FinTech and SMEs financing: A systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis
- Sanga, Bahati, Aziakpono, Meshach J
- Authors: Sanga, Bahati , Aziakpono, Meshach J
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/469857 , vital:77301 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.digbus.2023.100067
- Description: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face obstacles in raising capital and accessing financial services due to information asymmetry, high transaction costs and lack of collateral. FinTech developments have made gathering and sharing information easier, changed how funds are mobilized and allocated, and increased capital-raising activities. This paper conducts a systematic literature review on FinTech and SME financing for the period 2008–2022. So far there are unstructured and separate publications on this topic. Therefore, there is a need to consolidate the empirical research and their findings on the effectiveness of FinTech in meeting SMEs' financing needs. The bibliometric findings show that few studies on FinTech and SME financing are empirical in nature. These empirical studies surged a decade later after FinTech 3.0 started in 2008, with the majority of them using quantitative methods based on data from surveys and FinTech platforms. Furthermore, emerging alternative digital financing to SMEs have attracted more empirical studies than those on FinTech and bank lending to SMEs. In terms of publications, China is dominating, followed by the United States. The content analysis shows that FinTech has increased the ability of financial and non-financial institutions to collect and process accurate information about SMEs, thus reducing information asymmetry and transaction costs. FinTech has also increased the speed and quality of the lending cycle, from establishing an SME pipeline, collecting and processing information, to loan screening, monitoring and repayment. Finally, the paper presents research gaps and areas for future studies, challenges and policy recommendations on this novel subject.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Sanga, Bahati , Aziakpono, Meshach J
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/469857 , vital:77301 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.digbus.2023.100067
- Description: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face obstacles in raising capital and accessing financial services due to information asymmetry, high transaction costs and lack of collateral. FinTech developments have made gathering and sharing information easier, changed how funds are mobilized and allocated, and increased capital-raising activities. This paper conducts a systematic literature review on FinTech and SME financing for the period 2008–2022. So far there are unstructured and separate publications on this topic. Therefore, there is a need to consolidate the empirical research and their findings on the effectiveness of FinTech in meeting SMEs' financing needs. The bibliometric findings show that few studies on FinTech and SME financing are empirical in nature. These empirical studies surged a decade later after FinTech 3.0 started in 2008, with the majority of them using quantitative methods based on data from surveys and FinTech platforms. Furthermore, emerging alternative digital financing to SMEs have attracted more empirical studies than those on FinTech and bank lending to SMEs. In terms of publications, China is dominating, followed by the United States. The content analysis shows that FinTech has increased the ability of financial and non-financial institutions to collect and process accurate information about SMEs, thus reducing information asymmetry and transaction costs. FinTech has also increased the speed and quality of the lending cycle, from establishing an SME pipeline, collecting and processing information, to loan screening, monitoring and repayment. Finally, the paper presents research gaps and areas for future studies, challenges and policy recommendations on this novel subject.
- Full Text:
Fruits of the city: The nature, nurture and future of urban foraging
- Sardeshpande, Mallika, Shackleton, Charlie M
- Authors: Sardeshpande, Mallika , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/402259 , vital:69835 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10428"
- Description: Urban foraging is a global informal phenomenon which has been investigated in the Global North more than oth-er parts of the world. Characterising the nature of urban foraging in the Global South is imperative given the rapid urbanisation and sustainable development priorities in the region. In this study, we interviewed 80 urban forag-ers in four cities in the eastern coastal region of South Af-rica, with an aim to understand the nature of urban forag-ing in a developing nation context. We asked foragers about their initiation to and motivations for foraging, their logistics, yields and associated activities, descriptions of their foraging grounds, and if and how they had changed, and what they envisage as an ideal future for foraging.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Sardeshpande, Mallika , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/402259 , vital:69835 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10428"
- Description: Urban foraging is a global informal phenomenon which has been investigated in the Global North more than oth-er parts of the world. Characterising the nature of urban foraging in the Global South is imperative given the rapid urbanisation and sustainable development priorities in the region. In this study, we interviewed 80 urban forag-ers in four cities in the eastern coastal region of South Af-rica, with an aim to understand the nature of urban forag-ing in a developing nation context. We asked foragers about their initiation to and motivations for foraging, their logistics, yields and associated activities, descriptions of their foraging grounds, and if and how they had changed, and what they envisage as an ideal future for foraging.
- Full Text:
Gender and Culture Shock at University: Perspectives of First-Year Male Students From a Public University in South Africa
- Authors: Aiseng, Kealeboga
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/453392 , vital:75250 , ISBN 9781668469613 , DOI: 10.4018/978-1-6684-6961-3.ch006
- Description: The chapter seeks to embark on a qualitative study with first-year male students from a public university in South Africa to understand their adjustment and adapting to university life due to challenges with gender and sexuality matters that they face. The authors is mostly interested in male students as they are the usual perpetrators of gender and sexuality offences in universities. With this chapter, the author wants to understand the experiences of these students as they transition from one world (their hometowns) to another (university campuses). Of interest in this study is that some of the students at this university come from previously disadvantaged backgrounds: villages, townships, and farmsteads. Some of them have gone through traditional rites of passage such as initiation schools; others come from patriarchal backgrounds and heteronormative backgrounds.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Aiseng, Kealeboga
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/453392 , vital:75250 , ISBN 9781668469613 , DOI: 10.4018/978-1-6684-6961-3.ch006
- Description: The chapter seeks to embark on a qualitative study with first-year male students from a public university in South Africa to understand their adjustment and adapting to university life due to challenges with gender and sexuality matters that they face. The authors is mostly interested in male students as they are the usual perpetrators of gender and sexuality offences in universities. With this chapter, the author wants to understand the experiences of these students as they transition from one world (their hometowns) to another (university campuses). Of interest in this study is that some of the students at this university come from previously disadvantaged backgrounds: villages, townships, and farmsteads. Some of them have gone through traditional rites of passage such as initiation schools; others come from patriarchal backgrounds and heteronormative backgrounds.
- Full Text:
Governing pregnancy in the Global South: the case of post-apartheid South Africa
- du Plessis, Ulandi, Macleod, Catriona I
- Authors: du Plessis, Ulandi , Macleod, Catriona I
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441212 , vital:73867 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13698575.2023.2249943"
- Description: Women who sell sex (WSS) are vulnerable to violence. We present a scoping review of the last decade of research on the prevalence and incidence of, factors associated with, and services regarding violence against WSS in Eastern and Southern African (ESA). A systematic search of various databases resulted in 20 papers being reviewed. Inclusion criteria, applied by the first two authors, were as follows: empirical papers, key research problem is violence against WSS, and conducted in ESA countries. The lifetime prevalence of violence revealed in the studies ranged from 21% to 82%. A pattern of generalized violence against WSS from paying clients, male partners, strangers, family members, friends/acquaintances, and the authorities emerged. Factors associated with violence included the context within which the sex work occurs, alcohol use, type of sex exchange interactions, and personal factors (low education, low income, marriage, youth, high client volume, time in sex work, forced sexual debut, and internalized sex work stigma). WSS seldom access services after violence. Evaluations of two programs, a woman-focused HIV intervention, and the Diagonal Interventions to Fast-Forward Reproductive Health project, showed improvements in gender-based violence services. Findings suggest that targeted programmes should be paired with improving general health services and focus on promoting collective agency among WSS.
