post-apartheid South Africa and its policy of critical solidarity with the state
- Authors: Joseph, Stacey-Leigh
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: South African Council of Churches Church and state -- South Africa Christianity and politics -- South Africa Apartheid -- Religious aspects -- South Africa AIDS (Disease) -- Government policy -- South Africa Debts, External -- South Africa South Africa -- Foreign relations -- Zimbabwe South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:2874 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007957
- Description: The South African Council of Churches (SACC) played an extremely crucial role during the struggle against apartheid. The role of the SACC was first and foremost to provide a voice for the voiceless. It managed, among other tasks, to actively fill the void left by movements banned by the illegitimate apartheid government. As a result of its fight against the inequalities that existed in South Africa, its work adopted a political character. In the aftermath of post-apartheid South Africa, the SACC was left with the task of redefining its role within South African society and civil society, specifically. The euphoric sentiment in the mid-1990s was in part reflected in the SACC. However, the conclusion reached by the Council in 1995 was that it would also play a role of 'critical solidarity' which essentially meant that it would not shy away from attacking the government when the need arose. Since 1994, the South African government has implemented a number of policies that do not appear to be in the immediate interest of the majority of South African citizens atld have brought church and state into conflict. This thesis attempts to tackle three issues which are pertinent to the South African situation and which shed light on state-civil society interactions. These issues are HIV I Aids, the question of odious debt and the Zimbabwe crisis. By using both primary and secondary sources, the SACC's responses to government's handling of these matters will be compared with the responses of the South African Catholic Bishops Conference in order to determine their relationships with government. The conclusion of this investigation is that the SACC has in fact managed to maintain a position of critical solidarity. It has been faced with numerous challenges with regard to maintaining the fragile boundary of alliance with government on the one hand, and becoming anti-government on the other. However, by forming alliances with other civil society actors as well as fostering a relationship with government in order to facilitate mediation this dissertation argues that the SACC has become an essential member of South Africa's vibrant civil society.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Joseph, Stacey-Leigh
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: South African Council of Churches Church and state -- South Africa Christianity and politics -- South Africa Apartheid -- Religious aspects -- South Africa AIDS (Disease) -- Government policy -- South Africa Debts, External -- South Africa South Africa -- Foreign relations -- Zimbabwe South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:2874 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007957
- Description: The South African Council of Churches (SACC) played an extremely crucial role during the struggle against apartheid. The role of the SACC was first and foremost to provide a voice for the voiceless. It managed, among other tasks, to actively fill the void left by movements banned by the illegitimate apartheid government. As a result of its fight against the inequalities that existed in South Africa, its work adopted a political character. In the aftermath of post-apartheid South Africa, the SACC was left with the task of redefining its role within South African society and civil society, specifically. The euphoric sentiment in the mid-1990s was in part reflected in the SACC. However, the conclusion reached by the Council in 1995 was that it would also play a role of 'critical solidarity' which essentially meant that it would not shy away from attacking the government when the need arose. Since 1994, the South African government has implemented a number of policies that do not appear to be in the immediate interest of the majority of South African citizens atld have brought church and state into conflict. This thesis attempts to tackle three issues which are pertinent to the South African situation and which shed light on state-civil society interactions. These issues are HIV I Aids, the question of odious debt and the Zimbabwe crisis. By using both primary and secondary sources, the SACC's responses to government's handling of these matters will be compared with the responses of the South African Catholic Bishops Conference in order to determine their relationships with government. The conclusion of this investigation is that the SACC has in fact managed to maintain a position of critical solidarity. It has been faced with numerous challenges with regard to maintaining the fragile boundary of alliance with government on the one hand, and becoming anti-government on the other. However, by forming alliances with other civil society actors as well as fostering a relationship with government in order to facilitate mediation this dissertation argues that the SACC has become an essential member of South Africa's vibrant civil society.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Contending issues in South Africa's foreign policy : universalism versus economic national interest : the case of South Africa's arms sales to 'pariah states' 1994-1999
- Authors: Othieno, Timothy
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: South Africa -- Foreign relations -- 1994- South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994- South Africa -- Foreign economic relations Arms transfers -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2868 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007712
