Electrospun fibre based colorimetric probes for biological molecules
- Authors: Mudabuka, Boitumelo
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Nanofibers , Vitamin C , Dopamine
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4535 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016354
- Description: The thesis reports the use of electrospun nanofibres as a platform for the development of colorimetric probes. Three colorimetric probes in the form of electrospun nanofibre test strips were developed for the selective detection of ascorbic acid and dopamine because they are crucial biomolecules for physiological processes in human metabolism and usually coexist in biological samples. The simultaneous detection of the biomolecules is very important as their abnormal concentration levels would lead to diseases such as Parkinson's and schizophrenia. Different methods of incorporating detector agents into the nanofibre were exploited for the detection of the biomolecules. The methods included physical incorporation of nanoparticles, covalent bonding of ligand/dyes through surface modification of the fibres. The first colorimetric test strip for ascorbic acid was based on copper-gold alloy nanoparticles prepared in-situ and hosted in nylon6. The test strip showed selectivity in detecting ascorbic acid in the pH range 2 – 7. The suitability of fibres in hosting copper-gold alloy nanoparticles for the colorimetric detection of ascorbic acid was investigated using nylon6, poly(vinyl benzyl chloride)-styrene and cellulose acetate based test strips. All the test strips exhibited leaching and the nylon6 based test strip was found to be thermally stable up to 60 ˚C. The colorimetric performance of the test strips was maintained and neither was colour decay exhibited after 10 months of storage in a shelf. The test strip achieved an eye-ball limit of detection of 1.76 x10-2 mg L-1 and its suitability was demonstrated by the determination of ascorbic acid in fruit juices, urine, serum, and vitamin C tablets. The second colorimetric test strip for ascorbic acid and dopamine employed prussian blue synthesised in-situ in nylon6. Ascorbic acid turned the deep blue test strip to light blue at pH 3, and a faded navy blue colour at a pH range of 6 - 7 while dopamine changed the strip to purple at the same pH range. The versatility of the test strip was demonstrated by detecting ascorbic acid in commercial fruit juices as well as by detecting ascorbic acid as well as dopamine in fortified urine. The eye-ball detection limit of the Prussian blue test strip for ascorbic acid and dopamine was 17.6 mg L-1 and 18.9 mg L-1, respectively. The third method involved a covalent approach, where poly(vinylbenzyl chloride) nanofibers were post functionalised with 2-(2′-pyridyl)-imidazole and iron(III) for the selective detection of ascorbic acid and dopamine. The eye-ball detection limit for ascorbic acid and dopamine was 17.6 mg L-1 and 18.9 mg L-1, respectively. The test strip was selective for dopamine, but the detection of ascorbic acid suffered from interference by glutathione. The application of the test strips was nevertheless demonstrated by the detection of ascorbic acid in fruit juices and dopamine in fortified urine. The developed test strips employing the three approaches were applied without sample pre-treatment and use of supporting equipment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Mudabuka, Boitumelo
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Nanofibers , Vitamin C , Dopamine
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4535 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016354
- Description: The thesis reports the use of electrospun nanofibres as a platform for the development of colorimetric probes. Three colorimetric probes in the form of electrospun nanofibre test strips were developed for the selective detection of ascorbic acid and dopamine because they are crucial biomolecules for physiological processes in human metabolism and usually coexist in biological samples. The simultaneous detection of the biomolecules is very important as their abnormal concentration levels would lead to diseases such as Parkinson's and schizophrenia. Different methods of incorporating detector agents into the nanofibre were exploited for the detection of the biomolecules. The methods included physical incorporation of nanoparticles, covalent bonding of ligand/dyes through surface modification of the fibres. The first colorimetric test strip for ascorbic acid was based on copper-gold alloy nanoparticles prepared in-situ and hosted in nylon6. The test strip showed selectivity in detecting ascorbic acid in the pH range 2 – 7. The suitability of fibres in hosting copper-gold alloy nanoparticles for the colorimetric detection of ascorbic acid was investigated using nylon6, poly(vinyl benzyl chloride)-styrene and cellulose acetate based test strips. All the test strips exhibited leaching and the nylon6 based test strip was found to be thermally stable up to 60 ˚C. The colorimetric performance of the test strips was maintained and neither was colour decay exhibited after 10 months of storage in a shelf. The test strip achieved an eye-ball limit of detection of 1.76 x10-2 mg L-1 and its suitability was demonstrated by the determination of ascorbic acid in fruit juices, urine, serum, and vitamin C tablets. The second colorimetric test strip for ascorbic acid and dopamine employed prussian blue synthesised in-situ in nylon6. Ascorbic acid turned the deep blue test strip to light blue at pH 3, and a faded navy blue colour at a pH range of 6 - 7 while dopamine changed the strip to purple at the same pH range. The versatility of the test strip was demonstrated by detecting ascorbic acid in commercial fruit juices as well as by detecting ascorbic acid as well as dopamine in fortified urine. The eye-ball detection limit of the Prussian blue test strip for ascorbic acid and dopamine was 17.6 mg L-1 and 18.9 mg L-1, respectively. The third method involved a covalent approach, where poly(vinylbenzyl chloride) nanofibers were post functionalised with 2-(2′-pyridyl)-imidazole and iron(III) for the selective detection of ascorbic acid and dopamine. The eye-ball detection limit for ascorbic acid and dopamine was 17.6 mg L-1 and 18.9 mg L-1, respectively. The test strip was selective for dopamine, but the detection of ascorbic acid suffered from interference by glutathione. The application of the test strips was nevertheless demonstrated by the detection of ascorbic acid in fruit juices and dopamine in fortified urine. The developed test strips employing the three approaches were applied without sample pre-treatment and use of supporting equipment.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Electrospun nanofibers as solid phase extraction sorbents and support for alkylphenols colorimetric probes
- Authors: Tancu, Yolanda
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Nanofibers , Electrospinning , Extraction (Chemistry) , Sorbents , Phenols , Colorimetry , Transmission electron microscopy , High resolution spectroscopy
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4486 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012997
- Description: The thesis reports on fabricating alternative solid phase extraction (SPE) sorbents and colorimetric probes based on electrospun nanofibers for alkylphenols (APs). Hydroxyl methylated styrene [poly(co-styrene-CH₃OH)] and 3-oxobutanoate styrene [poly(co-styrene-OCOCH₃COCH₃)] copolymers were synthesized and fabricated into sorbent materials by electro-spinning/spraying. The fabricated morphologies consisting of bead free fibers, beaded fibers and particles were evaluated as SPE sorbents using batch experiments. Electropun fibers proved to be better sorbents as they exhibited extraction efficiency that exceeded 95% compared to 60% for beaded fibers and 40% for particles. In view to reduce sample and solvent volumes, smooth fibers were packed into pipette tips as SPE devices that yielded quantitative recoveries of APs from spiked wastewater samples. Recoveries ranged from 70% to 125% with LOD of 0.008, 0.01 and 0.1 μg mL⁻¹ for 4-tert octylphenol (4-t-OP), 4-octylphenol (4-OP) and 4-nonylphenol (4-NP) respectively, when using high performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detector (HPLC-FLD). Furthermore, amino functionalised polydiacetylene polymers (PDAs), citrate capped gold (AuNPs) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were evaluated as colorimetric probes for visual detection of APs. In colloidal studies, AuNPs probe showed a colour change from wine red to green upon introduction of analyte. UV-vis spectroscopy revealed the shifting of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak from 525 nm to 729 nm induced by aggregation of AuNPs. For AgNPs probe, a colour change was observed from yellowish green to brown. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies showed growth of AgNPs. A presumed oxidation of the analyte, forming an absorbing compound at 279 nm in both AgNPs and PDAs probes was also observed. For PDAs probe the colour change was from purple to pink. Concentrations as low as 30 μg mL⁻¹ were detectable in all colloidal based probes. Further colorimetric investigations were conducted with electrospun AuNPs-nylon 6 fiber mat. A colour change from purplish red to navy blue at concentrations of 1000 μg mL⁻¹ was observed. Electrospun AgNPs –nylon 6 fiber mat did not show a distinct colour change. High resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM) revealed the analyte inducing the assembly of AuNPs and AgNPs as they covered the surface of the nanofiber mat. Electrospun nanofibers are a platform for analysis and thus tuning their chemistry will lead to sensitive and selective methods
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Tancu, Yolanda
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Nanofibers , Electrospinning , Extraction (Chemistry) , Sorbents , Phenols , Colorimetry , Transmission electron microscopy , High resolution spectroscopy
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4486 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012997
- Description: The thesis reports on fabricating alternative solid phase extraction (SPE) sorbents and colorimetric probes based on electrospun nanofibers for alkylphenols (APs). Hydroxyl methylated styrene [poly(co-styrene-CH₃OH)] and 3-oxobutanoate styrene [poly(co-styrene-OCOCH₃COCH₃)] copolymers were synthesized and fabricated into sorbent materials by electro-spinning/spraying. The fabricated morphologies consisting of bead free fibers, beaded fibers and particles were evaluated as SPE sorbents using batch experiments. Electropun fibers proved to be better sorbents as they exhibited extraction efficiency that exceeded 95% compared to 60% for beaded fibers and 40% for particles. In view to reduce sample and solvent volumes, smooth fibers were packed into pipette tips as SPE devices that yielded quantitative recoveries of APs from spiked wastewater samples. Recoveries ranged from 70% to 125% with LOD of 0.008, 0.01 and 0.1 μg mL⁻¹ for 4-tert octylphenol (4-t-OP), 4-octylphenol (4-OP) and 4-nonylphenol (4-NP) respectively, when using high performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detector (HPLC-FLD). Furthermore, amino functionalised polydiacetylene polymers (PDAs), citrate capped gold (AuNPs) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were evaluated as colorimetric probes for visual detection of APs. In colloidal studies, AuNPs probe showed a colour change from wine red to green upon introduction of analyte. UV-vis spectroscopy revealed the shifting of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak from 525 nm to 729 nm induced by aggregation of AuNPs. For AgNPs probe, a colour change was observed from yellowish green to brown. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies showed growth of AgNPs. A presumed oxidation of the analyte, forming an absorbing compound at 279 nm in both AgNPs and PDAs probes was also observed. For PDAs probe the colour change was from purple to pink. Concentrations as low as 30 μg mL⁻¹ were detectable in all colloidal based probes. Further colorimetric investigations were conducted with electrospun AuNPs-nylon 6 fiber mat. A colour change from purplish red to navy blue at concentrations of 1000 μg mL⁻¹ was observed. Electrospun AgNPs –nylon 6 fiber mat did not show a distinct colour change. High resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM) revealed the analyte inducing the assembly of AuNPs and AgNPs as they covered the surface of the nanofiber mat. Electrospun nanofibers are a platform for analysis and thus tuning their chemistry will lead to sensitive and selective methods
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Electrospun sorbents for solid phase extraction (SPE) and colorimetric detection of pesticides
- Authors: Gulamussen, Noor Jehan
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Sorbents , Electrospinning , Extraction (Chemistry) , Colorimetry , Pesticides , Water -- Pesticide content -- Research
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4501 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013241
- Description: The thesis presents the evaluation of polysulfone sorbents for solid phase extraction (SPE) and the development of colorimetric probes for pesticides analysis in water. Through electrospraying and electrospinning techniques, different morphologies of sorbents (particles, beaded fibers and bead-free fibers) were fabricated. The sorbents were morphologically characterized by scanning electron microscopy. Adsorption capacities of sorbents were evaluated by conducting recoveries studies for model pesticides; atrazine, chlorpyrifos and DDT using batch and column SPE modes. Better recovery results were achieved by employing the batch mode of fibers, as values ranged from 98 to 105percent. Further sorbent evaluation was conducted using breakthrough experiments and static experiments. The breakthrough studies indicated that 1700 μL was the sample volume that could be percolated with no breakthrough of the analyte that correspond to a concentration of 150 mg/g of sorbent that can be extracted without any loss of analyte. From static studies, quantities of each model compound adsorbed into the fiber at the equilibrium time were evaluated. The adsorbed atrazine was 65, chlorpyrifos 250 and DDT 400 mg/g of sorbent. Kinetic studies suggested retention mechanism following pseudo first and second order model observed by high correlation coefficients (> 0. 96), demonstrating the fiber affinity to retain both polar and non-polar compounds opening a possibility to be used as sorbent for sample preparation of different classes of pesticides in water. For the second part of the study simple strategies for colorimetric sensing based on silver nanoparticles and polivinylpyrrolidone capped nanoparticles were developed, respectively for atrazine and chlorpyrifos detection. The limits of detection of the methods were 3.32 and 0.88 mg/L for atrazine and chlorpyrifos respectively. The applicability of the probe in real samples was demonstrated by the recoveries studies of tap water varying from 94 to 104 percent. The versatility of the probe was demonstrated by affording a simple, rapid and selective detection of atrazine and chlorpyrifos in the presence of other pesticides by direct analysis without employing any sample handling steps. Attempt to incorporate the probes in a solid support was achieved by using nylon 6 as solid support polymer proving to be fast and useful for on-site detection.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Gulamussen, Noor Jehan
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Sorbents , Electrospinning , Extraction (Chemistry) , Colorimetry , Pesticides , Water -- Pesticide content -- Research
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4501 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013241
