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Investigation of the effect of short duration breaks in delaying the onset of performance related fatigue during long distance monotonous driving at different times of the day

  • Authors: Ndaki, Ntombikayise
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: Fatigue -- Physiological aspects , Drowsiness -- Physiological aspects , Automobile driving -- Physiological aspects , Traffic safety -- South Africa , Automobile driving -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: vital:5170 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016353
  • Description: Road traffic accidents are a serious burden to the health systems of many countries especially in South Africa. Research aimed at reducing traffic related accidents is of importance as traffic crashes are rated as the second leading cause of fatalities in South Africa and ninth in the world. Despite the extensive efforts into research and development of new technology, driver fatigue still remains a cause of vehicle accidents worldwide. Fatigue plays a role in up to 20% of vehicle accidents with many being serious or fatal. Numerous coping behaviours are employed by drivers to counteract the negative effects of fatigue. The most common coping behaviours include taking short naps, talking to passengers, listening to the radio, opening windows and drinking stimulants. Driving breaks have long been identified as an effective countermeasure against fatigue. Most research done in driving breaks has investigated the duration of the breaks, activity undertaken during the break and the frequency of the breaks taken outside the vehicle. However limited literature is available on the effectiveness of breaks in counteracting the effects of fatigue. The objective of the current study was aimed at assessing whether short duration breaks are an effective countermeasure against fatigue. Physiological, neurophysiological, subjective and performance measures were used as indicators for fatigue. Additional focus of the research was determining whether breaks were more or less effective at counteracting the effects of fatigue at different times of day. Twelve participants were recruited for the study, six males and six females. The participants were required to perform a driving task on a simulator for 90 minutes. The study consisted of four independent conditions, namely driving during the day with breaks, driving during the day without breaks, driving during the night with breaks and driving during the night without breaks. The without breaks conditions were similar except that they occurred at different times of the day, one session at night and the other session during day time, as was the case for the conditions with breaks. The driving task used in the current study was a low fidelity simulator tracking task. The participants were required to follow a centre line displayed on a tracking path as accurately as possible. The measurements that were recorded in this study included physiological, performance, subjective and neurophysiological. Physiological measures included heart rate and heart rate variability (frequency domain) and core body temperature. The ascending threshold of the critical flicker fusion frequency was the only neurophysiological measurement included in the current investigation. Performance was quantified by mean deviation from a centre line participants were meant to track. Two rating scales were used: Karolinska sleepiness scale and the Wits sleepiness scale were used for the measurement of subjective sleepiness. Heart rate, heart rate variability and mean deviation were measured continuously throughout the 90 minute driving task. Critical flicker fusion frequency, temperature and the subjective scales were measured before and after the 90 minute driving task. The results indicated that the short duration breaks during day time had a positive effect on driving performance; however the breaks at night had a negative effect on driving performance. Heart rate was higher during the day compared to night time and the heart rate variability high frequency spectrum values were lower during the day condition, to show the activation of the sympathetic nervous system which is characteristic of day time. The night conditions had lower heart rate values and higher heart rate variability high frequency values, which show the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system which is dominant during periods of fatigue and night time. Subjective sleepiness levels were also higher at night compared to day time.
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Is there no urban forestry in the developing world?

  • Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/181060 , vital:43695 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.5897/SRE11.1117"
  • Description: Urban forestry and greening offer a multitude of benefits to the inhabitants of towns and cities. However, the nature and magnitude of these frequently depend upon the context. Yet, at first glance, the developing world context around urban forestry debates seems to be poorly represented in the international peer-reviewed literature. This is examined in this paper, followed by a brief outline of ten key research areas for urban forestry in the developing world. A survey of the peer-reviewed literature confirms that almost 80% of articles come from the developed world context. This correlates with the greater availability of research finance and personnel from developed regions. However, there are urban forestry questions and issues that require examination in the developing world because they cannot simply be transferred from knowledge gleaned from and tested in a developed world context. Ten of these are briefly outlined as a catalyst towards greater attention to urban forestry in the developing world and their contributions to global debates and models.
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Isolation, structural characterisation and evaluation of cytotoxic activity of natural products from selected South African marine red algae