- Description: This study examines post-apartheid South African foreign policy under former President Nelson Mandela, and the apparent ambiguities that were its recurrent feature in the period from 1994 to 1999. Its focus is on the inherent irreconcilability of the economic national interests and the foreign policy principles which included the promotion of and respect for universalist principles and interests such as human rights, democracy, international peace and security. In examining South African foreign policy during this period, it would appear that the country was trapped between two competing priorities: the need to promote "universalist" principles and the need to satisfy its national economic interests. The main aim of the study is to explain how this "irreconcilability" between universalist principles and national economic interests would later create ambiguities and contradictions in South Africa's foreign policy, weaken respect for its foreign policy principles, and ultimately lead to ideological failure among politicians who employed 'short-term gain' policy decision-making in dealing with 'pariah states'. The study further demonstrates that "realist" national interests are frequently short-term, realizable and vital for a country, while universalist interests are long-term, idealistic and usually not easily realizable. It will be argued, therefore, that a country faced with making decisions about its vital national interests, will not make efforts to pursue long-term universalist interests if that choice would in any way endanger its fundamental national interests. In order to better assess this ambiguity, this thesis will provide a case study of Pretoria's arms sales to 'pariah states' during the period. The purpose of this study is not to attempt to explain all of the issues around post-apartheid foreign policymaking, or even to argue whether the sale of arms to 'pariah states' was 'politically incorrect', but to provide a 'piece of the puzzle' which might explain how the social and economic situation may have compelled Pretoria to sell arms when these actions disregarded universalist principles of foreign policy. The conclusion seems to confirm the realist view that universal values and principles can be regarded only when they are in harmony with a state's perceived self-interests.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Othieno, Timothy
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: South Africa -- Foreign relations -- 1994- South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994- South Africa -- Foreign economic relations Arms transfers -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2868 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007712
- Description: This study examines post-apartheid South African foreign policy under former President Nelson Mandela, and the apparent ambiguities that were its recurrent feature in the period from 1994 to 1999. Its focus is on the inherent irreconcilability of the economic national interests and the foreign policy principles which included the promotion of and respect for universalist principles and interests such as human rights, democracy, international peace and security. In examining South African foreign policy during this period, it would appear that the country was trapped between two competing priorities: the need to promote "universalist" principles and the need to satisfy its national economic interests. The main aim of the study is to explain how this "irreconcilability" between universalist principles and national economic interests would later create ambiguities and contradictions in South Africa's foreign policy, weaken respect for its foreign policy principles, and ultimately lead to ideological failure among politicians who employed 'short-term gain' policy decision-making in dealing with 'pariah states'. The study further demonstrates that "realist" national interests are frequently short-term, realizable and vital for a country, while universalist interests are long-term, idealistic and usually not easily realizable. It will be argued, therefore, that a country faced with making decisions about its vital national interests, will not make efforts to pursue long-term universalist interests if that choice would in any way endanger its fundamental national interests. In order to better assess this ambiguity, this thesis will provide a case study of Pretoria's arms sales to 'pariah states' during the period. The purpose of this study is not to attempt to explain all of the issues around post-apartheid foreign policymaking, or even to argue whether the sale of arms to 'pariah states' was 'politically incorrect', but to provide a 'piece of the puzzle' which might explain how the social and economic situation may have compelled Pretoria to sell arms when these actions disregarded universalist principles of foreign policy. The conclusion seems to confirm the realist view that universal values and principles can be regarded only when they are in harmony with a state's perceived self-interests.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Contrasting spatial heterogeneity of sessile organisms within mussel (Perna perna L.) beds in relation to topographic variability
- Erlandsson, J, McQuaid, Christopher D, Kostylev, V E
- Authors: Erlandsson, J , McQuaid, Christopher D , Kostylev, V E
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6949 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011979
