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Pre-concentration of toxic metals using electrospun amino-functionalized nylon-6 nanofibre sorbent

  • Authors: Darko, G , Sobola, A , Adewuyi, Sheriff , Okonkwo, J O , Torto, N
  • Date: 2012
  • Language: English
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: vital:6571 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004134
  • Description: This paper presents a new approach for pre-concentrating toxic metals (As, Cd, Ni and Pb) in aqueous environments using an amino-functionalized electrospun nanofibre sorbent. The sorbent, composed of nanofibres of average diameter 80 ± 10 nm and specific surface area of 58m2 g–1, exhibited fast adsorption kinetics (<20 min) for As, Cd, Ni and Pb. The optimalpHfor the uptake of As, Cd, Ni and Pb were 5.5, 6.0, 6.5 and 11, respectively. The adsorption process best fitted the Freundlich isothermand followed the first-order kinetics. The highest pre-concentration achieved using the sorbent was 41.99 (Ni in treated wastewater). The capacity of the sorbent to pre-concentrate the toxic metals was compared with those of aqua regia and HNO3+H2O2 digestions. The pre-concentration factors achieved for Cd in river water samples can be ranked as aqua regia digestion (0.73) > adsorption (0.34)>HNO3+H2O2 (0.23) digestion.Asimilar trend was observed for Ni in river water as well as Ni andCdin tap water samples. Pb ions in the river water samples were pre-concentrated slightly better using the two digestion methods pre-concentration factors ~22) compared to adsorption method (pre-concentration factor ~21). The use of the electrospun amino-functionalized nanofibre sorbent presentsanefficientand cost-effective alternative for pre-concentration of toxic metals inaqueousenvironments.
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Prediction of water temperature metrics using spatial modelling in the Eastern and Western Cape, South Africa

  • Authors: Rivers-Moore, N A , Mantel, S , Dallas, H F
  • Date: 2012
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Article
  • Identifier: vital:7071 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003947 , http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?pid=S1816-79502012000200002&script=sci_arttext
  • Description: Key aspects of a river's temperature regime are described by magnitudes, timing and durations of thermal events, and frequencies of extreme exceedance events. To understand alterations to thermal regimes, it is necessary to describe thermal time series based on these statistics. Classification of sites based on their thermal metrics, and understanding of spatial patterns of these thermal statistics, provides a powerful approach for comparing study sites against reference sites. Water temperature regime dynamics should be viewed regionally, where regional divisions have an inherent underpinning by an understanding of natural thermal variability. The aim of this research was to link key water temperature metrics to readily-mapped environmental surrogates, and to produce spatial images of temperature metrics: 37 temperature metrics were derived for 12 months of sub-daily water temperatures at 90 sites in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces, South Africa. These metrics were correlated with 16 environmental variables. Correlations enabled development of multiple regression models which facilitated mapping of temperature metrics over the study area. This approach has the potential to be applied at a national scale as more thermal time series are collected nationally. It is argued that the appropriateness of management decisions in rivers can be improved by including guidelines for thermal metrics at a regional scale. Such maps could facilitate incorporation of a temperature component into management guidelines for water resources.
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Professional women balancing work and motherhood : a study of coping strategies used in balancing this dual role

  • Authors: Gunton, Andrea
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: Working mothers -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Work and family -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Role conflict Stress (Psychology) Working mothers -- Psychology
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
  • Identifier: vital:3143 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007242
  • Description: The aim of this qualitative research study is to develop insights into the dynamics involved in work- family conflict, balance and coping strategies. The study explores the experiences of seven professional women, who are also mothers, employed in professional work positions in Grahamstown. The research is interpretive in nature as it aims to explore the conflicts experienced by the professional mothers in balancing their competing roles. The study focused on the demands that these women face and the coping strategies that these working mothers develop and use, in order to balance their career aspirations as well as their family responsibilities. It set out to explore the women’s perceptions of work- family conflict and the extent to which they experience it, further examining the compromises that the women have had to make and possible feelings of guilt or regret that they may have experienced. The findings indicated that this balance is sensitive to many facilitating and hindering factors. The participants revealed that they experience work- family conflict, and that the experience of it has largely to do with the guilt of not spending enough time with their family. Another significant finding was that the women expressed their coping strategies as being organised; forming a line between work and family life as well as employing domestic workers. The women further stated that there are constant compromises that have to be made to fit in the multiple roles, and that feelings of guilt and/or regret do set in at times.
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Quality of life in Grahamstown, East London and Mdantsane: preliminary result