- Description: The thesis presents the evaluation of polysulfone sorbents for solid phase extraction (SPE) and the development of colorimetric probes for pesticides analysis in water. Through electrospraying and electrospinning techniques, different morphologies of sorbents (particles, beaded fibers and bead-free fibers) were fabricated. The sorbents were morphologically characterized by scanning electron microscopy. Adsorption capacities of sorbents were evaluated by conducting recoveries studies for model pesticides; atrazine, chlorpyrifos and DDT using batch and column SPE modes. Better recovery results were achieved by employing the batch mode of fibers, as values ranged from 98 to 105percent. Further sorbent evaluation was conducted using breakthrough experiments and static experiments. The breakthrough studies indicated that 1700 μL was the sample volume that could be percolated with no breakthrough of the analyte that correspond to a concentration of 150 mg/g of sorbent that can be extracted without any loss of analyte. From static studies, quantities of each model compound adsorbed into the fiber at the equilibrium time were evaluated. The adsorbed atrazine was 65, chlorpyrifos 250 and DDT 400 mg/g of sorbent. Kinetic studies suggested retention mechanism following pseudo first and second order model observed by high correlation coefficients (> 0. 96), demonstrating the fiber affinity to retain both polar and non-polar compounds opening a possibility to be used as sorbent for sample preparation of different classes of pesticides in water. For the second part of the study simple strategies for colorimetric sensing based on silver nanoparticles and polivinylpyrrolidone capped nanoparticles were developed, respectively for atrazine and chlorpyrifos detection. The limits of detection of the methods were 3.32 and 0.88 mg/L for atrazine and chlorpyrifos respectively. The applicability of the probe in real samples was demonstrated by the recoveries studies of tap water varying from 94 to 104 percent. The versatility of the probe was demonstrated by affording a simple, rapid and selective detection of atrazine and chlorpyrifos in the presence of other pesticides by direct analysis without employing any sample handling steps. Attempt to incorporate the probes in a solid support was achieved by using nylon 6 as solid support polymer proving to be fast and useful for on-site detection.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Empathy in the time of ecological apartheid : a social sculpture practice-led inquiry into developing pedagogies for ecological citizenship
- Authors: McGarry, Dylan Kenneth
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Education -- Philosophy , Social learning , Environmental education , Arts in education
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1985 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013154
- Description: Considering the ecological crisis and the increased disconnection between human beings and nature, this study attempts to find the social and aesthetic educational response needed for developing ecological citizenship for the 21st century. In this transdisciplinary study I articulate what at first seems a clumsy attempt to enable the capacities of the embodied ecological citizen, and which later emerges as an alchemical ‘social sculpture’ approach to learning that expands the range of capacities available to the citizen and the citizen’s immediate community. This learning bridges the gap between purely biocentric and technocentric forms of education, and addresses the ambiguity of concepts and forms of action such as ‘sustainability’. My primary focus is enabling both communal and personal forms of agency: new ways of 'doing’ and 'being' in the world as it changes radically. I argue that this demands constantly reflecting on and engaging without understanding, place and perception of the problems we see. Attending to a call for the importance of complex learning processes, that deepens our understanding of sustainability, and the need for methodological and pedagogical approaches to accessible forms of learning socially in the era of climate change and environmental degradation, this study offers a particular insight into the education of an ecological citizen. In particular I examine a form of learning that enables individuals to explore relationships between themselves and their ecologies (both physical and social), and that encourages personal forms of knowing so that each person’s values can be cultivated within the experience and intuitive expression from both inner and outer realities. Central to my research focus is addressing the difficulties inherent in ‘ecological apartheid’, which is defined as a growing separation of relationships that include the human being’s relationship with the natural world, as well as disconnections experienced within one’s own inner and outer capacities. Subsequently I investigate forms of learning that encourage agency that most appropriately enable citizens to respond personally to both inner and outer forms of disconnection. ‘Personal’ and ‘relational agency’ are defined and investigated through an initial twelve-month collaborative participatory contextual profiling exploratory research period in South Africa (phase A), where I explore various forms of multiple-genre creative social learning practice that develop an accessible set of methodologies and pedagogies for the ecological citizen. Through this exploratory research, I place significance in the relatively unknown field of social sculpture, which I investigate through a self-made apprenticeship with Shelley Sacks, an expert in the field. This is documented through a rigorous ethnographic inquiry over a period of 18 months. Following this I undertake another two-year collaborative, practice-based research study across South Africa (phase B: 17 towns, with a total of 350 citizens) and eventually abroad (United Kingdom, Germany, USA and Belgium).The focus of this study was the implementation of a collaboratively developed citizen learning practice entitled Earth Forum developed by Shelley Sacks as a progression from her work “Exchange Values: voices of insivible lives” and my collaboative exploration into Earth Forum and its further development draws heavily from social sculpture methods obtained during the apprenticeship, and applied in 36 different incidences. I further explore the efficacy of this practice in enabling and expanding the capacities of participants, particularly those that encourage the development of personal and relational agency. This was achieved through a pedagogical development and expansion period (phase C). A primary finding through the iterative phase (phase D) was the value of imaginal contemplation, attentive listening, and empathy as capacities that enable an ecological citizen’s overall capability. I ascribed this to Nussbaum and Sen’s (1993) capability theory and the need to enable the articulation and implementation of a citizen’s valued ‘beings and doings’. Through this iterative phase, specific attention is given to listening and intuitive capacities in enabling personal and relational agency, and specifically I observed the fundamental role of imagination in this form of learning. Particularly valuable for the educational contribution of this study is the pedagogical development of the Earth Forum practice that enables an accessible, socially constructed form of learning. This contributes specifically to exploring ‘how’ social learning is undertaken, and I argue that an aesthetic approach to learning is vital for the education of the ecological citizen. I carefully describe how one can conduct collaborative practice-based research that utilises creative connective practice in agency development. This collaborative approach, with regard to learning socially and capacity development for ecological citizenship (that focuses its attention on addressing ecological apartheid and separateness), is articulated through a multiple-genred text. I found that empathetic capacity in ecological citizen education is relatively unexplored, and within listening and as well in empathy theory, that the role of imagination in listening and empathy development, requires greater attention. I attempt to reveal how connective practice considers aesthetic form and shape in expanding capacities of human beings, and introduce novel expanded forms of developing pedagogies that encourage personal and relational agency in the context of ecological apartheid from the artsbased field of social sculpture. Finally, I aim in this study to share the potential value found in social sculpture theory and practice into the field of environmental education and social learning through a reflection on the current context of education and social learning, and its potential enrichment via social sculpture processes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: McGarry, Dylan Kenneth
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Education -- Philosophy , Social learning , Environmental education , Arts in education
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1985 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013154
- Description: Considering the ecological crisis and the increased disconnection between human beings and nature, this study attempts to find the social and aesthetic educational response needed for developing ecological citizenship for the 21st century. In this transdisciplinary study I articulate what at first seems a clumsy attempt to enable the capacities of the embodied ecological citizen, and which later emerges as an alchemical ‘social sculpture’ approach to learning that expands the range of capacities available to the citizen and the citizen’s immediate community. This learning bridges the gap between purely biocentric and technocentric forms of education, and addresses the ambiguity of concepts and forms of action such as ‘sustainability’. My primary focus is enabling both communal and personal forms of agency: new ways of 'doing’ and 'being' in the world as it changes radically. I argue that this demands constantly reflecting on and engaging without understanding, place and perception of the problems we see. Attending to a call for the importance of complex learning processes, that deepens our understanding of sustainability, and the need for methodological and pedagogical approaches to accessible forms of learning socially in the era of climate change and environmental degradation, this study offers a particular insight into the education of an ecological citizen. In particular I examine a form of learning that enables individuals to explore relationships between themselves and their ecologies (both physical and social), and that encourages personal forms of knowing so that each person’s values can be cultivated within the experience and intuitive expression from both inner and outer realities. Central to my research focus is addressing the difficulties inherent in ‘ecological apartheid’, which is defined as a growing separation of relationships that include the human being’s relationship with the natural world, as well as disconnections experienced within one’s own inner and outer capacities. Subsequently I investigate forms of learning that encourage agency that most appropriately enable citizens to respond personally to both inner and outer forms of disconnection. ‘Personal’ and ‘relational agency’ are defined and investigated through an initial twelve-month collaborative participatory contextual profiling exploratory research period in South Africa (phase A), where I explore various forms of multiple-genre creative social learning practice that develop an accessible set of methodologies and pedagogies for the ecological citizen. Through this exploratory research, I place significance in the relatively unknown field of social sculpture, which I investigate through a self-made apprenticeship with Shelley Sacks, an expert in the field. This is documented through a rigorous ethnographic inquiry over a period of 18 months. Following this I undertake another two-year collaborative, practice-based research study across South Africa (phase B: 17 towns, with a total of 350 citizens) and eventually abroad (United Kingdom, Germany, USA and Belgium).The focus of this study was the implementation of a collaboratively developed citizen learning practice entitled Earth Forum developed by Shelley Sacks as a progression from her work “Exchange Values: voices of insivible lives” and my collaboative exploration into Earth Forum and its further development draws heavily from social sculpture methods obtained during the apprenticeship, and applied in 36 different incidences. I further explore the efficacy of this practice in enabling and expanding the capacities of participants, particularly those that encourage the development of personal and relational agency. This was achieved through a pedagogical development and expansion period (phase C). A primary finding through the iterative phase (phase D) was the value of imaginal contemplation, attentive listening, and empathy as capacities that enable an ecological citizen’s overall capability. I ascribed this to Nussbaum and Sen’s (1993) capability theory and the need to enable the articulation and implementation of a citizen’s valued ‘beings and doings’. Through this iterative phase, specific attention is given to listening and intuitive capacities in enabling personal and relational agency, and specifically I observed the fundamental role of imagination in this form of learning. Particularly valuable for the educational contribution of this study is the pedagogical development of the Earth Forum practice that enables an accessible, socially constructed form of learning. This contributes specifically to exploring ‘how’ social learning is undertaken, and I argue that an aesthetic approach to learning is vital for the education of the ecological citizen. I carefully describe how one can conduct collaborative practice-based research that utilises creative connective practice in agency development. This collaborative approach, with regard to learning socially and capacity development for ecological citizenship (that focuses its attention on addressing ecological apartheid and separateness), is articulated through a multiple-genred text. I found that empathetic capacity in ecological citizen education is relatively unexplored, and within listening and as well in empathy theory, that the role of imagination in listening and empathy development, requires greater attention. I attempt to reveal how connective practice considers aesthetic form and shape in expanding capacities of human beings, and introduce novel expanded forms of developing pedagogies that encourage personal and relational agency in the context of ecological apartheid from the artsbased field of social sculpture. Finally, I aim in this study to share the potential value found in social sculpture theory and practice into the field of environmental education and social learning through a reflection on the current context of education and social learning, and its potential enrichment via social sculpture processes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Employees' perceptions of the South African Police Service's employee substance abuse prevention programme in Port Elizabeth
- Authors: Smith, Janine
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Employee assistance programs -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Substance abuse -- Prevention
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10009 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021183
