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Release success of captive bred Cape Vultures (Gyps coprotheres) in the Magaliesberg Mountains, South Africa

- Hirschauer, Maggie

Authors: Hirschauer, Maggie
Date: 2017
Subjects: Vultures -- South Africa -- Magaliesburg , Vultures -- South Africa -- Behavior
Language: English
Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4743 , vital:20720
Description: The Cape Vulture, Gyps coprotheres, is currently classified as ‘endangered’. Endemic to southern Africa, its population has declined continuously over the past 40 years. The species is facing multiple anthropogenic threats. Notably, birds frequently collide with power lines and some cannot be released after treatment. This has led to the establishment of a captive breeding population with the hope that captive bred young can supplement wild populations and re-establish a now- abandoned breeding colony in the Magaliesberg Mountains, South Africa. This study aimed to follow the breeding behaviours of the captive colony and assess the appropriateness of chick rearing conditions. The study also aimed to monitor the behaviour, physical condition and dispersal of ten captive bred vultures after release in relation to their age. Behavioural observations of captive adult breeding and parental behaviours were conducted to establish whether chicks developed under comparable conditions to wild chicks. A high percentage of total colony copulation attempts (22 %) were extra-pair copulations. Four paired males formed ephemeral extra-pair relationships, two of which were homosexual. Chicks fledged earlier than wild chicks, on average at 128 days old. Wild and captive bred birds were observed at carcasses to compare competitive and feeding behaviours. Older birds, both wild and captive, fed the most efficiently. Preliminary evidence suggests females are more dominant and have higher display rates than males. Captive bred juvenile and four year old birds’ competitive and feeding behaviours (interaction rate, feeding rate, display rate, dominance, aggressiveness, and feeding efficiency) were the closest to, but still generally below, average values for same-aged wild birds. An index of body condition, body mass, and the prevalence of fault bars on the rectrices were used to assess their physical condition. After eight months, none of the ten birds had moved more than 8 km from the release site, nor had they foraged away from the vulture restaurant on site. Although altitude records of > 3100 m were recorded, their flight skills seemed inadequate. Future management considerations include the initiation of a pre-release exercise regime, the establishment of an acclimatization enclosure removed from the breeding site, and a varied or reduced post-release feeding schedule. Fledglings should be relocated and housed at the release enclosure until they are four years old.
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Reliability analysis: assessment of hardware and human reliability

- Mafu, Masakheke

Authors: Mafu, Masakheke
Date: 2017
Subjects: Bayesian statistical decision theory , Reliability (Engineering) , Human machine systems , Probabilities , Markov processes
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6280 , vital:21077
Description: Most reliability analyses involve the analysis of binary data. Practitioners in the field of reliability place great emphasis on analysing the time periods over which items or systems function (failure time analyses), which make use of different statistical models. This study intends to introduce, review and investigate four statistical models for modeling failure times of non-repairable items, and to utilise a Bayesian methodology to achieve this. The exponential, Rayleigh, gamma and Weibull distributions will be considered. The performance of the two non-informative priors will be investigated. An application of two failure time distributions will be carried out. To meet these objectives, the failure rate and the reliability functions of failure time distributions are calculated. Two non-informative priors, the Jeffreys prior and the general divergence prior, and the corresponding posteriors are derived for each distribution. Simulation studies for each distribution are carried out, where the coverage rates and credible intervals lengths are calculated and the results of these are discussed. The gamma distribution and the Weibull distribution are applied to failure time data.The Jeffreys prior is found to have better coverage rate than the general divergence prior. The general divergence shows undercoverage when used with the Rayleigh distribution. The Jeffreys prior produces coverage rates that are conservative when used with the exponential distribution. These priors give, on average, the same average interval lengths and increase as the value of the parameter increases. Both priors perform similar when used with the gamma distribution and the Weibull distribution. A thorough discussion and review of human reliability analysis (HRA) techniques will be considered. Twenty human reliability analysis (HRA) techniques are discussed; providing a background, description and advantages and disadvantages for each. Case studies in the nuclear industry, railway industry, and aviation industry are presented to show the importance and applications of HRA. Human error has been shown to be the major contributor to system failure.
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Representing the unrepresentable: an exploration of gendered experiences of mental disorder