- Full Text:
- Authors: du Plessis, Ulandi , Macleod, Catriona I
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441212 , vital:73867 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13698575.2023.2249943"
- Description: Women who sell sex (WSS) are vulnerable to violence. We present a scoping review of the last decade of research on the prevalence and incidence of, factors associated with, and services regarding violence against WSS in Eastern and Southern African (ESA). A systematic search of various databases resulted in 20 papers being reviewed. Inclusion criteria, applied by the first two authors, were as follows: empirical papers, key research problem is violence against WSS, and conducted in ESA countries. The lifetime prevalence of violence revealed in the studies ranged from 21% to 82%. A pattern of generalized violence against WSS from paying clients, male partners, strangers, family members, friends/acquaintances, and the authorities emerged. Factors associated with violence included the context within which the sex work occurs, alcohol use, type of sex exchange interactions, and personal factors (low education, low income, marriage, youth, high client volume, time in sex work, forced sexual debut, and internalized sex work stigma). WSS seldom access services after violence. Evaluations of two programs, a woman-focused HIV intervention, and the Diagonal Interventions to Fast-Forward Reproductive Health project, showed improvements in gender-based violence services. Findings suggest that targeted programmes should be paired with improving general health services and focus on promoting collective agency among WSS.
- Full Text:
Grandmothers of the sea: Stories and lessons from five Xhosa ocean elders
- Francis, Buhle, McGarry Dylan K
- Authors: Francis, Buhle , McGarry Dylan K
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433926 , vital:73010 , ISBN 9781003355199 , https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003355199-12/grandmothers-sea-buhle-francis-dylan-mcgarry
- Description: We surface a historical, political, spiritual, economic and cultural analysis made by five Xhosa Grandmothers based in the Eastern Cape, regarding their entangled relationship with the Ocean. A nuanced, complex relationship with the ocean and the politics of natural resource management in South Africa emerged from our interviews, as scholar-activists, with these Grandmothers, and this chapter attempts to explore how a gendered upbringing, with its associated roles and responsibilities, have created a unique relationship with the ocean that must be understood in all its nuanced and complex facets. We explore how the identities and values of these Xhosa Grandmothers are relationally entangled with the ocean and politics of South Africa, and explore the deep ecological knowledge that they hold, yet is shamelessly ignored. Through their own renderings, we unpack the rich understanding of marine species, customary rights, ocean policy and governance practices that impact, impede and complicate their lives. Working with first-hand accounts (stories translated from Xhosa), the Grandmothers provide a nuanced and brazen analysis of the status quo of ocean governance, ocean literacy and policy. They unpack what interventions are needed, and call for a response that recognises Grandmothers as central to South Africa’s wellbeing, a health that sits precariously with the complex realities of older women’s entangled and diverse vulnerabilities. Finally, the firsthand accounts and analyses made by the Grandmothers, offer a politically rigorous contribution to the field of hydrofeminism, one told in their own way, using their own idiomatic rendering, with their own metaphors and figurations.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Francis, Buhle , McGarry Dylan K
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433926 , vital:73010 , ISBN 9781003355199 , https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003355199-12/grandmothers-sea-buhle-francis-dylan-mcgarry
- Description: We surface a historical, political, spiritual, economic and cultural analysis made by five Xhosa Grandmothers based in the Eastern Cape, regarding their entangled relationship with the Ocean. A nuanced, complex relationship with the ocean and the politics of natural resource management in South Africa emerged from our interviews, as scholar-activists, with these Grandmothers, and this chapter attempts to explore how a gendered upbringing, with its associated roles and responsibilities, have created a unique relationship with the ocean that must be understood in all its nuanced and complex facets. We explore how the identities and values of these Xhosa Grandmothers are relationally entangled with the ocean and politics of South Africa, and explore the deep ecological knowledge that they hold, yet is shamelessly ignored. Through their own renderings, we unpack the rich understanding of marine species, customary rights, ocean policy and governance practices that impact, impede and complicate their lives. Working with first-hand accounts (stories translated from Xhosa), the Grandmothers provide a nuanced and brazen analysis of the status quo of ocean governance, ocean literacy and policy. They unpack what interventions are needed, and call for a response that recognises Grandmothers as central to South Africa’s wellbeing, a health that sits precariously with the complex realities of older women’s entangled and diverse vulnerabilities. Finally, the firsthand accounts and analyses made by the Grandmothers, offer a politically rigorous contribution to the field of hydrofeminism, one told in their own way, using their own idiomatic rendering, with their own metaphors and figurations.
- Full Text:
Historical diversification of Pseudonympha Wallengren, 1857 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae).
- van Steenderen, Clarke J M, Pringle, Ernest L, Villet, Martin H
- Authors: van Steenderen, Clarke J M , Pringle, Ernest L , Villet, Martin H
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/442182 , vital:73965 , https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2023.2257373
- Description: The butterfly genus Pseudonympha and several related genera are endemic to southern Africa. Although many of the species are montane, some inhabit the arid interior of South Africa, offering an opportunity to study the palaeobiogeography of this biome. Morphological data (for all species of Pseudonympha and allied African and Asian genera) and molecular data (WG and COI genes for nine of the 15 species of Pseudonympha and all of the southern African endemic genera of Ypthimina) were compiled. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that Pseudonympha apparently originated in the Cape Fold Mountains about 15 Mya ago and spread steadily eastwards and northwards along the Great Escarpment during the aridification of the region, perhaps assisted by orogeny in the east and oceanic cooling in the west. Aridification cycles seem to have intermittently isolated some early lineages in elevated habitats in the interior, so that those lineages show lower speciation rates (or perhaps higher extinction rates) than those in the east. Four species delineation techniques indicated that some species are taxonomically oversplit. Based on genetic polyphyly and morphological similarity, we propose that the status of P. swanepoeli be reduced to that of a subspecies of P. varii, such that all the north-eastern populations from Harrismith to Tzaneen fall under P. varii swanepoeli van Son stat. n., and all the southern populations fall under P. varii varii van Son stat. n. Ultimately, the diversification of both of these lineages seems tied to their host plants’ response to aridification brought on by continental drift and orogeny. Sympatric organisms (eg cicadas) with biologies focused around different resources (eg savanna trees) show other patterns of diversification. The phylogenetic analysis of the subtribe Ypthimina also supports the monophyly of Paternympha, paraphyly of Ypthima, recognition of Thymipa Moore stat. rev. as a phylogenetic independent genus, and new relationships for Strabena.