  • Authors: Helliker, Kirk D , Bekker, Simon , Lambie, Eileen
  • Date: 2012
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/144756 , vital:38376 , DOI: 10.1080/02580144.1981.10428933
  • Description: A quality of life survey amongst residents of three Eastern Cape towns, viz. Grahamstown, East London, and Mdantsane, shows that the attitudes to home and neighbourhood which urban residents in the Eastern Cape develop, are fashioned in large part by both the residential “group area” in which these urban dwellers live, and by their socio-economic status. White residents, overwhelmingly, are satisfied with their diets, their municipality, their homes. They feel safe in their homes and are satisfied that police protection is available if needed. For black residents fear of poverty and unemployment, of physical violence, and dissatisfaction with an inadequate diet is widespread. Indian and coloured urban residents who are generally perceived as minorities in Grahamstown and East London, occupy an intermediate position. Their residential areas are sited close to predominantly low income black residential areas. Higher income Indian and coloured households show lower rates of dissatisfaction with diet, housing, and municipal services than the black community.
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Quality of work and work life: understanding the work ethic of medical professionals in selected hospitals in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa

  • Authors: Kwizera, Alice Stella
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: Hospitals -- Medical staff -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Work ethic -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Medical personnel -- Job satisfaction -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Protestant work ethic
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: vital:3323 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003111
  • Description: This thesis reports a study of work ethic values, beliefs and attitudes held by medical professionals in selected hospitals in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The study was in response to the public outcry about the declining work ethic and poor service delivery in South Africa’s healthcare sector. Scholarly interest in the work ethic and its role in economic development dates back to Max Weber’s classical work, which was the starting point for my study. The German economic sociologist published his seminal essay on The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism in 1904/1905. Since that time, Weber’s ideas on the Protestant work ethic continue to inform and influence studies of the contemporary work ethic, which is thought to have become secularised. My study was informed by data collected in 2009 through a questionnaire survey and personal interviews. A total of 174 doctors and nurses, working in four urban, periurban and rural hospitals near East London, completed a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire replicated the Multi-Dimensional Work Ethic Profile (MWEP) developed by Miller, Woehr and Hudspeth in 2001/2002. The instrument examines seven critical dimensions of the work ethic, namely self-reliance, morality, (foregoing) leisure, hard work, centrality of work in life, not wasting time, and delay of gratification. In addition, I conducted personal interviews in the same four hospitals with 41 hospital managers, doctors, nurses, and patients to discuss their understanding of the work ethic and its practical application. The study found that both doctors’ and nurses’ overall work ethic scores on the MWEP scale were above average. Although there was no significant difference between the overall work ethic scores of the two professions, doctors scored significantly higher than nurses on the ‘hard work’ and ‘self reliance’ dimensions of the work ethic scale. In the qualitative study, the doctors’ work ethic was rated much more highly than the nurses’ by their superiors and patients; and the work ethic of nurses in the urban hospitals was rated much lower than that of their rural colleagues. In contradiction to the idea of the secularization of the contemporary work ethic, religiosity and religious beliefs were influential in the endorsement of work ethic principles. In line with the notion that ‘happy’ workers are more productive, job and life satisfaction were found to be strong correlates of the work ethic of medical professionals.
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Quantification of the cross-sectoral impacts of waterweeds and their control in Ghana

