Think Piece. Situating Education for Sustainable Development in southern African philosophy and contexts of social-ecological change to enhance curriculum relevance and the common good
- Pesanayi, Tichaona V, O'Donoghue, Rob B, Shava, Soul
- Authors: Pesanayi, Tichaona V , O'Donoghue, Rob B , Shava, Soul
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/388105 , vital:68307 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/187217"
- Description: The study opens with a brief review of how education in colonial southern Africa was steered by a succession of externally framed abstractions that have been implemented within the prevailing hegemony of western modernisation that dominated and marginalised indigenous cultures. It probes how, within an expanding functionalist framework, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has been similarly constituted as a proposition for implementation. Here the supposition is that implementing ESD as an intervention will transform education into an inclusive and collaborative pedagogy that will shape competences for participants to transform society towards a sustainable future. In an effort to explore the possibility of making a break from a succession of education imperatives functioning as ‘salvation narratives’ to put things right in Africa, the study explores ESD from a more situated and emergent vantage point within African landscapes, philosophy and cultural practices. This requires a shift from a view of ESD as a perspective to be brought in and enacted to foster change, to ESD as a situated engagement in education as a process where relevance is deliberated and brought out in quality education with high order skills. This perspective exemplifies working with a more fully situated framing of deliberative social learning for the common good. It is explored here to contemplate how socio-cultural processes of deliberative ethics and co-engaged reflexive processes of learning-led change might emerge. Here, also, using a capabilities approach might provide useful starting points for ESD as an expansive process of transformative social learning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Pesanayi, Tichaona V , O'Donoghue, Rob B , Shava, Soul
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/388105 , vital:68307 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/187217"
- Description: The study opens with a brief review of how education in colonial southern Africa was steered by a succession of externally framed abstractions that have been implemented within the prevailing hegemony of western modernisation that dominated and marginalised indigenous cultures. It probes how, within an expanding functionalist framework, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has been similarly constituted as a proposition for implementation. Here the supposition is that implementing ESD as an intervention will transform education into an inclusive and collaborative pedagogy that will shape competences for participants to transform society towards a sustainable future. In an effort to explore the possibility of making a break from a succession of education imperatives functioning as ‘salvation narratives’ to put things right in Africa, the study explores ESD from a more situated and emergent vantage point within African landscapes, philosophy and cultural practices. This requires a shift from a view of ESD as a perspective to be brought in and enacted to foster change, to ESD as a situated engagement in education as a process where relevance is deliberated and brought out in quality education with high order skills. This perspective exemplifies working with a more fully situated framing of deliberative social learning for the common good. It is explored here to contemplate how socio-cultural processes of deliberative ethics and co-engaged reflexive processes of learning-led change might emerge. Here, also, using a capabilities approach might provide useful starting points for ESD as an expansive process of transformative social learning.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Towards a biological profile for South African perinatal remains: osteological and genetic perspectives
- Authors: Thornton, Roxanne
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Identification , Forensic osteology , Methylation , RNA , Autopsy
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68102 , vital:29198 , DOI 10.21504/10962/68102
- Description: Forensic identification of abandoned and suspected infanticide cases admitted to the South African Forensic Pathology Services is often impossible due to decomposition of the remains. In these cases, investigation of suspected criminal activity is almost never pursued. Ancillary tests in the form of anthropological and molecular analyses can assist with the forensic identification of perinatal remains. To provide fundamental information about bone development of perinatal skeleton, osteological and genetic techniques focusing on the pars basilaris, pars lateralis, sternal rib and left femur were used. Samples were obtained from unidentified and unclaimed remains originating from the Johannesburg Forensic Pathology Service (JFPS). To provide a biological age to individuals in the collection, dental aging was used to categorize remains for comparisons with anthropological and molecular data. A molecular protocol was designed to sex individuals using the X-linked G6PD and Y-linked SRY genes. Bone development was studied using osteometric and morphological data of dry bone remains coupled with bone mineral density analysis (Micro-CT). The methylation levels of CpG rich sites within the promoter region of selected bone-associated genes were incorporated to examine silencing of genes during development. Osteological results support the use of the pars basilaris, pars lateralis and femur for age-at-death estimations as well as provide the foundation for dry bone aging criteria for South African individuals. Data compared with established skeletal aging standards indicated developmental differences between populations. Through the use of animal models and the perinatal sternal rib tissue, insights and precautions into the use of post mortem bone derived RNA for forensic applications is communicated. The methylation status of CpG rich sites within the promoter regions support the hypothesis for interdependent machinery involving selected genes during early bone development. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2019
