It's a numbers game: inundative biological control of water hyacinth (Pontederia crassipes), using Megamelus scutellaris (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) yields success at a high elevation, hypertrophic reservoir in South Africa
- Coetzee, Julie A, Miller, Benjamin E, Kinsler, David, Sebola, Keneilwe, Hill, Martin P
- Authors: Coetzee, Julie A , Miller, Benjamin E , Kinsler, David , Sebola, Keneilwe , Hill, Martin P
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/417749 , vital:71483 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09583157.2022.2109594"
- Description: Classical biological control of water hyacinth in South Africa has been constrained by cool winter temperatures that limit population growth of the biological control agents, and highly eutrophic waters which enhance plant growth. However, inundative releases of the control agent, Megamelus scutellaris (Hemiptera: Delphacidae), at the Hartbeespoort Dam, South Africa, suggest that water hyacinth can be managed successfully using biological control as a standalone intervention for the first time in the absence of herbicide operations, despite eutrophication and a temperate climate. Sentinel-2 satellite images were used to measure the reduction in water hyacinth cover from over 37% to less than 6% over two consecutive years since M. scutellaris was first released on the dam in 2018, while site surveys confirmed a corresponding increase in M. scutellaris population density from fewer than 500 insects/m2 in October 2019, to more than 6000 insects/m2 by March 2020. Inundative release strategies are recommended for the control of water hyacinth in South Africa at key stages of its invasion, particularly after winter, and flooding events.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Coetzee, Julie A , Miller, Benjamin E , Kinsler, David , Sebola, Keneilwe , Hill, Martin P
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/417749 , vital:71483 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09583157.2022.2109594"
- Description: Classical biological control of water hyacinth in South Africa has been constrained by cool winter temperatures that limit population growth of the biological control agents, and highly eutrophic waters which enhance plant growth. However, inundative releases of the control agent, Megamelus scutellaris (Hemiptera: Delphacidae), at the Hartbeespoort Dam, South Africa, suggest that water hyacinth can be managed successfully using biological control as a standalone intervention for the first time in the absence of herbicide operations, despite eutrophication and a temperate climate. Sentinel-2 satellite images were used to measure the reduction in water hyacinth cover from over 37% to less than 6% over two consecutive years since M. scutellaris was first released on the dam in 2018, while site surveys confirmed a corresponding increase in M. scutellaris population density from fewer than 500 insects/m2 in October 2019, to more than 6000 insects/m2 by March 2020. Inundative release strategies are recommended for the control of water hyacinth in South Africa at key stages of its invasion, particularly after winter, and flooding events.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Iterative Refinement Versus Generative Adversarial Networks for Super-Resolution Towards Licence Plate Detection
- Boby, Alden, Brown, Dane L, Connan, James
- Authors: Boby, Alden , Brown, Dane L , Connan, James
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/463417 , vital:76407 , xlink:href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-99-1624-5_26"
- Description: Licence plate detection in unconstrained scenarios can be difficult because of the medium used to capture the data. Such data is not captured at very high resolution for practical reasons. Super-resolution can be used to improve the resolution of an image with fidelity beyond that of non-machine learning-based image upscaling algorithms such as bilinear or bicubic upscaling. Technological advances have introduced more than one way to perform super-resolution, with the best results coming from generative adversarial networks and iterative refinement with diffusion-based models. This paper puts the two best-performing super-resolution models against each other to see which is best for licence plate super-resolution. Quantitative results favour the generative adversarial network, while qualitative results lean towards the iterative refinement model.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Boby, Alden , Brown, Dane L , Connan, James
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/463417 , vital:76407 , xlink:href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-99-1624-5_26"
- Description: Licence plate detection in unconstrained scenarios can be difficult because of the medium used to capture the data. Such data is not captured at very high resolution for practical reasons. Super-resolution can be used to improve the resolution of an image with fidelity beyond that of non-machine learning-based image upscaling algorithms such as bilinear or bicubic upscaling. Technological advances have introduced more than one way to perform super-resolution, with the best results coming from generative adversarial networks and iterative refinement with diffusion-based models. This paper puts the two best-performing super-resolution models against each other to see which is best for licence plate super-resolution. Quantitative results favour the generative adversarial network, while qualitative results lean towards the iterative refinement model.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Key for the identification of third instar larvae of African blowflies (Diptera Calliphoridae) of forensic importance in death investigations
- Szpila, Krzysztof, Williams, Kirstin A, Soszyńska, Agnieszka, Ekanem, Mfon, Heyns, Marise, Dinka, Mergi D, Villet, Martin H
- Authors: Szpila, Krzysztof , Williams, Kirstin A , Soszyńska, Agnieszka , Ekanem, Mfon , Heyns, Marise , Dinka, Mergi D , Villet, Martin H
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/440761 , vital:73810 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2023.111889
- Description: Blowfly larvae are the insects primarily responsible for the active stage of decomposition of exposed vertebrate remains and are the most frequently collected entomological evidence during forensic investigations of death. The necrophagous calliphorids in continental Africa that consistently develop on large vertebrate carrion include 11 species belonging to four genera: Calliphora, Chrysomya, Hemipyrellia and Lucilia. Most of these species are widespread in Africa and frequently reported on large animal carcasses and carrion and human corpses. A few keys have been compiled for identification of their third instar larvae, but none of them covers the complete set of taxa. Therefore, we provide a new comprehensive key with original illustrations of all taxonomically significant characters. The key is based on characters that should be easily observable even in poorly equipped local laboratories and is a reliable taxonomic tool for material collected in either urban or rural areas where synanthropic species predominate. However, it should be used with some caution in areas with relatively pristine natural habitats, where additional carrion-breeding species may occur. The publication of the key will significantly facilitate both medical and forensic entomological research and practice in Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Szpila, Krzysztof , Williams, Kirstin A , Soszyńska, Agnieszka , Ekanem, Mfon , Heyns, Marise , Dinka, Mergi D , Villet, Martin H
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/440761 , vital:73810 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2023.111889
- Description: Blowfly larvae are the insects primarily responsible for the active stage of decomposition of exposed vertebrate remains and are the most frequently collected entomological evidence during forensic investigations of death. The necrophagous calliphorids in continental Africa that consistently develop on large vertebrate carrion include 11 species belonging to four genera: Calliphora, Chrysomya, Hemipyrellia and Lucilia. Most of these species are widespread in Africa and frequently reported on large animal carcasses and carrion and human corpses. A few keys have been compiled for identification of their third instar larvae, but none of them covers the complete set of taxa. Therefore, we provide a new comprehensive key with original illustrations of all taxonomically significant characters. The key is based on characters that should be easily observable even in poorly equipped local laboratories and is a reliable taxonomic tool for material collected in either urban or rural areas where synanthropic species predominate. However, it should be used with some caution in areas with relatively pristine natural habitats, where additional carrion-breeding species may occur. The publication of the key will significantly facilitate both medical and forensic entomological research and practice in Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Kinetic energy radio