  • Authors: Knott, Michael George
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: Marine algae -- South Africa , Red algae -- South Africa , Pharmaceutical chemistry
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: vital:3862 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015460
  • Description: The medicinal chemistry of selected marine algae indigenous to South Africa was investigated. Following the isolation and characterisation of a number of new and known compounds, the associated in vitro cytotoxic profiles of these new compounds was investigated. Plocamium maxillosum yielded two new cyclic polyhalogenated monoterpenes which were characterised as 2E-chloromethine-4E-chlorovinyl-4-methyl-5-cyclohexen-1-one (2.1) and 2Z-chloromethine-4E-chlorovinyl-4-methyl-5-cyclohexen-1-one (2.2) on the basis of one and two dimensional NMR spectroscopic data and MS analysis. These compounds were also found to have good cytotoxic activity against breast cancer cell lines. Although these compounds are based on a regular monoterpene skeleton, they represent an uncommon feature not often seen in cyclic halogenated monoterpenes from marine algae. Plocamium robertiae yielded one new cyclic polyhalogenated monoterpene identified as 4,5- dibromo-5-chloromethyl-1-chlorovinyl-2-chloro-methylcyclohexane (2.6) and one known compound called 2,4-dichloro-1-chlorovinyl-1-methylcyclohexane-5-ene or Plocamene D (2.9). Portieria hornemannii was collected from Port Edward in Natal and yielded three new compounds, namely; 3Z-1,6-dibromo-3-(bromomethylidene)-2,7-dichloro-7-methyloctane (3.1), 1E,3Z-1,6-dibromo-3-(bromomethylidene)-7-chloro-7-methyloct-1-ene (3.2), 1Z,3Z- 1,6-dibromo-3-(bromomethylidene)-7-chloro-7-methyloct-1-ene (3.3), and one known compound, namely; 3S,6R-6-bromo-3-(bromomethyl)-3,7-dichloro-7-methyloct-1-ene (3.4). Compounds 3.1 and 3.2 showed no cytotoxic activity against breast cancer cells. Another Portieria hornemannii sample was collected from Noordhoek in the Eastern Cape, it yielded one known compound referred to as 3Z-6-bromo-3-(bromomethylidene)-2,7- dichloro-7-methyloct-1-ene (3.5), as well as one new compound called portieric acid A (3.6) or 5-bromo-2-(bromomethylidene)-6-chloro-6-methylheptanoic acid. Portieric acid A showed slight cytotoxic activity and also represents a new class of compound within the genus Portieria. The isolation of secondary metabolites from the South African red alga, Laurencia glomerata, yielded two known compounds; 7-hydroxylaurene (4.9) and cis-neolaurencenyne (4.12), as well as one chamigrane related compound (4.11). Laurencia flexuosa yielded one known compound called 3Z-bromofucin (4.13). Using 1H NMR, GC and molecular systematics, a novel method for identifying different species of Laurencia was also investigated.
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Issues and challenges facing school libraries: a case study of selected primary schools in Gauteng Province, South Africa

  • Authors: Paton-Ash, Margaret Sanderson
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: School libraries -- South Africa -- Gauteng Libraries and state -- South Africa -- Gauteng Libraries and schools -- South Africa -- Gauteng Library planning -- South Africa -- Gauteng Libraries and education -- South Africa -- Gauteng
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
  • Identifier: vital:1660 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003543
  • Description: Fewer than 8% of schools in South Africa have functioning libraries. There is no national policy for school libraries which compels School Governing Bodies and principals to have a library in their schools. This qualitative study, based on grounded theory, investigated ten primary schools in Gauteng that had libraries, or were in the process of setting up a library with the intention of providing a rich description of the issues and challenges facing these schools. The schools were chosen on the basis of location (Soweto and Johannesburg), and the school fees that were paid in a continuum from low/no fee paying schools to the fee paying ex Model-C schools. The resourcing of the school library, the operation of the school library and the role of the library were examined. The findings highlight the lack of a national policy, of school library posts, the theft of computers as a result of the lack of security, as well as the lack of understanding by teachers of the role the library in teaching and learning. Furthermore, there appears to be a disjuncture between the trends evident in the international literature on school libraries and what is actually happening in the primary school libraries in my study. Most significantly low/no fee paying schools with libraries were the exception and those that did have libraries were as a result of the enthusiasm and efforts of one or two individuals with the backing of the principal. Ex-Model C schools had the advantage in terms of the provision and staffing of school libraries as they had the funds to support them and, in some cases, a school librarian, provided that the principal supported the idea of a school library. In all the schools, the belief in the importance of the library regarding reading and literacy was the main motivating factor in establishing or maintaining the school library. A growing public awareness of the value of school libraries was an encouraging trend that emerged from my study.
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Juta and Co Ltd and the South African Law Journal: a milestone