  • Authors: Akpabey, Felix Jerry
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: Water hyacinth -- Control -- Environmental aspects -- Ghana Alien plants -- Research -- Ghana Introduced organisms Economic development -- Social aspects -- Research -- Ghana
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: vital:5748 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005435
  • Description: The Akosombo Dam on the Volta River in Ghana was built in 1963 to provide cheap energy to fuel industry and to accelerate the economic growth of the country. It provides hydroelectric power, enhanced fishing and water transportation upstream, and improved opportunities for irrigated farming, especially in the lower reaches, and their attendant economic multiplier effects. A few years after the construction of this major dam, a rapid expansion of industrialization took place in Ghana. This brought about an exponential increase in demand for more electrical power. This led to the construction of a smaller dam at Akuse, downstream of the Akosomho Dam in 1981 and the formation of a headpond at Kpong. The impoundment of the river at the two sites (Akosombo and Kpong) caused an alteration in the existing ecological and biophysical processes in the river basin, including a slowing of the flow of the river, upstream and downstream. Changes in the natural processes, such as a reduction in the flow of the river and an increase in nutrient status of the water, resulted in an invasion of aquatic weeds, increasing the density of aquatic snails (intermediate hosts of schistosomiasis), silting and closure of the estuary, as well as other more subtle effects. The invasion of the river's main course and the dams by aquatic plants led to a corresponding reduction of navigable water both upstream and downstream. The aim of this thesis was to quantify the impact and control of waterweeds, especially water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes (Mart) Solms-Laubach (Pontederiaceae), in Ghana. A floral survey on the Kpong Headpond recorded 49 emergent, 12 free floating and I submerged aquatic plant species, many of which were indigenous, but the exotic or introduced water hyacinth was recorded at most of the sampling sites, and was the most abundant and had the biggest impact on the utilization of the water resource. Mats of water hyacinth served as substrates for other, indigenous species to grow out into the main channel of the headpond, including the intake point of the Kpong head works of the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and landing sites for boats. These mats resulted in a reduction of the fish (fin and shell) harvest, reducing the annual production to far below demand. Water hyacinth was also shown to have severe health implications. A survey of the Ministry of Health records showed that the prevalence of both urinary and intestinal schistosomiasis had risen significantly over time as the abundance of waterweeds, most notably water hyacinth, increased, and ranged between 70% and 75% but up to 100% in some lakeside communities. Based on the work done by an NGO on board the medical boat ("Onipa Nua "), losses in terms of money due to the effect on health of the aquatic weed infestations on the Volta River in 2006 amounted to US$ 620,000. Economic losses due to invasive alien aquatic weeds were also calculated on the Oti River Arm of Lake Volta. It was estimated that about US$2.3 million per annum would be lost to the Volta Lake Transport Company and individual boat transport operators if this section of the river were 100% covered by aquatic weeds (water hyacinth and Salvinia molesta D.S. Mitchell (Salviniaceae)). It was also estimated that US$327,038 was spent annually in monitoring and managing the weeds in the Oti River. Control interventions for aquatic weeds have been implemented in river systems in Ghana. The biological control agents Neochetina bruchi Hustache (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) and Neochetina eichhorniae Warner (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) have been used on water hyacinth infestations in the Oti River Arm of Lake Volta, the Tano River and the Lagoon complex in the south-western part of the country. Cyrtobagous salviniae Calder and Sands (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) has been used to control salvinia, and Neohydronomous affinis Hustache (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) to control water lettuce, Pistia stratiotes Lilmaeus (Araceae) in the Tano River and Lagoon complex. Although these projects have been regarded as successful, they have relied on research from elsewhere in the world and no postrelease quantification has been conducted. In evaluating the impact of the biological control agents Neochetina bruchi and Neochetina eichhorniae weevils on water hyacinth infestations in the Tano River, fresh adult feeding scars were recorded as well as the numbers of adult weevils on each water hyacinth plant sampled at six sites. Despite being released in 1994, weevil numbers and resultant damage to plants in the Tano Lagoon was low in comparison to other regions of the world where these agents have been used. The main reason for this is that this lagoon floods seasonally, washing weevil-infested plants out to sea. Water hyacinth then re-infests the lagoon from seed and the weevil populations are low. To resolve this situation, two courses of action are proposed. The first is to mass rear the weevils along the shore of the lagoon and release them when the first seedlings recruit. The second proposal is that additional agents that have shorter lifecycies and are more mobile than the weevils should be released. To this end, the water hyacinth mirid, Eccritotarsus catarinensis (Carvalho) (Hemiptera: Miridae) was imported from South Africa and released onto the Tano Lagoon in 2009. Retrospective laboratory host specificity trials were conducted on Neachetina eichharniae and Neachetina bruchi weevils 15 years after their release into Ghana to see if any variation in their host ranges had occurred. Considerable damage was inflicted on the E. crassipes leaves by the Neachetina weevils, while little feeding damage was recorded on both Heteranthera callifalia Kunth. (Pontederiaceae) and Eichharnia natans (P.Beauv.) Solms (Pontederiaceae). All the weevils introduced on H callifalia and E. natans died after the first week. This study served to confirm the host specificity and thereby the safety of these agents. Invasive alien aquatic macrophytes have negative impacts on the environment and economy of Ghana. The control of these weeds is essential to socioeconomic development and improved human health standards in riparian communities. Biological control offers a safe and sustainable control option, but requires diligent implementation. However, aquatic weed invasion is more typically a result of the anthropogenically induced eutrophication of water bodies, and this is the main issue that has to be addressed.
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Quinones and halogenated monoterpenes of algal origin show anti-proliferative effects against breast cancer cells in vitro:

