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South African nose flies (Diptera, Calliphoridae, Rhiniinae): taxonomy, diversity, distribution and biology

- Thomas-Cabianca, Arianna, Villet, Martin H, Martínez-Sánchez, Anabel, Rojo, Santos

Authors: Thomas-Cabianca, Arianna , Villet, Martin H , Martínez-Sánchez, Anabel , Rojo, Santos
Date: 2023
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441400 , vital:73884 , 10.3897/BDJ.11.e72764
Description: Rhiniinae (Diptera, Calliphoridae) is a taxon of nearly 400 known species, many of them termitophilous. Approximatelly 160 valid species in 16 genera are Afrotropical, with over 60 of them occurring in South Africa. The taxonomy of this group is outdated, as most studies of the South African taxa were conducted 40 to 70 years ago (mostly by Salvador Peris and Fritz Zumpt). Published information on their biology and ecology is also scarce.
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Date Issued: 2023

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Development of graphene materials and phthalocyanines for application in dye-sensitized solar cells

- Chindeka, Francis

Authors: Chindeka, Francis
Date: 2020
Subjects: Dye-sensitized solar cells , Graphene , Phthalocyanines , Molecular orbitals , Impedance spectroscopy
Language: English
Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/166092 , vital:41328
Description: Two sets of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated. In the first set, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) were fabricated by incorporating graphene materials as catalysts at the counter electrode. Platinum was also used as a catalyst for comparative purposes. Different phthalocyanines: hydroxyl indium tetracarboxyphenoxy phthalocyanine (1), chloro indium octacarboxy phthalocyanine (2) and dibenzoic acid silicon phthalocyanine (3) were used as dyes. Complex 3 gave the highest power conversion efficiency (η) of 3.19% when using nitrogen doped reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (NrGONS) as a catalyst at the counter electrode, and TiO2 containing rGONS at the anode. The value obtained is close to 3.8% obtained when using Pt catalyst instead of NrGONS at the cathode, thus confirming that NrGONS is a promising candidate to replace the more expensive Pt. The study also shows that placing rGONS on both the anode and cathode improves efficiency. In the second set, DSSCs were fabricated by using 2(3,5-biscarboxyphenoxy), 9(10), 16(17), 23(24)-tri(tertbutyl) phthalocyaninato Cu (4) and Zn (5) complexes as dyes on the ITO-TiO2 photoanodes containing reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (rGONS) or nitrogen-doped rGONS (NrGONS). The evaluation of the assembled DSSCs revealed that using ITO-TiO2-NrGONS-CuPc (4) photoanode had the highest fill factor (FF) and power conversion efficiency (ɳ) of 69 % and 4.36 % respectively. These results show that the asymmetrical phthalocyanine complexes (4) and (5) showed significant improvement on the performance of the DSSC compared to previous work on symmetrical carboxylated phthalocyanines with ɳ = 3.19%.
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Date Issued: 2020

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Mapping and predicting potential distribution patterns of free-range livestock in the rural communal rangelands of Mgwalana, Eastern Cape, South Africa

- Mkabile, Qawekazi

Authors: Mkabile, Qawekazi
Date: 2019
Subjects: Range management -- South Africa , Grazing -- South Africa , Livestock -- South Africa , Livestock -- Monitoring -- South Africa , Livestock -- Remote sensing -- South Africa , Communal rangelands -- South Africa
Language: English
Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96000 , vital:31223
Description: Communal rangelands provide habitat to many plants and animals. However, there is evidence that livestock cause range degradation. Range degradation occurs because livestock select grazing based on the availability of resources such as water and forage material, their use of the landscape is non-uniform, consequently causing resource deterioration. Range management is thus necessary because communities depend on range condition for livestock productivity. However, precise quantification of livestock distribution within communal rangelands is lacking. In developed countries, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) collars have been used to monitor wildlife and domestic livestock in pastures and seem to have worked efficiently. However, in a developing country like South Africa, GPS technology to monitor animal behaviour has been used only for wildlife on privately owned land. The high costs of monitoring livestock herds in large open areas such as communal rangelands have resulted in little or no monitoring of domestic livestock using GPS technology. This study links monitored livestock distribution to physical landscape variables in Mgwalana, and uses the modelled relationship to predict livestock distribution in quaternary catchments, T12A and T35A-E. The research addresses the questions (1) where do livestock spend time in the wet and dry seasons? And (2) how can areas of potential livestock distribution be identified in other catchments where actual distribution is unknown? Livestock were tracked during the wet and dry seasons using GPS collars. The resulting distribution data is combined with selected physical landscape variables to identify selectivity. The GPS location data and the physical landscape variables are used to predict potential livestock distribution where distribution is unknown in quaternary catchments (T12A and T35A-E). The ArcGIS Predictive Analysis Tool (PAT) was used to extract the selected landscape variable ranges based on the GPS location data and identify areas with the same conditions in the quaternary catchments were subsequently selected. The key findings are that livestock prefer accessible areas with gentle terrain near water sources, avoiding south-facing slopes which receive less solar radiation and tend to be cooler. Livestock are attracted to vegetation in riparian zones. Rural communal lands are dominated by poverty, and land-based livelihood strategies can potentially contribute to the well-being of the community. Therefore, understanding livestock distribution can contribute to a rangeland management strategy aimed at improving range condition which could increase livestock productivity and contribute to the livelihoods of local people.
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Date Issued: 2019