- Date: 2022 , 2022-09-20
- Subjects: Bam, Brigalia , Radio
- Language: English
- Type: realia
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/56423 , vital:56648
- Description: South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) kinetic energy radio, given to the first Board of the Democratic Dispensation of South Africa. It is a symbol of transformation and access to information and some form of entertainment to the rest of South Africa. , Donated/gifted to Nelson Mandela University Archives , Forms part of: Brigalia Bam collection
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2022
- Date: 2022 , 2022-09-20
- Subjects: Bam, Brigalia , Radio
- Language: English
- Type: realia
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/56423 , vital:56648
- Description: South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) kinetic energy radio, given to the first Board of the Democratic Dispensation of South Africa. It is a symbol of transformation and access to information and some form of entertainment to the rest of South Africa. , Donated/gifted to Nelson Mandela University Archives , Forms part of: Brigalia Bam collection
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2022
Lalela uLwandle: An experiment in plural governance discussions
- Erwin, Kira, Pereira, Taryn, McGarry, Dylan K, Coppen, Neil
- Authors: Erwin, Kira , Pereira, Taryn , McGarry, Dylan K , Coppen, Neil
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436145 , vital:73230 , ISBN 978-3-030-99347-4 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99347-4_20
- Description: Symbolic, cultural and spiritual meanings of the oceans, whilst different depending on positionality, are important aspects of understanding humans’ relationship with the oceans. Currently in South Africa, cultural, social and spiritual meanings of the oceans are given little consideration in the rush for the Blue Economy and ocean governance frame-works. Neither are they widely considered in environmental conservation and management. This chapter argues that for inclusive ocean governance it is necessary to create more equitable listening forums for how different epistemologies makes sense of the oceans. The chapter draws from the research-based theatre project called Lalela uLwandle performed along the KwaZulu-Natal Coast. The chapter explores what is lost when knowledge systems are conceived as incommensurable and how this serves hegemonic interests. Importantly, it also explores what might be gained when we embody more fluid and plural epistemologies that can mould, expand, broaden and enrich our decision-making process on the ocean.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Erwin, Kira , Pereira, Taryn , McGarry, Dylan K , Coppen, Neil
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/436145 , vital:73230 , ISBN 978-3-030-99347-4 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99347-4_20
- Description: Symbolic, cultural and spiritual meanings of the oceans, whilst different depending on positionality, are important aspects of understanding humans’ relationship with the oceans. Currently in South Africa, cultural, social and spiritual meanings of the oceans are given little consideration in the rush for the Blue Economy and ocean governance frame-works. Neither are they widely considered in environmental conservation and management. This chapter argues that for inclusive ocean governance it is necessary to create more equitable listening forums for how different epistemologies makes sense of the oceans. The chapter draws from the research-based theatre project called Lalela uLwandle performed along the KwaZulu-Natal Coast. The chapter explores what is lost when knowledge systems are conceived as incommensurable and how this serves hegemonic interests. Importantly, it also explores what might be gained when we embody more fluid and plural epistemologies that can mould, expand, broaden and enrich our decision-making process on the ocean.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Landscape drivers of mammal habitat use and richness in a protected area and its surrounding agricultural lands
- Bellón, Beatriz, Henry, Dominic AW, Renaud, Pierre-Cyril, Roque, Fabio de O, Santos, Cyntia Cavalcante, Melo, Isabel, Arvor, Damien, de Vos, Alta
- Authors: Bellón, Beatriz , Henry, Dominic AW , Renaud, Pierre-Cyril , Roque, Fabio de O , Santos, Cyntia Cavalcante , Melo, Isabel , Arvor, Damien , de Vos, Alta
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/415873 , vital:71296 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2022.107989"
- Description: Protected areas (PAs) are key to conserving biodiversity and ecosystem services globally, but their effectiveness increasingly depends on the ability of the surrounding agricultural areas to support biodiversity and secure connectivity at the landscape level. This requires monitoring the broader multi-use landscapes in which PAs exist and identifying the landscape characteristics that support rich, functional wildlife communities. Here, we investigated the species richness and habitat use patterns of a mammal community in relation to different landscape variables and land use and land cover (LULC) types in a PA and its surrounding agricultural lands in the Cerrado. We first used a hierarchical multi-species occupancy model with input camera trap data and eight landscape variables (vegetation productivity, phenology, and heterogeneity, distance to water, roads and settlements, and the PA, slope, and elevation) to estimate the species richness and habitat use of 29 mammal species across the landscape. We then analyzed the relationships between the species richness and habitat use and the landscape variables at the site level, as well as the distribution of species at the landscape level in relation to the different natural and agricultural LULC types.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Bellón, Beatriz , Henry, Dominic AW , Renaud, Pierre-Cyril , Roque, Fabio de O , Santos, Cyntia Cavalcante , Melo, Isabel , Arvor, Damien , de Vos, Alta
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/415873 , vital:71296 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2022.107989"
- Description: Protected areas (PAs) are key to conserving biodiversity and ecosystem services globally, but their effectiveness increasingly depends on the ability of the surrounding agricultural areas to support biodiversity and secure connectivity at the landscape level. This requires monitoring the broader multi-use landscapes in which PAs exist and identifying the landscape characteristics that support rich, functional wildlife communities. Here, we investigated the species richness and habitat use patterns of a mammal community in relation to different landscape variables and land use and land cover (LULC) types in a PA and its surrounding agricultural lands in the Cerrado. We first used a hierarchical multi-species occupancy model with input camera trap data and eight landscape variables (vegetation productivity, phenology, and heterogeneity, distance to water, roads and settlements, and the PA, slope, and elevation) to estimate the species richness and habitat use of 29 mammal species across the landscape. We then analyzed the relationships between the species richness and habitat use and the landscape variables at the site level, as well as the distribution of species at the landscape level in relation to the different natural and agricultural LULC types.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Language, music, self-representation and claiming the space: artists from Limpopo Province in South Africa
- Authors: Aiseng, Kealeboga
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/455271 , vital:75417 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-imbizo-v13-n2-a3
- Description: It is widely accepted that popular culture is a product of the masses, for the masses. But even then, popular culture is embedded with ideolo-gies of control, manipulation, power dynamics, exclusion and inclusion, empowerment, and disempowerment. For a long time, the South Afri-can mainstream music industry has been dominated by artists and groups from Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. These two prov-inces have produced many musical artists, film productions, television shows and many other artistic personnel. Language has always been a key factor in the South African mainstream music industry. IsiZulu, isiXhosa and instances of codeswitching have dominated the songs in the country. This has left other social groups and their languages out-side mainstream music. However, what happens when a culture of selfrepresentation emerges among a social group? What happens when a social group mobilises itself and claims the space? What about the power of languages in achieving self-representation? This study is influenced by these research questions to do qualitative, textual re-search on how a selected group of musical artists from Limpopo, South Africa is using music to achieve selfrepresentation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Aiseng, Kealeboga