  • Authors: de la Mare, Jo-Anne , Lawson, Jessica C , Chiwakata, Maynard T , Beukes, Denzil R , Blatch, Gregory L , Edkins, Adrienne L
  • Date: 2012
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/165165 , vital:41214 , DOI: 10.1007/s10637-011-9788-0
  • Description: Red and brown algae have been shown to produce a variety of compounds with chemotherapeutic potential. A recent report described the isolation of a range of novel polyhalogenated monoterpene compounds from the red algae Plocamium corallorhiza and Plocamium cornutum collected off the coast of South Africa, together with the previously described tetraprenylquinone, sargaquinoic acid (SQA), from the brown algae Sargassum heterophyllum. In our study, the algal compounds were screened for anti-proliferative activity against metastatic MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells revealing that a number of compounds displayed anti-cancer activity with IC50 values in the micromolar range. A subset of the compounds was tested for differential toxicity in the MCF-7/MCF12A system and five of these, including sargaquinoic acid, were found to be at least three times more toxic to the breast cancer than the non-malignant cell line.
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Radical thinking in South Africa’s age of retreat

  • Authors: Helliker, Kirk D , Vale, Peter C J
  • Date: 2012
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/71214 , vital:29818 , https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909612442654
  • Description: This article traces the rise and fall of radical praxis in South Africa and offers a critique of the prevailing practices of former Marxists under post-apartheid conditions. Western Marxism emerged in the 1970s in South Africa and Marxist activists became deeply involved in the liberation movements. With the unravelling of apartheid, the main liberation forces made a social pact with capitalist forces and former Marxists embraced a statist project. In the context of the rise of ‘new’ social movements, radical thinking of a more Libertarian kind is emerging in contemporary South Africa.
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Rapid enzymatic detection of organophosphorous and carbamate pesticides in water