- Full Text:
- Authors: van Steenderen, Clarke J M , Pringle, Ernest L , Villet, Martin H
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/442182 , vital:73965 , https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2023.2257373
- Description: The butterfly genus Pseudonympha and several related genera are endemic to southern Africa. Although many of the species are montane, some inhabit the arid interior of South Africa, offering an opportunity to study the palaeobiogeography of this biome. Morphological data (for all species of Pseudonympha and allied African and Asian genera) and molecular data (WG and COI genes for nine of the 15 species of Pseudonympha and all of the southern African endemic genera of Ypthimina) were compiled. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that Pseudonympha apparently originated in the Cape Fold Mountains about 15 Mya ago and spread steadily eastwards and northwards along the Great Escarpment during the aridification of the region, perhaps assisted by orogeny in the east and oceanic cooling in the west. Aridification cycles seem to have intermittently isolated some early lineages in elevated habitats in the interior, so that those lineages show lower speciation rates (or perhaps higher extinction rates) than those in the east. Four species delineation techniques indicated that some species are taxonomically oversplit. Based on genetic polyphyly and morphological similarity, we propose that the status of P. swanepoeli be reduced to that of a subspecies of P. varii, such that all the north-eastern populations from Harrismith to Tzaneen fall under P. varii swanepoeli van Son stat. n., and all the southern populations fall under P. varii varii van Son stat. n. Ultimately, the diversification of both of these lineages seems tied to their host plants’ response to aridification brought on by continental drift and orogeny. Sympatric organisms (eg cicadas) with biologies focused around different resources (eg savanna trees) show other patterns of diversification. The phylogenetic analysis of the subtribe Ypthimina also supports the monophyly of Paternympha, paraphyly of Ypthima, recognition of Thymipa Moore stat. rev. as a phylogenetic independent genus, and new relationships for Strabena.
- Full Text:
History matters: Societal acceptance of deep-sea mining and incipient conflicts in Papua New Guinea
- van Putten, Ingrid, Aswani, Shankar, Boonstra, W.J, De la Cruz-Modino, R, Das, Jewel, Glaser, Marion, Heck, Nadine, Narayan, Siddharth, Paytan, Adina, Selim, Samiya, Vave, Ron
- Authors: van Putten, Ingrid , Aswani, Shankar , Boonstra, W.J , De la Cruz-Modino, R , Das, Jewel , Glaser, Marion , Heck, Nadine , Narayan, Siddharth , Paytan, Adina , Selim, Samiya , Vave, Ron
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391453 , vital:68653 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40152-023-00318-0"
- Description: New marine industries that develop and grow in response to the changing demand for their products have the potential to exert pressure on fragile marine environments. These emerging industries can benefit local communities but equally can have negative environmental and socio-cultural impacts. The development of new and emerging industries, like deep seabed mining (DSM), requires the acceptance and involvement of local communities. Yet, the history of marine exploitation is imbued with conflicts between industries and local communities. This paper presents a DSM case study in Papua New Guinea (PNG) to stimulate debate around the potential for conflict in the pursuit of resource extraction from the deep sea and the social and environmental harm that these extractions can cause. We do so by first presenting a timeline of local and extra-local events and enabling conditions that form the development background for the DSM Solwara 1 project in PNG. We then undertake a media narrative analysis to consider the contribution of aspects of social acceptability to this highly complex and multi-scale conflict. We find that the lack of (or a decrease in) social acceptability contributed to the conflict situation and ultimately the demise of the Solwara 1 project. Extra-locally, the initial development was positively framed around solutions for decarbonisation using new technology. Over time, actions by international NGOs, financial issues related to foreign companies, and asymmetry in the power balance between the Pacific Island nation and global businesses played a role in growing negative perceptions of acceptability. Historical experiences with prior environmental mining disasters, together with sea tenure governance challenges, and a lack of community and stakeholder acceptance also contributed to the demise of the project. Untangling and debating these complex interactions provides context and reasons for the tension between the lack of societal acceptance at a local scale and the perceived need for DSM products in the global North for innovative technologies and decarbonising societies. Better understanding these interactions and tensions can help emerging industries navigate a future blue economy.
- Full Text:
- Authors: van Putten, Ingrid , Aswani, Shankar , Boonstra, W.J , De la Cruz-Modino, R , Das, Jewel , Glaser, Marion , Heck, Nadine , Narayan, Siddharth , Paytan, Adina , Selim, Samiya , Vave, Ron
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391453 , vital:68653 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40152-023-00318-0"
- Description: New marine industries that develop and grow in response to the changing demand for their products have the potential to exert pressure on fragile marine environments. These emerging industries can benefit local communities but equally can have negative environmental and socio-cultural impacts. The development of new and emerging industries, like deep seabed mining (DSM), requires the acceptance and involvement of local communities. Yet, the history of marine exploitation is imbued with conflicts between industries and local communities. This paper presents a DSM case study in Papua New Guinea (PNG) to stimulate debate around the potential for conflict in the pursuit of resource extraction from the deep sea and the social and environmental harm that these extractions can cause. We do so by first presenting a timeline of local and extra-local events and enabling conditions that form the development background for the DSM Solwara 1 project in PNG. We then undertake a media narrative analysis to consider the contribution of aspects of social acceptability to this highly complex and multi-scale conflict. We find that the lack of (or a decrease in) social acceptability contributed to the conflict situation and ultimately the demise of the Solwara 1 project. Extra-locally, the initial development was positively framed around solutions for decarbonisation using new technology. Over time, actions by international NGOs, financial issues related to foreign companies, and asymmetry in the power balance between the Pacific Island nation and global businesses played a role in growing negative perceptions of acceptability. Historical experiences with prior environmental mining disasters, together with sea tenure governance challenges, and a lack of community and stakeholder acceptance also contributed to the demise of the project. Untangling and debating these complex interactions provides context and reasons for the tension between the lack of societal acceptance at a local scale and the perceived need for DSM products in the global North for innovative technologies and decarbonising societies. Better understanding these interactions and tensions can help emerging industries navigate a future blue economy.