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Reimagining constructions of gender dysphoria: a dual systematic review using analytical psychology’s concept of individuation

- Couch, Matthew

Authors: Couch, Matthew
Date: 2019
Subjects: Gender identity disorders , Gender identity , Individuation (Psychology)
Language: English
Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MScoSc
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/95184 , vital:31125
Description: The process of conceptualization has long served to capture and represent our perceptions of the social world. Conceptual categories help to make sense of subjective experiences, and through discursive practices may come to construct conventional frameworks of knowledge. Consequently, frameworks operating as natural and immutable run the risk of ignoring the dynamic and diverse experiences of many individuals. Today, conceptual frameworks for gender identity are found as inadequately representing progressive social views on the existence of gender identities manifesting outside of the prevailing male-female binary. Within this space of conceptual contention, the diagnostic category of gender dysphoria has received considerable inspection and critique. In particular, it has been criticised as fundamentally controversial by classifying issues of identity within a clinical framework and, consequently, as contributing to the pathologization of all gender diverse individuals. Thus, efforts to reconceptualise and reimagine gender dysphoria may be found. In this research the concept of individuation, as understood within a framework of analytical psychology, is discussed as a potential consideration in reimagining the concept of gender dysphoria. An overarching framework of social constructionism was adopted within this research in examining how constructions of conventional knowledge come about through regulatory discursive and performative practices. The theoretical orientation of analytical psychology was used to frame the concept of individuation and its application to gender dysphoria. This perspective consulted queer theory as a further critical orientation toward the construction of gender identity. The chosen methodology took form as a dual systematic review using critical interpretive synthesis (CIS) to construct representative frameworks. Psychological literature on gender dysphoria (review 1) and individuation (review 2) was reviewed and synthesised. Review 1 identified conceptual inferences within the literature and assessed their role toward problematic gender discourse, while review 2 served as a contributory tool to critically assess whether the conceptual space was accommodating of the concept of individuation. Findings in review 1 identified contemporary gender dysphoria literature as reinforcing of problematic gender discourse. The prevailing clinical framework on gender dysphoria and gender nonconformity was iterated through conceptual constructs emphasising an experience of pathological distress or life dissatisfaction. As such, a cyclical pathologization of gender diversity is reconstructed through current representations within the literature. However, it was deduced that there are signs of resistance in the literature to the clinical model which challenge and counter the impact of problematic gender discourse. In review 2, individuation was framed by the literature as an intrapsychic facilitator supporting the integration of all aspects particular to the individual personality so that conscious identity becomes congruent with internal nature. Resultantly, one may experience psychosocial maturation and contribute to collective societal progression. For some, individuation prompts a differentiation from collective expectations in integrating one‘s inherent nature into expressed identity. Thus, gender nonconformity may be viewed as an expression of this differentiation when individuation drives the realization of this feature to be intrinsic and natural for the individual. Individuation was determined as incompatible with the category of gender dysphoria, but of value within the conceptual space where efforts to reimagine gender dysphoria are in place.
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Date Issued: 2019

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Al-Shabaab and the sources of its resilience and resurgence: Cold War legacies and Jihadism in Somalia