  • Authors: Glover, Graham B
  • Date: 2012
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70539 , vital:29673 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC54018
  • Description: It might be said that the relationship between a journal and its publisher is something like an arranged marriage: it is cultural rather than romantic, and it is more of a business deal carefully considered by those in charge of both sets of parties with quiet aspirations of a solid future than about the passion and emotion of the wedding. There is much that is controversial about the social construct of an arranged marriage, but the relationship between the South African Law Journal (SALJ) and Juta and Company Ltd (to be referred to hereafter by its more common sobriquet in the legal profession: 'Juta') does seem to give credence to one of the most popular psychologies about the institution: that very often the relationship, a little uncertain at the start, grows stronger and more secure over time. The year 2011 marked the centenary of the publication of the SALJ by Juta: an exceptional anniversary. This is not a time to review the history of the relationship between Juta, the SALJ, and its various editors. This task has been carried out several times by Ellison Kahn in his inimitable style (see 'Fifty years of the Journal under Union' (1960) 77 SALJ 162; 'The birth and life of the South African Law Journal' (1983) 100 SALJ 594; 'Foreword' to Patricia Cobbledick and Mervyn Dendy The South African Law Journal Cumulative Index 1973-1997 (1997); 'Farewell! Fifty years' hard work comes to an end' (1999) 116 SALJ 691; 'Speech at the Juta Dinner at the South African Law Journal Jubilee Conference' (2004) 121 SALJ 271). But a short commemorative tribute seems apt to commemorate the liaison between the two parties.
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Language and social services in rural North West the status of Setswana

Large pollen loads of a South African asclepiad do not interfere with the foraging behaviour or efficiency of pollinating honey bees

  • Authors: Coombs, Gareth , Dold, Anthony P , Brassine, Eleanor I , Peter, Craig I
  • Date: 2012
  • Language: English
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: vital:6509 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005936
  • Description: The pollen of asclepiads (Asclepiadoideae, Apocynaceae) and most orchids (Orchidaceae) are packaged as large aggregations known as pollinaria that are removed as entire units by pollinators. In some instances, individual pollinators may accumulate large loads of these pollinaria. We found that the primary pollinator of Cynanchum ellipticum (Apocynaceae-Asclepiadoideae), the honey bee Apis mellifera, accumulate very large agglomerations of pollinaria on their mouthparts when foraging on this species. We tested whether large pollinarium loads negatively affected the foraging behaviour and foraging efficiency of honey bees by slowing foraging speeds or causing honey bees to visit fewer flowers, and found no evidence to suggest that large pollinarium loads altered foraging behaviour. C. ellipticum displayed consistently high levels of pollination success and pollen transfer efficiency (PTE). This may be a consequence of efficiently loading large numbers of pollinaria onto pollinators even when primary points of attachment on pollinators are already occupied and doing so in a manner that does not impact the foraging behaviour of pollinating insects.
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Layer by Layer Electrode Surface Functionalisation Using Carbon Nanotubes, Electrochemical Grafting of Azide‐Alkyne Functions and Click Chemistry