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/455271 , vital:75417 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-imbizo-v13-n2-a3
- Description: It is widely accepted that popular culture is a product of the masses, for the masses. But even then, popular culture is embedded with ideolo-gies of control, manipulation, power dynamics, exclusion and inclusion, empowerment, and disempowerment. For a long time, the South Afri-can mainstream music industry has been dominated by artists and groups from Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. These two prov-inces have produced many musical artists, film productions, television shows and many other artistic personnel. Language has always been a key factor in the South African mainstream music industry. IsiZulu, isiXhosa and instances of codeswitching have dominated the songs in the country. This has left other social groups and their languages out-side mainstream music. However, what happens when a culture of selfrepresentation emerges among a social group? What happens when a social group mobilises itself and claims the space? What about the power of languages in achieving self-representation? This study is influenced by these research questions to do qualitative, textual re-search on how a selected group of musical artists from Limpopo, South Africa is using music to achieve selfrepresentation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Lessons from bright-spots for advancing knowledge exchange at the interface of marine science and policy
- Karcher, Denis B, Cvitanovic, Christopher, van Putten, Ingrid E, Colvin, Rebecca M, Armitage, Derek, Aswani, Shankar, Ballesteros, Marta, Ban, Natalie, Barragán-Paladines, María José, Bednarek, Angela, Bell, Johann D, Brooks, Cassandra M, Daw, Tim M, De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel, Francis, Tessa B, Fulton, Elizabeth A, Hobday, Alistair J, Holcer, Draško, Hudson, Charlotte, Jennerjahn, Tim C, Kinney, Aimee, Knol-Kauffman, Maaike, Löf, Marie F, Lopes, Priscila F, Mackelworth, Peter C, McQuatters-Gollop, Abigail, Muhl, Ella-Kari, Neihapi, Pita, Pascual-Fernández, José J, Posner, Stephpen M, Runhaar, Hens, Sainsbury, Keith, Sander, Gunnar, Steenbergen, Dirk J, Tuda, Paul M, Whiteman, Elizabeth, Zhang, Jialin
- Authors: Karcher, Denis B , Cvitanovic, Christopher , van Putten, Ingrid E , Colvin, Rebecca M , Armitage, Derek , Aswani, Shankar , Ballesteros, Marta , Ban, Natalie , Barragán-Paladines, María José , Bednarek, Angela , Bell, Johann D , Brooks, Cassandra M , Daw, Tim M , De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel , Francis, Tessa B , Fulton, Elizabeth A , Hobday, Alistair J , Holcer, Draško , Hudson, Charlotte , Jennerjahn, Tim C , Kinney, Aimee , Knol-Kauffman, Maaike , Löf, Marie F , Lopes, Priscila F , Mackelworth, Peter C , McQuatters-Gollop, Abigail , Muhl, Ella-Kari , Neihapi, Pita , Pascual-Fernández, José J , Posner, Stephpen M , Runhaar, Hens , Sainsbury, Keith , Sander, Gunnar , Steenbergen, Dirk J , Tuda, Paul M , Whiteman, Elizabeth , Zhang, Jialin
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391378 , vital:68647 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114994"
- Description: Evidence-informed decision-making is in increasing demand given growing pressures on marine environments. A way to facilitate this is by knowledge exchange among marine scientists and decision-makers. While many barriers are reported in the literature, there are also examples whereby research has successfully informed marine decision-making (i.e., ‘bright-spots’). Here, we identify and analyze 25 bright-spots from a wide range of marine fields, contexts, and locations to provide insights into how to improve knowledge exchange at the interface of marine science and policy. Through qualitative surveys we investigate what initiated the bright-spots, their goals, and approaches to knowledge exchange. We also seek to identify what outcomes/impacts have been achieved, the enablers of success, and what lessons can be learnt to guide future knowledge exchange efforts. Results show that a diversity of approaches were used for knowledge exchange, from consultative engagement to genuine knowledge co-production. We show that diverse successes at the interface of marine science and policy are achievable and include impacts on policy, people, and governance. Such successes were enabled by factors related to the actors, processes, support, context, and timing. For example, the importance of involving diverse actors and managing positive relationships is a key lesson for success. However, enabling routine success will require: 1) transforming the ways in which we train scientists to include a greater focus on interpersonal skills, 2) institutionalizing and supporting knowledge exchange activities in organizational agendas, 3) conceptualizing and implementing broader research impact metrics, and 4) transforming funding mechanisms to focus on need-based interventions, impact planning, and an acknowledgement of the required time and effort that underpin knowledge exchange activities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Karcher, Denis B , Cvitanovic, Christopher , van Putten, Ingrid E , Colvin, Rebecca M , Armitage, Derek , Aswani, Shankar , Ballesteros, Marta , Ban, Natalie , Barragán-Paladines, María José , Bednarek, Angela , Bell, Johann D , Brooks, Cassandra M , Daw, Tim M , De la Cruz-Modino, Raquel , Francis, Tessa B , Fulton, Elizabeth A , Hobday, Alistair J , Holcer, Draško , Hudson, Charlotte , Jennerjahn, Tim C , Kinney, Aimee , Knol-Kauffman, Maaike , Löf, Marie F , Lopes, Priscila F , Mackelworth, Peter C , McQuatters-Gollop, Abigail , Muhl, Ella-Kari , Neihapi, Pita , Pascual-Fernández, José J , Posner, Stephpen M , Runhaar, Hens , Sainsbury, Keith , Sander, Gunnar , Steenbergen, Dirk J , Tuda, Paul M , Whiteman, Elizabeth , Zhang, Jialin
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391378 , vital:68647 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114994"
- Description: Evidence-informed decision-making is in increasing demand given growing pressures on marine environments. A way to facilitate this is by knowledge exchange among marine scientists and decision-makers. While many barriers are reported in the literature, there are also examples whereby research has successfully informed marine decision-making (i.e., ‘bright-spots’). Here, we identify and analyze 25 bright-spots from a wide range of marine fields, contexts, and locations to provide insights into how to improve knowledge exchange at the interface of marine science and policy. Through qualitative surveys we investigate what initiated the bright-spots, their goals, and approaches to knowledge exchange. We also seek to identify what outcomes/impacts have been achieved, the enablers of success, and what lessons can be learnt to guide future knowledge exchange efforts. Results show that a diversity of approaches were used for knowledge exchange, from consultative engagement to genuine knowledge co-production. We show that diverse successes at the interface of marine science and policy are achievable and include impacts on policy, people, and governance. Such successes were enabled by factors related to the actors, processes, support, context, and timing. For example, the importance of involving diverse actors and managing positive relationships is a key lesson for success. However, enabling routine success will require: 1) transforming the ways in which we train scientists to include a greater focus on interpersonal skills, 2) institutionalizing and supporting knowledge exchange activities in organizational agendas, 3) conceptualizing and implementing broader research impact metrics, and 4) transforming funding mechanisms to focus on need-based interventions, impact planning, and an acknowledgement of the required time and effort that underpin knowledge exchange activities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Lessons from COVID-19 for wildlife ranching in a changing world
- Clements, Hayley S, Child, Matthew F, Lindeque, Lehman, Lunderstedt, Kyra, de Vos, Alta
- Authors: Clements, Hayley S , Child, Matthew F , Lindeque, Lehman , Lunderstedt, Kyra , de Vos, Alta
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/415886 , vital:71297 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00961-1"