- Description: Substance abuse is a major social issue within the South African Police Service (SAPS). To address this issue, the SAPS implement an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) as an intervention to address problems that may affect the work performance of employees. Despite the existence of this programme, substance abuse is still occurring and has a negative impact on work performance. This concern has fuelled the researcher to initiate this study. The goal of this study is to gain an understanding of Port Elizabeth SAPS employees’ perceptions regarding the effectiveness of the EAP substance abuse prevention programme. A qualitative research methodology, with a descriptive, exploratory and contextual research design was implemented. The researcher elected to use non-probability sampling, specifically, purposive sampling for this study. A sample of ten employees was chosen from an area demarcated for the purpose of the study, within the SAPS in Port Elizabeth. Data was collected through semi-structured, individual interviews. Interviews were continued until saturation point was reached. The interviews were analyzed according to the detailed guidelines set out by Tesch (in Creswell, 2003:192). The data was verified according to Guba’s principles (in De Vos, Strydom, Fouche & Delport, 2002:351). The researcher also employed the services of an independent coder in order to enhance the trustworthiness of the study. The perceptions of EAP as a substance abuse prevention programme, by employees of the SAPS in Port Elizabeth, have not been highlighted adequately within the South African context. The researcher’s study will hence contribute to the existing body of knowledge of the discipline.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Smith, Janine
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Employee assistance programs -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Substance abuse -- Prevention
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10009 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021183
- Description: Substance abuse is a major social issue within the South African Police Service (SAPS). To address this issue, the SAPS implement an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) as an intervention to address problems that may affect the work performance of employees. Despite the existence of this programme, substance abuse is still occurring and has a negative impact on work performance. This concern has fuelled the researcher to initiate this study. The goal of this study is to gain an understanding of Port Elizabeth SAPS employees’ perceptions regarding the effectiveness of the EAP substance abuse prevention programme. A qualitative research methodology, with a descriptive, exploratory and contextual research design was implemented. The researcher elected to use non-probability sampling, specifically, purposive sampling for this study. A sample of ten employees was chosen from an area demarcated for the purpose of the study, within the SAPS in Port Elizabeth. Data was collected through semi-structured, individual interviews. Interviews were continued until saturation point was reached. The interviews were analyzed according to the detailed guidelines set out by Tesch (in Creswell, 2003:192). The data was verified according to Guba’s principles (in De Vos, Strydom, Fouche & Delport, 2002:351). The researcher also employed the services of an independent coder in order to enhance the trustworthiness of the study. The perceptions of EAP as a substance abuse prevention programme, by employees of the SAPS in Port Elizabeth, have not been highlighted adequately within the South African context. The researcher’s study will hence contribute to the existing body of knowledge of the discipline.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Employer liability for sexual harassment in the workplace revisited
- Authors: Raubenheimer, Heidi Leasel
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Sexual harassment , Discrimination in employment
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: vital:10271 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1018607
- Description: Over the last two decades our courts have become inundated with cases relating to sexual harassment in the workplace. Sexual harassment has become a major problem in the workplace hence the decision by parliament and our courts to implement policies in the workplace to try and curb the problem. The effects of sexual harassment on a victims’ job and career can be profound. It has been proven that many employees simply decide to leave their jobs or to request a transfer than to endure the harassment until they are psychologically destroyed by the embarrassing situation.The Employment Equity Act explicitly in section 6 prohibits unfair discrimination in very specific terms. It states that no person may unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against an employee in an employment policy or practice on one or more of the grounds listed in section 6. Section 6(3) further states that harassment of an employee is a form of discrimination where the harassment is based on any one or more of the grounds listed in section 6 (1) which includes sexual harassment. Section 60 deals with the liability of employees for the conduct of their employees committed whilst the employees are at work, where such conduct contravenes the provisions of the EEA. If the conduct is brought to the attention of the employer he or she is obliged to take the necessary steps to eliminate the alleged conduct and to comply with the provisions of the EEA. Section 60(3) renders an employee vicariously liable for the conduct of an employee who contravenes the provisions of the EEA. An employee who cannot prove that reasonable steps were taken to ensure that the provisions of the EEA are not contravened will be held liable for the actions or their employees. An employer who can prove that reasonable steps were taken will not be held liable for the actions of the employee.The provisions of the EEA were applied in the case of Ntsabo v Real Security wherein an employee had been sexually harassed over a period of six months by a fellow employee. The employee had reported the incidents of sexual harassment to the corporation she was employed with which failed to take action against the senior employee. Instead of taking action the corporation moved her to a different work station and placed her on night shift. This gave her the impression that she was being punished for the deed of the senior employee which resulted in her resigning from the corporation and instituting a claim for constructive dismissal and damages for sexual harassment. The court found that she had been constructively dismissed and that the senior employee had contravened section 6(3) of the EEA. The court further held that the employer (corporation) was also liable for the conduct of the senior employee in contravening the Act. In terms of the doctrine of vicarious liability on the other an employer may be held vicariously liable for the actions of its employees committed during the course and scope of their employment. The test for vicarious liability is therefore whether at the time of the alleged act of sexual harassment the employee was acting within the course and scope of his employment. The doctrine came before the court in the case of Grobler v Naspers. In this case Grobler who was employed at Naspers alleged that has had been sexually harassed by her immediate supervisor Mr Samuels. Samuels acted as trainee manager for seven months. Grobler suffered a mental breakdown as a result of the harassment and contented that she was no longer fit to work. She approached the High court for relief and alleged that Naspers (employer) was vicariously liable for the actions of Mr Samuels and the damages she suffered. In Naspers the court had to decide whether Samuels was indeed responsible for Grobler’s condition and if so whether Naspers were vicariously liable for his actions. In coming to its decision various cases were cited by the court as authority that recognised underlying policy considerations of vicarious liability. This included considerations that the employer is in a better position to pay compensation than the employee and to render the employer liable, serves as a deterrent against similar conduct in the future. The court also remarked that the common law courts acknowledge that the evolution of the doctrine continues to be guided by policy. The court ruled that policy considerations justified the finding that Naspers was vicariously liable for the sexual harassment of Grobler. It held further that both Naspers and Samuels were jointly and severally liable for the compensation to be paid. The Code of Good Practice on the Handling of Sexual Harassment Cases which was published as an annexure to the Labour Relations Act was implemented in an attempt to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace, to provide appropriate procedures to deal with the problem and to prevent its occurrence and to promote and to encourage the development and implementation of policies and procedures which will assist in creating workplaces free from sexual harassment. The cases quoted above demonstrate the different approaches adopted by the courts in seeking to grant relief to victims of sexual harassment. It is clear that policies and procedures should be in place in the workplace that will ensure that employers are not held liable for the actions of their employees committed during the course and scope of employment. The same can however not be said when there are no policies and procedures in place in the workplace.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Raubenheimer, Heidi Leasel
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Sexual harassment , Discrimination in employment
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: vital:10271 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1018607
- Description: Over the last two decades our courts have become inundated with cases relating to sexual harassment in the workplace. Sexual harassment has become a major problem in the workplace hence the decision by parliament and our courts to implement policies in the workplace to try and curb the problem. The effects of sexual harassment on a victims’ job and career can be profound. It has been proven that many employees simply decide to leave their jobs or to request a transfer than to endure the harassment until they are psychologically destroyed by the embarrassing situation.The Employment Equity Act explicitly in section 6 prohibits unfair discrimination in very specific terms. It states that no person may unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against an employee in an employment policy or practice on one or more of the grounds listed in section 6. Section 6(3) further states that harassment of an employee is a form of discrimination where the harassment is based on any one or more of the grounds listed in section 6 (1) which includes sexual harassment. Section 60 deals with the liability of employees for the conduct of their employees committed whilst the employees are at work, where such conduct contravenes the provisions of the EEA. If the conduct is brought to the attention of the employer he or she is obliged to take the necessary steps to eliminate the alleged conduct and to comply with the provisions of the EEA. Section 60(3) renders an employee vicariously liable for the conduct of an employee who contravenes the provisions of the EEA. An employee who cannot prove that reasonable steps were taken to ensure that the provisions of the EEA are not contravened will be held liable for the actions or their employees. An employer who can prove that reasonable steps were taken will not be held liable for the actions of the employee.The provisions of the EEA were applied in the case of Ntsabo v Real Security wherein an employee had been sexually harassed over a period of six months by a fellow employee. The employee had reported the incidents of sexual harassment to the corporation she was employed with which failed to take action against the senior employee. Instead of taking action the corporation moved her to a different work station and placed her on night shift. This gave her the impression that she was being punished for the deed of the senior employee which resulted in her resigning from the corporation and instituting a claim for constructive dismissal and damages for sexual harassment. The court found that she had been constructively dismissed and that the senior employee had contravened section 6(3) of the EEA. The court further held that the employer (corporation) was also liable for the conduct of the senior employee in contravening the Act. In terms of the doctrine of vicarious liability on the other an employer may be held vicariously liable for the actions of its employees committed during the course and scope of their employment. The test for vicarious liability is therefore whether at the time of the alleged act of sexual harassment the employee was acting within the course and scope of his employment. The doctrine came before the court in the case of Grobler v Naspers. In this case Grobler who was employed at Naspers alleged that has had been sexually harassed by her immediate supervisor Mr Samuels. Samuels acted as trainee manager for seven months. Grobler suffered a mental breakdown as a result of the harassment and contented that she was no longer fit to work. She approached the High court for relief and alleged that Naspers (employer) was vicariously liable for the actions of Mr Samuels and the damages she suffered. In Naspers the court had to decide whether Samuels was indeed responsible for Grobler’s condition and if so whether Naspers were vicariously liable for his actions. In coming to its decision various cases were cited by the court as authority that recognised underlying policy considerations of vicarious liability. This included considerations that the employer is in a better position to pay compensation than the employee and to render the employer liable, serves as a deterrent against similar conduct in the future. The court also remarked that the common law courts acknowledge that the evolution of the doctrine continues to be guided by policy. The court ruled that policy considerations justified the finding that Naspers was vicariously liable for the sexual harassment of Grobler. It held further that both Naspers and Samuels were jointly and severally liable for the compensation to be paid. The Code of Good Practice on the Handling of Sexual Harassment Cases which was published as an annexure to the Labour Relations Act was implemented in an attempt to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace, to provide appropriate procedures to deal with the problem and to prevent its occurrence and to promote and to encourage the development and implementation of policies and procedures which will assist in creating workplaces free from sexual harassment. The cases quoted above demonstrate the different approaches adopted by the courts in seeking to grant relief to victims of sexual harassment. It is clear that policies and procedures should be in place in the workplace that will ensure that employers are not held liable for the actions of their employees committed during the course and scope of employment. The same can however not be said when there are no policies and procedures in place in the workplace.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Empowering educators to deal with challenging behaviour at high schools in poor socio-economic areas
- Authors: Forbes, Carine Madge Sybil
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: School discipline , High school teachers -- Economic conditions , High school teachers -- Social conditions , Children -- Conduct of life
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:9462 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020258