  • Authors: Coates, Megan , Griveau, Sophie , Bedioui, Fethi , Nyokong, Tebello
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/243509 , vital:51159 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1002/elan.201200240"
  • Description: Ferrocene was covalently bonded to a layer of adsorbed single-walled carbon nanotubes on a glassy carbon electrode surface using electrochemical grafting and click chemistry. Grafting of the 4-azidobenzenediazonium salt onto the surface was accomplished by electrochemical reduction. The surface-bound azide groups, with the use of a copper(I) catalyst, were reacted with ethynylferrocene to form covalent 1,2,3-triazole bonds by click chemistry. This layer by layer construction of the electrode surface results in stable electrodes by combining good electrical conductivity and increased surface area of the nanotubes with the versatility of the Sharpless click reaction.
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Leopard population density, home range size and movement patterns in a mixed landuse area of the Mangwe District of Zimbabwe

  • Authors: Grant, Tanith-Leigh
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: Leopard -- Monitoring -- Zimbabwe , Leopard -- Conservation -- Zimbabwe , Wildlife monitoring -- Zimbabwe , Wildlife conservation -- Zimbabwe
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: vital:5726 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005412 , Leopard -- Monitoring -- Zimbabwe , Leopard -- Conservation -- Zimbabwe , Wildlife monitoring -- Zimbabwe , Wildlife conservation -- Zimbabwe
  • Description: Trophy hunting is often employed as a conservation management tool for large predators. However, in order for this method to succeed, hunting levels must be sustainable. Very little robust population data exist for African leopards (Panthera pardus) in general, and almost no density or spatial ecology data exist for leopards in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has one of the highest annual CITES leopard trophy hunting quotas in Africa, the sustainability of which has not been assessed, despite large scale landuse changes over the last 12 years. The focal area of this study was within the Mangwe district, in the south-west of Zimbabwe. The region is dominated by cattle and wildlife ranches, with high levels of leopard hunting, making it an important area for assessing leopard population density and spatial ecology. Three population density estimation methods were employed in my study: a spoor index survey, an unbaited camera-trapping survey and a baited camera-trapping survey. Using three calibration equations, spoor indices appeared to underestimate the leopard population (1.28-3.29 leopards/ 100 km²) as the equations were calibrated for areas with different habitats and leopard densities. In addition, the unbaited camera survey only produced six leopard photographs, unsuitable for individual identification and analysis. By contrast, the baited camera survey produced 292 identifiable leopard photographs, from which 13 individuals were identified. Density estimates calculated using the programme CAPTURE and the M[subscript]h model with the Mean Maximum Distance Moved Outside of Study Area (MMDMOSA) buffer method (4.79±0.83 leopards/100 km²), and the programme SPACECAP, using a buffer of 2.5 km (5.12±0.62 leopards/100 km²), appeared to generate the most reliable leopard population estimates. To assess the spatial ecology, three leopards (one male, two females) were captured and fitted with GPS collars. The home range estimates of the three leopards (95% Kernel UD: male 263 km², females 31 and 45 km²) were smaller than those of leopards in more arid regions, but larger than those of mesic habitats. This suggests that the Mangwe area has a higher quality habitat than the arid regions of Namibia, but less suitable habitat than protected bushveld areas (e.g. Kruger National Park, South Africa). My data represents the first robust leopard density and home range assessment for Zimbabwe. In addition, my results indicate that the current hunting quota issued to the Mangwe area is unsustainable. Consequently, I recommend revising the quota to five leopards for the entire area, and halving the current national leopard quota to 250, until a national leopard census is completed.
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Life history strategy and population characteristics of an unexploited riverine cyprinid, Labeo capensis, in the largest impoundment in the Orange River Basin

