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Unconscious nobility: the animal poetry of Harold Farmer

- Wylie, Dan

Authors: Wylie, Dan
Date: 2007
Language: English
Type: Article
Identifier: vital:6122 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004705
Description: I want to suggest that Harold Farmer's poetry works repeatedly in this area of ambiguity, a zone of tension triangulated, as it were, between three impulses. First : a notion (or even the fact) that a sense of community depends on 'knowing' what the 'other' is thinking or feeling, and on being able to articulate that knowledge. Second : suspecting, or even knowing, that certain reaches of the mind of the 'other' are fundamentally, and fascinatingly, unknowable - of the realm of the unconscious. And third : knowing (or just fearing or hoping) that any secure distinction between ourselves-as-humans and ourselves-as-sharing-animal-traits is artificial, or at least permeable. Hence, while Farmer's wild animals are perpetually on the brink of disappearing from sight and understanding, it is precisely that mysteriousness which attracts us, can sometimes envelop us, and even speak to us. In having spoken and been spoken to, we are somehow ennobled.
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Unexpected genetic structure of mussel populations in South Africa: indigenous Perna perna and invasive Mytilus galloprovincialis

- Zardi, Gerardo I, McQuaid, Christopher D, Teske, Peter R, Barker, Nigel P

Authors: Zardi, Gerardo I , McQuaid, Christopher D , Teske, Peter R , Barker, Nigel P
Date: 2007
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/445564 , vital:74401 , doi:10.3354/meps337135
Description: Genetic structure of sedentary marine organisms with planktonic larvae can be influenced by oceanographic transport, larval behaviour and local selection. We analysed the population genetic structure (based on mtDNA) of the invasive mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis and the indigenous mussel Perna perna along the southern African coastline. Low genetic divergence of M. galloprovincialis confirms its recent arrival in South Africa. In contrast, the genetic structure of P. perna revealed strong divergence on the south-east coast, forming a western and an eastern lineage. The distribution of the 2 lineages is extraordinary. They overlap for ca. 200 km on the south-east coast, and the western lineage includes animals occurring on either side of a 1000 km break in distribution across the Benguela upwelling system. In cluster analyses, animals on the south coast grouped with others 1000s of km to the west, rather than with those only 200 km to the east.
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Using the tutorial system to improve the quality of feedback to students in large class teaching

- Snowball, Jeanette D, Sayigh, Elizabeth

Authors: Snowball, Jeanette D , Sayigh, Elizabeth
Date: 2007
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70848 , vital:29752
Description: In many universities, economics teachers now face the challenge of dealing with large, diverse classes, especially at undergraduate level. A common concern is the non-attendance at lectures of unmotivated (conscript) students. This paper presents the results of a student assessment of a macroeconomics 1 course, coupled with a self-assessment of their own input into the course. The results obtained, using an econometric model, suggest that what students do outside of lectures is equally, or more, important than lecture attendance itself. The paper concludes by examining the possibility of using peer assessed group learning as a feasible way to encourage deep learning in large classes.
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Voltammetric characterisation of the self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of benzyl-and dodecyl-mercapto tetra substituted metallophthalocyanines complexes

- Agboola, Bolade, Westbroek, Philippe, Ozoemena, Kenneth I, Nyokong, Tebello

Authors: Agboola, Bolade , Westbroek, Philippe , Ozoemena, Kenneth I , Nyokong, Tebello
Date: 2007
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/281414 , vital:55723 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elecom.2006.08.047"
Description: Voltammetric characterisations of cobalt, iron, manganese, nickel and zinc phthalocyanine complexes tetra substituted with benzyl- and dodecyl-mercapto ring substituents and immobilisation on gold electrodes via the self-assembling technique are presented. The self-assembled films are stable and showed blocking characteristics towards the following Faradaic processes; gold surface oxidation, under potential deposition of copper and solution redox chemistry of [Fe(H2O)6 3+ ]/[Fe(H2O)6 2+ ]. The solution chemistry of [Fe(CN)6]−3/[Fe(CN)6]−4 redox process was used to study the orientation of the CoPcs-SAMs and this revealed a possible deviation from flat orientation of the complexes on the gold electrodes when the SAM formation times were greater than 24 h. For SAM formation time at 24 and 48 h, CoTDMPc-SAM showed more inhibition of the [Fe(CN)6]−3/[Fe(CN)6]−4 redox process than the CoTBMPc-SAM counterpart, indicating more blocking characteristics of the dodecylmercapto ring substituents compared to the benzylmercapto counterpart. To avoid SAM desorption, the potential application should be limited to −0.2 to +0.8 V vs. Ag∣AgCl (NaCl, sat’d) in acidic and neutral pH.
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Wave exposure effects on population structure and recruitment in the mussel Perna perna suggest regulation primarily through availability of recruits and food, not space