- Full Text:
Host-specificity testing of the leaf-feeding flea beetle, Phenrica guerini, a biological control agent for the invasive alien cactus, Pereskia aculeata
- Dixon, Elizabeth, Paterson, Iain D, Muskett, Phillippa C, McConnachie, Andrew
- Authors: Dixon, Elizabeth , Paterson, Iain D , Muskett, Phillippa C , McConnachie, Andrew
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/417687 , vital:71478 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09583157.2023.2214342"
- Description: Pereskia aculeata Miller (Cactaceae) is an environmentally damaging invasive alien plant in South Africa and Australia. The flea-beetle, Phenrica guerini Bechyné (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), has been used in South Africa as a biological control agent against the plant for more than 30 years but updated host-specificity testing was required to determine its suitability as an agent in Australia. No-choice larval survival tests were conducted on 26 test plant species from 11 families, with survival to the adult stage only being recorded on the target weed, P. aculeata. No-choice oviposition testing with adult P. guerini was conducted on six test plant species. No adult feeding was recorded on any test plants and significantly more eggs were oviposited on P. aculeata (158.8 SE ± 21.4) than on Talinum caffrum (5.2 SE ± 5.2), which was the only test plant on which they oviposited. The adults survived on average 27 days longer on P. aculeata than on any test plant species. In a multiple-choice trial that included all three species that supported any larval feeding as well as P. aculeata, oviposition and feeding was only recorded on target weed. Phenrica guerini is suitably host specific for consideration in Australia as a biological control agent against P. aculeata.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Dixon, Elizabeth , Paterson, Iain D , Muskett, Phillippa C , McConnachie, Andrew
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/417687 , vital:71478 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09583157.2023.2214342"
- Description: Pereskia aculeata Miller (Cactaceae) is an environmentally damaging invasive alien plant in South Africa and Australia. The flea-beetle, Phenrica guerini Bechyné (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), has been used in South Africa as a biological control agent against the plant for more than 30 years but updated host-specificity testing was required to determine its suitability as an agent in Australia. No-choice larval survival tests were conducted on 26 test plant species from 11 families, with survival to the adult stage only being recorded on the target weed, P. aculeata. No-choice oviposition testing with adult P. guerini was conducted on six test plant species. No adult feeding was recorded on any test plants and significantly more eggs were oviposited on P. aculeata (158.8 SE ± 21.4) than on Talinum caffrum (5.2 SE ± 5.2), which was the only test plant on which they oviposited. The adults survived on average 27 days longer on P. aculeata than on any test plant species. In a multiple-choice trial that included all three species that supported any larval feeding as well as P. aculeata, oviposition and feeding was only recorded on target weed. Phenrica guerini is suitably host specific for consideration in Australia as a biological control agent against P. aculeata.
- Full Text:
IFRS and FPI nexus: does the quality of the institutional framework matter for African countries?
- Simbi, Chipo, Arendse, Jacqueline A, Khumalo, Sibanisezwe A
- Authors: Simbi, Chipo , Arendse, Jacqueline A , Khumalo, Sibanisezwe A
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/470633 , vital:77380 , https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/jaee-10-2021-0319/full/html
- Description: The institutional framework of an African country may influence the effectiveness of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on foreign investment inflows. The purpose of this paper is to argue that the quality of a country's institutional framework impacts the effectiveness of IFRS to an adopting country and ultimately influences the levels of Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI). Employing country-level data. A sample of 15 countries from Africa is used. Data is collected over a period of 22 years (1994–2014). The authors employ the General Method of Moments (GMM) panel regression technique to examine whether the quality of a country's institutional framework has an impact on the relationship between IFRS and FPI and the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) technique to assess the level of impact.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Simbi, Chipo , Arendse, Jacqueline A , Khumalo, Sibanisezwe A
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/470633 , vital:77380 , https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/jaee-10-2021-0319/full/html
- Description: The institutional framework of an African country may influence the effectiveness of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on foreign investment inflows. The purpose of this paper is to argue that the quality of a country's institutional framework impacts the effectiveness of IFRS to an adopting country and ultimately influences the levels of Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI). Employing country-level data. A sample of 15 countries from Africa is used. Data is collected over a period of 22 years (1994–2014). The authors employ the General Method of Moments (GMM) panel regression technique to examine whether the quality of a country's institutional framework has an impact on the relationship between IFRS and FPI and the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) technique to assess the level of impact.
- Full Text:
Impact of Access and Benefit Sharing implementation on biological control genetic resources
- Mason, Peter G, Barratt, Barbara I P, Mc Kay, Fernando, Klapwijk, Johannette N, Silvestri, Luciano C, Hill, Martin P, Hinz, Hariet L, Sheppard, Andy, Brodeur, Jacques, Vitorino, Marcello Diniz, Weyl, Philip S R, Hoelmer, Kim A
- Authors: Mason, Peter G , Barratt, Barbara I P , Mc Kay, Fernando , Klapwijk, Johannette N , Silvestri, Luciano C , Hill, Martin P , Hinz, Hariet L , Sheppard, Andy , Brodeur, Jacques , Vitorino, Marcello Diniz , Weyl, Philip S R , Hoelmer, Kim A
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/418013 , vital:71501 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-023-10176-8"
- Description: The third objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of genetic resources was further developed when the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing came into effect in 2014. Interpretation of how this agreement is being implemented is wide-ranging and there are implications for biological control. A survey of biological control workers indicated that while some countries have facilitated access to biological control genetic resources, requirements in other countries have impeded biological control implementation. There was consensus that benefits to provider countries should be in the form of supporting local research communities. There was also agreement that the free use and exchange of biological control genetic resources has provided benefits to the global community, including to both providers and recipients of the agents. It is recommended that consideration of the free use and exchange principal should be a key element of Access and Benefit Sharing measures for the future.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mason, Peter G , Barratt, Barbara I P , Mc Kay, Fernando , Klapwijk, Johannette N , Silvestri, Luciano C , Hill, Martin P , Hinz, Hariet L , Sheppard, Andy , Brodeur, Jacques , Vitorino, Marcello Diniz , Weyl, Philip S R , Hoelmer, Kim A
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/418013 , vital:71501 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-023-10176-8"
- Description: The third objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of genetic resources was further developed when the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing came into effect in 2014. Interpretation of how this agreement is being implemented is wide-ranging and there are implications for biological control. A survey of biological control workers indicated that while some countries have facilitated access to biological control genetic resources, requirements in other countries have impeded biological control implementation. There was consensus that benefits to provider countries should be in the form of supporting local research communities. There was also agreement that the free use and exchange of biological control genetic resources has provided benefits to the global community, including to both providers and recipients of the agents. It is recommended that consideration of the free use and exchange principal should be a key element of Access and Benefit Sharing measures for the future.