  • Authors: Mwila, Katayi
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: Organophosphorus compounds , Carbamates , Water -- Pesticide content -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Water quality biological assessment -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Water quality management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Pesticides -- Toxicology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Biological assay , Acetylcholinesterase , Parathion , Aldicarb , Carbaryl , Carbofuran , Nitrophenols
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: vital:4024 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004084 , Organophosphorus compounds , Carbamates , Water -- Pesticide content -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Water quality biological assessment -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Water quality management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Pesticides -- Toxicology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Biological assay , Acetylcholinesterase , Parathion , Aldicarb , Carbaryl , Carbofuran , Nitrophenols
  • Description: The increased use of pesticides has resulted in a corresponding increase in concern for the effect they may have on the health of humans and other non-target organisms. The two main areas of concern are the toxicological effects that mixtures of pesticides may have as well as the endocrine disrupting effects. Although the individual pesticides may be present at concentrations below the levels deemed to be detrimental to health, it has been argued that their combined effect may still result in elevated health risks. Another important aspect of pesticide risk assessment requires a consideration of the breakdown products of pesticides and their effect on human health. There has been very little research into the effects of degradation products and this issue should be addressed as these could potentially pose a higher risk than their parent compounds. One of the most important bio-markers available for use is the ubiquitous enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE). This enzyme is responsible for one of the most important functions in the body; namely nerve impulse transmission, upon which all life depends. The inhibition of this enzyme indicates toxicity and as a subsequence, a threat to the organism’s well-being. Bioassays have also recently been developed to test chemicals for endocrine disrupting effects. These tests rely on a dose response equivalent to that of the most potent well known estrogen 17-β estradiol. Any chemical that has a measurable response is deemed to display endocrine disrupting effects. This first aim of this study was to investigate the toxicological and endocrine disrupting effects of three organophosphorus pesticides; aldicarb, parathion and demeton-S-methyl, in addition to two breakdown products; aminophenol and p-nitrophenol. Two carbamate pesticides; carbaryl and carbofuran were also analysed. The toxicological effects of mixtures of the parent pesticide compounds were tested to assess if any antagonistic, additive or synergistic effects were observed. This data was then used in conjunction with an artificial neural network to assess if individual pesticides could be distinguished from mixtures of pesticides. A final objective was to sample various Eastern Cape water sources, utilising the enzymatic assay to determine the presence of any of these pesticides in these samples. There were several conclusions drawn from this study. AChE was successfully used as an assay to test the toxicity of the pesticides under investigation, based on their inhibition of this enzyme. An important factor for consideration throughout the study was the need to establish basal and monitor AChE activity (i.e. the need to monitor AChE activity in the absence of any pesticide). This ensured accurate comparison of the results obtained. It was found that demeton-S-methyl was the most potent of these pesticides followed by carbaryl, parathion, aldicarb and finally carbofuran, and that carbofuran could potentiate AChE. The results indicated that pesticide mixtures generally exhibited an additive inhibitory effect on AChE, although at some concentrations of pesticides, synergistic and antagonistic effects were noted. From the data using mixtures of pesticides, a feed forward neural network was created that was successfully able to distinguish individual pesticides from mixtures within its training parameters. None of the pesticides tested displayed endocrine disrupting properties in the Yeast Estrogen Screen (YES), T47D-KBluc and MDA-kb2 bio-assays. Other studies reported mixed results in this regard and thus no final conclusions could be drawn. The Blaauwkrantz River, Kariega River, Sundays River, Swartkops River and Kowie River were all tested for pesticides and although positive results were recorded, conventional methods indicated that there were no pesticides in the rivers. There were, however, trace metals present which are known to inhibit AChE, thus causing a false positive result. These results indicated that AChE can be used as a high throughput initial pre-screening tool, but that it cannot serve as a substitute for more accurate conventional testing methods.
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Rebellious uniform

  • Authors: Farmer, Mark Ross
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: High school students -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Discipline Teenagers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Conduct of life Teenagers -- Education (Secondary) -- South Africa School discipline
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MFA
  • Identifier: vital:2401 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002197
  • Description: In this thesis, I focus on adolescent teens at Kingswood College High School, where I am currently employed as a student assistant in Grahamstown. I form part of a networked hierarchy at Kingswood College whereby I am expected to perform duties which require me to uphold discipline, forge respect and act as a mentor to students. Within this complex role I am mindful of the power dynamics within the school and my focus is on how the students at Kingswood College in some instances challenge them. Regulations in regard to uniforms and in regard to the arrangement of each learner’s belongings insist on the sublimation/sacrificing of an individual identity in favour of an institutional one. Thus tiny departures from those norms, slight transgressions, might be understood as small rebellions which the boarder stages against disciplinary structures and the conformity demanded of him or her. I am particularly interested in these transgressions. In this thesis I attempt to unravel the complexities associated with such idiosyncrasies and how they play out amongst adolescent teens.
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Remembering Jakes - Chancellor, our chancellor

  • Authors: Badat, Saleem
  • Date: 2012
  • Language: English
  • Type: text
  • Identifier: vital:7584 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006574
  • Description: From introduction: Gerwel was an exceptional, courageous, gifted and pioneering South African intellectual, scholar, leader and citizen. He had a profound commitment to creating a just and humane society. Through a long and distinguished association with the higher education sector, as an academic, dean, vice-chancellor, chairperson of the Committee of University Principals in the early 1990s, chancellor, and chairperson of the Mandela Rhodes Foundation, Gerwel was an outstanding champion of higher education. As chancellor, he challenged Rhodes to become socially conscious and think critically and imaginatively about access, equity and transformation, and about its role in socioeconomic development issues in South Africa, especially in the Eastern Cape.
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Remote fingerprinting and multisensor data fusion