- Futcher, Charis Catheryn

Authors: Futcher, Charis Catheryn
Date: 2017
Subjects: Mental illness in art , Women -- Mental health , Art, South African -- 21st century -- Exhibitions , Sculpture, South African -- 21st century -- Exhibitions , Women in art
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MFA
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/42957 , vital:25252
Description: Inspired by personal lived experiences of mental disorder; this thesis attempts to explore the representation of these complex conditions as they are deeply embedded in trauma, guilt, and stigma. The accompanying exhibition, The Inheritance, figures my own tendencies to contain and conceal my disorder, through the assembling of sculptural containers and their disordered contents. The work, presented as something surreal, comments on the complexities of being a woman with a disorder, as well as on the disease I experience in relation to a history of patriarchal ideologies and psychiatric containment that has informed understandings of ‘female madness’. Grounded in my interests in abjection and containment, the artistic processes of trying to express deeply personal experiences of distress allow for the resurfacing of underlying trauma, in regards to the memory of my mother’s struggle with Bipolar disorder and her subsequent estrangement. Instead of catharsis, the exhibition represents an inevitable failure to represent the unrepresentable, an experience inextricably bound to the history of gendered oppression and the repression of subjectivity by dominant powers of belief and control. Through my practice as research, I have ultimately grappled with my reluctance to represent my experience, precisely because the topic of mental disorder, though pervasive, is lived and felt by varying groups of people in different ways. As such, my intention is to avoid a reductive and narrow framing of what mental disorder entails. Similarly, I aim to avoid restrictive and presumptuous definitions of gender – recognizing that, historically, femininity is a contested category that has silenced many individuals who are not white, heterosexual or gender conforming. My literary research has been limited by these norms and silences, in that most texts detailing the historical visual treatment of disordered subjects fail to recognise the possibility of gender categories that transcend the binary masculinity and femininity. With these limitations in mind, my practice has allowed me to reflect upon the distress of generations of people who have been pathologised based on gender.
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Researching research culture: a case study of Rhodes University Humanities Faculty research culture

- Hwami, Rudo Fortunate

Authors: Hwami, Rudo Fortunate
Date: 2017
Subjects: Rhodes University. Humanities Faculty , Rhodes University -- Graduate work , Rhodes University. Humanities Faculty -- Research , Research -- South Africa -- Makhanda
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7522 , vital:21269
Description: This thesis explores the idea of research having organisational characteristics which are affected by the institutional culture but can not be defined as a subculture of the institutional culture. In particular, it examines how research culture(s) can be exclusionary and reproduce discriminatory practices. Using quantitative data in the form of Rhodes University Annual Reports and interviews conducted with 11 participants, the thesis documents the current research practices of the Faculty of Humanities at Rhodes University. Such practices incorporate multiple dimensions, including how research is done, who does research, what research is done and research funding rituals. The purpose of this study is to reveal how research cultures are constructed through the seemingly mundane and everyday research practices within a research community. Through the analysis of these everyday practices, participants’ experiences and theoretical arguments, this thesis found that research culture and institutional culture are separate entities, and that research culture plays a vital role in the formation of research practices.
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Revising the distribution of mangrove forests in South Africa and changes in growth of mangrove species along a latitudinal gradient