- Description: We examined the spatial heterogeneity in three sessile rocky shore organisms, the mussel Perna perna, the barnacle Octomeris angulosa (Sowerby) and the red alga Gelidium pristoides (Turn.) at a range of continuous local scales along horizontal transects within mid- and upper mussel beds of South African shores. We also examined the relationships between variability of organisms and topographic features (rock depressions, slope, aspect), and between mussel, barnacle and algal variability over the same scales. To estimate spatial heterogeneity, we analyzed scaling properties of semivariograms using a fractal approach. Relationships between different variables at the different scales were examined by cross-semivariograms. Spatial dependence of P. perna variability increased with spatial dependence of topographic variability, so that scaling regions of mussel and topographic distributions corresponded well. This relationship often improved with larger local scales (mussel cover increased with depressions, steeper slope and aspect towards waves), while at smaller spatial scales, variability in mussel cover was less well explained by variability in topography. The variability of the barnacle O. angulosa exhibited spatial dependence, even on topographically unstructured shores. In contrast, the distribution of the alga G. pristoides revealed high fractal dimensions, showing spatial independence on topographically unstructured shores. Algae also showed a very strong negative relationship with mussels at most local scales, and a negative relationship with barnacles in upper zones, especially at larger local scales. Barnacles may show clear spatial dependence because of hydrodynamics (at larger local scales) and the need to find a future mate in close proximity (at smaller local scales), while algae may show a strong negative relationship with mussels because of competition for space.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Erlandsson, J , McQuaid, Christopher D , Kostylev, V E
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6949 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011979
- Description: We examined the spatial heterogeneity in three sessile rocky shore organisms, the mussel Perna perna, the barnacle Octomeris angulosa (Sowerby) and the red alga Gelidium pristoides (Turn.) at a range of continuous local scales along horizontal transects within mid- and upper mussel beds of South African shores. We also examined the relationships between variability of organisms and topographic features (rock depressions, slope, aspect), and between mussel, barnacle and algal variability over the same scales. To estimate spatial heterogeneity, we analyzed scaling properties of semivariograms using a fractal approach. Relationships between different variables at the different scales were examined by cross-semivariograms. Spatial dependence of P. perna variability increased with spatial dependence of topographic variability, so that scaling regions of mussel and topographic distributions corresponded well. This relationship often improved with larger local scales (mussel cover increased with depressions, steeper slope and aspect towards waves), while at smaller spatial scales, variability in mussel cover was less well explained by variability in topography. The variability of the barnacle O. angulosa exhibited spatial dependence, even on topographically unstructured shores. In contrast, the distribution of the alga G. pristoides revealed high fractal dimensions, showing spatial independence on topographically unstructured shores. Algae also showed a very strong negative relationship with mussels at most local scales, and a negative relationship with barnacles in upper zones, especially at larger local scales. Barnacles may show clear spatial dependence because of hydrodynamics (at larger local scales) and the need to find a future mate in close proximity (at smaller local scales), while algae may show a strong negative relationship with mussels because of competition for space.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Creating a relationship: a discourse analysis focusing on the construction of identities and relationships in distance education materials for a teacher upgrade programme
- Authors: Van der Mescht, Caroline
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Distance education -- South Africa Teachers -- Training of -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1467 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003348
- Description: Distance education, and therefore the writing of distance materials, is a growing field in South Africa. This makes it potentially a site of innovation and change as writers experiment with ways of creating effective teaching situations at long range. The Fort Hare Distance Education Project materials seem to be a response to both the increased need for teacher upgrade programmes and the need for innovation to tailor those programmes to the needs of local teachers in a changing society. This innovative attempt to communicate with tertiary distance students has unusual features which suggest that they are worth investigation. Using discourse analysis, including the work of Scollon and Scollon on politeness theory, and an analysis of visual elements using categories developed by Kress and van Leeuwen, this study focuses on 18 pages of a sample text, booklet 9, “A Whole Language Approach,” to investigate how the writer-reader relationship and the identity of the reader are constructed. The analysis reveals a complex, interlocking construction of identity and relationship, producing and resolving apparent contradictions as writers move from one position to another while they negotiate their ongoing and evolving relationship with the readers. Features of identity and relationship operating through the text include issues of authority, changing roles of teachers and learners, trust, what constitutes appropriate language and materials, acknowledging prior learning in under-qualified professionals, ownership of the text, hierarchy and egalitarianism, and stereotyping. The study suggests that the Fort Hare Distance Project materials offer an example of strategies suited to local students which should benefit those who design such courses. It further suggests that visual analysis together with discourse analysis provides insights which seem not to be accessible through a study of the verbal text, and that an analysis of visual elements may widen a researcher’s options. It reveals ways in which writers can negotiate conflicting positions and consciously or unconsciously attempt to resolve contradictions and ambivalence. It suggests issues which need to be negotiated in any text written in South Africa for a similar audience.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Van der Mescht, Caroline