  • Authors: Hunter, Samuel O , Stalmans, Etienne , Irwin, Barry V W , Richter, John
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/429813 , vital:72641 , 10.1109/ISSA.2012.6320449
  • Description: Network fingerprinting is the technique by which a device or service is enumerated in order to determine the hardware, software or application characteristics of a targeted attribute. Although fingerprinting can be achieved by a variety of means, the most common technique is the extraction of characteristics from an entity and the correlation thereof against known signatures for verification. In this paper we identify multiple host-defining metrics and propose a process of unique host tracking through the use of two novel fingerprinting techniques. We then illustrate the application of host fingerprinting and tracking for increasing situational awareness of potentially malicious hosts. In order to achieve this we provide an outline of an adapted multisensor data fusion model with the goal of increasing situational awareness through observation of unsolicited network traffic.
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Research and development of a preliminary South African voluntary carbon standard for landscape restoration projects

  • Authors: Curran, Patrick
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: Carbon -- Environmental aspects -- Research -- South Africa , Carbon -- Standards -- Research , Restoration ecology -- Research -- South Africa , Environmental sciences -- Research
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: vital:4748 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006968 , Carbon -- Environmental aspects -- Research -- South Africa , Carbon -- Standards -- Research , Restoration ecology -- Research -- South Africa , Environmental sciences -- Research
  • Description: The mandatory and voluntary carbon markets have both developed around the increasing trade of carbon offsets. In order to add legitimacy to an otherwise intangible commodity there has been a rise in the development of third party carbon certification standards, particularly in the voluntary market. These standards aim to provide independent, third party certification to projects that are developed specifically to generate and sell carbon offsets. South Africa has the opportunity to engage with these markets, but current participation in and certification of projects is sluggish. These projects have not taken off mainly due to the high transaction costs and lag times surrounding the current certification of projects', complex baseline methodologies, accounting uncertainty and the often bureaucratic systems surrounding the current voluntary carbon certification standards and methodologies. In order to overcome these pitfalls this project aimed to address these challenges through initiating the development of a preliminary South African voluntary carbon standard. This was done by: a) undertaking a critical assessment of the development of current carbon markets, with a particular focus on voluntary markets and third party certification, b) critically analysing the current voluntary carbon certification standards for best practices, pitfalls and weaknesses. To provide a better understanding of the historical development of voluntary certification standards, various established certification standards were evaluated, including the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC), Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and ISO 14000 standards. This analysis focussed on the challenges they faced in acceptance and in particular how they have managed to operationalize sustainable development within the certification process. In order to explicitly ensure the incorporation of a sustainable development assessment of projects under the proposed standard, an expert workshop was held with 14 experts from a wide variety of disciplines. These experts identified the crucial sustainable development challenges facing South Africa. They identified 12 sub-themes and 44 indicators that could be used to measure and incorporate sustainable development indicators into the certification process. These were then further developed through using the 'Input – Output – Outcome – Impact' framework model which allowed the indicators to be organised and understood and thus practical. The analysis of the voluntary certification standards and the development of the sustainable development indicator framework were ultimately incorporated into the development of the proposed South African voluntary carbon standard. The key approach to this standard is the incorporation and focus of the proposed standard to ensuring the generation of net SD benefits and placing them at the same level as carbon within the project design and development, validation and verification process. The full and effective integration of these has been missing within current fully fledged voluntary carbon standards, as they often rely on a mixture of project design standards to achieve this. Offering the inclusion of all components into one standard, specifically designed for South Africa, will not only assure SD credentials but also increase transparency and understanding, and reduce costs. This thesis allowed for the development of innovative new ideas and process focussed specifically at including and mainstreaming South Africa’s developmental challenges into the certification process. This is the hoped that the standard will effectively certify South African based landscape restoration projects, but also decrease costs and increase efficiencies in order to encourage the development of these projects. This preliminary standard not only aims to incorporate and address all the issues identified but also has the end goal of acting as the basis for future debate and development surrounding a potential South African voluntary carbon certification standard.
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Research Testbed Networks: Practical Tools for Service Delivery?