- Bolosha, Uviwe

Authors: Bolosha, Uviwe
Date: 2017
Subjects: Mangrove ecology -- South Africa , Mangrove forests -- South Africa , Mangrove plants -- South Africa -- Effect of temperature on
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7544 , vital:21271
Description: Mangrove forests are a diverse assemblage of trees and shrubs that are adapted to a saline and tidally inundated environment. The global spread of mangrove species is affected by climate, with most confined to areas that are warmer and moist. At a global scale, temperature limits the distribution of mangrove forests but on a regional scale and local scale, rainfall, river flow and tidal exchange have a strong effect on the distribution and biomass of mangrove forests. Other factors that play a role in limiting growth and distribution of mangroves include accessibility of suitable habitats for growth and also conditions that are suitable for propagule dispersal. The objectives of this study were to review the distribution of mangroves in South Africa and determine the number of extreme temperature events that may limit further distribution and secondly to measure growth rates of mangrove species at Mngazana and Nahoon Estuary and the nutrient pools in the sediment of these forests. In 1982, Ward and Steinke published a list of estuaries where mangroves were present. The current study sampled the population structure, microclimate and level of expansion in two estuaries within and outside of the published range. The minimum, maximum temperature and number of extreme temperature events were measured using iButtons. Mangrove expansion will be limited by minimum temperatures (1.1 ° C) and an increase in extreme temperature events (830) (<5 ° C and 5- 10 ° C) at the latitudinal limits. Expansion of A. marina at Kwelera and Tyolomnqa Estuary was evident but sapling survival was low. Mangroves have expanded within and outside the range proposed by Ward and Steinke (1982), but are limited by physical factors, restricted by the presence of saltmarsh and other estuarine macrophytes and natural disturbance regimes. An increase in population growth was recorded over the years at both Mngazana and Nahoon Estuary. Nutrients, (ammonium, nitrates + nitrites and soluble reactive phosphorus) varied amongst sites and were related to seasonality. Nitrogen in both estuaries was available in the form of ammonium (NH4) and its concentration was generally higher (1.3-76.2 pm) than other forms of nitrogen (0.07-6.3 µm). Soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) was higher during the wet seasons in both estuaries. An increase in porewater salinity since 2007 (41.3 practical salinity unit (PSU)) was measured at Mngazana and this is a result of freshwater abstraction and low rainfall. A. marina saplings and adults grew significantly faster at Nahoon Estuary (the distributional limit) (11.1 ± 1.1 cm year-¹) compared to Mngazana Estuary (5.3 ± 1.8 cm year-¹). Different mangrove species and forests respond differently to environmental factors and changes in mangrove distribution is expected in South Africa but changes are expected to happen slowly and opportunistically.
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Riding into myth: Manifest Destiny, Nietzschean ethics and the creation of a new western frontier mythology in Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian

- Edley, Christopher

Authors: Edley, Christopher
Date: 2017
Subjects: McCarthy, Cormac, 1933-. Blood meridian , Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900 -- Influence , Mythology in literature , American fiction -- 20th century -- History and criticism , West (U.S.) -- In literature
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7334 , vital:21243
Description: Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West is a provocative evocation of the American West that has attracted a wide range of critical responses. This study has three foci: the novel as epic myth, McCarthy’s critique of Manifest destiny, and the influence of Nietzschean philosophy on the judge and McCarthy’s portrayal of the human condition. These concerns conduce to an alternative reading of the conclusion of the novel. Blood Meridian is a unique textual enterprise as it both conforms to and subverts mythic conventions associated with both Classical epic and the American West. Recognition of the resonances between Blood Meridian and these mythologies helps the reader to engage with McCarthy’s ambitious creation of a powerful literary allegory in the tradition of Twain and Faulkner. Having situated McCarthy’s enterprise within these co-ordinates, the study then moves on to examine the novel’s stunning critique of Manifest Destiny, in the context of the implications that such thinking has had on American foreign policy over the past two centuries, and that continue to inspire American involvement in military conflicts well into the twenty-first century. The final area of focus is the influence of Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophy on the character of the judge and the weltanschauung that the novel presents. McCarthy’s ultimate objective is to demonstrate that humankind’s most basic condition is an inherently violent one. The more critically accepted reading of the novel is challenged by postulating the kid’s triumph over the judge as not only in keeping with the literary tradition of Melville and others but also a logical outcome of the novel’s allegory of American military involvement in Vietnam. The study concludes that whilst McCarthy has gone on to receive critical acclaim and public praise for works published after Blood Meridian, this work remains both his artistic masterpiece and his most far-reaching engagement with issues of eschatological and political importance. It is argued that, given the contemporary escalation in geo-political tensions, Blood Meridian may well continue to provide insight into the nature of American domestic and foreign policy for decades to come.
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Safe space online: the construction of intersectional safety in a South African feminist Facebook group

- Roux, Kayla

Authors: Roux, Kayla
Date: 2017
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/8044 , vital:21338
Description: In this thesis I investigate the construction of an intersectional ‘safe space’ in a closed South African feminist community on the social networking site Facebook. Drawing on my own experience as a group member, observations of group dynamics, focus group interviews with administrators, and interviews with past and present members, I discuss the practices and guidelines employed to ensure the safety and intersectionality of the group. This research spans a period of more than two years, and there were a number of developments in the group over this time. It is a relatively large and well-established feminist Facebook group in South Africa which enforces an intersectional approach to social justice, and it is explicitly formulated and closely monitored so that marginalised voices are privileged in group interactions. Despite the best efforts of group moderators, however, interactions between the privileged and the marginalised tend to reproduce existing power inequalities and jeopardise the safety of those the group is meant to serve. Although some interview participants feel that safe space practices such as the call-out system and exclusionary groups and posts serve to fragment the group and cause conflict, these complaints mainly originate from white women who were required to acknowledge their unearned privilege. Their presence in the group and the problem of ‘white derailment’ makes the space feel unsafe for many POC. Ultimately, a splinter group exclusively for POC was formed in order to provide a safer space for feminists of colour to find solidarity and support, discuss issues affecting them, and do the important and necessary work of selfdefinition. I conclude that while these spaces are limited - and absolute safety can never be guaranteed - these exclusive spaces are an integral starting point in the development of a transversal intersectional politics of solidarity between different actors and movements that share the same values.
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Self-reliant transcendentalism in five modern American nonfiction texts