- Description: The COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity to assess the impacts of a global disturbance on conservation land uses and learn from responses to the crisis to enable more resilient conservation systems. To understand socio-economic responses of diverse wildlife working lands to COVID-19, we surveyed owners and managers of 78 private wildlife ranches (wildlife working lands), 23 agricultural farms (conventional working lands) and six public protected areas (conventional conservation lands) in South Africa. Most protected areas lost more than 75% of their revenues during 2020, while most agricultural farms lost less than 10%. The impact on wildlife ranches was more varied. Ranches with more diverse activities, particularly mixed wildlife–agriculture systems, lost less revenue, shifting their activities from those heavily impacted (international ecotourism, trophy hunting) to those less afected (for example, wildlife meat, livestock). This adaptive capacity suggests that wildlife-based enterprises could represent key ecosystem-based adaptations, providing lessons for integrated global policies that seek to incorporate private land models in the 2030 Biodiversity Framework.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Clements, Hayley S , Child, Matthew F , Lindeque, Lehman , Lunderstedt, Kyra , de Vos, Alta
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/415886 , vital:71297 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00961-1"
- Description: The COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity to assess the impacts of a global disturbance on conservation land uses and learn from responses to the crisis to enable more resilient conservation systems. To understand socio-economic responses of diverse wildlife working lands to COVID-19, we surveyed owners and managers of 78 private wildlife ranches (wildlife working lands), 23 agricultural farms (conventional working lands) and six public protected areas (conventional conservation lands) in South Africa. Most protected areas lost more than 75% of their revenues during 2020, while most agricultural farms lost less than 10%. The impact on wildlife ranches was more varied. Ranches with more diverse activities, particularly mixed wildlife–agriculture systems, lost less revenue, shifting their activities from those heavily impacted (international ecotourism, trophy hunting) to those less afected (for example, wildlife meat, livestock). This adaptive capacity suggests that wildlife-based enterprises could represent key ecosystem-based adaptations, providing lessons for integrated global policies that seek to incorporate private land models in the 2030 Biodiversity Framework.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Liberation philology: decolonizing Classics in Africa, a native view from the South
- Van Schoor, David J, Ackah, Kofi, Okyere Asante, Michael K
- Authors: Van Schoor, David J , Ackah, Kofi , Okyere Asante, Michael K
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/468479 , vital:77064 , https://doi.org/10.1093/bics/qbac005
- Description: If you were a manumitted slave, the child of a slave or de-scendant of enslaved or dispossessed people or, say, you were a member of your society’s lowest castes and you were given the opportunity to study, and perhaps even to take up scholarship as your life’s work, your vocation, what subject would you, should you elect to learn? William Sanders Scar-borough was born in slavery in the deep South of the United States. His father, Jeremiah, was libertus, a freeman. None-theless, William De Graffenreid, the owner of Scarborough’s mother Frances, magnanimously allowed Jeremiah to marry her, his property. She gave birth to her son in Macon, Geor-gia, in 1852. Scarborough would go on to become one of the first Black Hellenists in the United States. Over a productive life he was a schoolteacher, a professor at Wilberforce Uni-versity in Ohio, an early Black member of the American Philo-logical Association (the first was Richard Greener, his friend and fellow classicist), the first Black member of the Modern Languages Association, the president of Wilberforce, and a founding member of the Negro Academy and of the NAACP.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Van Schoor, David J , Ackah, Kofi , Okyere Asante, Michael K
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/468479 , vital:77064 , https://doi.org/10.1093/bics/qbac005
- Description: If you were a manumitted slave, the child of a slave or de-scendant of enslaved or dispossessed people or, say, you were a member of your society’s lowest castes and you were given the opportunity to study, and perhaps even to take up scholarship as your life’s work, your vocation, what subject would you, should you elect to learn? William Sanders Scar-borough was born in slavery in the deep South of the United States. His father, Jeremiah, was libertus, a freeman. None-theless, William De Graffenreid, the owner of Scarborough’s mother Frances, magnanimously allowed Jeremiah to marry her, his property. She gave birth to her son in Macon, Geor-gia, in 1852. Scarborough would go on to become one of the first Black Hellenists in the United States. Over a productive life he was a schoolteacher, a professor at Wilberforce Uni-versity in Ohio, an early Black member of the American Philo-logical Association (the first was Richard Greener, his friend and fellow classicist), the first Black member of the Modern Languages Association, the president of Wilberforce, and a founding member of the Negro Academy and of the NAACP.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Liberatory violence or the gift: paths to decoloniality in Black Panther
- Mabasa, Xiletelo, Boshoff, Priscilla A
- Authors: Mabasa, Xiletelo , Boshoff, Priscilla A
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/455509 , vital:75435 , http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2617-3255/2022/n36a7
- Description: Black Panther's (Coogler 2018) popularity amongst its black audiences in part stems from its foregrounding of the persistent social injustices engendered by colonialism and slavery (what Aníbal Quijano (2000: 533) terms' coloniality') and black people's struggles to overcome them. As a representational tactic in approaching this theme, the Hollywood blockbuster draws on the imaginings of Afrofuturism, which variously endorses radical or more conciliatory approaches to decoloniality. This southern theoretical approach and the critique of coloniality offered by Afrofuturism frame our exploration of how the film positions the hero, T'Challa and the villain, Erik Killmonger, as embodiments of contrasting approaches to emancipation from colonialism's entrenched legacy. Us-ing a structuralist approach that draws on the narrative models of Tsvetan Todorov, Vladimir Propp and Claude Levi-Strauss, we analyse the film's approach to decoloniality by examining the relationship be-tween T'Challa and Killmonger as the protagonist and antagonist re-spectively. The analysis reveals the limitations of the film's construction of the hero's and villain's understandings of the path to liberation. Ra-ther than offering a revolutionary remedy for the injustices of colonial-ism and its aftermath, the film embraces a liberal standpoint that re-mains palatable to the white establishment, both within Hollywood and the broader socio-political milieu.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Mabasa, Xiletelo , Boshoff, Priscilla A
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/455509 , vital:75435 , http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2617-3255/2022/n36a7
- Description: Black Panther's (Coogler 2018) popularity amongst its black audiences in part stems from its foregrounding of the persistent social injustices engendered by colonialism and slavery (what Aníbal Quijano (2000: 533) terms' coloniality') and black people's struggles to overcome them. As a representational tactic in approaching this theme, the Hollywood blockbuster draws on the imaginings of Afrofuturism, which variously endorses radical or more conciliatory approaches to decoloniality. This southern theoretical approach and the critique of coloniality offered by Afrofuturism frame our exploration of how the film positions the hero, T'Challa and the villain, Erik Killmonger, as embodiments of contrasting approaches to emancipation from colonialism's entrenched legacy. Us-ing a structuralist approach that draws on the narrative models of Tsvetan Todorov, Vladimir Propp and Claude Levi-Strauss, we analyse the film's approach to decoloniality by examining the relationship be-tween T'Challa and Killmonger as the protagonist and antagonist re-spectively. The analysis reveals the limitations of the film's construction of the hero's and villain's understandings of the path to liberation. Ra-ther than offering a revolutionary remedy for the injustices of colonial-ism and its aftermath, the film embraces a liberal standpoint that re-mains palatable to the white establishment, both within Hollywood and the broader socio-political milieu.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Light-driven antimicrobial therapy of palladium porphyrins and their chitosan immobilization derivatives and their photophysical-chemical properties
- Sen, Pinar, Soy, Rodah C, Mgidlana, Sithi, Mack, John, Nyokong, Tebello
- Authors: Sen, Pinar , Soy, Rodah C , Mgidlana, Sithi , Mack, John , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/300112 , vital:57894 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dyepig.2022.110313"