  • Authors: Wertlen, Ronald R , Siebörger, Ingrid , Tsietsi, Mosiuoa , Shibeshi, Zelalem S , Terzoli, Alfredo
  • Date: 2012
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/429204 , vital:72567 , https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1681-4835.2012.tb00351.x
  • Description: The Telkom Centre of Excellence (CoE) at Rhodes University, housed in the Computer Science department was opened in 1997. The CoE's focus on Distributed multimedia service platforms soon showed that the technology being researched could be applied in the disadvantaged peri‐urban communities. The CoE has thus concentrated its research on building a testbed network that delivers real services to real users. In 2007, the testbed was extended to include a marginalised rural area in the Siyakhula Living Lab. The greatest factor in the sustainability of the CoE testbed network has been maintaining usefulness to all the stakeholders over the last 12 years. Industrial funding, University outreach goals and research goals could all be harmonised, while sustaining the delivery of high quality informatics services in the community. This paper presents a brief case study of the communications network testbed and how it was applied to the Development Informatics space. It analyses the roles played by stakeholders in either assisting and sustaining or obstructing the service delivery. It makes key recommendations on best practices for research networks that can also bring informatics to disadvantaged communities. It shows how testbeds for the research of new technologies can be designed so as to allow Development Informatics work to take place on such networks.
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Reverse saturation absorption spectra and optical limiting properties of chlorinated tetrasubstituted phthalocyanines containing different metals

  • Authors: Tuhl, Ahmad , Manaa, Hacene , Makhseed, Saad , Al-Awadi, Nouria , Matthew, Jacob , Ibrahim, Hamada Mohamed , Nyokong, Tebello , Behbehani, Haider
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/243498 , vital:51158 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optmat.2012.05.018"
  • Description: A highly non-aggregated series of peripherally tetra(2,6-diisopropylphenoxy) substituted phthalocyanines (Pcs) containing different metals (Al, Ga, In and Zn) were prepared and their nonlinear optical properties (NLO), including the optical limiting behavior were investigated. This study explores the effect of the implanted metals along with the peripheral chlorine atoms on the NLO of the prepared complexes, thereby improving their optical limiting performance. The best wavelength at which the Pc complex exhibits the strongest nonlinear effect was determined over the low absorption window region (420–590 nm) comprised between the Q and B bands using a nanosecond pulsed laser with the aid of a Z-scan technique. The excited state absorption cross sections (σeff) have been found to be wavelength dependent with common double peaks at 505 nm and around 485 nm and the highest value was calculated for Pc1–In (1.1 × 10−16 cm2). The figure of merit spectra show different spectral structure when compared to the excited state absorption spectra and the largest figure of merit value was found to be around 107 for Pc1–In derivative. In full agreement with reverse saturation results, the optical limiting measurements, carried out at 485 nm and 532 nm for each derivative, show very low optical limiting thresholds at the former wavelength. In the continuous wave excitation regime, the Z-scan measurements, which were carried out at 632.8 and 532 nm, showed strong refractive and absorptive nonlinear effects.
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Rewrite, revise, refine, reflect, rethink: the long and short of teaching journalism at Rhodes

  • Authors: Garman, Anthea
  • Date: 2012
  • Language: English
  • Type: Text
  • Identifier: vital:585 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018945 , https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8715-8542
  • Description: Vice-Chancellor’s 2011 Senior Distinguished Teaching Award lecture, 10 October 2012
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Rhodes University 2012 Graduation Ceremonies Address

  • Authors: Badat, Saleem
  • Date: 2012
  • Language: English
  • Type: text
  • Identifier: vital:7588 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006579
  • Description: From introduction: We take pride in our striving to ensure that we are an environment in which knowledge, understanding and the intellect can flower; in being a leading postgraduate and research university that takes undergraduate studies seriously; in enjoying among the best pass and graduation rates in South Africa; in our increasing engagement with local communities; in the pursuit of equity and excellence, and in being a cosmopolitan institution with students from some 56 countries.
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Rhodes University Graduation Ceremony 2012

  • Authors: Rhodes University
  • Date: 2012
  • Language: English
  • Type: text
  • Identifier: vital:8135 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007245
  • Description: Rhodes University Graduation Ceremonies 2012 [at] 1820 Settlers National Monument Thursday, 12 April at 18.00 [and] Friday, 13 April at 10:30; 14:30 & 18:00 [and] Saturday, 14 April at 10:30 , Rhodes University Awards, Scholarships, Bursaries and Prizes 2012
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Rhodes University Library Annual Report 2011 : acting Library Director’s Review