- Full Text:
In silico substrate-binding profiling for SARS-CoV-2 Main protease (Mpro) using Hexapeptide substrates
- Zabo, Sophakama, Lobb, Kevin A
- Authors: Zabo, Sophakama , Lobb, Kevin A
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/452711 , vital:75164 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.3390/v15071480"
- Description: The SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) is essential for the life cycle of the COVID-19 virus. It cleaves the two polyproteins at 11 positions to generate mature proteins for virion formation. The cleavage site on these polyproteins is known to be Leu-Gln↓(Ser/Ala/Gly). A range of hexapeptides that follow the known sequence for recognition and cleavage was constructed using RDKit libraries and complexed with the crystal structure of Mpro (PDB ID 6XHM) through extensive molecular docking calculations. A subset of 131 of these complexes underwent 20 ns molecular dynamics simulations. The analyses of the trajectories from molecular dynamics included principal component analysis (PCA), and a method to compare PCA plots from separate trajectories was developed in terms of encoding PCA progression during the simulations. The hexapeptides formed stable complexes as expected, with reproducible molecular docking of the substrates given the extensiveness of the procedure. Only Lys-Leu-Gln*** (KLQ***) sequence complexes were studied for molecular dynamics. In this subset of complexes, the PCA analysis identified four classifications of protein motions across these sequences. KLQ*** complexes illustrated the effect of changes in substrate on the active site, with implications for understanding the substrate recognition of Mpro and informing the development of small molecule inhibitors.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Zabo, Sophakama , Lobb, Kevin A
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/452711 , vital:75164 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.3390/v15071480"
- Description: The SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) is essential for the life cycle of the COVID-19 virus. It cleaves the two polyproteins at 11 positions to generate mature proteins for virion formation. The cleavage site on these polyproteins is known to be Leu-Gln↓(Ser/Ala/Gly). A range of hexapeptides that follow the known sequence for recognition and cleavage was constructed using RDKit libraries and complexed with the crystal structure of Mpro (PDB ID 6XHM) through extensive molecular docking calculations. A subset of 131 of these complexes underwent 20 ns molecular dynamics simulations. The analyses of the trajectories from molecular dynamics included principal component analysis (PCA), and a method to compare PCA plots from separate trajectories was developed in terms of encoding PCA progression during the simulations. The hexapeptides formed stable complexes as expected, with reproducible molecular docking of the substrates given the extensiveness of the procedure. Only Lys-Leu-Gln*** (KLQ***) sequence complexes were studied for molecular dynamics. In this subset of complexes, the PCA analysis identified four classifications of protein motions across these sequences. KLQ*** complexes illustrated the effect of changes in substrate on the active site, with implications for understanding the substrate recognition of Mpro and informing the development of small molecule inhibitors.
- Full Text:
Inclusion complexation and liposomal encapsulation of an isoniazid hydrazone derivative in cyclodextrin for pH-dependent controlled release
- Safari, Justin B, Mona, Lamine B, Sekaleli, Bafokeng T, Avudi, Bénite K, Isamura, Bienfait K, Mukubwa, Grady K, Salami, Sodeeq A, Mbinze, Jérémie K, Lobb, Kevin A, Krause, Rui W M, Nkanga, Christian I
- Authors: Safari, Justin B , Mona, Lamine B , Sekaleli, Bafokeng T , Avudi, Bénite K , Isamura, Bienfait K , Mukubwa, Grady K , Salami, Sodeeq A , Mbinze, Jérémie K , Lobb, Kevin A , Krause, Rui W M , Nkanga, Christian I
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/452727 , vital:75166 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jddst.2023.104302"
- Description: Tuberculosis, a predominantly pulmonary pathology, is currently the deadliest infection worldwide. Its treatment is based on combination therapy involving selected antimicrobials including Isoniazid. However, physicochemical properties of isoniazid negatively affect the clinical performance of current tuberculosis regimens, causing drug resistance development and increasing mortality rates. Liposomal encapsulation improves antituberculosis drug delivery; however, nano-formulation of isoniazid remains challenging due to its small molecular size and high hydrophilicity. Therefore, this study aimed to derivatize isoniazid and formulate a controlled delivery system using the concept of drug-in-cyclodextrins-in-liposomes to enhance drug biopharmaceutical properties. A prodrug of isoniazid was synthesized and screened for its ability to form stable complexes with α, β, and γ cyclodextrins. A selected inclusion complex with β-cyclodextrin was encapsulated in liposomes and assessed for controlled release of isoniazid. Successful formation of a 1:1 complex was established and characterized, followed by molecular modeling studies to demonstrate strength of the interactions within the complex and predicted complex structure. The inclusion complex was successfully encapsulated in liposomes using the thin film hydration method and the ethanol injection ultrasonic dispersion, with the latter giving the best results. These findings demonstrate the potential.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Safari, Justin B , Mona, Lamine B , Sekaleli, Bafokeng T , Avudi, Bénite K , Isamura, Bienfait K , Mukubwa, Grady K , Salami, Sodeeq A , Mbinze, Jérémie K , Lobb, Kevin A , Krause, Rui W M , Nkanga, Christian I
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/452727 , vital:75166 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jddst.2023.104302"
- Description: Tuberculosis, a predominantly pulmonary pathology, is currently the deadliest infection worldwide. Its treatment is based on combination therapy involving selected antimicrobials including Isoniazid. However, physicochemical properties of isoniazid negatively affect the clinical performance of current tuberculosis regimens, causing drug resistance development and increasing mortality rates. Liposomal encapsulation improves antituberculosis drug delivery; however, nano-formulation of isoniazid remains challenging due to its small molecular size and high hydrophilicity. Therefore, this study aimed to derivatize isoniazid and formulate a controlled delivery system using the concept of drug-in-cyclodextrins-in-liposomes to enhance drug biopharmaceutical properties. A prodrug of isoniazid was synthesized and screened for its ability to form stable complexes with α, β, and γ cyclodextrins. A selected inclusion complex with β-cyclodextrin was encapsulated in liposomes and assessed for controlled release of isoniazid. Successful formation of a 1:1 complex was established and characterized, followed by molecular modeling studies to demonstrate strength of the interactions within the complex and predicted complex structure. The inclusion complex was successfully encapsulated in liposomes using the thin film hydration method and the ethanol injection ultrasonic dispersion, with the latter giving the best results. These findings demonstrate the potential.
- Full Text:
Informal employment: what is missing from national economic recovery plans?