- McQuaid, Christopher D, Lindsay, Tracy L

Authors: McQuaid, Christopher D , Lindsay, Tracy L
Date: 2007
Language: English
Type: Article
Identifier: vital:6968 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012033
Description: Recruitment and population structure of Perna perna in low shore mussel beds were investigated over 15 months at six sites along the south coast of South Africa. Initial, subjective classification of sites as wave exposed or wave sheltered (three of each) was confirmed using the dissolution of cement blocks to measure average water flux and dynamometers for maximum wave force. Recruitment occurred throughout the year, but recruit (1–5 mm) densities were significantly higher from January to April 1996 on both shore types. Recruit densities were positively correlated with adult (>15 mm) densities for both shore types (P < 0.05) but the correlations were extremely weak (r 2 < 0.06 in each case). In areas with 100% cover, adult size (mean and maximum lengths) was greater on exposed sites, but density showed the reverse and was negatively correlated with maximum wave strength (r = −0.84). Despite differences in adult densities and sizes, biomass, which is a product of the two, showed no significant difference between the two shore types (ANOVA P > 0.05). Thus wave exposure dramatically affects density, recruitment and mussel size, but not recruitment timing or biomass where there is 100% cover, and mediates a three-way interaction among food supply, larval supply and intraspecific competition for space. In contrast to shores with saturation recruitment, mussel biomass here appears to be limited by recruit supply and constraints of food, especially on sheltered shores, while density is regulated through intraspecific competition for space primarily on exposed shores and at small spatial scales.
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WET-Roadmap:

- Dada, Rehana, Kotze, Donovan C, Ellery, William F N, Uys, Mary, Breen, Charles, Dini, John, Mitchell, Steve

Authors: Dada, Rehana , Kotze, Donovan C , Ellery, William F N , Uys, Mary , Breen, Charles , Dini, John , Mitchell, Steve
Date: 2007
Language: English
Type: text , book
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/176596 , vital:40093 , ISBN 978-1-77005-632-9 , http://www.wrc.org.za/wp-content/uploads/mdocs/TT 321-07.pdf
Description: The WET-Management Series is a set of integrated tools that can be used to guide well-informed and effective wetland management and rehabilitation. Wetland loss in South Africa has been significant and the need for wetland rehabilitation as part of good wetland stewardship and management is compelling. National policy and legislation provide clear direction and support for rehabilitation, but the very complex links between people and wetlands mean that actions aimed at sustainably rehabilitating and conserving wetlands will depend on the dedication and commitment of all stakeholders, especially landowners and wetland users.
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Wheat stress responses during Russian wheat aphid and Bird Cherry Oat aphid infestation: an analysis of differential protein regulation during plant biotic stress responses