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Thornton, Roxanne
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Identification , Forensic osteology , Methylation , RNA , Autopsy
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68102 , vital:29198 , DOI 10.21504/10962/68102
- Description: Forensic identification of abandoned and suspected infanticide cases admitted to the South African Forensic Pathology Services is often impossible due to decomposition of the remains. In these cases, investigation of suspected criminal activity is almost never pursued. Ancillary tests in the form of anthropological and molecular analyses can assist with the forensic identification of perinatal remains. To provide fundamental information about bone development of perinatal skeleton, osteological and genetic techniques focusing on the pars basilaris, pars lateralis, sternal rib and left femur were used. Samples were obtained from unidentified and unclaimed remains originating from the Johannesburg Forensic Pathology Service (JFPS). To provide a biological age to individuals in the collection, dental aging was used to categorize remains for comparisons with anthropological and molecular data. A molecular protocol was designed to sex individuals using the X-linked G6PD and Y-linked SRY genes. Bone development was studied using osteometric and morphological data of dry bone remains coupled with bone mineral density analysis (Micro-CT). The methylation levels of CpG rich sites within the promoter region of selected bone-associated genes were incorporated to examine silencing of genes during development. Osteological results support the use of the pars basilaris, pars lateralis and femur for age-at-death estimations as well as provide the foundation for dry bone aging criteria for South African individuals. Data compared with established skeletal aging standards indicated developmental differences between populations. Through the use of animal models and the perinatal sternal rib tissue, insights and precautions into the use of post mortem bone derived RNA for forensic applications is communicated. The methylation status of CpG rich sites within the promoter regions support the hypothesis for interdependent machinery involving selected genes during early bone development. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2019
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Tyrannical masters no more?: Promissory insurance warranties after Viking Inshore Fishing (Pty) Ltd v Mutual and Federal Insurance Co Ltd
- Authors: Glover, Graham B
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/186701 , vital:44526 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC-1b0c21b6eb"
- Description: Federal Insurance Co Ltd for the law on promissory insurance warranties are considered. The article begins with an overview of the traditional position, which has been that such warranties are to be strictly interpreted and enforced, no matter the harshness of the result. Thereafter, the article discusses the contrasting decisions in Viking Inshore Fishing (Pty) Ltd v Mutual and Federal Insurance Co Ltd in the Western Cape High Court and the SCA. Wallis JA suggested on appeal that the strict traditional approach to promissory warranties was no longer appropriate, but without having to decide the point. The article next considers the implications of an obiter dictum of the SCA, in a matter relating to a court exercising admiralty jurisdiction, on insurance law in general. Thereafter, the article proposes that Wallis JA’s comments indicate an important change to our law on promissory warranties, specifically in relation to the need for there to be a causal link between the insured’s breach of the warranty and the loss suffered, before an insurer may exercise the power to repudiate the contract. Although others have made the causal-link argument before, this article tries to explain and situate this development in two doctrinal contexts: the modern law on contractual interpretation; and the doctrine of public policy. A supplementary argument relates to the drawing together of the law on promissory warranties with the rules relating to cancellation for major breach, in cases where an insurer pursues that remedy.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Glover, Graham B
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/186701 , vital:44526 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC-1b0c21b6eb"
- Description: Federal Insurance Co Ltd for the law on promissory insurance warranties are considered. The article begins with an overview of the traditional position, which has been that such warranties are to be strictly interpreted and enforced, no matter the harshness of the result. Thereafter, the article discusses the contrasting decisions in Viking Inshore Fishing (Pty) Ltd v Mutual and Federal Insurance Co Ltd in the Western Cape High Court and the SCA. Wallis JA suggested on appeal that the strict traditional approach to promissory warranties was no longer appropriate, but without having to decide the point. The article next considers the implications of an obiter dictum of the SCA, in a matter relating to a court exercising admiralty jurisdiction, on insurance law in general. Thereafter, the article proposes that Wallis JA’s comments indicate an important change to our law on promissory warranties, specifically in relation to the need for there to be a causal link between the insured’s breach of the warranty and the loss suffered, before an insurer may exercise the power to repudiate the contract. Although others have made the causal-link argument before, this article tries to explain and situate this development in two doctrinal contexts: the modern law on contractual interpretation; and the doctrine of public policy. A supplementary argument relates to the drawing together of the law on promissory warranties with the rules relating to cancellation for major breach, in cases where an insurer pursues that remedy.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Un-functionalized gold nanoparticles as a simple colorimetric probe for sensitive and selective detection of dopamine
- Khanyile, Nokuthula, Krause, Rui W M, Vilakazi, Sibulelo, Torto, Nelson
- Authors: Khanyile, Nokuthula , Krause, Rui W M , Vilakazi, Sibulelo , Torto, Nelson
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/195048 , vital:45522 , xlink:href="http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/0379-4350/2019/v72a27"
- Description: A dopamine (DA) colorimetric probe based on the growth and aggregation of un-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) is reported. Upon addition of AuNPs to dopamine at various concentrations, the shape, size and colour change of the nanoparticles results in spectral shifts to higher wavelengths and hence colour change is the mode of detection. The colour change can be easily observed by the naked eye from as low as 5.0 nM DA, even under sub-optimal conditions. Under optimal pH conditions the calculated limit of detection was 2.5 nM (3σ). The probe was successfully applied to whole blood sample and showed good selectivity and sensitivity towards DA. The simple, sensitive and selective probe could be an excellent alternative for on-site and immediate detection of DA without the use of instrumentation and would thus be useful for rapid diagnostic applications.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Khanyile, Nokuthula , Krause, Rui W M , Vilakazi, Sibulelo , Torto, Nelson
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/195048 , vital:45522 , xlink:href="http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/0379-4350/2019/v72a27"
- Description: A dopamine (DA) colorimetric probe based on the growth and aggregation of un-functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) is reported. Upon addition of AuNPs to dopamine at various concentrations, the shape, size and colour change of the nanoparticles results in spectral shifts to higher wavelengths and hence colour change is the mode of detection. The colour change can be easily observed by the naked eye from as low as 5.0 nM DA, even under sub-optimal conditions. Under optimal pH conditions the calculated limit of detection was 2.5 nM (3σ). The probe was successfully applied to whole blood sample and showed good selectivity and sensitivity towards DA. The simple, sensitive and selective probe could be an excellent alternative for on-site and immediate detection of DA without the use of instrumentation and would thus be useful for rapid diagnostic applications.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Ursolic Acid and its derivatives as bioactive agents
- Mlala, Sithenkosi, Oyedeji, Adebola Omowunmi, Gondwe, Mavuto, Oyedeji, Opeoluwa Oyehan
- Authors: Mlala, Sithenkosi , Oyedeji, Adebola Omowunmi , Gondwe, Mavuto , Oyedeji, Opeoluwa Oyehan
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Noncommunicable diseases , Pentacyclic triterpenoids , Ursolic acid , Clinical trials
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/1576 , vital:37793 , https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24152751
- Description: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory and cardiovascular diseases continue to be threatening and deadly to human kind. Resistance to and side effects of known drugs for treatment further increase the threat, while at the same time leaving scientists to search for alternative sources from nature, especially from plants. Pentacyclic triterpenoids (PT) from medicinal plants have been identified as one class of secondary metabolites that could play a critical role in the treatment and management of several NCDs. One of such PT is ursolic acid (UA, 3 β-hydroxy-urs-12-en-28-oic acid), which possesses important biological effects, including anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antidiabetic, antioxidant and antibacterial effects, but its bioavailability and solubility limits its clinical application. Mimusops caffra, Ilex paraguarieni, and Glechoma hederacea, have been reported as major sources of UA. The chemistry of UA has been studied extensively based on the literature, with modifications mostly having been made at positions C-3 (hydroxyl), C12-C13 (double bonds) and C-28 (carboxylic acid), leading to several UA derivatives (esters, amides, oxadiazole quinolone, etc.) with enhanced potency, bioavailability and water solubility. This article comprehensively reviews the information that has become available over the last decade with respect to the sources, chemistry, biological potency and clinical trials of UA and its derivatives as potential therapeutic agents, with a focus on addressing NCD.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Mlala, Sithenkosi , Oyedeji, Adebola Omowunmi , Gondwe, Mavuto , Oyedeji, Opeoluwa Oyehan
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Noncommunicable diseases , Pentacyclic triterpenoids , Ursolic acid , Clinical trials
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/1576 , vital:37793 , https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24152751
- Description: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory and cardiovascular diseases continue to be threatening and deadly to human kind. Resistance to and side effects of known drugs for treatment further increase the threat, while at the same time leaving scientists to search for alternative sources from nature, especially from plants. Pentacyclic triterpenoids (PT) from medicinal plants have been identified as one class of secondary metabolites that could play a critical role in the treatment and management of several NCDs. One of such PT is ursolic acid (UA, 3 β-hydroxy-urs-12-en-28-oic acid), which possesses important biological effects, including anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antidiabetic, antioxidant and antibacterial effects, but its bioavailability and solubility limits its clinical application. Mimusops caffra, Ilex paraguarieni, and Glechoma hederacea, have been reported as major sources of UA. The chemistry of UA has been studied extensively based on the literature, with modifications mostly having been made at positions C-3 (hydroxyl), C12-C13 (double bonds) and C-28 (carboxylic acid), leading to several UA derivatives (esters, amides, oxadiazole quinolone, etc.) with enhanced potency, bioavailability and water solubility. This article comprehensively reviews the information that has become available over the last decade with respect to the sources, chemistry, biological potency and clinical trials of UA and its derivatives as potential therapeutic agents, with a focus on addressing NCD.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Use of public urban green spaces for spiritual services in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
- Ngulani, T, Shackleton, Charlie M
- Authors: Ngulani, T , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179710 , vital:43163 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2018.11.009"
- Description: Urban green spaces provide an array of ecosystem services. Spiritual services provided by urban green spaces are widely used, but are often overlooked and rarely quantified. These services are accessed at sites of specific religious or sacred significance or more general urban green spaces used for religious practices that require natural or semi-natural, outdoor settings. We sampled twelve public green spaces in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, to determine their use as sites for religious gatherings, interviewed visitors to green spaces and religious congregants about such and used the travel cost method to assign a value to the green spaces for spiritual benefits. Religious gatherings were observed in all twelve sampled green spaces, and 7% of a random sample of visitors to the urban green spaces said that they participated in such. Amongst the worshippers, 71% said worshipping outdoors was part of their religious practices and 29% said they did so because they had no building in which to worship. Most (79%) worshipped in public green spaces 1–4 times per week. Many felt that it would be easier if the city council designated specific and quiet areas in public green spaces for their religious observances, which they could then help maintain. The mean value of spiritual services was determined to be US$93 ± 79 /ha/yr, and tended to be highest in the high density, poorer suburbs. These results reveal the significance of urban green spaces for spiritual purposes and indicate the need for greater recognition amongst researchers and city planners and authorities to secure and maintain such benefit flows.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Ngulani, T , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179710 , vital:43163 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2018.11.009"
- Description: Urban green spaces provide an array of ecosystem services. Spiritual services provided by urban green spaces are widely used, but are often overlooked and rarely quantified. These services are accessed at sites of specific religious or sacred significance or more general urban green spaces used for religious practices that require natural or semi-natural, outdoor settings. We sampled twelve public green spaces in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, to determine their use as sites for religious gatherings, interviewed visitors to green spaces and religious congregants about such and used the travel cost method to assign a value to the green spaces for spiritual benefits. Religious gatherings were observed in all twelve sampled green spaces, and 7% of a random sample of visitors to the urban green spaces said that they participated in such. Amongst the worshippers, 71% said worshipping outdoors was part of their religious practices and 29% said they did so because they had no building in which to worship. Most (79%) worshipped in public green spaces 1–4 times per week. Many felt that it would be easier if the city council designated specific and quiet areas in public green spaces for their religious observances, which they could then help maintain. The mean value of spiritual services was determined to be US$93 ± 79 /ha/yr, and tended to be highest in the high density, poorer suburbs. These results reveal the significance of urban green spaces for spiritual purposes and indicate the need for greater recognition amongst researchers and city planners and authorities to secure and maintain such benefit flows.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
With or without you: stem-galling of a tephritid fly reduces the vegetative and reproductive performance of the invasive plant Chromolaena odorata (Asteraceae) both alone and in combination with another agent
- Aigbedion-Atalor, Pascal O, Day, Michael D, Itohan Idemudia, Wilson, David D, Paterson, Iain D
- Authors: Aigbedion-Atalor, Pascal O , Day, Michael D , Itohan Idemudia , Wilson, David D , Paterson, Iain D
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/418093 , vital:71508 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-018-09917-x"
- Description: With or without another biological control agent, the specialist folivore Pareuchaetes pseudoinsulata, the stem-galling fly Cecidochares connexa reduced the performance of the invasive alien plant, Chromolaena odorata in Ghana. There was a strong significant negative relationship between gall densities of the gall fly and stem height, and the number of stems and flower heads of C. odorata. Pareuchaetes pseudoinsulata had very little impact on any C. odorata parameters. However, at sites where both C. connexa and P. pseudoinsulata occurred simultaneously, the performance of C. odorata was significantly reduced when compared with control plants. Increasing densities of both agents had a strong significant negative correlative effect on C. odorata plant parameters. Cecidochares connexa was recorded in all five regions of the country sampled, while P. pseudoinsulata was recorded in four regions. Densities of both agents declined in the dry season, but galls were persistent throughout the study period. This is the first report of the impact of C. connexa on C. odorata in the West African sub-region since its introduction to Cote d’Ivoire in 2003 and it is clear that the agent has a significant impact on C. odorata in Ghana. Further surveys are required to determine the impact of both biological control agents in other parts of the sub-region where they have established.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Aigbedion-Atalor, Pascal O , Day, Michael D , Itohan Idemudia , Wilson, David D , Paterson, Iain D
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/418093 , vital:71508 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-018-09917-x"
- Description: With or without another biological control agent, the specialist folivore Pareuchaetes pseudoinsulata, the stem-galling fly Cecidochares connexa reduced the performance of the invasive alien plant, Chromolaena odorata in Ghana. There was a strong significant negative relationship between gall densities of the gall fly and stem height, and the number of stems and flower heads of C. odorata. Pareuchaetes pseudoinsulata had very little impact on any C. odorata parameters. However, at sites where both C. connexa and P. pseudoinsulata occurred simultaneously, the performance of C. odorata was significantly reduced when compared with control plants. Increasing densities of both agents had a strong significant negative correlative effect on C. odorata plant parameters. Cecidochares connexa was recorded in all five regions of the country sampled, while P. pseudoinsulata was recorded in four regions. Densities of both agents declined in the dry season, but galls were persistent throughout the study period. This is the first report of the impact of C. connexa on C. odorata in the West African sub-region since its introduction to Cote d’Ivoire in 2003 and it is clear that the agent has a significant impact on C. odorata in Ghana. Further surveys are required to determine the impact of both biological control agents in other parts of the sub-region where they have established.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Woza Albert! (Student Editions)
- Authors: Krueger, Anton
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/229598 , vital:49691 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10137548.2018.1560975"
- Description: Publishing Woza Albert! back in 1983 was a smart move by Methuen Publishing, since it went on to become South Africa’s most canonical dramatic text. As Temple Hauptfleisch points out in his introduction to this new edition, the play has become one of the most anthologized and produced of all South African plays, a regular prescribed work…particularly so in the new curricula introduced since 1994…a major work in the South African literary canon, one of the most studied and produced of the plays from the turbulent 1980s.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Krueger, Anton
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/229598 , vital:49691 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10137548.2018.1560975"
- Description: Publishing Woza Albert! back in 1983 was a smart move by Methuen Publishing, since it went on to become South Africa’s most canonical dramatic text. As Temple Hauptfleisch points out in his introduction to this new edition, the play has become one of the most anthologized and produced of all South African plays, a regular prescribed work…particularly so in the new curricula introduced since 1994…a major work in the South African literary canon, one of the most studied and produced of the plays from the turbulent 1980s.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
“It is a thing that depends on God”
- Samandari, Ghazaleh, Grant, Carolyn, Brent, Lily, Gullo, Sara
- Authors: Samandari, Ghazaleh , Grant, Carolyn , Brent, Lily , Gullo, Sara
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/281091 , vital:55691 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12978-019-0757-y"
- Description: Background: Pregnancy among adolescent girls in Niger contributes to 34% of all deaths among females ages 15–19, but there is a dearth of research as to the specific contextual causes. In Zinder region, an area that is especially impoverished and where girls are at heightened risk, there is very little information on the main obstacles to improving adolescents’ health and well-being. This qualitative study examines the underlying social, individual and structural factors influencing married girls’ early first birth and participation in alternative opportunities (such as education or economic pursuits) in Niger. Methodology: In July of 2017, researchers conducted in-depth interviews with a non-probability sample of community members in three communes of Zinder Region, Niger. Participants (n = 107) included adolescent girls, husbands of adolescent girls, influential adults, community leaders, health providers, and positive deviants. All interviews were transcribed, coded and analyzed using Dedoose software. Results: Participants recognize the health benefits of delaying first birth, but stigma around infertility and contraceptive use, desire for children, and belief that childbirth is “God’s will” interfere with a girl’s ability to delay. Girls’ social isolation, lack of mobility or autonomy, and inability to envision alternatives to early motherhood compound the issue. Participants favor adolescents’ pursuit of increased economic opportunities or education, but would not support delaying birth to do so. Conclusions: Findings indicate the need for a holistic approach to delaying early birth and stimulating girls’ participation in economic and educational pursuits. Potential interventions include mitigating barriers to reproductive health care; training adolescent girls on viable economic activities; and providing educational opportunities for girls. Effective programs should also include or target immediate members of the girls’ families (husbands, parents, in-laws), influential local leaders and members of the community at large.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Samandari, Ghazaleh , Grant, Carolyn , Brent, Lily , Gullo, Sara
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/281091 , vital:55691 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12978-019-0757-y"
- Description: Background: Pregnancy among adolescent girls in Niger contributes to 34% of all deaths among females ages 15–19, but there is a dearth of research as to the specific contextual causes. In Zinder region, an area that is especially impoverished and where girls are at heightened risk, there is very little information on the main obstacles to improving adolescents’ health and well-being. This qualitative study examines the underlying social, individual and structural factors influencing married girls’ early first birth and participation in alternative opportunities (such as education or economic pursuits) in Niger. Methodology: In July of 2017, researchers conducted in-depth interviews with a non-probability sample of community members in three communes of Zinder Region, Niger. Participants (n = 107) included adolescent girls, husbands of adolescent girls, influential adults, community leaders, health providers, and positive deviants. All interviews were transcribed, coded and analyzed using Dedoose software. Results: Participants recognize the health benefits of delaying first birth, but stigma around infertility and contraceptive use, desire for children, and belief that childbirth is “God’s will” interfere with a girl’s ability to delay. Girls’ social isolation, lack of mobility or autonomy, and inability to envision alternatives to early motherhood compound the issue. Participants favor adolescents’ pursuit of increased economic opportunities or education, but would not support delaying birth to do so. Conclusions: Findings indicate the need for a holistic approach to delaying early birth and stimulating girls’ participation in economic and educational pursuits. Potential interventions include mitigating barriers to reproductive health care; training adolescent girls on viable economic activities; and providing educational opportunities for girls. Effective programs should also include or target immediate members of the girls’ families (husbands, parents, in-laws), influential local leaders and members of the community at large.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles from Acacia mearnsii De Wild stem bark and its antinociceptive properties
- Avoseh, Opeyemi N, Oyedeji, Opeoluwa O, Aremu, Olukayode, Nkeh-Chungag, Benedicta N, Songca, Sandile P, Oyedeji, Adebola Omowunmi, Mohan, Sneha, Oluwafemi, Oluwatobi S
- Authors: Avoseh, Opeyemi N , Oyedeji, Opeoluwa O , Aremu, Olukayode , Nkeh-Chungag, Benedicta N , Songca, Sandile P , Oyedeji, Adebola Omowunmi , Mohan, Sneha , Oluwafemi, Oluwatobi S
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Metal nanoparticles , Acacia mearnsii , Nociceptive pain
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/1528 , vital:37774 , https://doi.org/10.1080/17518253.2017.1287310
- Description: The biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) using the hydrosol extract of the dry stem bark of Acacia mearnsii as reducing and capping agents, and their antinociceptive properties are hereby reported. By varying the temperature and reaction time, the temporal evolution of the optical and morphological properties of the as-synthesized material was investigated. The NPs were characterized by UV–visible absorption spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and x-ray diffractometry (XRD) The optical analyses show that the position of the maximum surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak is red-shifted as the reaction temperature decreased. The TEM micrographs show that the as-synthesized Ag-NPs are spherical while the X-ray diffraction shows that the material is highly crystalline with face-centered cubic structures. The anti-inflammatory efficacy, analyzed by the formalin model, indicates that the as-synthesized Ag-NPs are very effective, with an inhibition rate of about 76%.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Avoseh, Opeyemi N , Oyedeji, Opeoluwa O , Aremu, Olukayode , Nkeh-Chungag, Benedicta N , Songca, Sandile P , Oyedeji, Adebola Omowunmi , Mohan, Sneha , Oluwafemi, Oluwatobi S
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Metal nanoparticles , Acacia mearnsii , Nociceptive pain
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/1528 , vital:37774 , https://doi.org/10.1080/17518253.2017.1287310
- Description: The biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) using the hydrosol extract of the dry stem bark of Acacia mearnsii as reducing and capping agents, and their antinociceptive properties are hereby reported. By varying the temperature and reaction time, the temporal evolution of the optical and morphological properties of the as-synthesized material was investigated. The NPs were characterized by UV–visible absorption spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and x-ray diffractometry (XRD) The optical analyses show that the position of the maximum surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak is red-shifted as the reaction temperature decreased. The TEM micrographs show that the as-synthesized Ag-NPs are spherical while the X-ray diffraction shows that the material is highly crystalline with face-centered cubic structures. The anti-inflammatory efficacy, analyzed by the formalin model, indicates that the as-synthesized Ag-NPs are very effective, with an inhibition rate of about 76%.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
The relevance of cross-scale connections and spatial interactions for ecosystem service delivery by protected areas: Insights from southern Africa
- de Vos, Alta, Cumming, Graeme S, Roux, Dirk J
- Authors: de Vos, Alta , Cumming, Graeme S , Roux, Dirk J
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/416438 , vital:71348 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.11.014"
- Description: The ecosystem services (ES) concept can frame the value of protected areas (PAs) to society and identify management actions that bridge biodiversity conservation and human benefits. In this special issue on ES flows to and from southern African PAs we consider two themes: (1) water as a biophysical and social-ecological connector; and (2) cross-scale interactions and connections as influences on cultural ecosystem service (CES) provision. Freshwater flows have supporting, regulating, and cultural elements, leading to complexities in governance as well as place attachment, intellectual, and recreational services. Scale dependence in CES creates trade-offs that challenge the usefulness of the ES framework for PA management. Ecosystem service production can potentially create political support for PAs and helps to build connections and feedbacks that increase PA resilience. Papers in the feature highlight a need to understand trade-offs in optimising for biodiversity vs. particular bundles of ES; impacts of investment in built infrastructure on ES use; how managers facilitate ES; scale and heterogeneity as influences; the role of adaptive monitoring of PAs as social–ecological systems; and services and benefits from PAs that are not well-articulated in ES classifications. PA research can thus add nuance, depth and substance to broader thinking around CES.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: de Vos, Alta , Cumming, Graeme S , Roux, Dirk J
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/416438 , vital:71348 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.11.014"
- Description: The ecosystem services (ES) concept can frame the value of protected areas (PAs) to society and identify management actions that bridge biodiversity conservation and human benefits. In this special issue on ES flows to and from southern African PAs we consider two themes: (1) water as a biophysical and social-ecological connector; and (2) cross-scale interactions and connections as influences on cultural ecosystem service (CES) provision. Freshwater flows have supporting, regulating, and cultural elements, leading to complexities in governance as well as place attachment, intellectual, and recreational services. Scale dependence in CES creates trade-offs that challenge the usefulness of the ES framework for PA management. Ecosystem service production can potentially create political support for PAs and helps to build connections and feedbacks that increase PA resilience. Papers in the feature highlight a need to understand trade-offs in optimising for biodiversity vs. particular bundles of ES; impacts of investment in built infrastructure on ES use; how managers facilitate ES; scale and heterogeneity as influences; the role of adaptive monitoring of PAs as social–ecological systems; and services and benefits from PAs that are not well-articulated in ES classifications. PA research can thus add nuance, depth and substance to broader thinking around CES.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017