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Distance education -- South Africa Teachers -- Training of -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1467 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003348
- Description: Distance education, and therefore the writing of distance materials, is a growing field in South Africa. This makes it potentially a site of innovation and change as writers experiment with ways of creating effective teaching situations at long range. The Fort Hare Distance Education Project materials seem to be a response to both the increased need for teacher upgrade programmes and the need for innovation to tailor those programmes to the needs of local teachers in a changing society. This innovative attempt to communicate with tertiary distance students has unusual features which suggest that they are worth investigation. Using discourse analysis, including the work of Scollon and Scollon on politeness theory, and an analysis of visual elements using categories developed by Kress and van Leeuwen, this study focuses on 18 pages of a sample text, booklet 9, “A Whole Language Approach,” to investigate how the writer-reader relationship and the identity of the reader are constructed. The analysis reveals a complex, interlocking construction of identity and relationship, producing and resolving apparent contradictions as writers move from one position to another while they negotiate their ongoing and evolving relationship with the readers. Features of identity and relationship operating through the text include issues of authority, changing roles of teachers and learners, trust, what constitutes appropriate language and materials, acknowledging prior learning in under-qualified professionals, ownership of the text, hierarchy and egalitarianism, and stereotyping. The study suggests that the Fort Hare Distance Project materials offer an example of strategies suited to local students which should benefit those who design such courses. It further suggests that visual analysis together with discourse analysis provides insights which seem not to be accessible through a study of the verbal text, and that an analysis of visual elements may widen a researcher’s options. It reveals ways in which writers can negotiate conflicting positions and consciously or unconsciously attempt to resolve contradictions and ambivalence. It suggests issues which need to be negotiated in any text written in South Africa for a similar audience.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Critical analysis of a performance management system used by a tertiary education institution in the Eastern Cape
- Mkovane, Zenephone Bhekuyise
- Authors: Mkovane, Zenephone Bhekuyise
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Performance -- Management -- Evaluation , Performance -- Measurement -- Evaluation , Universities and colleges -- Employees -- Rating of -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Border Technikon -- Employees -- Rating of
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:8567 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/412 , Performance -- Management -- Evaluation , Performance -- Measurement -- Evaluation , Universities and colleges -- Employees -- Rating of -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Border Technikon -- Employees -- Rating of
- Description: As argued by authors like Franzen on whose work the greater part of the introduction, the main problem and sub-problem has been based, the objective of this study was to establish the extent to which the performance evaluation system currently in use at the subject Institution conforms to the benchmark performance management systems as espoused in literature. Further, the objective was to establish the differences and commonalities between the performance management systems practiced in the corporate sector and current practice at the subject Institution. Best practice was thus lifted to form part of the recommendation of this study. A questionaire was designed based on the guidelines in the literature study in order to determine how the subject Institution conducts its performance appraisal and how this relates to the four general purposes of performance management mentioned in the study. The respondents' opinion obtained from the questionaire were compared with the guidelines in literature and clustered around the four identifiable general purposes of performance management. The study concludes with a statement of current practice at the subject Institution, and outlines the extent of conformance to benchmark practice on performance management systems. Recommendations are made based on best practice and direction is given to future research into contemporary practices with the express aim of enhancing quality in higher education applying the quality-related procedures of industry and commerce, where quality is crucial to success (Winch, 1996: 9-13). The current performance management system at the subject Institution proves to be largely conforming to the benchmark. However it should require comments made by the respondents that pertain to improvement.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Mkovane, Zenephone Bhekuyise
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Performance -- Management -- Evaluation , Performance -- Measurement -- Evaluation , Universities and colleges -- Employees -- Rating of -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Border Technikon -- Employees -- Rating of