- Mhlana, Siviwe, Moussié, Rachel, Roever, Sally, Rogan, Michael
- Authors: Mhlana, Siviwe , Moussié, Rachel , Roever, Sally , Rogan, Michael
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , report
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/477952 , vital:78139 , ISBN , https://hdl.handle.net/10419/283788
- Description: Throughout 2021, fiscal stimulus packages were introduced to jump-start the COVID-19 'post-pandemic' economic recovery process. While calls for economic recovery packages that promise to 'build back better' have come from many directions, the under-allocation of recovery resources directed at workers in the informal economy threatens the recovery of livelihoods for the majority of the world's workforce. This paper analyses the economic recovery approaches of two low-income (Bangladesh and Kenya) and two middle-income (South Africa and Thailand) countries. The paper assesses the economic recovery responses in light of what is known about the impact of the crisis on informal workers globally, and the structure of informal employment in each country. The paper assesses national recovery packages with particular attention to the largest segments of informal employment and those where women are over-represented. The paper concludes with a reflection on what more needs to be done to ensure that national level economic recovery packages can support the livelihoods of the majority of workers in emerging and developing countries.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mhlana, Siviwe , Moussié, Rachel , Roever, Sally , Rogan, Michael
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , report
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/477952 , vital:78139 , ISBN , https://hdl.handle.net/10419/283788
- Description: Throughout 2021, fiscal stimulus packages were introduced to jump-start the COVID-19 'post-pandemic' economic recovery process. While calls for economic recovery packages that promise to 'build back better' have come from many directions, the under-allocation of recovery resources directed at workers in the informal economy threatens the recovery of livelihoods for the majority of the world's workforce. This paper analyses the economic recovery approaches of two low-income (Bangladesh and Kenya) and two middle-income (South Africa and Thailand) countries. The paper assesses the economic recovery responses in light of what is known about the impact of the crisis on informal workers globally, and the structure of informal employment in each country. The paper assesses national recovery packages with particular attention to the largest segments of informal employment and those where women are over-represented. The paper concludes with a reflection on what more needs to be done to ensure that national level economic recovery packages can support the livelihoods of the majority of workers in emerging and developing countries.
- Full Text:
Information extraction model from Ge’ez texts
- Gebeyehu, Seffi, Wolde, Worke, Shibeshi, Zelalem S
- Authors: Gebeyehu, Seffi , Wolde, Worke , Shibeshi, Zelalem S
- Date: 2023
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/429176 , vital:72565 , 10.11591/ijeecs.v30.i2.pp787-795
- Description: Nowadays, voluminous and unstructured textual data is found on the Internet that could provide varied valuable information for different institutions such as health care, business-related, training, religion, culture, and history, among others. A such alarming growth of unstructured data fosters the need for various methods and techniques to extract valuable information from unstructured data. However, exploring helpful information to satisfy the needs of the stakeholders becomes a problem due to information overload via the internet. This paper, therefore, presents an effective model for extracting named entities from Ge'ez text using deep learning algorithms. A data set with a total of 5,270 sentences were used for training and testing purposes. Two experimental setups, i.e., long short-term memory (LSTM) and bidirectional long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM) were used to make an empirical evaluation with training and a testing split ratio of 80% to 20%, respectively. Experimental results showed that the proposed model could be a practical solution for building information extraction (IE) systems using Bi-LSTM, reaching a training, validation, and testing accuracy as high as 98.59%, 97.96%, and 96.21%, respectively. The performance evaluation results reflect a promising performance of the model compared with resource-rich languages such as English.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Gebeyehu, Seffi , Wolde, Worke , Shibeshi, Zelalem S
- Date: 2023
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/429176 , vital:72565 , 10.11591/ijeecs.v30.i2.pp787-795
- Description: Nowadays, voluminous and unstructured textual data is found on the Internet that could provide varied valuable information for different institutions such as health care, business-related, training, religion, culture, and history, among others. A such alarming growth of unstructured data fosters the need for various methods and techniques to extract valuable information from unstructured data. However, exploring helpful information to satisfy the needs of the stakeholders becomes a problem due to information overload via the internet. This paper, therefore, presents an effective model for extracting named entities from Ge'ez text using deep learning algorithms. A data set with a total of 5,270 sentences were used for training and testing purposes. Two experimental setups, i.e., long short-term memory (LSTM) and bidirectional long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM) were used to make an empirical evaluation with training and a testing split ratio of 80% to 20%, respectively. Experimental results showed that the proposed model could be a practical solution for building information extraction (IE) systems using Bi-LSTM, reaching a training, validation, and testing accuracy as high as 98.59%, 97.96%, and 96.21%, respectively. The performance evaluation results reflect a promising performance of the model compared with resource-rich languages such as English.
- Full Text:
Inhibiting human dipeptidyl peptidase IV using cannabinoids and Leonotis leonurus extracts as a potential therapy for the management of diabetes
- Mkabayi, Lithalethu, Viljoen, Zenobia, Lobb, Kevin A, Pletschke, Brett I, Frost, Carminita L
- Authors: Mkabayi, Lithalethu , Viljoen, Zenobia , Lobb, Kevin A , Pletschke, Brett I , Frost, Carminita L
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/452745 , vital:75167 , xlink:href="https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/html/10.1055/s-0043-1773924"
- Description: Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder that has been shown to affect a growing number of people worldwide. Controlling blood glucose levels is one of the possible strategies to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). It has been established that the inhibition of dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) prolongs the activity of incretin hormones, which serve as key stimulators of insulin secretion and regulation of blood glucose levels. Although several synthetic DPP-IV inhibitors are available, there is still a need for naturally sourced inhibitors that have fewer to no undesirable side effects. In this study, cannabinoids and Leonotis leonurus aqueous extracts were evaluated for their inhibitory effects against recombinant human DPP-IV. Their potential inhibition mechanism was explored using in vitro and in silico approaches. All tested cannabinoids and L. leonurus aqueous extracts showed significant inhibitory activity against DPP-IV. Phytochemical analysis of L. leonurus extract indicated the presence of diterpenoids and alkaloids, which might contribute to the inhibitory activity. In molecular docking studies, among different constituents known in L. leonurus, luteolin and marrubiin showed binding energy of -7.2 kcal/mol and cannabinoids (cannabidiol, cannabigerol, cannabinol and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol) showed binding energies ranging from -6.5 to -8.2 kcal/mol. Molecular dynamics revealed that all tested compounds formed stable complexes with the enzyme during 100 ns simulation, indicating that they are good ligands. This study provided preliminary evidence for the potential application of the selected cannabinoids and L. leonurus in maintaining glucose homeostasis, suggesting that they could be suitable therapeutic candidates for managing T2DM.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mkabayi, Lithalethu , Viljoen, Zenobia , Lobb, Kevin A , Pletschke, Brett I , Frost, Carminita L
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/452745 , vital:75167 , xlink:href="https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/html/10.1055/s-0043-1773924"
- Description: Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder that has been shown to affect a growing number of people worldwide. Controlling blood glucose levels is one of the possible strategies to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). It has been established that the inhibition of dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) prolongs the activity of incretin hormones, which serve as key stimulators of insulin secretion and regulation of blood glucose levels. Although several synthetic DPP-IV inhibitors are available, there is still a need for naturally sourced inhibitors that have fewer to no undesirable side effects. In this study, cannabinoids and Leonotis leonurus aqueous extracts were evaluated for their inhibitory effects against recombinant human DPP-IV. Their potential inhibition mechanism was explored using in vitro and in silico approaches. All tested cannabinoids and L. leonurus aqueous extracts showed significant inhibitory activity against DPP-IV. Phytochemical analysis of L. leonurus extract indicated the presence of diterpenoids and alkaloids, which might contribute to the inhibitory activity. In molecular docking studies, among different constituents known in L. leonurus, luteolin and marrubiin showed binding energy of -7.2 kcal/mol and cannabinoids (cannabidiol, cannabigerol, cannabinol and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol) showed binding energies ranging from -6.5 to -8.2 kcal/mol. Molecular dynamics revealed that all tested compounds formed stable complexes with the enzyme during 100 ns simulation, indicating that they are good ligands. This study provided preliminary evidence for the potential application of the selected cannabinoids and L. leonurus in maintaining glucose homeostasis, suggesting that they could be suitable therapeutic candidates for managing T2DM.