- Description: The emergence of antimicrobial resistance has made the development of photodynamic therapy (PDT) related applications essential, since microorganisms can not form resistance to this method. Porphyrins are well-known photosensitizers for PDT related applications. Thus, the present study outlines the synthesis, characterization and evaluation of the utility of palladium porphyrins and their chitosan inclusion complexes as photosensitizer dye in photodynamic antimicrobial therapy (PACT). Before in vitro cell studies, the photophysical-chemical studies of all obtained structures were performed in solution. It was observed that the immobilization of the porphyrins into the chitosan influenced the photophysical-chemical and PACT activity properties. The determined fluorescence quantum yield was very low, in the range of 0.007–0.028 for all samples indicating the efficient triplet state population to cause high singlet oxygen quantum yield (ΦΔ). The measured ΦΔ values were in the range of 0.51–0.61 for the porphyrins and 0.53–0.66 for porphyrin chitosan immobilization complexes. Our results demonstrate that the PACT activity of cationic porphyrin (P3) and its chitosan immobilization form (P3-Ct) were more efficient in decreasing the number of viable cells up to 100% in vitro.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Sen, Pinar , Soy, Rodah C , Mgidlana, Sithi , Mack, John , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/300112 , vital:57894 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dyepig.2022.110313"
- Description: The emergence of antimicrobial resistance has made the development of photodynamic therapy (PDT) related applications essential, since microorganisms can not form resistance to this method. Porphyrins are well-known photosensitizers for PDT related applications. Thus, the present study outlines the synthesis, characterization and evaluation of the utility of palladium porphyrins and their chitosan inclusion complexes as photosensitizer dye in photodynamic antimicrobial therapy (PACT). Before in vitro cell studies, the photophysical-chemical studies of all obtained structures were performed in solution. It was observed that the immobilization of the porphyrins into the chitosan influenced the photophysical-chemical and PACT activity properties. The determined fluorescence quantum yield was very low, in the range of 0.007–0.028 for all samples indicating the efficient triplet state population to cause high singlet oxygen quantum yield (ΦΔ). The measured ΦΔ values were in the range of 0.51–0.61 for the porphyrins and 0.53–0.66 for porphyrin chitosan immobilization complexes. Our results demonstrate that the PACT activity of cationic porphyrin (P3) and its chitosan immobilization form (P3-Ct) were more efficient in decreasing the number of viable cells up to 100% in vitro.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Linguistic Dominance and Translanguaging Language: Issues in Generations: The Legacy
- Authors: Aiseng, Kealeboga
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/455230 , vital:75414 , https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2022.880452
- Description: The use of language(s) in media is very important as it can determine inclusion or exclusion. As such, the use of language in the media is contentious. This paper traces two language issues in one of the SABC's longest-running soap operas, Generations: The Legacy, lan-guage ideology and a tool against that language ideology. The former refers to a linguistic dominance of isiZulu and the latter refers to translanguaging. With the use of transcription data analysis and audio-visual analysis, the current study has concluded that there are issues of linguistic dominance and translanguaging in Generations: The Legacy. These language issues are perpetuated through the narrative and characters of the story. The appropriate theoretical framework for this paper is the use of language in popular culture, with the view that the use of languages in popular culture can exclude and include, can em-power, and disempower. Focusing on the dialogues of the soap using selected episodes as case studies for analysis, the study has also con-cluded that creative decisions made in the soap are ideological. These findings raise questions about the use of media to perpetuate certain language ideologies and raise questions about whose interests are served by these language ideologies and how to fight these language ideologies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Aiseng, Kealeboga
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/455230 , vital:75414 , https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2022.880452
- Description: The use of language(s) in media is very important as it can determine inclusion or exclusion. As such, the use of language in the media is contentious. This paper traces two language issues in one of the SABC's longest-running soap operas, Generations: The Legacy, lan-guage ideology and a tool against that language ideology. The former refers to a linguistic dominance of isiZulu and the latter refers to translanguaging. With the use of transcription data analysis and audio-visual analysis, the current study has concluded that there are issues of linguistic dominance and translanguaging in Generations: The Legacy. These language issues are perpetuated through the narrative and characters of the story. The appropriate theoretical framework for this paper is the use of language in popular culture, with the view that the use of languages in popular culture can exclude and include, can em-power, and disempower. Focusing on the dialogues of the soap using selected episodes as case studies for analysis, the study has also con-cluded that creative decisions made in the soap are ideological. These findings raise questions about the use of media to perpetuate certain language ideologies and raise questions about whose interests are served by these language ideologies and how to fight these language ideologies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Livestock ecosystem services and disservices in a medium-sized South African town
- Thondhlana, Gladman, Papama, Yose, Cockburn, Jessica J, Shackleton, Charlie M
- Authors: Thondhlana, Gladman , Papama, Yose , Cockburn, Jessica J , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/403241 , vital:69937 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2021.2019833"
- Description: Production of livestock in urban spaces is a common phenomenon globally, particularly in the Global South. Livestock provides multiple benefits to society yet its production in urban spaces can result in adverse impacts to residents that can trigger conflicts. Understanding of the ecosystem services and disservices of livestock from the perspectives of residents can inform inclusive local management plans. Using household surveys and key informant interviews, this study sought to examine the contribution of livestock to owners, and perceptions of livestock services and disservices among non-livestock owners and key informants in Makhanda, a medium-sized South African town. Livestock owners derived multiple benefits from their livestock, including provisioning services such as meat, milk, skins and draught, and use livestock and livestock products in cultural activities such as rituals, bride price payments and funerals that are key elements of local identity. Among residents, there were marked differences in perceptions on the services and disservices of livestock which points to potential conflicts over urban land use and the need for addressing trade-offs. A key trade-off for local municipal authorities is addressing hunger and poverty by supporting well-regulated urban livestock production versus managing potential livestock disservices such as injuries to humans, livestock-vehicle collisions, health hazards and damage to urban green infrastructure. The trade-offs should be understood and considered by local authorities and residents as a basis for collectively developing strategies that can integrate livelihoods and cultural realities to balance competing demands for urban spaces including livestock production and other uses.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Thondhlana, Gladman , Papama, Yose , Cockburn, Jessica J , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/403241 , vital:69937 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2021.2019833"