- Gardiner, Richard

Authors: Gardiner, Richard
Date: 2018
Subjects: Shabaab (Organization) , Jihad , Cold War -- Influence , Cold War -- Social aspects -- Somalia , Somalia -- Foreign relations , Refugees, Somalian -- South Africa
Language: English
Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/63833 , vital:28495
Description: This study examines the continued development and survival of the group, Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahidin, commonly known as al-Shabaab – which emerged in 2006 as the militant wing of Somalia’s Islamic Courts Union and became an independent group in 2007. The group has survived in spite of the fact that it has endured significant losses of personnel, resources and territory in Somalia. The study examines al-Shabaab’s sources of resilience, resurgence and diversity. To achieve this, the study focused on the narratives of nine Somali nationals living and working in Durban, Grahamstown and Port Elizabeth, who fled their home country as a result of the ongoing violence and instability. Through understanding war as experience and placing the individual and community at the center of analysis, a people-centered approach is developed in understanding the organisation. This allows the study to challenge the state centered approaches to security and International Relations (IR) theory, which is important in the case of an armed, transnational, non-state actor such as al-Shabaab, whose operation and mobilisation requires no territorial base. The study makes use of social constructivism as a theoretical lens, as it provides an alternative way of analysing a non-state actor, specifically within an African context. The study argues that al-Shabaab's war within Somalia and East Africa is a territorial manifestation of a global phenomenon which highlights the importance of understanding its unique history within Somalia and East Africa. Importantly, the study also shows that veterans of the Afghan-Soviet war brought back ideas and tactics which have played a central part in shaping al-Shabaab's ideology and tactics. It is argued that al-Shabaab's process of decentralisation has ensured their survival but also alienated them from the Somali population. It is demonstrated that their insurgent tactics and process of intelligence gathering means that they operate in the shadows, making it difficult to locate them. Furthermore, the study shows that the role of regional actors and the presence of African Union peacekeepers have ensured that they have a constant enemy which provides a sense of cohesion and drive. The study concludes that al-Shabaab exists at a nexus of factors; its survival has and will depend on both domestic and transnational factors. Without the transnational nature of the organisation, al-Shabaab would not have become the organisation it is today. However, the future of al-Shabaab is heavily dependent on the security situation within Somalia. The immediate objectives of the group are focused within Somalia. Therefore, if the state institutions are consolidated within the country and human security levels improve, the organisation will struggle to operate with the same freedom it currently enjoys.
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Date Issued: 2018

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An analysis of selected grade 11 learners’ interactions with geometry tasks using visualization processes: a case study in Namibia

- Kabuku, Brian S

Authors: Kabuku, Brian S
Date: 2017
Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- Activity programs , Geometry -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Geometry -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia -- Cast studies , Visualization
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5949 , vital:20997
Description: This case study was conducted at a secondary school where I teach, situated in the semi-rural setting of Bukalo village in Namibia, and sought to gain insights into the nature and role of visualisation processes employed when selected grade 11 learners interacted with selected geometry problems. According to Mariotti and Pensci (1994), visualisation takes place when "thinking is spontaneously accompanied and supported by images”, and helps students to understand the problem at hand. Visualisation is regarded as "making the unseen visible and imagery as the power to imagine the possible and the impossible” (Mason 1992). The study is located within an interpretive research paradigm in order to obtain in-depth understanding of the participants’ visualisation processes. Within this paradigm, both quantitative and qualitative approaches were adopted. The eight Grade 11 participants engaged with 12 items of the Geometry Visualisation Tasks (GVT) worksheets. Data was collected using video-recorded learners’ interactions with the GVT, observations, stimulated recall interviews and post-GVT interviews with the learners. During the data analysis stage, I used inductive analysis to determine patterns evident in learners ‘thinking processes’. My analytical framework consisted of indicators that were used to identify and classify visualisation processes for each task of the GVT for each participant. I adapted this framework from Ho (2010) and Ho, Ramful and Lowrie’s (2015) clarification of the representations. The findings from this study revealed that the use of visualisations facilitated meaningful learning when learners made use of these to develop and scaffold their conceptual understanding. The findings revealed that most learners used visualisation processes fairly to very accurately when solving geometry problems. They used visualisation processes by using sketches and diagrams that transformed a mathematical problem pictorially, connected their thinking to previous knowledge and experience, clarified the algebraic task and assisted them to understand the spatial relationships within each task.
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Date Issued: 2017