  • Authors: Winker, A Henning , Weyl, Olaf L F , Booth, Anthony J , Ellender, Bruce R
  • Date: 2012
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124910 , vital:35709 , https://doi.10.3377/004.047.0124
  • Description: Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) is one of the world’s most widely introduced and established freshwater fishes (Casal 2006). The species is considered to be one of the eight most invasive freshwater fishes (Lowe et al. 2000) and worldwide, it accounts for most of the records of successful establishments and adverse ecological effects (Casal 2006; Kulhanek et al. 2011). This invasive success suggests that feral C. carpio is equipped with a set of adaptable life history attributes that allow it to successfully colonise a wide range of habitats (Koehn 2004; Zambrano et al. 2006; Britton et al. 2007). Where feral C. carpio occurs in high densities, it is often perceived as an invasive pest species (Sivakumaran et al. 2003; Brown and Walker 2004; Koehn 2004) because it can have severe impacts on habitat heterogeneity and biodiversity by increasing water turbidity through its bottom feeding behaviour, increasing nutrient availability, decreasing benthic and macrophyte density and diversity, altering zooplankton assemblages and decreasing endemic fish abundance (Zambrano et al. 2001; Khan 2003; Kulhanek et al. 2011). Within south-east Australia, for example, C. carpio comprises the largest proportion of the ichthyobiomass in the continent’s largest river system – the Murray–Darling Basin (Gehrke et al. 1995). As a consequence, serious concerns about its threat to endemic freshwater species (Koehn 2004) have prompted several of the most recent investigations into its life history (e.g. Sivakumaran et al. 2003; Smith and Walker 2004; Brown et al. 2005). Other potential threats posed also include competition with indigenous species and the spread of diseases and parasites (Dudgeon et al. 2006). In South Africa, for example, Asian tapeworm Bothriocephalus acheilognathi is now widely distributed in seven river systems and has infected eight novel cyprinid hosts due to the translocation of infected by C. carpio from a centralized aquaculture facility (Stadtlander et al. 2011).
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Life-history and stock assessment of Clarias Gariepinus in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

  • Authors: Bokhutlo, Thethela
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: Catfishes -- Botswana -- Okavango River Delta , Clarias gariepinus , Aquaculture -- Botswana -- Okavango River Delta
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: vital:5297 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005142 , Catfishes -- Botswana -- Okavango River Delta , Clarias gariepinus , Aquaculture -- Botswana -- Okavango River Delta
  • Description: Large catfishes (Clarias gariepinus & Clarias ngamensis) are not exploited commercially in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. They however constitute a large proportion of the gill net fishery catch (23 %) albeit as by-catch, coming second after cichlids (70 %). Monthly experimetal gill net sampling over 8 years showed that C. gariepinus was the most abundant species in the Okavango Delta by mass making up 37 % of the catch composition by fresh weight. Despite the relatively high abundance of C. gariepinus in the Okavango Delta, its status has never been fully assessed. For this reason, this study aimed to assess the status of C. gariepinus in the Okavango Delta with the particular goal to determine if the species could support a directed commercial gill net fishery. Investigation of the effects of the flood pulse on abundance of C. gariepinus showed that variability in water levels was the major driver of population abundance for this species. Three biological variables: (1) catch per unit effort (CPUE); (2) % catch composition and (3) Shannon's diversity index (H') exhibited a negative and significant relationship with the flood index within a year. The variation in these variables was statistically significant between months. There was a weak positive relationship between water levels and the biological variables between years suggesting increase in productivity of the system at high water levels without a lag period. Age and growth were determined using sectioned otoliths. Edge analysis showed that growth zone deposition occurred during the drawdown period in summer when water temperature and day length were increasing. The maximum recorded age was 15 years. Growth of this species was best described by the linear models (y = 21.50x + 427.39 mm LT; r² = 0.35) for females and (y = 23.79x + 440.83 mm LT; r² = 0.38) for males. The von Bertalanffy growth model described growth as Lt = 10000(1- exp(-0.002(t + 18.07))) mm LT for combined sexes Lt = 10000(1- exp( -0.002(t + 18.50))) mm LT , for females and Lt =908(1-exp(-0.076(t+7.95)))mmLT for males. Age at 50 % maturity was attained in the first year of life. Spawning occurred throughout the year with an apparent peak between November and April. The mean total annual mortality rate (Z) was 0.25 per year. The mean annual natural mortality rate (M) was 0.20 per year and fishing mortality (F) was calculated at 0.05 per year. The life history strategy of C. gariepinus was in between the periodic and opportunistic strategies. Therefore management of this species should be aimed at maintaining a healthy adult population and age structure. Since a large portion of the Okavango Delta is already protected and most other parts are also inaccessible to fishers there are enough spatial refugia for the species and the status quo should be maintained. Under this scenario, there is no need for regulation of the current mesh sizes because the species is harvested after maturity and replenishment of exploited populations will always occur from other parts of the system. Per recruit analyses indicate that the current fishing mortality maintains spawner biomass at levels greater than 90 % of pristine levels. Therefore a commercial fishery may be established using mesh 93 mm to maximize yield with a rotational harvesting strategy. Close monitoring is essential to ensure that re-colonization of overexploited habitats does indeed occur. Recreational angling and commercial gill net fishing need to be separated on a spatial and temporal scale during the feeding run to minimize potential conflicts.
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Life-history characteristics of an age-validated established invasive African sharptooth catfish, Clarias gariepinus, population in a warm–temperate African impoundment