- Full Text:
International agreement for the use and exchange of classical biological control genetic resources: a practical proposal
- Mason, Peter G, Mc Kay, Fernando, Silvestri, Luciano C, Hill, Martin P, Weyl, Philip S R, Hinz, Hariet L, Brodeur, Jacques, Vitorino, Marcello Diniz, Barratt, Barbara I P
- Authors: Mason, Peter G , Mc Kay, Fernando , Silvestri, Luciano C , Hill, Martin P , Weyl, Philip S R , Hinz, Hariet L , Brodeur, Jacques , Vitorino, Marcello Diniz , Barratt, Barbara I P
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/418025 , vital:71502 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-023-10177-7"
- Description: The Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) was implemented to further develop the third objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources. Interpretation of this agreement is wide-ranging and there is concern that if ABS measures are poorly implemented biological control and the resultant public good will be greatly impeded. The ethos of multilateral use and exchange of genetic resources used in classical biological control will be particularly affected. In the spirit of the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources, we propose a simple practical solution in the form of an international agreement on the use and exchange of classical biological control genetic resources.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mason, Peter G , Mc Kay, Fernando , Silvestri, Luciano C , Hill, Martin P , Weyl, Philip S R , Hinz, Hariet L , Brodeur, Jacques , Vitorino, Marcello Diniz , Barratt, Barbara I P
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/418025 , vital:71502 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-023-10177-7"
- Description: The Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) was implemented to further develop the third objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources. Interpretation of this agreement is wide-ranging and there is concern that if ABS measures are poorly implemented biological control and the resultant public good will be greatly impeded. The ethos of multilateral use and exchange of genetic resources used in classical biological control will be particularly affected. In the spirit of the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources, we propose a simple practical solution in the form of an international agreement on the use and exchange of classical biological control genetic resources.
- Full Text:
Introducing VET Africa 4.0
- Lotz-Sisitka, Heila, McGrath, Simon
- Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila , McGrath, Simon
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/434930 , vital:73117 , ISBN 978-1529224634 , https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/transitioning-vocational-education-and-training-in-africa
- Description: This book is about vocational education and training (VET). It is concerned with how the current policy and practice orthodoxy is not working despite the efforts of educators and learners. It is driven by a realization that the futures for which VET is intended to prepare people are ever more precarious at the individual, societal and planetary levels. And it is motivated by a sense that while better futures are possible, VET is poorly positioned to respond to the new skilling needs these will require.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila , McGrath, Simon
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book chapter
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/434930 , vital:73117 , ISBN 978-1529224634 , https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/transitioning-vocational-education-and-training-in-africa
- Description: This book is about vocational education and training (VET). It is concerned with how the current policy and practice orthodoxy is not working despite the efforts of educators and learners. It is driven by a realization that the futures for which VET is intended to prepare people are ever more precarious at the individual, societal and planetary levels. And it is motivated by a sense that while better futures are possible, VET is poorly positioned to respond to the new skilling needs these will require.
- Full Text:
Know thy enemy: Investigating genetic contributions from putative parents of invasive Nymphaea mexicana hybrids in South Africa as part of efforts to develop biological control
- Reid, Megan K, Paterson, Iain D, Coetzee, Julie A, Gettys, Lyn A, Hill, Martin P
- Authors: Reid, Megan K , Paterson, Iain D , Coetzee, Julie A , Gettys, Lyn A , Hill, Martin P
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/423540 , vital:72070 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2023.105291"
- Description: Hybridisation of alien invasive plants complicates efforts to develop biological control, because variations in the genetic makeup of the target plant can impact the survival of host specific agents that have evolved adaptations specific to the original host. To maximise the likelihood of success in a biological control program, potential agents should therefore be collected from populations in the region of origin that are genetically similar to plants in the invaded range. Molecular markers are useful tools to understand genetic contributions in hybrid populations, especially where morphological differentiation is difficult. Nymphaea mexicana Zuccarini (Nymphaeaceae) is an invasive alien plant in South Africa that is being targeted for biological control, but hybrids with intermediate morphological traits are also present at several sites. In this study, ISSR (inter simple sequence repeats) and ITS (internal transcribed spacer) markers were used to determine which Nymphaea species are likely to be putative parents of these hybrids, and morphological characters were also investigated to determine if genetic and morphological traits matched. Two major hybrid groups were identified, with one group clustering with Nymphaea odorata Aiton and the other clustering with Nymphaea alba L. A third, smaller group clustered with Nymphaea tetragona Georgi, whereas the remaining samples clustered with pure N. mexicana from the native range. Morphological features agreed with deductions drawn from molecular data. These results allow us to focus efforts to find compatible biological control agents and better understand the complicated genetic structure of N. mexicana and Nymphaea hybrids in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Reid, Megan K , Paterson, Iain D , Coetzee, Julie A , Gettys, Lyn A , Hill, Martin P
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/423540 , vital:72070 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2023.105291"
- Description: Hybridisation of alien invasive plants complicates efforts to develop biological control, because variations in the genetic makeup of the target plant can impact the survival of host specific agents that have evolved adaptations specific to the original host. To maximise the likelihood of success in a biological control program, potential agents should therefore be collected from populations in the region of origin that are genetically similar to plants in the invaded range. Molecular markers are useful tools to understand genetic contributions in hybrid populations, especially where morphological differentiation is difficult. Nymphaea mexicana Zuccarini (Nymphaeaceae) is an invasive alien plant in South Africa that is being targeted for biological control, but hybrids with intermediate morphological traits are also present at several sites. In this study, ISSR (inter simple sequence repeats) and ITS (internal transcribed spacer) markers were used to determine which Nymphaea species are likely to be putative parents of these hybrids, and morphological characters were also investigated to determine if genetic and morphological traits matched. Two major hybrid groups were identified, with one group clustering with Nymphaea odorata Aiton and the other clustering with Nymphaea alba L. A third, smaller group clustered with Nymphaea tetragona Georgi, whereas the remaining samples clustered with pure N. mexicana from the native range. Morphological features agreed with deductions drawn from molecular data. These results allow us to focus efforts to find compatible biological control agents and better understand the complicated genetic structure of N. mexicana and Nymphaea hybrids in South Africa.