- Description: Inclusive education and the abolishment of corporal punishment by the National Department of Education have a profound influence on the behaviour of the learners in the classroom. Behaviour displayed by learners challenges the authority of educators and stand in direct contrast to a peaceful classroom setting which is a key element of the learning process. Educators found themselves at a loss, not knowing how to retain order and discipline while valuable teaching time is lost. The aim of this study is to identify and determine how educators can be empowered to deal with challenging behaviour in their high school classrooms. A qualitative study was conducted for this purpose, in four high schools which is situated in the Northern Areas of Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. To obtain the necessary data different data-collection techniques were used, namely questionnaires and interviews. Learners, educators and parents were participants in the study. The findings suggested that most educators do not have the skills and/or knowledge to cope with challenging behaviour displayed by learners in the classroom. Conditions where educators are unable to control the behaviour of learners undoubtedly leads to the degradation of teaching and learning, so the need to address the problem was real. The concluding chapter recommends strategies of dealing with challenging behaviour through classroom management, educator skills as well as disciplinary strategies. An environment that is conducive for teaching and learning will be created by such strategies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Empowering educators to deal with challenging behaviour at high schools in poor socio-economic areas
- Authors: Forbes, Carine Madge Sybil
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: School discipline , High school teachers -- Economic conditions , High school teachers -- Social conditions , Children -- Conduct of life
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:9462 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020258
- Description: Inclusive education and the abolishment of corporal punishment by the National Department of Education have a profound influence on the behaviour of the learners in the classroom. Behaviour displayed by learners challenges the authority of educators and stand in direct contrast to a peaceful classroom setting which is a key element of the learning process. Educators found themselves at a loss, not knowing how to retain order and discipline while valuable teaching time is lost. The aim of this study is to identify and determine how educators can be empowered to deal with challenging behaviour in their high school classrooms. A qualitative study was conducted for this purpose, in four high schools which is situated in the Northern Areas of Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. To obtain the necessary data different data-collection techniques were used, namely questionnaires and interviews. Learners, educators and parents were participants in the study. The findings suggested that most educators do not have the skills and/or knowledge to cope with challenging behaviour displayed by learners in the classroom. Conditions where educators are unable to control the behaviour of learners undoubtedly leads to the degradation of teaching and learning, so the need to address the problem was real. The concluding chapter recommends strategies of dealing with challenging behaviour through classroom management, educator skills as well as disciplinary strategies. An environment that is conducive for teaching and learning will be created by such strategies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Enabling cumulative knowledge-building through teaching: a legitimation code theory analysis of pedagogic practice in law and political science
- Authors: Clarence, Sherran
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Law -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa Political science -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa Education, Higher -- South Africa College teaching -- South Africa Knowledge, Theory of Social realism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1966 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011763
- Description: Much current research and practice in teaching and learning in higher education tends to overfocus on social aspects of education; on how rather than what students are learning. Much of this research and practice is influenced by constructivism, which has a relativist stance on knowledge, generally arguing, contra positivism, that knowledge is constructed in socio-historical contexts and largely inseparable from those who construct it and from issues of power. This leads to a confusion of knowledge with knowing, and knowledge is thus obscured as an object of study because it is only seen or understood as knowing or as a subject of learning and teaching. This ‘knowledge-blindness’ (Maton 2013a: 4) is problematic in higher education because knowledge and knowing are two separate parts of educational fields, and while they need to be brought together to provide a whole account of these fields, they also need to be analysed and understood separately to avoid blurring necessary boundaries and to avoid confusing knowledge itself with how it can be known. Being able to see and analyse knowledge as an object with its own properties and powers is crucial for both epistemological access and social inclusion and justice, because knowledge and knowledge practices are at the heart of academic disciplines in universities. Social realism offers an alternative to the dilemma brought about by constructivism’s tendency towards knowledge-blindness. Social realism argues that it is possible to see and analyse both actors within social fields of practice as well as knowledge as something that is produced by these actors but also about more than just these actors and their practices; thus knowledge can be understood as emergent from these practices and fields but not reducible to them (Maton & Moore 2010). Social realism, drawing from Roy Bhaskar’s critical realist philosophy (1975, 2008), is intent on looking at the real structures and mechanisms that lie beneath appearances and practices in order to understand the ways in which these practices are shaped, and change over time. Legitimation Code Theory is a realist conceptual framework that has, as its central aim, the uncovering and analysis of organising principles that shape and change intellectual and education fields of production and reproduction of knowledge. In other words, the conceptual tools Legitimation Code Theory offers can enable an analysis of both knowledge and knowers within relational social fields of practice by enabling the analysis of the ways in which these fields, such as academic disciplines, are organised and how knowledge and knowing are understood in educational practice. This study draws on social realism more broadly and Legitimation Code Theory specifically to develop a relatively novel conceptual and explanatory framework within which to analyse and answer its central question regarding how to enable cumulative knowledge building through pedagogic practice. Using qualitative data from two academic disciplines, Law and Political Science, which was analysed using a set of conceptual and analytical tools drawn from Legitimation Code Theory, this study shows that the more nuanced and layered accounts of pedagogy that have been generated are able to provide valuable insights into what lecturers are doing as they teach in terms of helping students to acquire, use and produce disciplinary and ‘powerful’ knowledge (Young 2008b). Further, the study demonstrates that the organising principles underlying academic disciplines have a profound effect on how the role of the knower and the place or purpose of knowledge is understood in pedagogy and this affects how the pedagogy is designed and enacted. This study has argued that if we can research pedagogy rigorously using tools that allow us to see the real mechanisms and principles influencing and shaping it, and if we can reclaim the role of disciplinary knowledge as a central part of the pedagogic relationship between lecturer and students, then we can begin to see how teaching both enables and constrains cumulative learning. Further, we can change pedagogy to better enable cumulative learning and greater epistemological access to disciplinary knowledge and related practices for greater numbers of students. The study concludes by suggesting that the conceptual tools offered by Legitimation Code Theory can provide academic lecturers with a set of tools that can begin to enable them to 'see' and understand their own teaching more clearly, as well as the possible gaps between what they are teaching and what their students are learning. This study argues that a social realist approach to the study of pedagogy such as the one used here can begin not only to enable changes in pedagogy aimed at filling these gaps but also begin to provide a more rigorous theoretical and practical approach to analysing, understanding and enacting pedagogic practice. This, in turn, can lead to more socially just and inclusive student learning and epistemic and social access to the powerful knowledge and ways of knowing in their disciplines.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Clarence, Sherran
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Law -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa Political science -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa Education, Higher -- South Africa College teaching -- South Africa Knowledge, Theory of Social realism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1966 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011763
- Description: Much current research and practice in teaching and learning in higher education tends to overfocus on social aspects of education; on how rather than what students are learning. Much of this research and practice is influenced by constructivism, which has a relativist stance on knowledge, generally arguing, contra positivism, that knowledge is constructed in socio-historical contexts and largely inseparable from those who construct it and from issues of power. This leads to a confusion of knowledge with knowing, and knowledge is thus obscured as an object of study because it is only seen or understood as knowing or as a subject of learning and teaching. This ‘knowledge-blindness’ (Maton 2013a: 4) is problematic in higher education because knowledge and knowing are two separate parts of educational fields, and while they need to be brought together to provide a whole account of these fields, they also need to be analysed and understood separately to avoid blurring necessary boundaries and to avoid confusing knowledge itself with how it can be known. Being able to see and analyse knowledge as an object with its own properties and powers is crucial for both epistemological access and social inclusion and justice, because knowledge and knowledge practices are at the heart of academic disciplines in universities. Social realism offers an alternative to the dilemma brought about by constructivism’s tendency towards knowledge-blindness. Social realism argues that it is possible to see and analyse both actors within social fields of practice as well as knowledge as something that is produced by these actors but also about more than just these actors and their practices; thus knowledge can be understood as emergent from these practices and fields but not reducible to them (Maton & Moore 2010). Social realism, drawing from Roy Bhaskar’s critical realist philosophy (1975, 2008), is intent on looking at the real structures and mechanisms that lie beneath appearances and practices in order to understand the ways in which these practices are shaped, and change over time. Legitimation Code Theory is a realist conceptual framework that has, as its central aim, the uncovering and analysis of organising principles that shape and change intellectual and education fields of production and reproduction of knowledge. In other words, the conceptual tools Legitimation Code Theory offers can enable an analysis of both knowledge and knowers within relational social fields of practice by enabling the analysis of the ways in which these fields, such as academic disciplines, are organised and how knowledge and knowing are understood in educational practice. This study draws on social realism more broadly and Legitimation Code Theory specifically to develop a relatively novel conceptual and explanatory framework within which to analyse and answer its central question regarding how to enable cumulative knowledge building through pedagogic practice. Using qualitative data from two academic disciplines, Law and Political Science, which was analysed using a set of conceptual and analytical tools drawn from Legitimation Code Theory, this study shows that the more nuanced and layered accounts of pedagogy that have been generated are able to provide valuable insights into what lecturers are doing as they teach in terms of helping students to acquire, use and produce disciplinary and ‘powerful’ knowledge (Young 2008b). Further, the study demonstrates that the organising principles underlying academic disciplines have a profound effect on how the role of the knower and the place or purpose of knowledge is understood in pedagogy and this affects how the pedagogy is designed and enacted. This study has argued that if we can research pedagogy rigorously using tools that allow us to see the real mechanisms and principles influencing and shaping it, and if we can reclaim the role of disciplinary knowledge as a central part of the pedagogic relationship between lecturer and students, then we can begin to see how teaching both enables and constrains cumulative learning. Further, we can change pedagogy to better enable cumulative learning and greater epistemological access to disciplinary knowledge and related practices for greater numbers of students. The study concludes by suggesting that the conceptual tools offered by Legitimation Code Theory can provide academic lecturers with a set of tools that can begin to enable them to 'see' and understand their own teaching more clearly, as well as the possible gaps between what they are teaching and what their students are learning. This study argues that a social realist approach to the study of pedagogy such as the one used here can begin not only to enable changes in pedagogy aimed at filling these gaps but also begin to provide a more rigorous theoretical and practical approach to analysing, understanding and enacting pedagogic practice. This, in turn, can lead to more socially just and inclusive student learning and epistemic and social access to the powerful knowledge and ways of knowing in their disciplines.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Energy and sustainable development: the case of Dewedzo rural community in Zimbabwe
- Authors: Mbulayi, Shingirai P
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Sustainable development -- Zimbabwe , Renewable energy sources -- Zimbabwe , Power resources -- Zimbabwe , Energy consumption -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc (Dev)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/866 , vital:26504 , Sustainable development -- Zimbabwe , Renewable energy sources -- Zimbabwe , Power resources -- Zimbabwe , Energy consumption -- Zimbabwe
- Description: Energy poverty is a concept that has gained significance quite recently. Its significance has been prompted by the realization that without sustainable modern energy alternatives for the rural poor, prospects for rural transformation remains low. The recognition of modern energy as one of the missing link in rural transformation comes amid the growing concern about the negative effects of relying on traditional energy services and the increasing forecasts that most developing countries are likely to miss their MDG targets by 2015. Drawing on the Modernization and the Sustainable Development Approach, this study concluded that improving the quantity and quality of energy services consumed by the rural poor can counteract rural underdevelopment and enhance rural social and economic transformation in Dewedzo. The study confirmed that energy poor households are prone to various social, economic and environmental detriments such as poor health, hunger, malnutrition, poor education and missed socio economic opportunities. By addressing rural people‟s energy needs, more nexus can be injected into rural productivity and the economic social outputs of this process can in turn increase the pace at which MDGs can be achieved.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Mbulayi, Shingirai P
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Sustainable development -- Zimbabwe , Renewable energy sources -- Zimbabwe , Power resources -- Zimbabwe , Energy consumption -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc (Dev)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/866 , vital:26504 , Sustainable development -- Zimbabwe , Renewable energy sources -- Zimbabwe , Power resources -- Zimbabwe , Energy consumption -- Zimbabwe
- Description: Energy poverty is a concept that has gained significance quite recently. Its significance has been prompted by the realization that without sustainable modern energy alternatives for the rural poor, prospects for rural transformation remains low. The recognition of modern energy as one of the missing link in rural transformation comes amid the growing concern about the negative effects of relying on traditional energy services and the increasing forecasts that most developing countries are likely to miss their MDG targets by 2015. Drawing on the Modernization and the Sustainable Development Approach, this study concluded that improving the quantity and quality of energy services consumed by the rural poor can counteract rural underdevelopment and enhance rural social and economic transformation in Dewedzo. The study confirmed that energy poor households are prone to various social, economic and environmental detriments such as poor health, hunger, malnutrition, poor education and missed socio economic opportunities. By addressing rural people‟s energy needs, more nexus can be injected into rural productivity and the economic social outputs of this process can in turn increase the pace at which MDGs can be achieved.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Enhanced visualisation techniques to support access to personal information across multiple devices
- Authors: Beets, Simone Yvonne
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Information visualisation , Database management , Web services , Personal information management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:10500 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021136
- Description: The increasing number of devices owned by a single user makes it increasingly difficult to access, organise and visualise personal information (PI), i.e. documents and media, across these devices. The primary method that is currently used to organise and visualise PI is the hierarchical folder structure, which is a familiar and widely used means to manage PI. However, this hierarchy does not effectively support personal information management (PIM) across multiple devices. Current solutions, such as the Personal Information Dashboard and Stuff I’ve Seen, do not support PIM across multiple devices. Alternative PIM tools, such as Dropbox and TeamViewer, attempt to provide a means of accessing PI across multiple devices, but these solutions also suffer from several limitations. The aim of this research was to investigate to what extent enhanced information visualisation (IV) techniques could be used to support accessing PI across multiple devices. An interview study was conducted to identify how PI is currently managed across multiple devices. This interview study further motivated the need for a tool to support visualising PI across multiple devices and identified requirements for such an IV tool. Several suitable IV techniques were selected and enhanced to support PIM across multiple devices. These techniques comprised an Overview using a nested circles layout, a Tag Cloud and a Partition Layout, which used a novel set-based technique. A prototype, called MyPSI, was designed and implemented incorporating these enhanced IV techniques. The requirements and design of the MyPSI prototype were validated using a conceptual walkthrough. The design of the MyPSI prototype was initially implemented for a desktop or laptop device with mouse-based interaction. A sample personal space of information (PSI) was used to evaluate the prototype in a controlled user study. The user study was used to identify any usability problems with the MyPSI prototype. The results were highly positive and the participants agreed that such a tool could be useful in future. No major problems were identified with the prototype. The MyPSI prototype was then implemented on a mobile device, specifically an Android tablet device, using a similar design, but supporting touch-based interaction. Users were allowed to upload their own PSI using Dropbox, which was visualised by the MyPSI prototype. A field study was conducted following the Multi-dimensional In-depth Long-term Case Studies approach specifically designed for IV evaluation. The field study was conducted over a two-week period, evaluating both the desktop and mobile versions of the MyPSI prototype. Both versions received positive results, but the desktop version was slightly preferred over the mobile version, mainly due to familiarity and problems experienced with the mobile implementation. Design recommendations were derived to inform future designs of IV tools to support accessing PI across multiple devices. This research has shown that IV techniques can be enhanced to effectively support accessing PI across multiple devices. Future work will involve customising the MyPSI prototype for mobile phones and supporting additional platforms.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Beets, Simone Yvonne
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Information visualisation , Database management , Web services , Personal information management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:10500 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021136
- Description: The increasing number of devices owned by a single user makes it increasingly difficult to access, organise and visualise personal information (PI), i.e. documents and media, across these devices. The primary method that is currently used to organise and visualise PI is the hierarchical folder structure, which is a familiar and widely used means to manage PI. However, this hierarchy does not effectively support personal information management (PIM) across multiple devices. Current solutions, such as the Personal Information Dashboard and Stuff I’ve Seen, do not support PIM across multiple devices. Alternative PIM tools, such as Dropbox and TeamViewer, attempt to provide a means of accessing PI across multiple devices, but these solutions also suffer from several limitations. The aim of this research was to investigate to what extent enhanced information visualisation (IV) techniques could be used to support accessing PI across multiple devices. An interview study was conducted to identify how PI is currently managed across multiple devices. This interview study further motivated the need for a tool to support visualising PI across multiple devices and identified requirements for such an IV tool. Several suitable IV techniques were selected and enhanced to support PIM across multiple devices. These techniques comprised an Overview using a nested circles layout, a Tag Cloud and a Partition Layout, which used a novel set-based technique. A prototype, called MyPSI, was designed and implemented incorporating these enhanced IV techniques. The requirements and design of the MyPSI prototype were validated using a conceptual walkthrough. The design of the MyPSI prototype was initially implemented for a desktop or laptop device with mouse-based interaction. A sample personal space of information (PSI) was used to evaluate the prototype in a controlled user study. The user study was used to identify any usability problems with the MyPSI prototype. The results were highly positive and the participants agreed that such a tool could be useful in future. No major problems were identified with the prototype. The MyPSI prototype was then implemented on a mobile device, specifically an Android tablet device, using a similar design, but supporting touch-based interaction. Users were allowed to upload their own PSI using Dropbox, which was visualised by the MyPSI prototype. A field study was conducted following the Multi-dimensional In-depth Long-term Case Studies approach specifically designed for IV evaluation. The field study was conducted over a two-week period, evaluating both the desktop and mobile versions of the MyPSI prototype. Both versions received positive results, but the desktop version was slightly preferred over the mobile version, mainly due to familiarity and problems experienced with the mobile implementation. Design recommendations were derived to inform future designs of IV tools to support accessing PI across multiple devices. This research has shown that IV techniques can be enhanced to effectively support accessing PI across multiple devices. Future work will involve customising the MyPSI prototype for mobile phones and supporting additional platforms.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Enhancement of the usability of SOA services for novice users
- Authors: Yalezo, Sabelo
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc (Computer Science)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/822 , vital:26500
- Description: Recently, the automation of service integration has provided a significant advantage in delivering services to novice users. This art of integrating various services is known as Service Composition and its main purpose is to simplify the development process for web applications and facilitates reuse of services. It is one of the paradigms that enables services to end-users (i.e.service provisioning) through the outsourcing of web contents and it requires users to share and reuse services in more collaborative ways. Most service composers are effective at enabling integration of web contents, but they do not enable universal access across different groups of users. This is because, the currently existing content aggregators require complex interactions in order to create web applications (e.g., Web Service Business Process Execution Language (WS-BPEL)) as a result not all users are able to use such web tools. This trend demands changes in the web tools that end-users use to gain and share information, hence this research uses Mashups as a service composition technique to allow novice users to integrate publicly available Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) services, where there is a minimal active web application development. Mashups being the platforms that integrate disparate web Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to create user defined web applications; presents a great opportunity for service provisioning. However, their usability for novice users remains invalidated since Mashup tools are not easy to use they require basic programming skills which makes the process of designing and creating Mashups difficult. This is because Mashup tools access heterogeneous web contents using public web APIs and the process of integrating them become complex since web APIs are tailored by different vendors. Moreover, the design of Mashup editors is unnecessary complex; as a result, users do not know where to start when creating Mashups. This research address the gap between Mashup tools and usability by the designing and implementing a semantically enriched Mashup tool to discover, annotate and compose APIs to improve the utilization of SOA services by novice users. The researchers conducted an analysis of the already existing Mashup tools to identify challenges and weaknesses experienced by novice Mashup users. The findings from the requirement analysis formulated the system usability requirements that informed the design and implementation of the proposed Mashup tool. The proposed architecture addressed three layers: composition, annotation and discovery. The researchers developed a simple Mashup tool referred to as soa-Services Provisioner (SerPro) that allowed novice users to create web application flexibly. Its usability and effectiveness was validated. The proposed Mashup tool enhanced the usability of SOA services, since data analysis and results showed that it was usable to novice users by scoring a System Usability Scale (SUS) score of 72.08. Furthermore, this research discusses the research limitations and future work for further improvements.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Yalezo, Sabelo
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc (Computer Science)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/822 , vital:26500
- Description: Recently, the automation of service integration has provided a significant advantage in delivering services to novice users. This art of integrating various services is known as Service Composition and its main purpose is to simplify the development process for web applications and facilitates reuse of services. It is one of the paradigms that enables services to end-users (i.e.service provisioning) through the outsourcing of web contents and it requires users to share and reuse services in more collaborative ways. Most service composers are effective at enabling integration of web contents, but they do not enable universal access across different groups of users. This is because, the currently existing content aggregators require complex interactions in order to create web applications (e.g., Web Service Business Process Execution Language (WS-BPEL)) as a result not all users are able to use such web tools. This trend demands changes in the web tools that end-users use to gain and share information, hence this research uses Mashups as a service composition technique to allow novice users to integrate publicly available Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) services, where there is a minimal active web application development. Mashups being the platforms that integrate disparate web Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to create user defined web applications; presents a great opportunity for service provisioning. However, their usability for novice users remains invalidated since Mashup tools are not easy to use they require basic programming skills which makes the process of designing and creating Mashups difficult. This is because Mashup tools access heterogeneous web contents using public web APIs and the process of integrating them become complex since web APIs are tailored by different vendors. Moreover, the design of Mashup editors is unnecessary complex; as a result, users do not know where to start when creating Mashups. This research address the gap between Mashup tools and usability by the designing and implementing a semantically enriched Mashup tool to discover, annotate and compose APIs to improve the utilization of SOA services by novice users. The researchers conducted an analysis of the already existing Mashup tools to identify challenges and weaknesses experienced by novice Mashup users. The findings from the requirement analysis formulated the system usability requirements that informed the design and implementation of the proposed Mashup tool. The proposed architecture addressed three layers: composition, annotation and discovery. The researchers developed a simple Mashup tool referred to as soa-Services Provisioner (SerPro) that allowed novice users to create web application flexibly. Its usability and effectiveness was validated. The proposed Mashup tool enhanced the usability of SOA services, since data analysis and results showed that it was usable to novice users by scoring a System Usability Scale (SUS) score of 72.08. Furthermore, this research discusses the research limitations and future work for further improvements.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Enhancing parental involvement in primary schools in disadvantaged communities
- Hendricks, Charlotte Augusta
- Authors: Hendricks, Charlotte Augusta
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Education, Primary -- Parent participation -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Parent-teacher relationships -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Ecological Systems Theory
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: vital:9461 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020169
- Description: The main research question guiding this study is: “What strategies can be established to enhance parental involvement in primary schools in disadvantaged communities in the Northern Areas of Port Elizabeth”? To answer this question, this study examines parents’ and teachers’ practices concerning parental involvement in the Northern Areas of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan. Parents and teachers were purposely selected from participating schools. In this qualitative study, the researcher proposed strategies to enhance parental involvement at primary schools. Qualitative research methods, associated with phenomenological inquiry were employed to explore the life-world of the participants who have had personal experience with the phenomenon of parental involvement. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with parents and teachers. This allowed the researcher to gather in-depth information about opinions, beliefs, practices and attitudes concerning the involvement of parents in their children’s education. Bronfenbrenner’s ecosystemic theory served as the theorectical framework of this investigation. Since this study is about parental involvement in primary schools educational policies like inclusive education as well as different models of parental involvement were investigated in the literature study. The results of the study indicated several barriers to the enhancement of parental involvement for instance communication barriers between parents and teachers. The researcher established four strategies for the enhancement of parental involvement and recommended that these strategies should be employed by schools and other stakeholders. She also made further recommendations for parents, teachers, school principals, Department of Basic Education and professionals in the community.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Hendricks, Charlotte Augusta
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Education, Primary -- Parent participation -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Parent-teacher relationships -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth , Ecological Systems Theory
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: vital:9461 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020169
- Description: The main research question guiding this study is: “What strategies can be established to enhance parental involvement in primary schools in disadvantaged communities in the Northern Areas of Port Elizabeth”? To answer this question, this study examines parents’ and teachers’ practices concerning parental involvement in the Northern Areas of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan. Parents and teachers were purposely selected from participating schools. In this qualitative study, the researcher proposed strategies to enhance parental involvement at primary schools. Qualitative research methods, associated with phenomenological inquiry were employed to explore the life-world of the participants who have had personal experience with the phenomenon of parental involvement. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with parents and teachers. This allowed the researcher to gather in-depth information about opinions, beliefs, practices and attitudes concerning the involvement of parents in their children’s education. Bronfenbrenner’s ecosystemic theory served as the theorectical framework of this investigation. Since this study is about parental involvement in primary schools educational policies like inclusive education as well as different models of parental involvement were investigated in the literature study. The results of the study indicated several barriers to the enhancement of parental involvement for instance communication barriers between parents and teachers. The researcher established four strategies for the enhancement of parental involvement and recommended that these strategies should be employed by schools and other stakeholders. She also made further recommendations for parents, teachers, school principals, Department of Basic Education and professionals in the community.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Enterococcus pathotypes as reservoirs of antibiotic resistance determinants in the Kat River and Fort Beaufort abstraction waters
- Authors: Ntloko, Phindiwe
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Enterococcus , Drug resistance
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc (Microbiology)
- Identifier: vital:11290 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1019821 , Enterococcus , Drug resistance
- Description: In this study, 400 presumptive Enterococcus isolates previously recovered from Kat River and Fort Beaufort Abstraction water dam were subjected to molecular confirmation and pathotyping. Two hundred and seventy-four (68%) of these isolates were confirmed to be enterococci species. Confirmations studies were polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based, using enterococci specific primers targeting the tuf gene. The confirmed enterococci isolates were further differentiated into their pathotypes, the targets of which were: E. faecalis, E. avium, E. hirae, E. casseliflavarus and E. gallinarum using well documented species specific primer sequences. E. faecalis accounted for 20% of the isolates, followed by E. avium (16%), E. hirae (13%), E. casseliflavarus (5%) and E. gallinarum (3%). Furthermore, all the confirmed isolates were analysed for antibiotic susceptibilities using a panel of nine different antibiotics, namely vancomycin, linezolid, ciprofloxacin, ampicillin, gentamicin, chloramphenicol, tetracycline, erythromycin, penicillin, and those that were resistant were assayed for the presence of relevant antibiotic resistance genes. All the 274 isolates were found to harbour vanA resistance gene confirming their phenotypic resistance to the vancomycin. Similarly, 60% (109/180) of the isolates showed phenotypic resistance to erythromycin which was further confirmed by the presence of ermA genes in these isolates. The presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in surface waters poses a risk to public health.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Ntloko, Phindiwe
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Enterococcus , Drug resistance
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc (Microbiology)
- Identifier: vital:11290 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1019821 , Enterococcus , Drug resistance
- Description: In this study, 400 presumptive Enterococcus isolates previously recovered from Kat River and Fort Beaufort Abstraction water dam were subjected to molecular confirmation and pathotyping. Two hundred and seventy-four (68%) of these isolates were confirmed to be enterococci species. Confirmations studies were polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based, using enterococci specific primers targeting the tuf gene. The confirmed enterococci isolates were further differentiated into their pathotypes, the targets of which were: E. faecalis, E. avium, E. hirae, E. casseliflavarus and E. gallinarum using well documented species specific primer sequences. E. faecalis accounted for 20% of the isolates, followed by E. avium (16%), E. hirae (13%), E. casseliflavarus (5%) and E. gallinarum (3%). Furthermore, all the confirmed isolates were analysed for antibiotic susceptibilities using a panel of nine different antibiotics, namely vancomycin, linezolid, ciprofloxacin, ampicillin, gentamicin, chloramphenicol, tetracycline, erythromycin, penicillin, and those that were resistant were assayed for the presence of relevant antibiotic resistance genes. All the 274 isolates were found to harbour vanA resistance gene confirming their phenotypic resistance to the vancomycin. Similarly, 60% (109/180) of the isolates showed phenotypic resistance to erythromycin which was further confirmed by the presence of ermA genes in these isolates. The presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in surface waters poses a risk to public health.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Enterpreneurial orientation at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
- Fadairo, Feyisara Olufunmilayo
- Authors: Fadairo, Feyisara Olufunmilayo
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Entrepreneurship -- South Africa , University-based new business enterprises -- South Africa , Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:9348 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020293
- Description: In the knowledge world into which mankind has progressed, universities are engines of economic growth. Their role has changed from producers of labour force to equal contributors - along with government and industry- in regional and national economic and social growth and development. Universities that will survive and succeed in this new climate must embrace entrepreneurship - become entrepreneurially oriented. As in any other organisation corporate entrepreneurship processes explain how entrepreneurship is implemented and diffused throughout a university, and its members must perceive the internal organisational culture as innovation supporting for entrepreneurship to flourish. Hence, the importance of studying internal environmental conditions that influence / enable corporate entrepreneurship. This study investigated NMMU’s entrepreneurial orientation by first determining what an entrepreneurial university is and its key attributes. Next it identified the key structural factors influencing university entrepreneurship and enquired how these structural factors can be influenced to enhance entrepreneurship at NMMU. To this end, survey method was used to sample perception of the university middle managers. The study first determined the level of entrepreneurship in NMMU by measuring its entrepreneurial intensity and then attempted to locate its position on the entrepreneurial grid. Next the level of the university’s internal environmental support for entrepreneurship was determined. The university’s culture was found to be the key factor influencing entrepreneurship with time availability and work discretion as key internal factors through which NMMU’s entrepreneurial culture could be improved. Proactivity and frequency dimensions of entrepreneurship were found to lead to significant improvement in the university’s entrepreneurial output and based on the outcome of the study; suggestions were made on ways of incorporating findings to better improve entrepreneurial orientation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Fadairo, Feyisara Olufunmilayo
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Entrepreneurship -- South Africa , University-based new business enterprises -- South Africa , Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:9348 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020293
- Description: In the knowledge world into which mankind has progressed, universities are engines of economic growth. Their role has changed from producers of labour force to equal contributors - along with government and industry- in regional and national economic and social growth and development. Universities that will survive and succeed in this new climate must embrace entrepreneurship - become entrepreneurially oriented. As in any other organisation corporate entrepreneurship processes explain how entrepreneurship is implemented and diffused throughout a university, and its members must perceive the internal organisational culture as innovation supporting for entrepreneurship to flourish. Hence, the importance of studying internal environmental conditions that influence / enable corporate entrepreneurship. This study investigated NMMU’s entrepreneurial orientation by first determining what an entrepreneurial university is and its key attributes. Next it identified the key structural factors influencing university entrepreneurship and enquired how these structural factors can be influenced to enhance entrepreneurship at NMMU. To this end, survey method was used to sample perception of the university middle managers. The study first determined the level of entrepreneurship in NMMU by measuring its entrepreneurial intensity and then attempted to locate its position on the entrepreneurial grid. Next the level of the university’s internal environmental support for entrepreneurship was determined. The university’s culture was found to be the key factor influencing entrepreneurship with time availability and work discretion as key internal factors through which NMMU’s entrepreneurial culture could be improved. Proactivity and frequency dimensions of entrepreneurship were found to lead to significant improvement in the university’s entrepreneurial output and based on the outcome of the study; suggestions were made on ways of incorporating findings to better improve entrepreneurial orientation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Establishing a formulation design space for a generic clobetasol 17- propionate cream using the principles of quality by design
- Fauzee, Ayeshah Fateemah Beebee
- Authors: Fauzee, Ayeshah Fateemah Beebee
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:20983 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5868
- Description: The pharmaceutical industry is global, is highly regulated and is able to achieve reasonable product quality but at high cost with maximum effort. Numerous challenges face the pharmaceutical industry and include a shrinking research pipeline, less innovation, outsourcing, investments, increasing research and development costs, long approval times, growth of the generic industry, failure to understand or analyze manufacturing failure and wastage as high at fifty percent for some pharmaceutical products. An efficient and flexible pharmaceutical sector should be able to consistently produce high quality pharmaceutical products at a reduced cost with minimal waste. As a result, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other agencies such as the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) have embraced a “Quality by Design” (QbD) paradigm and this has become the “desired state” so as to shift manufacturing from being empirical to a science, engineering, and risk based approach. QbD is a systematic approach for the development of high quality pharmaceutical dosage forms that begins with predefined objectives based on the premise that quality must be built into and not tested into a product. QbD together with the establishment of a design space for dosage forms is a fairly new concept and there is limited published data on QbD concepts that report the entire process of identifying Critical Quality Attributes (CQA), design of a formulation and manufacturing process to meet product CQA, understanding the impact of material attributes and process parameters on product CQA, identification and controlling sources of variability in materials and processes that affect the CQA of a product and finally establishing, evaluating and testing a design space using both in vitro and in vivo approaches to assure that a product of consistent quality can always be produced. The objective of these studies was to implement a QbD approach to establish a design space for the development and manufacture of a safe, effective, stable generic formulation containing 0.05% w/w clobetasol 17-propionate (CP) that had similar in vitro and in vivo characteristics to an innovator product, Dermovate® (Sekpharma® Pty Ltd, Sandton, Gauteng, RSA). Such a product would pose a minimal risk of failure when treating severe skin disorders such as seborrhoeic dermatitis, extreme photodermatitis and/or severe psoriasis in HIV/AIDS patients in Southern Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Fauzee, Ayeshah Fateemah Beebee
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:20983 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5868