- Brits, Jason

Authors: Brits, Jason
Date: 2017
Subjects: Transcendentalism in literature , Self-reliance in literature , Creative nonfiction, American -- History and criticism , Abbey, Edward, 1927-1989 -- Desert solitaire , Krakauer, Jon -- Into the wild , Gilbert, Elizabeth, 1969- -- The last American man , Harlan, Will -- Untamed: the wildest woman in America and the fight for Cumberland Island , Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882 , Thoreau, Henry David, 1817-1862
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7312 , vital:21241
Description: This thesis is concerned with the persistence of Self-Reliant Transcendentalist thought in modern American nonfiction. It traces the ideas of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau (as progenitors of the Self-Reliant strand of the Transcendentalist movement in America) in the patterns of thought and endeavours of individuals as documented in five notable nonfiction texts published between 1968 and 2013. The texts are Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire, Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, Elizabeth Gilbert’s The Last American Man, and Will Harlan’s Untamed: The Wildest Woman in America and the Fight for Cumberland Island. Each of the seemingly Romantic individuals portrayed in these texts not only seeks to live a life similar to that of Thoreau during his famous sojourn at Walden Pond, but also seems to embody some of Emerson’s and Thoreau’s key Transcendentalist ideas. These modern and contemporary individuals, and the way in which they are portrayed in texts that fall under the general rubric of “creative nonfiction,” are testament to the continuing relevance of Transcendentalist thought in the United States - and in Western society more generally, as it seeks to negotiate a new relationship with Nature in the shadow of massive impending ecological disaster.
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Sistering and sexual socialisation: a psychosocial study of Xhosa women’s ‘sex and reproduction talk’ with their sisters

- Ndabula, Yanela

Authors: Ndabula, Yanela
Date: 2017
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/35055 , vital:24313
Description: While much work has been put into understanding parent-child talk about sex, less is known about how sisters discuss sex. Using a psychosocial framework, in this study, I explore how women report talking about sex and reproduction in their sister-sister relationships, the subject positions within the talk and how the talk restricts or shores up particular ways of ‘doing sex and reproduction’ in society. Moreover, I examine why these women emotionally invest in certain discourses over others in their sisterly sex talk. The psychosocial framework combines discursive psychology with a psychoanalytic approach to explore both ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ processes involved in sexual socialisation within sistering. Psychoanalytic concepts were used to ‘thicken’ the discursive reading of the text. Five isiXhosa-speaking, middle aged and working class women were the participants of the study. The Free Associated Narrative Interview was used to collect the data thus participants were encouraged to convey their experiences of sex talk and reproduction within their sisterly relationships with minimal interruptions from the interviewer. Analysis suggests that the women drew on two broad interpretative repertoires in order to construct their sisters as sexual subjects: a repertoire of secrecy, and a repertoire of responsibilisation and risk. Furthermore, sisterly sex talk was constructed as a complex interchange of shifting positions of openness and power due to two coinciding identities - that of mother and of peer taken up by the participants. A psychoanalytic reading of the data suggests an emotional investment in exemplifying responsibility. The participants experienced anxiety in negotiating a sexualised femininity and projected their sexual desire onto their sister to defend against anxiety in their talk; this enabled them to feel as though they were ‘doing’ sex better than their sisters.
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Skeptical erections