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“I won’t say I feel happy or sad”: experiences of siblings of young disabled people in disadvantaged socio-economic circumstances

- Foote, Tamlyn Lou-Ann

Authors: Foote, Tamlyn Lou-Ann
Date: 2017
Subjects: Mentally ill -- Family relationships , Mentally ill -- Care -- South Africa , Mentally ill children -- Care -- South Africa , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities -- Psycnology , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities -- Case studies -- South Africa -- Makhanda
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7774 , vital:21296
Description: The impact of having a disabled sibling has been well researched in first world countries, revealing complex and varied results. However, in disadvantaged socioeconomic contexts, where disability has been found to be more prevalent, and where arguably, the functioning and quality of life of a disabled person is more likely to be affected by an impairment, very little is known about how siblings of young disabled people are affected. In response, this qualitative study explores the experiences of five, isiXhosa speaking adolescents, living in Joza Township, Grahamstown, who have a brother or sister with an intellectual, physical or developmental impairment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and an interpretative phenomenological analytic approach was utilized to ascertain how the participants make sense of their worlds in relation to their sibling’s disability. Specifically, this research aimed at developing an understanding of how the participants experienced their family climate, self-concept, interpersonal relations and daily living in relation to their disabled sibling. The results of this study reveal a prevailing sense of incongruity experienced by the participants, although there are variances between their experiences. While family climate was largely experienced as warm, the participants were ambivalent about their relationship with their mothers who are experienced more as providers than nurturers. The participants described oscillating between feelings of protectiveness and alliance, and responsibility and sacrifice toward their sibling. A high incidence of incongruity pertaining to their sense of self was noted; this was described as impacting on their interpersonal relations where an underlying sense of negative public perception in relation to the disability is perceived. Although the participants expressed feeling supported within their homes, it was evident that they experienced little support from peers or the community at large. Four out of the five participants did not report experiencing a sense of deprivation, despite their socio-economic contexts and described a day-to-day existence that allows for their needs to be met. This included adequate time during their day to pursue personal interests as opposed to their time being spent taking care of their disabled sibling or assisting their parents, who may be overburdened due to the added care and responsibilities a disabled child might require. Furthermore, it is suggested that the incongruity experienced by the participants could be the result of various factors including age, gender, birth order and the nature of their sibling’s impairment. On the basis of the findings of this research, it can be concluded that the experiences of siblings of young, disabled people living in disadvantaged socioeconomic contexts cannot necessarily be described as being positive or negative, but are highly nuanced. In addition, the participants to some extent experience disability by association and are lacking in adequate support and opportunities to discuss their unique challenges. These insights serve to better inform disability studies in disadvantaged socio-economic circumstances. These findings are in accordance with earlier research.
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Date Issued: 2017

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HIV-related stigma amongst service staff in Grahamstown: a comparison of Hi-Tec security guards and Rhodes catering in the Eastern Cape

- Mazorodze, Tasara

Authors: Mazorodze, Tasara
Date: 2011
Subjects: AIDS phobia -- Research -- South Africa -- Grahamstown HIV infections -- Employees -- Research -- South Africa AIDS (Disease) -- Employees -- Research -- South Africa
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: vital:3016 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002525
Description: Despite the acknowledged reality that HIV-related stigma is a major barrier to effective HIV prevention and treatment, and perhaps because it is complex in nature, few local empirical scales have been developed to measure stigma and to be able evaluate the impact of anti-stigma interventions. Whilst the development of two recent South African HIV-related stigma scales can be celebrated as a major breakthrough, the reliability and validity of these scales across contexts remains largely unknown. This research project employs these two local, and competing, HIV-related personal stigma scales - the first developed by Kalichman et al. (2005) and the second developed by Visser, Kershaw, Makin and Forsyth (2008)-to compare the psychometric properties of the scales and to obtain a measure of HIV-related stigma with a sample of 246 service staff employed at either Rhodes University Catering Division or the Hi-Tec Security company, both organisations located in Grahamstown, a small town in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Both organisations are major employers of semi-skilled workers in this local context. The results suggest that the Visser et al. scale (2008) reports slightly better psychometric properties than the Kalichman et al. (2005) scale for this sample. Furthermore, the security guards appear to be more stigmatising than the caterers, and it is suggested that this might be a consequence of the combined influences of normative occupational roles and workplace context. Results also show that participants who practices safe sex, know someone with HIV and/or who have been tested for HIV show lower levels of HIV-related stigma. Finally, personal stigma scores are generally lower than attributed stigma scores, which might offer a useful point of intervention.
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Date Issued: 2011