  • Authors: Wartenberg, Reece , Weyl, Olaf L F , Booth, Anthony J , Winker, A Henning
  • Date: 2012
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124921 , vital:35710 , https://doi.10.3377/004.048.0225
  • Description: African sharptooth catfish Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822) is a widely distributed fish that has now invaded water bodies in South America, Eastern Europe, Asia and South Africa (Cambray 2003). In South Africa it is native as far south as the Orange-Vaal river system, but inter-basin water transfer schemes (IBWTs), illegal stocking by anglers and from aquaculture has resulted in the establishment of extralimital populations in almost all river systems (van Rensburg et al. 2011). Within the Eastern Cape Province, C. gariepinus has invaded the Great Fish and Sundays rivers through IBWTs, that connect the Orange River to the Great Fish River and then to the Sundays River system which flows directly into Darlington Dam (Kadye & Booth 2013a) (Fig. 1). Soon after the completion of the IBWTs sharptooth catfish were recorded in Grassridge Dam in 1976 (Laurenson & Hocutt 1985), and later from Darlington Dam in 1981 (Scott et al. 2006). Although Cambray & Jubb (1977) are of the opinion that the species was translocated prior to the IBWT connection, there is now a permanent corridor between the Orange River and its receiving river systems that can facilitate the continued introduction of non-native Orange River fishes and other aquatic biota.
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Like a bolt from the blue : phthalocyanines in biomedical optics

  • Authors: Sekkat, N , Van den Berg, H , Nyokong, Tebello , Lange, N
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: Biomedical optics Fluorescence diagnosis Phthalocyanines NIR dyes Photodynamic therapy
  • Language: English
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: vital:6597 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004346 , http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/molecules17010098
  • Description: The purpose of this review is to compile preclinical and clinical results on phthalocyanines (Pcs) as photosensitizers (PS) for Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) and contrast agents for fluorescence imaging. Indeed, Pcs are excellent candidates in these fields due to their strong absorbance in the NIR region and high chemical and photo-stability. In particular, this is mostly relevant for their in vivo activation in deeper tissular regions. However, most Pcs present two major limitations, i.e., a strong tendency to aggregate and a low water-solubility. In order to overcome these issues, both chemical tuning and pharmaceutical formulation combined with tumor targeting strategies were applied. These aspects will be developed in this review for the most extensively studied Pcs during the last 25 years, i.e., aluminium-, zinc- and silicon-based Pcs.
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Linking poverty, HIV/AIDS and climate change to human and ecosystem vulnerability in southern Africa: Consequences for livelihoods and sustainable ecosystem management

  • Authors: Shackleton, Sheona E , Shackleton, Charlie M
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/181081 , vital:43697 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2011.641039"
  • Description: People in southern Africa are facing escalating levels of risk, uncertainty and consequently vulnerability as a result of multiple interacting stressors, including HIV/AIDS, poverty, food insecurity, weak governance, climate change and land degradation, to name but a few. Vulnerability or livelihood insecurity emerges when poor people as individuals or social units have to face harmful threats or shocks with inadequate capacity to respond effectively. In such situations, people often have no choice but to turn to their immediate environment for support. Evidence suggests that rising levels of human vulnerability are driving increased dependency on biodiversity and ecosystem services, which in turn, and along with other threats, is rendering ecosystems more vulnerable. This paper explores the dynamic and complex linkages and feedbacks between human vulnerability and ecosystem vulnerability, drawing on data from the southern African region. Human vulnerability is conceptualized as a threat to ecosystem health, as driven by the interplay between a number of current and emerging factors. We focus on poverty, HIV/AIDS and more intense climate extremes as examples of stressors on livelihoods and direct and indirect drivers of ecosystem change. We discuss how some of the responses to increased vulnerability may pose threats to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem management and sustainable development, whilst considering potential solutions that rely on a thorough understanding of coupled social–ecological systems and the interplay between multiple stressors and responses at different scales.
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Literacy, orality and recontextualization in the parliament of the Republic of South Africa : an ethnographic study

  • Authors: Siebörger, Ian
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: South Africa. Parliament (1994- ) -- Language , Bill drafting -- South Africa , South Africa -- Languages -- Political aspects , Sociolinguistics -- South Africa , Language and languages -- Variation , Linguistic analysis (Linguistics) , Functionalism (Linguistics) , Systemic grammar
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:2384 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016140
  • Description: In parliaments, the tasks of drafting legislation and conducting oversight are accomplished by means of complex chains of spoken, written and multimodal texts. In these genre chains, information is recontextualized from one text to another before being debated in sittings of the houses of parliament. This study employs the point of view afforded by linguistic ethnography to investigate critically the ways in which meanings are recontextualized in one section of such a genre chain, namely the process by which committees of South Africa's National Assembly oversee the budgets of government departments and state-owned entities. It does this to identify possible sources of communication difficulties in this process and suggest ways in which these can be minimized. In so doing, it develops a theoretical model of the discursive effects of recontextualization informed by Latour's (1987) notion of black-boxing as well as Maton's (2011) Legitimation Code Theory. This model uses Interactional Sociolinguistics and elements of Systemic Functional Linguistics, including APPRAISAL and Transitivity as tools to describe the realization of these effects in language. This study finds that ideational and interpersonal meanings are condensed and decondensed at particular points in the genre chain in ways that lead to some MPs’ voices being recontextualized more accurately than others’. It also shows that common sources of communication difficulties in the committee process include differences in political background and understandings of committee procedure and participant roles. It recommends that representatives of departments and entities reporting to the committees should receive a fuller prebriefing on their roles; that MPs should receive training on asking clear, focused questions; and that the role of committee secretaries as procedural advisors should be strengthened.
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Living lab methodology as an approach to innovation in ICT4D: The Siyakhula Living Lab experience

  • Authors: Gumbo, Sibukelo , Thinyane, Hannah , Thinyane, Mamello , Terzoli, Alfredo , Hansen, Susan
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/431302 , vital:72762 , https://www.siyakhulall.com/sites/default/files/ISTAfrica_Paper_ref_18_doc_4809_0.pdf
  • Description: Underdevelopment and poverty represent key challenges faced by the modern world, which have attracted the attention of NGOs, civil society, government and multinationals. Various undertakings including the United Nations Millennium Development Goals articulation and the World Summit on Information Society highlight the global commitment towards addressing these problems. The solutions to these problems should be derived out of well-structured innovation systems that take into consideration the grassroot context and concerns. A number of in-novation models have been formulated and utilized effectively in differ-ent industries, and some of these have equally been used effectively in community development contexts. This paper elaborates on the Living Lab methodology and its application in ICT4D contexts, highlighting the effectiveness of this model towards integrating end-users within their problem solving effort. This is discussed through the backdrop of the Siyakhula Living Lab, an ICT4D intervention. The embedding environ-ment for this model, which enables key synergies with other stakehold-ers, is also discussed.
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Local government reform in Western Australia: a case study on change readiness

  • Authors: Van Heerden, Vicky
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: Local government -- Australia -- Nedlands (W.A.) Local government -- Australia -- Subiaco (W.A.) Organizational change -- Australia -- Nedlands (W.A.) Local officials and employees -- Australia -- Nedlands (W.A.) Industrial relations -- Australia -- Nedlands (W.A.) Industrial management -- Australia -- Nedlands (W.A.) Corporate culture -- Australia -- Nedlands (W.A.)
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
  • Identifier: vital:776 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003897
  • Description: The Western Australian State Government’s local government reform programme, initiated in February 2009, provides the context for this research. Nedlands, a local government in Perth’s western suburbs, resolved to participate in this reform programme and signed a Regional Transition Group Agreement with Subiaco local government in August 2010. The purpose of the Regional Transition Group was to prepare a business plan to investigate the potential benefits and viability of a Nedlands and Subiaco amalgamation. Whilst the local government of Nedlands is currently investigating the more operational and technical aspects of local government reform in the merger feasibility study, this research focused on employee readiness, more intangible but no less important. The difficulties of achieving success with organisational change initiatives are well documented. A number of models of planned organisational change have been developed to address these difficulties and support successful change and are outlined. This research highlights the value of the first phase of planned change, namely readiness for change, where organizational members are prepared for and become supporters of change. It also highlights the importance of change communication with respect to developing employee readiness. Definitions and some of the dimensions of ‘readiness for change’ are outlined. The five dimensions of readiness for change - discrepancy, appropriateness, principal support, efficacy and valence - provide the ‘lens’ through which readiness for change at Nedlands is explored. From this perspective, the documentation communicating local government reform at Nedlands was analysed. These dimensions were also used to ascertain, from the perspective of the Nedlands' managers, their level of readiness and the readiness of the employees of Nedlands for local government reform. The findings suggest that Nedlands local government has not consciously planned to ‘ready’ employees for local government reform. A number of management recommendations are made to strengthen the change readiness message communicated by the Nedlands local government and to support the development of the Nedlands employees’ readiness for change.
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Long-term catch and effort trends in Eastern Cape Angling Week competitions

  • Authors: Dicken, Matthew L , Smale, Malcolm J , Booth, Anthony J
  • Date: 2012
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124931 , vital:35711 , https://doi.org/10.2989/1814232X.2012.709961
  • Description: Recreational shore-based angling is one of the most popular sport and outdoor activity pastimes in South Africa with an estimated 412 000 fishers (McGrath et al. 1997). It is a form of linefishing where fish are caught using a hook and line and comprises a social as well as a more formal organized competitive sector (van der Elst 1989). Similar to other components of the linefishery, which include the subsistence as well as boat-based commercial sectors, excessive shore-fishing effort along the Eastern Cape has resulted not only in declining catches (Bennett 1991, Griffiths 1997, Brouwer and Buxton 2002, Pradervand and Govender 2003) but also changes in the species composition of catches (Bennett et al. 1994, Brouwer et al. 1997, Attwood and Farquhar 1999). Stock assessments indicate that many important linefish species are severely overexploited (Griffiths 1997, Hutchings 2000, Mann 2000) and that continued fishing pressure threatens endemic linefish populations. In 1996, shore-anglers alone were responsible for an annual catch of approximately 4.5 million fish, weighing around 3 000 tonnes (Brouwer et al. 1997).
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Lost in translation: Transformation in the first round of institutional audits

  • Authors: McKenna, Sioux , Quinn, Lynn
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/187384 , vital:44627 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC132752"
  • Description: The South African higher education institutional audit process was introduced alongside similar endeavors internationally. However, despite many similarities, each country foregrounds different concerns within their higher education quality processes. In their seminal article, Harvey and Green suggest five possible notions of quality, one of which is quality as transformation, and in South Africa the message has been clearly stated: notions of quality are intricately related to transformation. Local research has however suggested that the notion of 'transformation' as quality takes on particular nuances within the country’s context. In the two institutional case studies presented here, the 'quality as transformation' discourse appears to have been largely lost in translation. In one university transformation was not called upon to construct notions of quality; quality was primarily constructed by a discourse of excellence. In the other institution, the transformation aspects of quality seem to have been interpreted in a particularly reductionist way as relating solely to racial demographics. In both cases, this article argues that the 'quality as transformation' discourse prevalent in the audit documentation in the South African context was lost somewhere between the intentions embodied in national documents and the processes embarked upon by institutions.
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Love Interrupted (Short story anthology)

  • Authors: Malatji, Reneilwe
  • Date: 2012
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:21016 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6004
  • Description: This collection of stories focuses on struggles between black South African men and women. Several of the stories explore how the rise of the affluent and powerful black woman is redefining relationships. Other stories in the collection describe women who do not know how to free themselves from their subservient role, or do not want to. Issues of interracial relations between blacks and whites in contemporary South Africa also feature in most of the stories.
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