  • Authors: Berger, Jeanne
  • Date: 2012
  • Language: English
  • Type: Text
  • Identifier: vital:7944 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011891
  • Description: [From the Introduction] 2011 saw the consolidation of a number of changes to Library services implemented in 2010 as a result of the 2009 Review of the Library Services Division. These include: 1) Collection development operating as a collaborative effort between Library staff and the academic community. The Collection Development Policy also underwent a major revision and was approved by Senate in October as the “Collection Development and Management Policy and Guidelines”. 2) The Faculty Liaison Service – the librarians in these teams are now proactively liaising with academics, for example, playing a crucial role in collection development for the departments, ensuring that they spend their information resources grants, creating awareness of appropriate online information resources and offering information literacy workshops.
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Rhodes University Research Report 2012

  • Authors: Rhodes University , Roberts, Jaine , Connan, Verna , Mantolo, Thumeka , Macgregor, Jill , Jacob, Patricia
  • Date: 2012
  • Language: English
  • Type: Text
  • Identifier: vital:567 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011985
  • Description: [From Introduction] Rhodes University continued to grow in overall accredited research outputs in 2012, and in other forms of scholarship which enhance the intellectual space of the university. During the graduation ceremonies that followed the 2012 academic year, 2 288 students earned new qualifications. A record 948 students or 41 percent graduated with postgraduate degrees. We also celebrated a new University record of 63 PhD graduates, a wonderful achievement for the smallest university in the country. Our Science Faculty was a particularly noteworthy contributor to the postgraduate numbers, with 35 PhD graduates, 83 Master’s graduates and 132 honours graduates. The University’s Enrolment Plan outlines our intention of becoming a more postgraduate university, and our overall strategy is to enhance our contribution to knowledge production through research and scholarship. Rhodes is well-positioned for such a trajectory, and we look to strengthening our capacity to serve society in this way by striving to provide our academics with effective research support. In the latest Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) Ministerial Report on National Research Outputs, Rhodes University is listed as having the third most favourable research output rate per capita (the accepted norm for measuring efficiency of investment in the research domain) in the South African university system, and the second highest percentage of academic staff with PhDs (56 percent). Other studies show that Rhodes has the top PhD graduation rate of South African Universities, and very good postgraduate throughput rates overall. We continue to give special attention to identifying potential new postgraduate and research niche areas and programmes, and to developing the appropriate institutional arrangements to effectively support larger numbers of Honours, Masters and Doctoral students, and further enhance their academic and social experiences. The audited result of our DHET submission of accredited research outputs for 2012 has not yet been received at the time of writing, so exact success rates in book and conference submissions are not yet known. These are the smaller components of our overall accredited outputs (in the previous year, books and accredited conference proceedings each contributed 7 percent of our total accredited publishing output, while journals contributed 86 percent). In 2012, Rhodes submitted 46.82 book and book chapter units for consideration (up by 33 percent on the 2011 submission), and 32.04 accredited conference proceeding weighted units (down by 8.6 percent on the 2011 submission, which in turn had been up 46.8 percent on the previous year’s submission).Year-on-year variance on the relatively small submission base in these categories is to be expected. The big component of Rhodes’ publication output, our journal publications, grew by 13.2 percent on the 2011 level to 350.47 units (the previous year has seen a 6 percent increase in this category), maintaining Rhodes’ position amongst the most research productive institutions in the South African Higher Education system. Coupled with Rhodes’ high volume of accredited journal outputs in relation to its size, a very pleasing quality measure is that 90 percent of Journal outputs (the highest proportion in the sector) appear in internationally accredited journal indices. Accredited outputs from thesis-based PhD and Masters graduates rose by 4.9 percent in 2012 to a new high for Rhodes (2011’s figure had grown by 15.4 percent over 2010, which in turn had grown by 35.8 percent over 2009). I add my warm thanks and congratulations to all of our researchers, funders, collaborators and partners who contributed to the excellent accredited research results of 2012, as well as generated the many forms of scholarship that are not counted in the accreditation exercise, but which contribute much to the rich intellectual space that is Rhodes. I also thank all of the administrators who play a crucial role in preparing the university’s meticulous audited submissions.
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