- Description: The pharmaceutical industry is global, is highly regulated and is able to achieve reasonable product quality but at high cost with maximum effort. Numerous challenges face the pharmaceutical industry and include a shrinking research pipeline, less innovation, outsourcing, investments, increasing research and development costs, long approval times, growth of the generic industry, failure to understand or analyze manufacturing failure and wastage as high at fifty percent for some pharmaceutical products. An efficient and flexible pharmaceutical sector should be able to consistently produce high quality pharmaceutical products at a reduced cost with minimal waste. As a result, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other agencies such as the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) have embraced a “Quality by Design” (QbD) paradigm and this has become the “desired state” so as to shift manufacturing from being empirical to a science, engineering, and risk based approach. QbD is a systematic approach for the development of high quality pharmaceutical dosage forms that begins with predefined objectives based on the premise that quality must be built into and not tested into a product. QbD together with the establishment of a design space for dosage forms is a fairly new concept and there is limited published data on QbD concepts that report the entire process of identifying Critical Quality Attributes (CQA), design of a formulation and manufacturing process to meet product CQA, understanding the impact of material attributes and process parameters on product CQA, identification and controlling sources of variability in materials and processes that affect the CQA of a product and finally establishing, evaluating and testing a design space using both in vitro and in vivo approaches to assure that a product of consistent quality can always be produced. The objective of these studies was to implement a QbD approach to establish a design space for the development and manufacture of a safe, effective, stable generic formulation containing 0.05% w/w clobetasol 17-propionate (CP) that had similar in vitro and in vivo characteristics to an innovator product, Dermovate® (Sekpharma® Pty Ltd, Sandton, Gauteng, RSA). Such a product would pose a minimal risk of failure when treating severe skin disorders such as seborrhoeic dermatitis, extreme photodermatitis and/or severe psoriasis in HIV/AIDS patients in Southern Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Establishing perceptions of an entrepreneur using word associations
- Authors: Goliath, Jasmine Estonia
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Entrepreneurship -- South Africa , Economic development -- South Africa , Businesspeople -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:9321 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020785
- Description: Entrepreneurship as a source of economic growth and competitiveness as well as job creation and the advancement of social interests is well documented. Despite these important contributions to the economies of countries, a shortage of entrepreneurial activity exists across borders and specifically in developing countries such as South Africa. The purpose of this study was to determine the perception and image of an entrepreneur in the eyes of various stakeholders. The reasoning behind this was that if the image of an entrepreneur could be determined, one could establish whether the image positively or negatively influences entrepreneurial intentions as well as potential future entrepreneurial activity. More specifically, the primary objective was to identify the perception and image that potential entrepreneurs (students) and existing entrepreneurs (small business owners) have of an entrepreneur. In the body of knowledge or general literature on entrepreneurship, the most commonly discussed topics are the nature and importance of entrepreneurship, the attributes (personality traits, characteristics and skills) associated with an entrepreneur, various push and pull factors, various rewards and drawbacks of such a career and the challenges entrepreneurs face. It is these aspects of entrepreneurship that stakeholders will most likely have been exposed to, and that most possibly have influenced their perception and image of an entrepreneur. The aforementioned aspects provided an overview of the theoretical body of knowledge on which the perception and image of an entrepreneur is based. The present study adopted a qualitative research paradigm with a phenomenological approach to achieve the research objectives of the study. Within this context, the study made use of a qualitative method for data collection and a quantitative method for data analysis. As such, a mixed methods approach was adopted. More specifically, a qualitative dominant mixed research method was implemented. A continuous word association test, which is a projective technique, was adopted as the qualitative means of data collection. This test involved asking participants to recall the words that come to mind when presented with the word “entrepreneur”. This method was selected because of its ability to reveal both affective and cognitive associations with the concept “entrepreneur”. A quantitative summative (manifest) content analysis was used as the quantitative research method for analysing the data. The continuous word association test was conducted among three sample groups, namely students prior to commencing, and students after completing a module in entrepreneurship, and small business owners. Student and small business owner participants were asked to write down as many words or phrases as possible that came to mind when they thought of the word “entrepreneur”, which was the stimulus word, within a ten-minute period. These responses were then collated and coded by developing a coding framework based on brand image and entrepreneurship literature. In studies on brand image, the components of image are considered to be tristructured in nature, consisting of cognitive (what the individual knows), affective (how the individual feels) and holistic (overall symbolism, combination of affective and cognitive) evaluations. The words generated by the participants in this study were broadly coded according to these categories and further subcategorised by searching for themes within the broad categories, which was facilitated and guided by an in-depth investigation of the entrepreneurship literature. The findings of this study show that the words generated by all three groups of participants were mostly of a cognitive nature, followed by words of a general or affective nature. As such, the vast majority of words generated by all three groups related to what the participants knew about an entrepreneur (cognitive) versus how they felt about one (affective), and were grounded in the management or entrepreneurship literature. When comparing the top ten words most frequently associated with the term “entrepreneur” by the three groups of participants, the attribute risk-taker was the most frequently recalled word among all three groups. Students prior to undertaking the entrepreneurship module associated an entrepreneur with being creative and a risk-taker, having a business enterprise and being involved in the selling of goods and services. Students after completing the module in entrepreneurship associated an entrepreneur with being profit-orientated, a risk-taker, innovative and original, and being opportunistic. Small business owners, on the other hand, associated an entrepreneur with being a risk-taker, innovative and original, goal- and achievement-orientated and profit-orientated. The findings show that all groups of participants associated an entrepreneur principally with certain attributes rather than with learned skills and competencies, and that all groups had a more positive than negative image of an entrepreneur. It was also found that exposure to entrepreneurship literature has an influence on the perception and image that students have of an entrepreneur. Because the words recalled by students after completing the entrepreneurship module were more in line with those recalled by small business owners, than with those recalled by students before starting the module, it can be suggested that entrepreneurship literature contributes to a more realistic image of an entrepreneur among students. This study has contributed to the field of entrepreneurship research by adopting a qualitative dominant research paradigm in conjunction with quantitative research methods to explore the complexity of the term “entrepreneur”. Furthermore, this study has been able to establish how individuals feel about entrepreneurship, in terms of being either positive or negative, by adding an affective aspect to the cognitive aspect of entrepreneurial decision-making. By conducting a continuous word association test among students prior to beginning and after completing a module in entrepreneurship, the entrepreneurial knowledge of students before being exposed to entrepreneurship literature was established, and subsequently the effectiveness of the entrepreneurship module determined. It is hoped that the findings of this study have added value to the entrepreneurship body of knowledge and can be used in future studies as a tool to address the problem of low entrepreneurial intention and activity among South Africans. Furthermore, it is hoped that by creating a positive image of an entrepreneur, entrepreneurship as a desirable career choice can be promoted and an entrepreneurial culture developed within communities and broader society.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Goliath, Jasmine Estonia
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Entrepreneurship -- South Africa , Economic development -- South Africa , Businesspeople -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:9321 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020785
- Description: Entrepreneurship as a source of economic growth and competitiveness as well as job creation and the advancement of social interests is well documented. Despite these important contributions to the economies of countries, a shortage of entrepreneurial activity exists across borders and specifically in developing countries such as South Africa. The purpose of this study was to determine the perception and image of an entrepreneur in the eyes of various stakeholders. The reasoning behind this was that if the image of an entrepreneur could be determined, one could establish whether the image positively or negatively influences entrepreneurial intentions as well as potential future entrepreneurial activity. More specifically, the primary objective was to identify the perception and image that potential entrepreneurs (students) and existing entrepreneurs (small business owners) have of an entrepreneur. In the body of knowledge or general literature on entrepreneurship, the most commonly discussed topics are the nature and importance of entrepreneurship, the attributes (personality traits, characteristics and skills) associated with an entrepreneur, various push and pull factors, various rewards and drawbacks of such a career and the challenges entrepreneurs face. It is these aspects of entrepreneurship that stakeholders will most likely have been exposed to, and that most possibly have influenced their perception and image of an entrepreneur. The aforementioned aspects provided an overview of the theoretical body of knowledge on which the perception and image of an entrepreneur is based. The present study adopted a qualitative research paradigm with a phenomenological approach to achieve the research objectives of the study. Within this context, the study made use of a qualitative method for data collection and a quantitative method for data analysis. As such, a mixed methods approach was adopted. More specifically, a qualitative dominant mixed research method was implemented. A continuous word association test, which is a projective technique, was adopted as the qualitative means of data collection. This test involved asking participants to recall the words that come to mind when presented with the word “entrepreneur”. This method was selected because of its ability to reveal both affective and cognitive associations with the concept “entrepreneur”. A quantitative summative (manifest) content analysis was used as the quantitative research method for analysing the data. The continuous word association test was conducted among three sample groups, namely students prior to commencing, and students after completing a module in entrepreneurship, and small business owners. Student and small business owner participants were asked to write down as many words or phrases as possible that came to mind when they thought of the word “entrepreneur”, which was the stimulus word, within a ten-minute period. These responses were then collated and coded by developing a coding framework based on brand image and entrepreneurship literature. In studies on brand image, the components of image are considered to be tristructured in nature, consisting of cognitive (what the individual knows), affective (how the individual feels) and holistic (overall symbolism, combination of affective and cognitive) evaluations. The words generated by the participants in this study were broadly coded according to these categories and further subcategorised by searching for themes within the broad categories, which was facilitated and guided by an in-depth investigation of the entrepreneurship literature. The findings of this study show that the words generated by all three groups of participants were mostly of a cognitive nature, followed by words of a general or affective nature. As such, the vast majority of words generated by all three groups related to what the participants knew about an entrepreneur (cognitive) versus how they felt about one (affective), and were grounded in the management or entrepreneurship literature. When comparing the top ten words most frequently associated with the term “entrepreneur” by the three groups of participants, the attribute risk-taker was the most frequently recalled word among all three groups. Students prior to undertaking the entrepreneurship module associated an entrepreneur with being creative and a risk-taker, having a business enterprise and being involved in the selling of goods and services. Students after completing the module in entrepreneurship associated an entrepreneur with being profit-orientated, a risk-taker, innovative and original, and being opportunistic. Small business owners, on the other hand, associated an entrepreneur with being a risk-taker, innovative and original, goal- and achievement-orientated and profit-orientated. The findings show that all groups of participants associated an entrepreneur principally with certain attributes rather than with learned skills and competencies, and that all groups had a more positive than negative image of an entrepreneur. It was also found that exposure to entrepreneurship literature has an influence on the perception and image that students have of an entrepreneur. Because the words recalled by students after completing the entrepreneurship module were more in line with those recalled by small business owners, than with those recalled by students before starting the module, it can be suggested that entrepreneurship literature contributes to a more realistic image of an entrepreneur among students. This study has contributed to the field of entrepreneurship research by adopting a qualitative dominant research paradigm in conjunction with quantitative research methods to explore the complexity of the term “entrepreneur”. Furthermore, this study has been able to establish how individuals feel about entrepreneurship, in terms of being either positive or negative, by adding an affective aspect to the cognitive aspect of entrepreneurial decision-making. By conducting a continuous word association test among students prior to beginning and after completing a module in entrepreneurship, the entrepreneurial knowledge of students before being exposed to entrepreneurship literature was established, and subsequently the effectiveness of the entrepreneurship module determined. It is hoped that the findings of this study have added value to the entrepreneurship body of knowledge and can be used in future studies as a tool to address the problem of low entrepreneurial intention and activity among South Africans. Furthermore, it is hoped that by creating a positive image of an entrepreneur, entrepreneurship as a desirable career choice can be promoted and an entrepreneurial culture developed within communities and broader society.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Ethanol production from lignocellulosic sugarcane leaves and tops