- Description: Production of livestock in urban spaces is a common phenomenon globally, particularly in the Global South. Livestock provides multiple benefits to society yet its production in urban spaces can result in adverse impacts to residents that can trigger conflicts. Understanding of the ecosystem services and disservices of livestock from the perspectives of residents can inform inclusive local management plans. Using household surveys and key informant interviews, this study sought to examine the contribution of livestock to owners, and perceptions of livestock services and disservices among non-livestock owners and key informants in Makhanda, a medium-sized South African town. Livestock owners derived multiple benefits from their livestock, including provisioning services such as meat, milk, skins and draught, and use livestock and livestock products in cultural activities such as rituals, bride price payments and funerals that are key elements of local identity. Among residents, there were marked differences in perceptions on the services and disservices of livestock which points to potential conflicts over urban land use and the need for addressing trade-offs. A key trade-off for local municipal authorities is addressing hunger and poverty by supporting well-regulated urban livestock production versus managing potential livestock disservices such as injuries to humans, livestock-vehicle collisions, health hazards and damage to urban green infrastructure. The trade-offs should be understood and considered by local authorities and residents as a basis for collectively developing strategies that can integrate livelihoods and cultural realities to balance competing demands for urban spaces including livestock production and other uses.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Low-Symmetry Phthalocyanines Bearing Carboxy-Groups
- Bunin, Dmitry A, Ndebele, Nobuhle, Martynov, Alexander G, Mack, John, Gorbunova, Yulia G, Nyokong, Tebello
- Authors: Bunin, Dmitry A , Ndebele, Nobuhle , Martynov, Alexander G , Mack, John , Gorbunova, Yulia G , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/231262 , vital:49870 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27020524" "
- Description: The synthesis and characterization of A3B-type phthalocyanines, ZnPc1–4, bearing bulky 2,6-diisopropylphenoxy-groups or chlorine atoms on isoindoline units “A” and either one or two carboxylic anchors on isoindoline unit “B” are reported. A comparison of molecular modelling with the conventional time dependent—density functional theory (TD-DFT) approach and its simplified sTD-DFT approximation provides further evidence that the latter method accurately reproduces the key trends in the spectral properties, providing colossal savings in computer time for quite large molecules. This demonstrates that it is a valuable tool for guiding the rational design of new phthalocyanines for practical applications.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Bunin, Dmitry A , Ndebele, Nobuhle , Martynov, Alexander G , Mack, John , Gorbunova, Yulia G , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/231262 , vital:49870 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27020524" "
- Description: The synthesis and characterization of A3B-type phthalocyanines, ZnPc1–4, bearing bulky 2,6-diisopropylphenoxy-groups or chlorine atoms on isoindoline units “A” and either one or two carboxylic anchors on isoindoline unit “B” are reported. A comparison of molecular modelling with the conventional time dependent—density functional theory (TD-DFT) approach and its simplified sTD-DFT approximation provides further evidence that the latter method accurately reproduces the key trends in the spectral properties, providing colossal savings in computer time for quite large molecules. This demonstrates that it is a valuable tool for guiding the rational design of new phthalocyanines for practical applications.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Male Peer Talk About Menstruation: Discursively Bolstering Hegemonic Masculinities Among Young Men in South Africa
- Macleod, Catriona I, Glover, Jonathan M, Makusem, Manase, Kelland, Lindsay, Paphitis, Sharli A
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Glover, Jonathan M , Makusem, Manase , Kelland, Lindsay , Paphitis, Sharli A
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/426502 , vital:72358 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23293691.2022.2057830"
- Description: In this paper, we show how male peer talk about menstruating women may be used to discursively bolster hegemonic masculinities and denigrate women. Focus group discussions among 37 young isiXhosa-speaking men from two South African schools were facilitated by two young men; statements garnered from a sexuality education class about menstruation conducted in the same schools were used as cues. Data were analyzed using discourse analysis. The interactive talk constructed a bifurcation: “disgusting” menstruating women versus “reasonable” non-menstruating women who abide by idealized feminine behavior and are available sexually. We argue that as the non-menstruating woman cyclically become the other (menstruating woman) in women of particular ages, the trace of disgust inhabits the signifier “woman” for these men. Menstruation also disrupted a core identity strategy of local hegemonic masculinities: virile (hetero)sexuality. Given this, discursive distancing of the self from the very topic of menstruation is necessary. Small moments of resistance to these constructions were quickly closed down, and caring masculinity emerged only in the context of negotiating sex during menstruation. Involving men in menstrual hygiene management programs may provide spaces for resistance to denigrating discourses about menstruation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Glover, Jonathan M , Makusem, Manase , Kelland, Lindsay , Paphitis, Sharli A
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/426502 , vital:72358 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23293691.2022.2057830"
- Description: In this paper, we show how male peer talk about menstruating women may be used to discursively bolster hegemonic masculinities and denigrate women. Focus group discussions among 37 young isiXhosa-speaking men from two South African schools were facilitated by two young men; statements garnered from a sexuality education class about menstruation conducted in the same schools were used as cues. Data were analyzed using discourse analysis. The interactive talk constructed a bifurcation: “disgusting” menstruating women versus “reasonable” non-menstruating women who abide by idealized feminine behavior and are available sexually. We argue that as the non-menstruating woman cyclically become the other (menstruating woman) in women of particular ages, the trace of disgust inhabits the signifier “woman” for these men. Menstruation also disrupted a core identity strategy of local hegemonic masculinities: virile (hetero)sexuality. Given this, discursive distancing of the self from the very topic of menstruation is necessary. Small moments of resistance to these constructions were quickly closed down, and caring masculinity emerged only in the context of negotiating sex during menstruation. Involving men in menstrual hygiene management programs may provide spaces for resistance to denigrating discourses about menstruation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Marine robots for coastal ocean research in the Western Indian Ocean
- Palmer, Matthew R, Shagude, Yohana W, Roberts, Michael J, Popva, Ekaterina, Wihsgott, Juliane U, Aswani, Shankar, Coupland, Jack, Howe, John A, Bett, Brian J, Osuka, Kennedy E, Abernethy, Colin, Alexiou, Sofia, Painter, Stuart C, Kamau, Joseph N, Nyandwi, Ntahondi, Sekadende, Baraka
- Authors: Palmer, Matthew R , Shagude, Yohana W , Roberts, Michael J , Popva, Ekaterina , Wihsgott, Juliane U , Aswani, Shankar , Coupland, Jack , Howe, John A , Bett, Brian J , Osuka, Kennedy E , Abernethy, Colin , Alexiou, Sofia , Painter, Stuart C , Kamau, Joseph N , Nyandwi, Ntahondi , Sekadende, Baraka
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/403445 , vital:69962 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-cristal-v10-n1-a7"
- Description: Marine robots have the potential to enhance WIO marine research to improve regional adaptation to the challenges presented by climate change by providing enhanced research capacity that bypasses the requirement for expensive infrastructure, such as large research vessels. This paper tests this potential and assesses the readiness of WIO communities to adopt autonomous technologies to meet its marine research priorities. We apply a range of analyses to a marine robots case study undertaken in waters around the island of Pemba, part of the Zanzibar archipelago, in Tanzania in 2019. The campaign formed part of a multinational project focused on increasing WIO capacity to meet food security and ocean sustainability challenges. A community engagement programme with six Tanzanian coastal communities resulted in positive changes in attitudes towards marine robots with reported increases in understanding and acceptance of such technologies. Suspicion of the robots was reduced and a lower risk of removing operational equipment was recorded following the provision of educational material. Cost, risk and benefit analysis shows that marine robots are perceived to provide high level benefits, but come at a high cost that is difficult to achieve using national or regional funding. An assessment of the capacity of WIO marine institutes to adopt such technologies shows that prior to this work, few skills