- Sapeta, Mxolisi

Authors: Sapeta, Mxolisi
Date: 2017
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7224 , vital:21230
Description: This collection of poems is an interrogation of the self - turbulent urban experiences, fear, betrayal, mistrust, unfulfilled sexual desires - made with plain language, truthfulness, subtlety and humour. The poems are reflections of New Brighton township where the poet was born, they mirror his experiences of family life, the streets and the juxtaposed characters he encountered as an artist, drinking partner and lover. These experiences shift between broken family lives, passionate short-lived romances, heated artists' debates during gallery exhibitions, shebeens and dangerous midnight homecomings between cruel thugs and greedy whores and all those who clutter the shebeens and the streets at night. The poems reflect all facets of these experiences - including imagination, emotion, and fantasy. At times grammar and syntax are sacrificed in order to get to the emotion. The collection draws strong inspiration from the Peruvian poet Cesar Vallejo -- with his clear-cut graphic imagery and sincere morbid undertone, he is unquestionably true to his vision of life. This also applies tothe work of Tchicaya U Tam'si, Blas de Otero, Dambuzo Marechera and Roque Dalton, who have all been influences.
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Skewed interactions with evidence: a discussion of fixed sexually prejudiced beliefs

- Kirkaldy, Hannah Tshirukhwe

Authors: Kirkaldy, Hannah Tshirukhwe
Date: 2017
Subjects: Homophobia , Discrimination , Prejudices , Belief and doubt
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7279 , vital:21238
Description: In this thesis, I will argue that a challenge to the combatting of sexual prejudice (more commonly known as homophobia) through argument and evidence is that those on both sides of the issue are prone to a phenomenon known in psychology as confirmation bias. While the motivating concern of the thesis is sexual prejudice, and while I do discuss sexual prejudice throughout the thesis, I will focus mostly on confirmation bias, with the understanding that the picture I set out will have implications for combatting sexual prejudice at a later stage. The term confirmation bias refers either to the tendency to look for evidence which confirms one's already-held beliefs, or to engage differently with evidence based on whether or not you agree with its conclusion. After dissecting two paradigmatic experiments which explore these two kinds of confirmation bias, and arguing that they can be further broken down into sub-phenomena, I will focus on the latter kind, as I think it is the more relevant to sexual prejudice. Its essential effect on beliefs is to hold them steady in the face of evidence. In an attempt to explore the motivations we might have for engaging in this form of confirmation bias, I will argue that we can understand the tendency through a combination of a picture of beliefs as forming an interconnected web, and an understanding of the effect of affective elements on belief. Furthermore, given this motivational story, it is sometimes reasonable to hold beliefs steady. I will argue that finding the balance between giving up beliefs too easily in the face of contrary evidence, and holding onto them too rigidly, is an epistemic virtue. Finally, defending my picture from the objection that the mental states I discuss do not count as beliefs, I will argue that confirmation bias is a way of maintaining fixed beliefs.
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Son of a dog

- Kolawole, Samuel

Authors: Kolawole, Samuel
Date: 2017
Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) South Africa , South African fiction (English) 21st century , African fiction (English) 21st century
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7195 , vital:21228
Description: Son of a Dog is inspired by a real-life figure whose exploits captured the Nigerian public imagination in the 1980s. Famously known as Ovbigbo (“The Law”), Lawrence Anini unleashed a nationwide reign of terror against law and order. Set against the backdrop of the political turmoil following the Nigerian civil war, the novel traces Anini’s formative years in menial jobs to his rise to the leadership of a notorious criminal gang. It fuses the established facts of his short meteoric career with my imagined version of his inner life and the contemporary myths that sprung up around his legend. It finally crosses the boundary between the real and the mythic as Lawrence Anini becomes truly invincible and elusive after a lust-struck encounter with a fantastical character. I draw inspiration from the dark visceral fiction of Michael Cisco and Brian Evenson, AyiKwei Armah’s unflinchingly descriptive prose and E.C. Osondu’s sharp contemporary humour.
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Sorptive and microbial properties of low-cost adsorbents used in the extraction of ciprofloxacin and isoniazid from aqueous solution

- Dube, Cyril Simbarashe

Authors: Dube, Cyril Simbarashe
Date: 2017
Language: English
Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSC
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59178 , vital:27450
Description: This work describes how coal fly ash (FA), kaolinite, perlite, talc and vermiculite were used to remove ciprofloxacin and isoniazid from aqueous solutions. The adsorptive features of the adsorbents were evaluated for ciprofloxacin and isoniazid with regards to the effects of contact time, pH, solid/liquid ratio and antibiotic concentration. All adsorbents were sterilised by dry heat before use to avoid the proliferation of antimicrobial resistance by the bacteria present on the adsorbents during experiments. The regression correlation coefficients indicate that the linearised form of the Langmuir isotherm gives the best fit for the sorption of both antibiotics onto FA and talc, ciprofloxacin onto kaolinite, and isoniazid onto perlite and vermiculite with R2 values ranging from 0.908 - 0.999. The linearised form of the Freundlich isotherm best describes the sorption of ciprofloxacin onto vermiculite and isoniazid onto kaolinite with R2 values of 0.999 for both. The linearised form of the Temkin isotherm best describes the sorption of ciprofloxacin onto perlite with an R2 = 0.997. The values of the Freundlich exponent, 1/n, range from 0.221 - 0.998, indicating a favourable adsorption of ciprofloxacin and isoniazid onto the adsorbents. The heat of sorption, B, calculated from the Temkin plots has values ranging from 0.018 - 10.460 J/mol, indicating a physical adsorption process (physisorption). Adsorption equilibrium on all adsorbents was achieved after 30 min for both antibiotics and the kinetic data obtained conforms best to the pseudo-second order equation with R2 values ranging from 0.998 - 0.999. The removal of ciprofloxacin and isoniazid by all adsorbents except FA was strongly influenced by the pH suggesting that electrostatic interactions play a major role in the adsorption processes. All adsorbents except FA removed showed excellent adsorption of ciprofloxacin from aqueous solutions with all of them achieving removals ranging from 80 - 99%. The adsorbents were less efficient in removing isoniazid and kaolinite gave the highest removal of 55 %. Furthermore, the microbial quality of the adsorbents was investigated and the results revealed that kaolinite, talc, perlite and vermiculite were heavily contaminated with microorganisms. FA was sterile. The fungi isolated from the mineral adsorbents were in concentrations ranging from 2.13 x 106 to 1.25 x 107 CFU/g and were mostly moulds; Penicillium spp., Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus flavus, Cladosporium spp. and Rhizopus oryzae. One yeast was isolated and was identified as Candida albicans. The bacteria identified were in concentrations ranging from 4.96 x 106 - 1.19 x 109 CFU/g. E. coli, Enterobacter cloacae, Exiguobacterium spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus spp. and Serratia liquefaciens. The leachability index (LI) values obtained for adsorbents indicated that it is highly unlikely that microorganisms could be leached out of the adsorbents by rain. Heat inactivation of the microorganisms at a 105 °C was totally unsuccessful. However, it was established that a dry heat dose of 160 °C for at least 15 min was sufficient to eradicate all microorganisms present in the adsorbents. The D-values for coliform bacteria from all samples were very similar ranging from 1.7-2.2 min indicating homogeneity in heat resistance by the microorganisms. The Pseudomonas aureginosa isolated had a D-value of 2.2 min. The fungi isolated from the samples had D-values ranging from 2.1-3.2 min.
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South-South labour migration complexities and shifting visa policies in South Africa: a sociological analysis of Rhodes University academic labour migrants’ perceptions

- Domboka, Edward

Authors: Domboka, Edward
Date: 2017
Subjects: Foreign workers -- South Africa , Foreign workers -- Government policy -- South Africa , College teachers, Foreign -- South Africa -- Attitudes , College teacher mobility -- Africa , Visas -- South Africa , Rhodes University -- Employees -- Attitudes
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/46242 , vital:25593
Description: International migration is an old phenomenon caused by many factors divided into push and pull factors. However, there is no enough coverage on the perceptions of the labour migrants. Although there is a vast body of writing on migration, this study delves into the experiential perceptions of academic labour migrants at Rhodes University. These academic labour migrants include professors, lecturers, researchers and postdoctoral research fellows. The study took a qualitative approach to document the experiential perceptions of academic labour migrants at Rhodes University. In-depth interviews were conducted with twelve respondents, to analyse how academic labour migrants perceive South Africa’s changing visa policies in the context of regional integration and development, migration networks and choice, host-migrant relations. The study is underpinned by Probsting’s (2015) concept of "spatial fix" in the context of capitalism and migration, to locate the positionality of academic labour migrants within a capitalist society. The study established that the increase in skilled labour migration is relatively linked to the expansion of capitalism. Based on the perceptions of the respondents, the study concluded that migration is inherently vital in providing cheap labour for capitalists. It established that changing visa policies is not without problems. Historical dispositions of the apartheid system, conflicting domestic versus international imperatives, neo-liberal policies and the widely condemned results of capitalism as an imperialist system and other factors influence migration management in South Africa.
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Sports and competition law in South Africa: the need to account for the uniqueness of sport when applying the competition Act 89 of 1998 to the sports industry

- Sun, Huajun

Authors: Sun, Huajun
Date: 2017
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7102 , vital:21217
Description: Regulation of sport as an economic activity has become increasingly prevalent in a number of foreign jurisdictions. This thesis considers the applicability of competition law to the sports industry from a South African perspective. Although the Competition Act 89 of 1998 is yet to be applied in the context of organisation of professional sport, the sector is not free from the scrutiny of competition law authorities. It is necessary to subject sports organisers and governing bodies to competition law in order to ensure that their administrative powers, which effectively place them in positions of market dominance, are not misused for their own commercial interests. On the other hand, the unique characteristics of sports should also be taken into account when applying competition law to the sector. In particular, it should be noted that sporting activities are not purely economic in nature, and that they are also conducted in order to achieve various social objectives. This thesis examines foreign jurisprudence that have dealt with the relevance of purely sporting justifications under competition law, and conclude that South Africa law should take into account the unique nature of sport when determining whether a conduct should be per se prohibited under the Competition Act, as well as when the rule-of-reason enquiry is conducted. This would require an amendment to the Act, a draft of which is proposed in this thesis. Finally, the proposed approach is applied in the context of the player transfer rules in football, in order to highlight problematic aspects of the transfer system even when considered in light of the unique nature of sports.
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Stochastic models in finance

- Mazengera, Hassan

Authors: Mazengera, Hassan
Date: 2017
Subjects: Finance -- Mathematical models , C++ (Computer program language) , GARCH model , Lebesgue-Radon-Nikodym theorems , Radon measures , Stochastic models , Stochastic processes , Stochastic processes -- Computer programs , Martingales (Mathematics) , Pricing -- Mathematical models
Language: English
Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/162724 , vital:40976
Description: Stochastic models for pricing financial securities are developed. First, we consider the Black Scholes model, which is a classic example of a complete market model and finally focus on Lévy driven models. Jumps may render the market incomplete and are induced in a model by inclusion of a Poisson process. Lévy driven models are more realistic in modelling of asset price dynamics than the Black Scholes model. Martingales are central in pricing, especially of derivatives and we give them the desired attention in the context of pricing. There are an increasing number of important pricing models where analytical solutions are not available hence computational methods come in handy, see Broadie and Glasserman (1997). It is also important to note that computational methods are also applicable to models with analytical solutions. We computationally value selected stochastic financial models using C++. Computational methods are also used to value or price complex financial instruments such as path dependent derivatives. This pricing procedure is applied in the computational valuation of a stochastic (revenue based) loan contract. Derivatives with simple pay of functions and models with analytical solutions are considered for illustrative purposes. The Black-Scholes P.D.E is complex to solve analytically and finite difference methods are widely used. Explicit finite difference scheme is considered in this thesis for computational valuation of derivatives that are modelled by the Black-Scholes P.D.E. Stochastic modelling of asset prices is important for the valuation of derivatives: Gaussian, exponential and gamma variates are simulated for the valuation purposes.
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Structural analysis of proteases from South African HIV-1 (subtype C) patients undergoing Lopinavir treatment, using comparative modeling, ligand-docking and molecular dynamics

- Sheik-Amamuddy, Olivier

Authors: Sheik-Amamuddy, Olivier
Date: 2017
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4931 , vital:20744
Description: HIV is regarded as one of the most devastating infectious diseases of the last few decades, and has a high prevalence in South Africa, subtype C being the most common. Palliative measures used to fight HIV involve the use various types of inhibitors, including the use of HIV protease inhibitors. Representatives from this class of inhibitors are gradually losing their efficacy due to development of resistance mutations from HIV-1. In this study, compounds from the South African Natural Compound Database (SANCDB) were screened against HIV-1 protease models generated from protease protein sequences belonging to 11 South African HIV patients before and after treatment with Lopinavir. The effect of Lopinavir on the alteration of drug-binding affinity before and after treatment is investigated by molecular docking of the protease against other FDA-approved drugs and detection of mutation types using the HIVdb tool. A network representation of hydrogen bonding between docked ligands and their receptor proteases has been developed and a profiling method of visualizing receptor-ligand docking energies at the local level is presented. Four potential HIV-1 protease inhibitors were identified from the list of 599 natural compounds on the basis of receptor conformation and binding free energy. Ligand stabilities were monitored by 20ns molecular dynamics runs using the GROMACS software.
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