- Louw, Cassandra Alexandrovna

Authors: Louw, Cassandra Alexandrovna
Date: 2007
Subjects: Russian wheat aphid , Plants, Effect of stress on , Wheat -- Diseases and pests , Rhopalosiphum , Plant proteins
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
Identifier: vital:3995 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004055 , Russian wheat aphid , Plants, Effect of stress on , Wheat -- Diseases and pests , Rhopalosiphum , Plant proteins
Description: Plants possess a complex and poorly understood network of defence mechanisms that enable them to counteract the effects of abiotic and biotic stress. Aphid phloem feeding is source of biotic stress in plants. Russian wheat aphid and Bird Cherry-Oat aphid feeding cause significant losses in the annual wheat crop, and control by conventional methods such as pesticide application, has proved to be ineffective. Infestation by the Russian wheat aphid has a particularly devastating effect in South Africa. Aphid-resistant wheat cultivars have been identified but an incomplete understanding of the mechanism of the plant’s resistance thwarts the development of improved cultivars. A two-dimensional gel electrophoresis method was developed, partially optimised and validated in order to determine the effect of Russian wheat aphid and Bird Cherry-Oat aphid phloem feeding on the Betta and Betta DN wheat proteome. Differentially expressed proteins that were up or down regulated more than two fold were identified using PDQuest™ Basic software and matched to known wheat proteins stored in the SwissProt protein database on the basis of their molecular mass and isolectric point. Initial analysis of the differential protein expression of Betta and Betta DN wheat in response to Russian wheat aphid and Bird Cherry-Oat aphid phloem feeding at different growth stages revealed that younger plants display higher levels of resistance than older plants. Feeding by the Bird-Cherry Oat aphid does not result in the upregulation of proteins implicated in a defence response, which indicates that the damage incurred by the plant due to feeding by this aphid is not enough to trigger a classic defence response. Feeding by the more damaging Russian wheat aphid resulted in a stress response in susceptible wheat cultivar Betta, and a defence response in resistant wheat cultivar Betta DN. The infestation of Betta DN resulted in the upregulation of putative thaumatins and amylase trypsin inhibitors, indicating that the Betta DN resistance response could be due to the combined effect of protease inhibitors that discourage aphid phloem feeding and the activation of the salicylic acid and jasmonic acid plant defence pathways.
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Wi-Fi as a last mile access technology and The Tragedy of the Commons

- Brandt, Ingrid, Terzoli, Alfredo, Hodgkinson-Williams, Cheryl

Authors: Brandt, Ingrid , Terzoli, Alfredo , Hodgkinson-Williams, Cheryl
Date: 2007
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/431106 , vital:72744 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6266-7_33
Description: With an alarmingly low teledensity in South Africa, just 12%, and not much hope of further wired infrastructure at the local loop level, as the costs incurred are high compared to potential revenue, wireless con-nectivity could be a great asset and service in South Africa. However, the use of unlicensed spectrum in building wireless networks can be comparable to “The Tragedy of the Commons”, the result of selfish be-haviour towards common and limited resources. This paper evaluates the use of 802.11 wireless technologies in building a broadband wire-less network and the effects of high amounts of interference on such a network. The paper concludes that for urban areas 802.11 technologies using unlicensed spectrum is not advisable, unless used in point-to-point links, while its use in rapid rural development (where there is less interference) is very promising.
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Women living with HIV/AIDS: a phenomenological intergenerational interpretation of their experiences

- Chisaka, Janet Kaemba Chishimba

Authors: Chisaka, Janet Kaemba Chishimba
Date: 2007
Subjects: AIDS (Disease) in women -- South Africa -- Case studies HIV positive women -- South Africa -- Case studies Poor women -- South Africa -- Case studies
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: vital:3307 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003095
Description: This study deals with the impact of HIV/AIDS on women living in chronic poverty. The question arises: Do we focus on their HIV/AIDS stories only or do we include their other lived experiences? This phenomenological study, on two sets of three generations of women infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and living in poverty, is an attempt at understanding the way the women experience their lifeworlds, not only their HIV/AIDS stories. One set includes a grandmother, her daughter who is living with full-blown AIDS, and her granddaughter, while the other includes a grandmother, her daughter and her granddaughter infected with HIV. The initial focus of the study was on the women’s HIV/AIDS narratives. However as the study progressed, especially during the interviews, it became apparent that the women’s generational poverty or chronic poverty was of greater concern to them than the HIV/AIDS that they were experiencing. Of the six participants, only one woman centred her life story on HIV/AIDS. This finding echoes other studies on HIV/AIDS among poor women: that chronic poverty is more threatening to the women than the risk or reality of AIDS. As a phenomenological researcher my aim was to focus on the participants’ own interpretations of the studied phenomenon. However, this was inadequate in accounting for the role that social structures play in shaping and informing the women’s subjective consciousness and experience. For this reason, I used feminist ideas to understand and interpret the women’s patriarchal experiences.
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Writing and performing change: the use of writing journals to promote reflexivity in a Drama Studies curriculum

- Sutherland, Alexandra

Authors: Sutherland, Alexandra
Date: 2007
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/468549 , vital:77089 , https://doi.org/10.1080/10137548.2007.9687857
Description: What is the role of Drama Studies within the university? What is ‘the university’ and what purpose does it serve? Curzon-Hobson (2002: 181) maintains that ‘if one is to claim anything about the essential nature of the roles or values underpinning higher education, it can only be that it has become a site of increasing flux, ambiguity and inconsistency’. The very concept of ‘university’ and ‘academic knowledge’ has radically shifted with the development of postmodern thinking. ‘The notion of authoritative knowledge has been permanently undermined, for a postmoderist perspective suggests that all knowledge claims are local, partial and contextually specific’ (Luckett 2001: 54). Globally, universities are increasingly required to justify their existence, and we are witnessing a move towards ‘performativity’ (Lemmer 1998), as ‘disciplines are called upon to demonstrate their use-value in the global market’ (Barnett 2000b: 257). The South African context is no different. If, as many scholars have argued, the function of higher education has shifted so that the valued product of a university degree is not so much the quality of learning but the qualification gained (Race 1999), what is the place of the transient abstract texts of the discipline of Drama?
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Written medicines information for South African HIV/AIDS patients: does it enhance understanding of co-trimoxazole therapy?

- Mansoor, Leila E, Dowse, Roslind

Authors: Mansoor, Leila E , Dowse, Roslind
Date: 2007
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/156860 , vital:40059 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1093/her/cyl039
Description: Written information to promote patient education is being increasingly recognized as an integral part of quality health care. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of distributing a patient information leaflet (PIL) on knowledge acquisition and recall. Two different PILs were designed for co-trimoxazole tablets: a simple, shorter PIL that incorporated pictograms and text and a text-only PIL that was longer and more complex. Human immunodeficiency virus-positive participants on chronic co-trimoxazole therapy were enrolled from five local primary health care clinics in Grahamstown, South Africa, and were randomly allocated to a Control Group (no PIL), Group A (text-only PIL) or Group B (simple PIL with pictograms).
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Xylem as well as phloem sustains severe damage due to feeding by the Russian wheat aphid

- Saheed, Sefiu A, Liu, Lin, Jonsson, Lisbeth M V, Botha, Christiaan E J

Authors: Saheed, Sefiu A , Liu, Lin , Jonsson, Lisbeth M V , Botha, Christiaan E J
Date: 2007
Language: English
Type: Article
Identifier: vital:6541 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005983
Description: Investigation of comparative effects of feeding damage by the Russian wheat aphid (RWA, biotype SA1, Diuraphis noxia Mordvilko) on leaf blades of susceptible and resistant wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum L. var Betta and Betta-Dn1 respectively) were carried out to establish the level of ultrastructural damage caused by this aphid and the possible limitation of damage induced which could be ascribed to the resistance gene Dn1 over the susceptible cultivar. Ultrastructurally, Betta-Dn1 sustained less damage to the vascular tissue as well as to the mesophyll during the experimental period. Both inter- and intracellular probes resulted in considerable saliva deposition as the aphids probed for suitable feeding sites. Salivary tracks were observed between and within mesophyll, bundle sheath cells as well as the vascular tissue, including the xylem. Disruption of organelles and cytoplasm resulted from cell probing and sheath deposition. Cell and organelle damage was more evident in the non-resistant Betta cultivar. The aphids probed for and fed from thin-walled sieve tubes preferentially. Few thick-walled sieve tubes showed evidence of either aphid probing or feeding-related damage. Saliva was deposited when the aphids probed inter- and intracellularly for feeding sites. The aphids appeared preferentially to probe for and feed from thin-walled sieve tubes, as few thick-walled sieve tubes showed evidence of damage. Vessels, apparently probed for water, contained watery saliva that encased the secondary walls and sealed pit membranes between probed vessels and xylem parenchyma. The xylem probed by the RWA was rendered non-functional, probably contributing to symptoms of leaf roll, chlorosis and necrosis, which were observed within two weeks of infestation in the susceptible Betta cultivar. This damage was limited in the resistant Betta-Dn1 cultivar during the same time frame.
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Zebra fingerprints: towards a computer-aided identification system for individual zebra

- Foster, Gregory G, Krijer, Hans, Bangay, Shaun D

Authors: Foster, Gregory G , Krijer, Hans , Bangay, Shaun D
Date: 2007
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433482 , vital:72973 , https://doi.org/10.1145/1108590.1108616
Description: The article presents a study which investigates the development of a computer-aided system for individual zebra identification based on the lateral side stripe pattern. The model proposed for individual animal identification is based on a combination of image processing and fingerprint identification technology. About 20 minutes of zebra footage was filmed at the Amakhala Game Reserve in South Africa. The study indicates that there is sufficient variation in lateral stripe patterns to differentiate individual animals.
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