or infrastructure related to marine robots were available to researchers and further confirmed that funding opportunities were perceived to be largely unavailable at institutional, national, regional or international levels. Responses from regional partners following completion of the case study however, revealed an uplift in perceived capacity, particularly related to access to infrastructure and expertise as well as support and opportunities for funding at each level. The presented case study is shown to have been a valuable demonstrator of the benefits of using marine robots to meet WIO coastal ocean research requirements and regional capacity was shown to be substantially increased within the broad range of marine institutes surveyed throughout the case study period. This study demonstrates that taking early steps towards adopting marine autonomous robots has increased WIO regional marine research capacity and increased the confidence and willingness of local researchers to seek alternative solutions to ongoing marine research challenges. Recommendations for future action that will continue to increase the capacity and readiness for regional adoption of marine robots include investment at local, national and regional levels to provide accessible training opportunities and to facilitate regional and international collaborations; investment in a regional hub, or centre of excellence for marine robotic technology; early adoption of newly emerging smaller, cheaper autonomous technologies; investment in local skills and support facilities to aid local buy-in and acceptance while supporting regional capacity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Palmer, Matthew R , Shagude, Yohana W , Roberts, Michael J , Popva, Ekaterina , Wihsgott, Juliane U , Aswani, Shankar , Coupland, Jack , Howe, John A , Bett, Brian J , Osuka, Kennedy E , Abernethy, Colin , Alexiou, Sofia , Painter, Stuart C , Kamau, Joseph N , Nyandwi, Ntahondi , Sekadende, Baraka
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/403445 , vital:69962 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-cristal-v10-n1-a7"
- Description: Marine robots have the potential to enhance WIO marine research to improve regional adaptation to the challenges presented by climate change by providing enhanced research capacity that bypasses the requirement for expensive infrastructure, such as large research vessels. This paper tests this potential and assesses the readiness of WIO communities to adopt autonomous technologies to meet its marine research priorities. We apply a range of analyses to a marine robots case study undertaken in waters around the island of Pemba, part of the Zanzibar archipelago, in Tanzania in 2019. The campaign formed part of a multinational project focused on increasing WIO capacity to meet food security and ocean sustainability challenges. A community engagement programme with six Tanzanian coastal communities resulted in positive changes in attitudes towards marine robots with reported increases in understanding and acceptance of such technologies. Suspicion of the robots was reduced and a lower risk of removing operational equipment was recorded following the provision of educational material. Cost, risk and benefit analysis shows that marine robots are perceived to provide high level benefits, but come at a high cost that is difficult to achieve using national or regional funding. An assessment of the capacity of WIO marine institutes to adopt such technologies shows that prior to this work, few skills or infrastructure related to marine robots were available to researchers and further confirmed that funding opportunities were perceived to be largely unavailable at institutional, national, regional or international levels. Responses from regional partners following completion of the case study however, revealed an uplift in perceived capacity, particularly related to access to infrastructure and expertise as well as support and opportunities for funding at each level. The presented case study is shown to have been a valuable demonstrator of the benefits of using marine robots to meet WIO coastal ocean research requirements and regional capacity was shown to be substantially increased within the broad range of marine institutes surveyed throughout the case study period. This study demonstrates that taking early steps towards adopting marine autonomous robots has increased WIO regional marine research capacity and increased the confidence and willingness of local researchers to seek alternative solutions to ongoing marine research challenges. Recommendations for future action that will continue to increase the capacity and readiness for regional adoption of marine robots include investment at local, national and regional levels to provide accessible training opportunities and to facilitate regional and international collaborations; investment in a regional hub, or centre of excellence for marine robotic technology; early adoption of newly emerging smaller, cheaper autonomous technologies; investment in local skills and support facilities to aid local buy-in and acceptance while supporting regional capacity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Measuring discrimination experienced by people with a mental illness
- Brohan, Elaine, Thornicroft, Graham, Rüsch, Nicolas, Lasalvia, Antonio, Campbell, Megan M, Yalçınkaya-Alkar, Özden, Lanfredi, Mariangela, Ochoa, Susana, Üçok, Alp, Tomás, Catarina, Fadipe, Babatunde, Sebes, Julia, Fiorillo, Andrea, Sampogna, Gaia, Paula, Cristiane Silvestre, Valverde, Leonadis, Schomerus, Georg, Klemm, Pia, Ouali, Uta, Castelein, Stynke, Alexová, Aneta, Oexle, Nathalie, Guimarães, Patrícia Neves, Sportel, Bouwina Esther, Chang, Chih-Cheng, Li, Jie, Shanthi, Chilasagaram, Reneses, Blanca, Bakolis, Ioannis, Evans-Lacko, Sarah
- Authors: Brohan, Elaine , Thornicroft, Graham , Rüsch, Nicolas , Lasalvia, Antonio , Campbell, Megan M , Yalçınkaya-Alkar, Özden , Lanfredi, Mariangela , Ochoa, Susana , Üçok, Alp , Tomás, Catarina , Fadipe, Babatunde , Sebes, Julia , Fiorillo, Andrea , Sampogna, Gaia , Paula, Cristiane Silvestre , Valverde, Leonadis , Schomerus, Georg , Klemm, Pia , Ouali, Uta , Castelein, Stynke , Alexová, Aneta , Oexle, Nathalie , Guimarães, Patrícia Neves , Sportel, Bouwina Esther , Chang, Chih-Cheng , Li, Jie , Shanthi, Chilasagaram , Reneses, Blanca , Bakolis, Ioannis , Evans-Lacko, Sarah
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/302498 , vital:58202 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291722000630"
- Description: Background: The Discrimination and Stigma Scale (DISC) is a patient-reported outcome measure which assesses experiences of discrimination among persons with a mental illness globally. Methods: This study evaluated whether the psychometric properties of a short-form version, DISC-Ultra Short (DISCUS) (11-item), could be replicated in a sample of people with a wide range of mental disorders from 21 sites in 15 countries/territories, across six global regions. The frequency of experienced discrimination was reported. Scaling assumptions (confirmatory factor analysis, inter-item and item-total correlations), reliability (internal consistency) and validity (convergent validity, known groups method) were investigated in each region, and by diagnosis group. Results: 1195 people participated. The most frequently reported experiences of discrimination were being shunned or avoided at work (48.7%) and discrimination in making or keeping friends (47.2%). Confirmatory factor analysis supported a unidimensional model across all six regions and five diagnosis groups. Convergent validity was confirmed in the total sample and within all regions [ Internalised Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI-10): 0.28–0.67, stopping self: 0.54–0.72, stigma consciousness: −0.32–0.57], as was internal consistency reliability (α = 0.74–0.84). Known groups validity was established in the global sample with levels of experienced discrimination significantly higher for those experiencing higher depression [Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-2: p more than 0.001], lower mental wellbeing [Warwick-Edinburgh Well-being Scale (WEMWBS): p is less than 0.001], higher suicidal ideation [Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS)-4: p is less than 0.001] and higher risk of suicidal behaviour [Suicidal Ideation Attributes Scale (SIDAS): p is less than 0.001]. Conclusions: The DISCUS is a reliable and valid unidimensional measure of experienced discrimination for use in global settings with similar properties to the longer DISC. It offers a brief assessment of experienced discrimination for use in clinical and research settings.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Brohan, Elaine , Thornicroft, Graham , Rüsch, Nicolas , Lasalvia, Antonio , Campbell, Megan M , Yalçınkaya-Alkar, Özden , Lanfredi, Mariangela , Ochoa, Susana , Üçok, Alp , Tomás, Catarina , Fadipe, Babatunde , Sebes, Julia , Fiorillo, Andrea , Sampogna, Gaia , Paula, Cristiane Silvestre , Valverde, Leonadis , Schomerus, Georg , Klemm, Pia , Ouali, Uta , Castelein, Stynke , Alexová, Aneta , Oexle, Nathalie , Guimarães, Patrícia Neves , Sportel, Bouwina Esther , Chang, Chih-Cheng , Li, Jie , Shanthi, Chilasagaram , Reneses, Blanca , Bakolis, Ioannis , Evans-Lacko, Sarah