- Authors: Dodo, Charlie Marembu
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Biomass energy , Ethanol as fuel , Lignocellulose
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc (Chemistry)
- Identifier: vital:11347 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1019839 , Biomass energy , Ethanol as fuel , Lignocellulose
- Description: Various methods for the production of bioethanol using different feedstocks have been researched on. In most work on bioethanol synthesis from sugar cane, tops and leaves have been regarded as waste and generally removed and thrown away. In this work, lignocellulosic sugarcane leaves and tops were not discarded but instead used as biomass to evaluate their hydrolyzate content. The leaves and tops were hydrolysed using different methods, namely concentrated acid, dilute acid pre-treatment with subsequent enzyme hydrolysis and compared with a combination of oxidative alkali pretreatment and enzyme hydrolysis. Subsequent fermentation of the hydrolyzates into bioethanol was done using the yeast saccharomyces cerevisae. Acid hydrolysis has the problem of producing inhibitors, which have to be removed and this was done using overliming with calcium hydroxide and compared to sodium hydroxide neutralization. Oxidative alkali pre-treatment with enzyme hydrolysis gave the highest yields of fermentable sugars of 38% (g/g) using 7% (v/v) peroxide pre-treated biomass than 36% (g/g) for 5% (v/v) with the least inhibitors. Concentrated and dilute acid hydrolysis each gave yields of25% (g/g) and 22% (g/g) yields respectively although for acid a neutralization step was necessary and resulted in dilution. Alkaline neutralization of acid hydrolyzates using sodium hydroxide resulted in less dilution and loss of fermentable sugars as compared to overliming. Higher yields of bioethanol, 13.7 (g/l) were obtained from enzyme hydrolyzates than 6.9 (g/l) bioethanol from dilute acid hydrolyzates. There was more bioethanol yield 13.7 (g/l) after 72h of fermentation with the yeast than 7.0 (g/l) bioethanol after 24h. However, the longer fermentation period diminishes the value of the increase in yield by lowering the efficiency of the process.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Dodo, Charlie Marembu
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Biomass energy , Ethanol as fuel , Lignocellulose
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc (Chemistry)
- Identifier: vital:11347 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1019839 , Biomass energy , Ethanol as fuel , Lignocellulose
- Description: Various methods for the production of bioethanol using different feedstocks have been researched on. In most work on bioethanol synthesis from sugar cane, tops and leaves have been regarded as waste and generally removed and thrown away. In this work, lignocellulosic sugarcane leaves and tops were not discarded but instead used as biomass to evaluate their hydrolyzate content. The leaves and tops were hydrolysed using different methods, namely concentrated acid, dilute acid pre-treatment with subsequent enzyme hydrolysis and compared with a combination of oxidative alkali pretreatment and enzyme hydrolysis. Subsequent fermentation of the hydrolyzates into bioethanol was done using the yeast saccharomyces cerevisae. Acid hydrolysis has the problem of producing inhibitors, which have to be removed and this was done using overliming with calcium hydroxide and compared to sodium hydroxide neutralization. Oxidative alkali pre-treatment with enzyme hydrolysis gave the highest yields of fermentable sugars of 38% (g/g) using 7% (v/v) peroxide pre-treated biomass than 36% (g/g) for 5% (v/v) with the least inhibitors. Concentrated and dilute acid hydrolysis each gave yields of25% (g/g) and 22% (g/g) yields respectively although for acid a neutralization step was necessary and resulted in dilution. Alkaline neutralization of acid hydrolyzates using sodium hydroxide resulted in less dilution and loss of fermentable sugars as compared to overliming. Higher yields of bioethanol, 13.7 (g/l) were obtained from enzyme hydrolyzates than 6.9 (g/l) bioethanol from dilute acid hydrolyzates. There was more bioethanol yield 13.7 (g/l) after 72h of fermentation with the yeast than 7.0 (g/l) bioethanol after 24h. However, the longer fermentation period diminishes the value of the increase in yield by lowering the efficiency of the process.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Evaluating audience responses to promotional messages
- Authors: Bezuidenhout, Sonja
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Branding (Marketing) , Content analysis (Communication) , Public relations
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8480 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020280
- Description: This study explored the guidelines advocated by selected media content analysis with the aim of identifying effective approaches to evaluate audience responses to promotional messages. Drawing from literature and documented deliberations by industry professionals, content-specific analysis protocols were applied and tested using a case study representing topic-specific responses to the Two Oceans Quay 5 product launch. In doing so, a logical observation of the communication in unpaid media placements and relevant discussions distributed in public media channels was completed. It is in this sense that this research enriches the study of public relations with a particular focus on output-driven evaluation. It provides insights into qualitative and quantitative publicity measurement and suggests how these methods can be useful to explicate the impact of media coverage as a public relations element. While it largely focused on discovering improved media content analysis solutions, this study revealed that content-driven analysis can only be useful when its protocols are aligned with the context of the data and if communication practitioners remain aware and transparent of its subjectivity. In this regard, this study helps to generate an understanding of the subjective dynamic of public relations and the importance of in-depth and adaptable publicity assessments to help distinguish public relations as a purposeful branding function next to advertising and marketing.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Bezuidenhout, Sonja
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Branding (Marketing) , Content analysis (Communication) , Public relations
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8480 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020280
- Description: This study explored the guidelines advocated by selected media content analysis with the aim of identifying effective approaches to evaluate audience responses to promotional messages. Drawing from literature and documented deliberations by industry professionals, content-specific analysis protocols were applied and tested using a case study representing topic-specific responses to the Two Oceans Quay 5 product launch. In doing so, a logical observation of the communication in unpaid media placements and relevant discussions distributed in public media channels was completed. It is in this sense that this research enriches the study of public relations with a particular focus on output-driven evaluation. It provides insights into qualitative and quantitative publicity measurement and suggests how these methods can be useful to explicate the impact of media coverage as a public relations element. While it largely focused on discovering improved media content analysis solutions, this study revealed that content-driven analysis can only be useful when its protocols are aligned with the context of the data and if communication practitioners remain aware and transparent of its subjectivity. In this regard, this study helps to generate an understanding of the subjective dynamic of public relations and the importance of in-depth and adaptable publicity assessments to help distinguish public relations as a purposeful branding function next to advertising and marketing.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Evaluating recruitment practices at the auditor general of South Africa
- Authors: Snyders, Curtis
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Employees -- Recruiting -- South Africa , Employee selection -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:8932 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021189
- Description: This research study evaluated recruitment practices at the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA). The AGSA recruit highly skilled talented individuals in a country with a problem with a shortage of skills. Recruitment at the organisation is therefore an important function and key to the success of the AGSA. There is no clear indication that the AGSA, when filling vacancies, should recruit from its internal resources or recruit externally. This research looked to establish an ideal ratio between the recruitment from internal and external employees. To achieve the objectives, a literature review was conducted to determine the various combinations of recruitment. The literature was divided into talent management, internal and external recruitment, as well as succession management. The research took the form of a case study, looking at recruitment practices within the AGSA. A questionnaire was developed to gather information from employees in the AGSA, around their assessment of recruitment and their opinion on internal and external recruitment. The questionnaire was distributed online and various levels of employees within the organisation participated in responding to the questionnaire. The most recent recruitment reports were presented and analysed. Information was gathered from literature on recruitment and the AGSA employee’s by means of an online questionnaire. Recommendations were made to the AGSA taking into consideration the current practices within the organisation and the research undertaken for this dissertation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Snyders, Curtis
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Employees -- Recruiting -- South Africa , Employee selection -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:8932 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021189
- Description: This research study evaluated recruitment practices at the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA). The AGSA recruit highly skilled talented individuals in a country with a problem with a shortage of skills. Recruitment at the organisation is therefore an important function and key to the success of the AGSA. There is no clear indication that the AGSA, when filling vacancies, should recruit from its internal resources or recruit externally. This research looked to establish an ideal ratio between the recruitment from internal and external employees. To achieve the objectives, a literature review was conducted to determine the various combinations of recruitment. The literature was divided into talent management, internal and external recruitment, as well as succession management. The research took the form of a case study, looking at recruitment practices within the AGSA. A questionnaire was developed to gather information from employees in the AGSA, around their assessment of recruitment and their opinion on internal and external recruitment. The questionnaire was distributed online and various levels of employees within the organisation participated in responding to the questionnaire. The most recent recruitment reports were presented and analysed. Information was gathered from literature on recruitment and the AGSA employee’s by means of an online questionnaire. Recommendations were made to the AGSA taking into consideration the current practices within the organisation and the research undertaken for this dissertation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Evaluating the beneficiary management process in housing delivery: a case study of Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality in the Eastern Cape (2013)
- Authors: Matiwane, T
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPA
- Identifier: vital:11685 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1013565
- Description: The study critically analysed the problems encountered in the housing delivery in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality for the 2013 period. The purpose is to look at the factors that affect housing delivery in the area, focusing more especially at the management of the beneficiaries and the process thereof. Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality is not immune to the housing problem hence the study was initiated. Respondents were selected from among others the housing beneficiary and the predominantly the staff of Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality to respond to the questionnaires related to the beneficiary management. Permission was sought from the Municipality to conduct the research, after which the questionnaires were distributed to all sampled respondents accordingly in line with the objectives of the research. The researcher distributed the questionnaires and allowed a period of three weeks for the respondents to respond to them, after which the researcher collected all the questionnaires. The study revealed the great understanding of the housing delivery process by the housing recipients. Inclusive of the administrators, i.e. Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality staff members, are fully aware of the expectations from the recipients and the process. The findings further indicates that there are serious challenges facing housing delivery in the province and the country at large. Hence the beneficiaries could not get their houses on time and the housing projects did not get completed within the scheduled period, this ends up delaying the delivery process.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Matiwane, T
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPA
- Identifier: vital:11685 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1013565
- Description: The study critically analysed the problems encountered in the housing delivery in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality for the 2013 period. The purpose is to look at the factors that affect housing delivery in the area, focusing more especially at the management of the beneficiaries and the process thereof. Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality is not immune to the housing problem hence the study was initiated. Respondents were selected from among others the housing beneficiary and the predominantly the staff of Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality to respond to the questionnaires related to the beneficiary management. Permission was sought from the Municipality to conduct the research, after which the questionnaires were distributed to all sampled respondents accordingly in line with the objectives of the research. The researcher distributed the questionnaires and allowed a period of three weeks for the respondents to respond to them, after which the researcher collected all the questionnaires. The study revealed the great understanding of the housing delivery process by the housing recipients. Inclusive of the administrators, i.e. Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality staff members, are fully aware of the expectations from the recipients and the process. The findings further indicates that there are serious challenges facing housing delivery in the province and the country at large. Hence the beneficiaries could not get their houses on time and the housing projects did not get completed within the scheduled period, this ends up delaying the delivery process.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2014