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:8567 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/412 , Performance -- Management -- Evaluation , Performance -- Measurement -- Evaluation , Universities and colleges -- Employees -- Rating of -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Border Technikon -- Employees -- Rating of
- Description: As argued by authors like Franzen on whose work the greater part of the introduction, the main problem and sub-problem has been based, the objective of this study was to establish the extent to which the performance evaluation system currently in use at the subject Institution conforms to the benchmark performance management systems as espoused in literature. Further, the objective was to establish the differences and commonalities between the performance management systems practiced in the corporate sector and current practice at the subject Institution. Best practice was thus lifted to form part of the recommendation of this study. A questionaire was designed based on the guidelines in the literature study in order to determine how the subject Institution conducts its performance appraisal and how this relates to the four general purposes of performance management mentioned in the study. The respondents' opinion obtained from the questionaire were compared with the guidelines in literature and clustered around the four identifiable general purposes of performance management. The study concludes with a statement of current practice at the subject Institution, and outlines the extent of conformance to benchmark practice on performance management systems. Recommendations are made based on best practice and direction is given to future research into contemporary practices with the express aim of enhancing quality in higher education applying the quality-related procedures of industry and commerce, where quality is crucial to success (Winch, 1996: 9-13). The current performance management system at the subject Institution proves to be largely conforming to the benchmark. However it should require comments made by the respondents that pertain to improvement.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2005
Critical perspectives on research on post-traumatic stress disorder and implications for the South African context
- Authors: Edwards, David J A
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6228 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007778
- Description: This article introduces a special issue of the Journal of Psychology in Africa on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Africa and particularly in South Africa and examines the critical debate that has surrounded PTSD research. It begins with an examination of the meaning of the term trauma, and of its specialised use within the clinical context and with respect to the concept of PTSD. The diagnostic approach to the detection of PTSD is presented, criteria in the DSM-IV-TR and the ICD-10 are summarised and differences between the two manuals are discussed. Arguments presented by critics of the concept of PTSD are presented and discussed. These concern the historical evolution of the concept, concerns about the universality of PTSD cross-culturally, and problems arising from understanding human suffering from a narrow medical perspective. It is concluded that while there are dangers in thinking of the sequelae of trauma as a medical/psychiatric problem, and while the alarming rate of traumatic events needs to be addressed at the political, economic and societal level, there is an important place for the provision of assessment and treatment of PTSD within a psychiatric/psychological clinical setting.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Edwards, David J A
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6228 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007778
- Description: This article introduces a special issue of the Journal of Psychology in Africa on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Africa and particularly in South Africa and examines the critical debate that has surrounded PTSD research. It begins with an examination of the meaning of the term trauma, and of its specialised use within the clinical context and with respect to the concept of PTSD. The diagnostic approach to the detection of PTSD is presented, criteria in the DSM-IV-TR and the ICD-10 are summarised and differences between the two manuals are discussed. Arguments presented by critics of the concept of PTSD are presented and discussed. These concern the historical evolution of the concept, concerns about the universality of PTSD cross-culturally, and problems arising from understanding human suffering from a narrow medical perspective. It is concluded that while there are dangers in thinking of the sequelae of trauma as a medical/psychiatric problem, and while the alarming rate of traumatic events needs to be addressed at the political, economic and societal level, there is an important place for the provision of assessment and treatment of PTSD within a psychiatric/psychological clinical setting.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Culture shock the differences between Chinese and South African students at the University of Port Elizabeth
- Authors: Wang, Hui Jingzi
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: University of Port Elizabeth -- Students , Students, Foreign -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Culture shock -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8378 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/366 , University of Port Elizabeth -- Students , Students, Foreign -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Culture shock -- South Africa