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/302498 , vital:58202 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291722000630"
- Description: Background: The Discrimination and Stigma Scale (DISC) is a patient-reported outcome measure which assesses experiences of discrimination among persons with a mental illness globally. Methods: This study evaluated whether the psychometric properties of a short-form version, DISC-Ultra Short (DISCUS) (11-item), could be replicated in a sample of people with a wide range of mental disorders from 21 sites in 15 countries/territories, across six global regions. The frequency of experienced discrimination was reported. Scaling assumptions (confirmatory factor analysis, inter-item and item-total correlations), reliability (internal consistency) and validity (convergent validity, known groups method) were investigated in each region, and by diagnosis group. Results: 1195 people participated. The most frequently reported experiences of discrimination were being shunned or avoided at work (48.7%) and discrimination in making or keeping friends (47.2%). Confirmatory factor analysis supported a unidimensional model across all six regions and five diagnosis groups. Convergent validity was confirmed in the total sample and within all regions [ Internalised Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI-10): 0.28–0.67, stopping self: 0.54–0.72, stigma consciousness: −0.32–0.57], as was internal consistency reliability (α = 0.74–0.84). Known groups validity was established in the global sample with levels of experienced discrimination significantly higher for those experiencing higher depression [Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-2: p more than 0.001], lower mental wellbeing [Warwick-Edinburgh Well-being Scale (WEMWBS): p is less than 0.001], higher suicidal ideation [Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS)-4: p is less than 0.001] and higher risk of suicidal behaviour [Suicidal Ideation Attributes Scale (SIDAS): p is less than 0.001]. Conclusions: The DISCUS is a reliable and valid unidimensional measure of experienced discrimination for use in global settings with similar properties to the longer DISC. It offers a brief assessment of experienced discrimination for use in clinical and research settings.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Measuring human capital in South Africa using a socioeconomic status human capital index approach
- Friderichs, Tamaryn J, Keeton, Gavin R, Rogan, Michael
- Authors: Friderichs, Tamaryn J , Keeton, Gavin R , Rogan, Michael
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/477962 , vital:78141 , https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2021.1941779
- Description: The Human Capital Index (HCI) developed by the [World Bank, 2018a. The human capital project. World Bank. https://hdl.handle.net/10986/30498 Accessed 26 February 2019] provides a measure which can be used to study human capital (HC) productivity gaps between countries. The HCI uses measures of survival, education and health to estimate, at a country level, the HC ‘a child born today can expect to attain by her/his 18th birthday, given the risks of poor health and poor education where she lives’ [World Bank, 2018a. The human capital project. World Bank. https://hdl.handle.net/10986/30498 Accessed 26 February 2019, 2]. The socioeconomic disaggregated human capital index (SES-HCI), an extension of the HCI, provides a means for analysing HC inequalities within countries. This study estimates SES-HCIs for South Africa by income quintiles, school quintiles, geographical area, gender and race. The main driver of HC inequalities in all the SES indicators is found to be the quality of schooling. Factors to address the inequalities and the limitations of the measuring instruments are identified.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Friderichs, Tamaryn J , Keeton, Gavin R , Rogan, Michael
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/477962 , vital:78141 , https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2021.1941779
- Description: The Human Capital Index (HCI) developed by the [World Bank, 2018a. The human capital project. World Bank. https://hdl.handle.net/10986/30498 Accessed 26 February 2019] provides a measure which can be used to study human capital (HC) productivity gaps between countries. The HCI uses measures of survival, education and health to estimate, at a country level, the HC ‘a child born today can expect to attain by her/his 18th birthday, given the risks of poor health and poor education where she lives’ [World Bank, 2018a. The human capital project. World Bank. https://hdl.handle.net/10986/30498 Accessed 26 February 2019, 2]. The socioeconomic disaggregated human capital index (SES-HCI), an extension of the HCI, provides a means for analysing HC inequalities within countries. This study estimates SES-HCIs for South Africa by income quintiles, school quintiles, geographical area, gender and race. The main driver of HC inequalities in all the SES indicators is found to be the quality of schooling. Factors to address the inequalities and the limitations of the measuring instruments are identified.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
Methods for assessing the quality of AM fungal bio-fertilizer: Retrospect and future directions
- Agnihotri, R, Sharma, M P, Bucking, H, Dames, Joanna F, Bagyaraj, D J
- Authors: Agnihotri, R , Sharma, M P , Bucking, H , Dames, Joanna F , Bagyaraj, D J
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/448626 , vital:74747 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-022-03288-3
- Description: In the recent past, the mass production of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi has bloomed into a large biofertilizer industry. Due to their obligate symbiotic nature, these fungi are propagated on living roots in substrate-based pot cultures and RiTDNA in in vitro or root organ culture systems. The quality assessment of AM inocula remains critical for the production and efficacy evaluation of AM fungi. The vigour of AM inocula are assessed through microscopic methods such as inoculum potential, infectivity potential/infection units, most probable number (MPN) and spore density. These methods marginally depend on the researcher’s skill. The signature lipids specific to AM fungi, e.g. 16:1ω5cis ester-linked, phospholipid, and neutral lipid fatty acids provide more robustness and reproducibility. The quantitative real-time PCR of AM fungal taxa specific primers and probes analyzing gene copy number is also increasingly used. This article intends to sensitize AM fungal researchers and inoculum manufacturers to various methods of assessing the quality of AM inocula addressing their merits and demerits. This will help AM producers to fulfil the regulatory requirements ensuring the supply of high-quality AM inocula to end-users, and tap a new dimension of AM research in the commercial production of AM fungi and its application in sustainable plant production systems.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022
- Authors: Agnihotri, R , Sharma, M P , Bucking, H , Dames, Joanna F , Bagyaraj, D J
- Date: 2022
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/448626 , vital:74747 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-022-03288-3
- Description: In the recent past, the mass production of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi has bloomed into a large biofertilizer industry. Due to their obligate symbiotic nature, these fungi are propagated on living roots in substrate-based pot cultures and RiTDNA in in vitro or root organ culture systems. The quality assessment of AM inocula remains critical for the production and efficacy evaluation of AM fungi. The vigour of AM inocula are assessed through microscopic methods such as inoculum potential, infectivity potential/infection units, most probable number (MPN) and spore density. These methods marginally depend on the researcher’s skill. The signature lipids specific to AM fungi, e.g. 16:1ω5cis ester-linked, phospholipid, and neutral lipid fatty acids provide more robustness and reproducibility. The quantitative real-time PCR of AM fungal taxa specific primers and probes analyzing gene copy number is also increasingly used. This article intends to sensitize AM fungal researchers and inoculum manufacturers to various methods of assessing the quality of AM inocula addressing their merits and demerits. This will help AM producers to fulfil the regulatory requirements ensuring the supply of high-quality AM inocula to end-users, and tap a new dimension of AM research in the commercial production of AM fungi and its application in sustainable plant production systems.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022