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Implementation of computers in schools: a case study of five schools in the Makana and Somerset East districts

- Prince, Gilbert Leslie

Authors: Prince, Gilbert Leslie
Date: 2007
Subjects: Educational technology , Educational technology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Education, Elementary -- Computer-assisted instruction , Computer-assisted instruction -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Computer managed instruction -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Internet in education -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
Identifier: vital:1562 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003444 , Educational technology , Educational technology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Education, Elementary -- Computer-assisted instruction , Computer-assisted instruction -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Computer managed instruction -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Internet in education -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
Description: This case study attempts to explain the implementation of Information Communications Technology (ICT) in primary schools, specifically mentioning the integration of computers into the curriculum. To begin with, the implementation of ICT from an international perspective is explored and subsequently some international and African ICT policies in education are also identified and discussed. Nationally, ICT policies from four provinces in South Africa are examined and analyzed. Provincially, the ICT Projects Coordinator in the Eastern Cape Department of Education (ECDoE) was interviewed to obtain a provincial perspective of ICT in the Eastern Cape. From local schools’ perspective, four primary schools and one secondary school in the Makana and Somerset East Districts were visited and the ICT coordinators at these schools were interviewed. The results reveal that the previously disadvantaged (PD) schools were not utilizing their computers effectively. This is due to a number of factors, including a lack of funds to maintain the computers; unskilled or under skilled teachers in ICT; and under resourced computer facilities. The previously advantaged (PA) schools, on the other hand, have well-resourced computer laboratories, adequate maintenance plans as well as skilled teachers in ICT that enable these schools to effectively integrate the use of computers into the curriculum. Key words: Information communications technology, implementation, integration, previously advantaged, previously disadvantaged, curriculum, primary school, secondary school.
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Date Issued: 2007

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An investigation of the significance of learned helplessness on membership participation in co-operative movements

- Norman, Paul Deon

Authors: Norman, Paul Deon
Date: 1991
Subjects: Learned helplessness , Psychology , Black people -- South Africa , Attributional Style Questionnaire , Partician Index , Co-operatives , Helplessness (Psychology) , Black people -- Psychology
Language: English
Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: vital:2895 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002059
Description: In this study the psychological phenomenon of learned helplessness is investigated to determine its significance as a characteristic of members of progressive co-operatives within the South African context. Most of the members of these co-operatives are black South Africans. It is argued that because of the country's racial policy, many of the members have become accustomed to a passive response to events in their lives and this gives rise to their failure to utilise the freedom and opportunities of the co-operative structure. The researcher hypothesises that this passive response could be explained in terms of a high level of learned helplessness among co-operative members. Two hypotheses are investigated in this study: Hypothesis 1: Passive co-operative members will have higher levels of learned helplessness than active members. Hypothesis 2:The level of learned helplessness decreases as the length of co-operative members involvement increases. Data collection for this study was carried out by combining a personal interview and a standardised questionnaire (the Attributional Style Questionnaire). To distinguish between the passive and active members, a Participation Index was constructed. The ASQ was translated into Xhosa, adapted for the sample and two translators were employed to conduct the interviews in Xhosa. The sample consisted of 50 black South Africans, many with limited education and was drawn from six co-operatives in the Eastern Cape. No significant differences were found between the active and passive groups in terms of their levels of learned helplessness. Furthermore, the length of involvement in the co-operative had no effect on the level of learned helplessness. No support was found therefore for Hypothesis l and 2. A significant difference, however, was found between active and passive members and the number of months of involvement. This suggests that the length of involvement has an effect on how active members will be in the co-operative. The results of this study indicate that generally the sample does not suffer from learned helplessness. It is argued that Hypothesis 2 is not supported due to confounding variables. The study raises many doubts as to the reliability of the ASQ and the Participation Index used in the study.
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Date Issued: 1991

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