- Description: Introduction-Motivation: Living, studying, traveling and working abroad can be an incredible, challenging experience or a nightmare, depending on how you interact with the local culture. Many things bring on culture shock: different food and ways of eating, shops and prices, attitude of people, customs and language problems. It is the strangeness, uneasiness or even fear we experience when we move from our home country and familiar surroundings, to live in a new and different society. Culture shock is now considered to be a natural part of the adjustment to studying abroad (Carmen, 1998:3). Although it can be disconcerting and a little crazy, the shock gradually eases as you begin to understand the new culture. It is useful to realize that often the reactions and perceptions of others towards you - and you towards them - are not personal evaluations, but are based on a clash of cultural values. The more skilled you become in recognizing how and when cultural values and behaviours are likely to come in conflict, the easier it becomes to make adjustments that can help you avoid serious difficulties. This research is aimed at identifying the most common differences between local South African and Chinese culture, and will investigate the experiences of Chinese students at the University of Port Elizabeth (UPE), South Africa, as well as a local Chinese family in order to develop a strategy to minimize culture shock. Research Problem: Chinese students at UPE experience various difficulties in adjusting to local university life. These problems range from practical difficulties regarding transport, accommodation and finances to less easily defined issues related to language and culture. While the “practical” difficulties are often prioritized and solved (or at least alleviated), those relating to culture are not adequately addressed. Chinese students at UPE consequently find it difficult to socialize with local students; they find it difficult to interact during lectures, and they are unsure about forming student-teacher relationships. All of this impedes academic progress, increase worry/fear of failure, and lead to homesickness and ultimately depression. Local Chinese business people have, through trial and error, learnt to adapt to the idiosyncrasies of South African culture (in its diverse forms). This is apparent from interviews which were conducted with a local Chinese businessman and his family who have successfully adapted to the local environment in order to identify the major obstacles to cultural acclimatization, as well as useful strategies, communicational ones among others, that enabled them to adapt.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Wang, Hui Jingzi
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: University of Port Elizabeth -- Students , Students, Foreign -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Culture shock -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8378 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/366 , University of Port Elizabeth -- Students , Students, Foreign -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Culture shock -- South Africa
- Description: Introduction-Motivation: Living, studying, traveling and working abroad can be an incredible, challenging experience or a nightmare, depending on how you interact with the local culture. Many things bring on culture shock: different food and ways of eating, shops and prices, attitude of people, customs and language problems. It is the strangeness, uneasiness or even fear we experience when we move from our home country and familiar surroundings, to live in a new and different society. Culture shock is now considered to be a natural part of the adjustment to studying abroad (Carmen, 1998:3). Although it can be disconcerting and a little crazy, the shock gradually eases as you begin to understand the new culture. It is useful to realize that often the reactions and perceptions of others towards you - and you towards them - are not personal evaluations, but are based on a clash of cultural values. The more skilled you become in recognizing how and when cultural values and behaviours are likely to come in conflict, the easier it becomes to make adjustments that can help you avoid serious difficulties. This research is aimed at identifying the most common differences between local South African and Chinese culture, and will investigate the experiences of Chinese students at the University of Port Elizabeth (UPE), South Africa, as well as a local Chinese family in order to develop a strategy to minimize culture shock. Research Problem: Chinese students at UPE experience various difficulties in adjusting to local university life. These problems range from practical difficulties regarding transport, accommodation and finances to less easily defined issues related to language and culture. While the “practical” difficulties are often prioritized and solved (or at least alleviated), those relating to culture are not adequately addressed. Chinese students at UPE consequently find it difficult to socialize with local students; they find it difficult to interact during lectures, and they are unsure about forming student-teacher relationships. All of this impedes academic progress, increase worry/fear of failure, and lead to homesickness and ultimately depression. Local Chinese business people have, through trial and error, learnt to adapt to the idiosyncrasies of South African culture (in its diverse forms). This is apparent from interviews which were conducted with a local Chinese businessman and his family who have successfully adapted to the local environment in order to identify the major obstacles to cultural acclimatization, as well as useful strategies, communicational ones among others, that enabled them to adapt.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Current trends in research focused on pushing and pulling : research article
- Authors: Todd, Andrew I
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6744 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1009313
- Description: The purpose of this review paper is to provide a synopsis of the findings of papers on pushing and pulling; and to identify areas of contention which require further in depth analysis. It is evident from reviewing the published papers on pushing and pulling that there is a lack of consensus as to which one of these two actions has the greatest force production. The main problem is probably the lack of standardized methodology in push-pull research. Furthermore, even when similar methodologies have been used the description of postures adopted during testing by the subjects varies greatly from paper to paper. The various studies have employed different postures and also imposed different restrictions on the postures adopted during experimentation, making comparisons between findings difficult. Much emphasis has been placed on the evaluation of static pushing and pulling tasks, and there is a clear need for further research into dynamic pushing and pulling. Additionally to date the focus of much of this research has been on the biomechanical stresses placed on the body with little attention being given to the physiological cost of pushing and pulling.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Todd, Andrew I
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6744 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1009313
- Description: The purpose of this review paper is to provide a synopsis of the findings of papers on pushing and pulling; and to identify areas of contention which require further in depth analysis. It is evident from reviewing the published papers on pushing and pulling that there is a lack of consensus as to which one of these two actions has the greatest force production. The main problem is probably the lack of standardized methodology in push-pull research. Furthermore, even when similar methodologies have been used the description of postures adopted during testing by the subjects varies greatly from paper to paper. The various studies have employed different postures and also imposed different restrictions on the postures adopted during experimentation, making comparisons between findings difficult. Much emphasis has been placed on the evaluation of static pushing and pulling tasks, and there is a clear need for further research into dynamic pushing and pulling. Additionally to date the focus of much of this research has been on the biomechanical stresses placed on the body with little attention being given to the physiological cost of pushing and pulling.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Customary Sea Tenure in Oceania as a Case of Rights-based Fishery Management: Does it Work?
- Authors: Shankar, Aswani
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/439071 , vital:73542 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-005-4868-x"
- Description: This paper outlines the general characteristics of customary sea tenure (CST) in Oceania and identifies areas in which these characteristics overlap with modern rights-based fisheries management systems such as ITQs and CDQs. It also examines the effectiveness of CST regimes at regulating marine resource use and access by focusing on a particular case from the Solomon Islands. The institutional robustness or vulnerability of CST is assessed by examining various performance criteria for two communities in the Roviana Lagoon, Western Solomons. These criteria include people’s (1) settlement patterns in relation to their property, (2) cultural consensus, (3) cultural attitudes with regard to governance and management, and (4) fishing efforts and yields. The results show that a number of historical processes have shaped CST systems into heterogeneous and dynamic institutions, and that CST regimes can vary even on small geographical scales. Understanding the circumstances in which CST regimes are more likely to be successful has facilitated the design and implementation of co-management fishery prescriptions (MPAs) for protecting particular species and habitats in the region. More generally, the paper proposes that by discerning the effectiveness of local governance institutions at regulating resource use and access – taking into consideration that these are embedded in particular historical and political contexts – we can better predict whether or not an introduced fishery management system will work. This knowledge can also assist in designing hybrid management schemes that cross-fertilize community-based management, modern rights-based fishery management (e.g., ITQs and CDQs), and other government regulations. This integration is particularly relevant when these policies are to be implemented in coastal communities that have or have had traditional rights-based fishery management systems of their own and/or are more socio-culturally homogeneous. Given the long history of failed fishery management, it is now of vital importance to design innovative fishery management prescriptions that integrate natural and social science research more comprehensively.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Shankar, Aswani
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/439071 , vital:73542 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-005-4868-x"
- Description: This paper outlines the general characteristics of customary sea tenure (CST) in Oceania and identifies areas in which these characteristics overlap with modern rights-based fisheries management systems such as ITQs and CDQs. It also examines the effectiveness of CST regimes at regulating marine resource use and access by focusing on a particular case from the Solomon Islands. The institutional robustness or vulnerability of CST is assessed by examining various performance criteria for two communities in the Roviana Lagoon, Western Solomons. These criteria include people’s (1) settlement patterns in relation to their property, (2) cultural consensus, (3) cultural attitudes with regard to governance and management, and (4) fishing efforts and yields. The results show that a number of historical processes have shaped CST systems into heterogeneous and dynamic institutions, and that CST regimes can vary even on small geographical scales. Understanding the circumstances in which CST regimes are more likely to be successful has facilitated the design and implementation of co-management fishery prescriptions (MPAs) for protecting particular species and habitats in the region. More generally, the paper proposes that by discerning the effectiveness of local governance institutions at regulating resource use and access – taking into consideration that these are embedded in particular historical and political contexts – we can better predict whether or not an introduced fishery management system will work. This knowledge can also assist in designing hybrid management schemes that cross-fertilize community-based management, modern rights-based fishery management (e.g., ITQs and CDQs), and other government regulations. This integration is particularly relevant when these policies are to be implemented in coastal communities that have or have had traditional rights-based fishery management systems of their own and/or are more socio-culturally homogeneous. Given the long history of failed fishery management, it is now of vital importance to design innovative fishery management prescriptions that integrate natural and social science research more comprehensively.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Derivation of quantitative management objectives for annual instream water temperatures in the Sabie River using a biological index
- Rivers-Moore, Nick A, Jewitt, G P W, Weeks, D C
- Authors: Rivers-Moore, Nick A , Jewitt, G P W , Weeks, D C
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: text , Article
- Identifier: vital:7093 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012426
- Description: Adaptive management of river systems assumes uncertainty and makes provision for system variability. Inherent within this management approach is that perceived limits of 'acceptable' system variability are regarded not only as testable hypotheses, but also as playing a central role in maintaining biodiversity. While the Kruger National Park currently functions as a flagship conservation area in South Africa, projected increases in air temperatures as a consequence of global climate change present challenges in conserving this biodiversity inside the established land boundaries. Within the rivers of the Kruger National Park, a management goal of maintaining biodiversity requires a clearer understanding of system variability. One component of this is water temperature, an important water quality parameter defining the distribution patterns of aquatic organisms. In this study, Chiloglanis anoterus Crass (1960) (Pisces: Mochokidae) was selected as a biological indicator of changes in annual water temperatures within the Sabie River in the southern Kruger National Park. Relative abundances of C. anoterus were determined using standard electro-fishing surveys. The presence or absence of C. anoterus was linked to cumulative annual heat units using a logistic regression model, and a critical annual cumulative water temperature threshold estimated. A correlative relationship between this temperature threshold and a biological index using a C. anoterus condition factor provides river ecologists with a tool to assess ecologically significant warming trends in Sabie River water temperatures. A similar approach could be applied with relative ease to other Southern African river systems. Further testing of this hypothesis is suggested, as part of the adaptive management cycle.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Rivers-Moore, Nick A , Jewitt, G P W , Weeks, D C
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: text , Article
- Identifier: vital:7093 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012426
- Description: Adaptive management of river systems assumes uncertainty and makes provision for system variability. Inherent within this management approach is that perceived limits of 'acceptable' system variability are regarded not only as testable hypotheses, but also as playing a central role in maintaining biodiversity. While the Kruger National Park currently functions as a flagship conservation area in South Africa, projected increases in air temperatures as a consequence of global climate change present challenges in conserving this biodiversity inside the established land boundaries. Within the rivers of the Kruger National Park, a management goal of maintaining biodiversity requires a clearer understanding of system variability. One component of this is water temperature, an important water quality parameter defining the distribution patterns of aquatic organisms. In this study, Chiloglanis anoterus Crass (1960) (Pisces: Mochokidae) was selected as a biological indicator of changes in annual water temperatures within the Sabie River in the southern Kruger National Park. Relative abundances of C. anoterus were determined using standard electro-fishing surveys. The presence or absence of C. anoterus was linked to cumulative annual heat units using a logistic regression model, and a critical annual cumulative water temperature threshold estimated. A correlative relationship between this temperature threshold and a biological index using a C. anoterus condition factor provides river ecologists with a tool to assess ecologically significant warming trends in Sabie River water temperatures. A similar approach could be applied with relative ease to other Southern African river systems. Further testing of this hypothesis is suggested, as part of the adaptive management cycle.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005