- Full Text:
Learning Movement Patterns for Improving the Skills of Beginner Level Players in Competitive MOBAs
- Brown, Dane L, Bischof, Jonah
- Authors: Brown, Dane L , Bischof, Jonah
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/464161 , vital:76482 , xlink:href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-99-1624-5_45"
- Description: League of Legends is a massively multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA)—a form of online competitive game in which teams of five players battle to demolish the opponent’s base. Expert players are aware of when to target, how to maximise their gold, and how to make choices. These are some of the talents that distinguish them from novices. The Riot API enables the retrieval of current League of Legends game data. This data is used to construct machine learning models that can benefit amateur players. Kills and goals can assist seasoned players understand how to take advantage of micro- and macro-teams. By understanding how professional players differ from novices, we may build tools to assist novices’ decision-making. 19 of 20 games for training a random forest (RF) and decision tree (DT) regressor produced encouraging results. An unseen game was utilised to evaluate the impartiality of the findings. RF and DT correctly predicted the locations of all game events in Experiment 1 with MSEs of 9.5 and 10.6. The purpose of the previous experiment was to fine-tune when novice players deviate from professional player behaviour and establish a solid commencement for battles. Based on this discrepancy, the system provided the player with reliable recommendations on which quadrant they should be in and which event/objective they should complete. This has shown to be a beneficial method for modelling player behaviour in future research.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Brown, Dane L , Bischof, Jonah
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/464161 , vital:76482 , xlink:href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-99-1624-5_45"
- Description: League of Legends is a massively multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA)—a form of online competitive game in which teams of five players battle to demolish the opponent’s base. Expert players are aware of when to target, how to maximise their gold, and how to make choices. These are some of the talents that distinguish them from novices. The Riot API enables the retrieval of current League of Legends game data. This data is used to construct machine learning models that can benefit amateur players. Kills and goals can assist seasoned players understand how to take advantage of micro- and macro-teams. By understanding how professional players differ from novices, we may build tools to assist novices’ decision-making. 19 of 20 games for training a random forest (RF) and decision tree (DT) regressor produced encouraging results. An unseen game was utilised to evaluate the impartiality of the findings. RF and DT correctly predicted the locations of all game events in Experiment 1 with MSEs of 9.5 and 10.6. The purpose of the previous experiment was to fine-tune when novice players deviate from professional player behaviour and establish a solid commencement for battles. Based on this discrepancy, the system provided the player with reliable recommendations on which quadrant they should be in and which event/objective they should complete. This has shown to be a beneficial method for modelling player behaviour in future research.
- Full Text:
Lessons learned from the translation of the Internalised Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) scale into isiXhosa for use with South African Xhosa people with schizophrenia
- Matshabane, Olivia P, Appelbaum, Paul S, Faure, Marlyn C, Marshall, Patricia A, Stein, Dan J, de Vries, Jantina, Campbell, Megan M
- Authors: Matshabane, Olivia P , Appelbaum, Paul S , Faure, Marlyn C , Marshall, Patricia A , Stein, Dan J , de Vries, Jantina , Campbell, Megan M
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/450689 , vital:74974 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1177/13634615231168461"
- Description: Internalised stigma is highly prevalent among people with mental illness. This is concerning because internalised stigma is often associated with negative consequences affecting individuals’ personal, familial, social, and overall wellbeing, employment opportunities and recovery. Currently, there is no psychometrically validated instrument to measure internalised stigma among Xhosa people in their home language. Our study aimed to translate the Internalised Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) scale into isiXhosa. Following WHO guidelines, the ISMI scale was translated using a five-stage translation design which included (i) forward-translation, (ii) back-translation, (iii) committee approach, (iv) quantitative piloting, and (v) qualitative piloting using cognitive interviews. The ISMI isiXhosa version (ISMI-X) underwent psychometric testing to establish utility, within-scale validity, convergent, divergent, and content validity (assessed using frequency of endorsements and cognitive interviewing) with n = 65 Xhosa people with schizophrenia. The resultant ISMI-X scale demonstrated good psychometric utility, internal consistency for the overall scale (α = .90) and most subscales (α > .70, except the Stigma Resistance subscale where α = .57), convergent validity between the ISMI Discrimination Experiences subscale and the Discrimination and Stigma (DISC) scale's Treated Unfairly subscale (r = .34, p = .03) and divergent validity between the ISMI Stigma Resistance and DISC Treated Unfairly subscales (r = .13, p = .49). But more importantly the study provides valuable insights into strengths and limitations of the present translation design. Specifically, validation methods such as assessing frequency of endorsements of scale items and using cognitive interviewing to establish conceptual clarity and relevance of items may be useful in small piloting sample sizes.
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- Authors: Matshabane, Olivia P , Appelbaum, Paul S , Faure, Marlyn C , Marshall, Patricia A , Stein, Dan J , de Vries, Jantina , Campbell, Megan M
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/450689 , vital:74974 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1177/13634615231168461"
- Description: Internalised stigma is highly prevalent among people with mental illness. This is concerning because internalised stigma is often associated with negative consequences affecting individuals’ personal, familial, social, and overall wellbeing, employment opportunities and recovery. Currently, there is no psychometrically validated instrument to measure internalised stigma among Xhosa people in their home language. Our study aimed to translate the Internalised Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) scale into isiXhosa. Following WHO guidelines, the ISMI scale was translated using a five-stage translation design which included (i) forward-translation, (ii) back-translation, (iii) committee approach, (iv) quantitative piloting, and (v) qualitative piloting using cognitive interviews. The ISMI isiXhosa version (ISMI-X) underwent psychometric testing to establish utility, within-scale validity, convergent, divergent, and content validity (assessed using frequency of endorsements and cognitive interviewing) with n = 65 Xhosa people with schizophrenia. The resultant ISMI-X scale demonstrated good psychometric utility, internal consistency for the overall scale (α = .90) and most subscales (α > .70, except the Stigma Resistance subscale where α = .57), convergent validity between the ISMI Discrimination Experiences subscale and the Discrimination and Stigma (DISC) scale's Treated Unfairly subscale (r = .34, p = .03) and divergent validity between the ISMI Stigma Resistance and DISC Treated Unfairly subscales (r = .13, p = .49). But more importantly the study provides valuable insights into strengths and limitations of the present translation design. Specifically, validation methods such as assessing frequency of endorsements of scale items and using cognitive interviewing to establish conceptual clarity and relevance of items may be useful in small piloting sample sizes.
- Full Text: