Capital or critique?: when journalism education seeks to influence the field
- Authors: Boshoff, Priscilla A , Garman, Anthea
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/143392 , vital:38242 , DOI: 10.1080/02560046.2016.1262437
- Description: Drawing on Bourdieu’s theories of field and capital, we examine the limitations that a journalism school at a prestigious university faces in making a meaningful contribution to the field within a developing country. In the postapartheid South African media landscape, journalism is under pressure both from global forces and a political imperative to address social justice. Given the heterogeneity of the journalistic field and the fact that what counts as capital in it is contested, the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University attempts to redefine the parameters by inculcating a particular approach to and philosophy of journalism practice. While Rhodes wants to educate excellent (professional) journalists, it is guided by an overt political mission to cultivate a journalism that is not necessarily ‘in sync’ with the wider field. Ironically, most undergraduates come from the economic and cultural elite, with specific intentions to accumulate the capital which Rhodes bestows. Students are confronted with their privilege and with alternative ideas about the purpose of journalism, and are asked to make choices and take up positions. We consider whether this critical praxis approach is able to influence the ‘state of play’ – or the distribution of power – within the field.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Cationic cyclodextrin/alginate chitosan nanoflowers as 5-fluorouracil drug delivery system
- Authors: Lakkakula, Jaya R , Matshaya, Thabo , Krause, Rui W M
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/125587 , vital:35798 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2016.08.073
- Description: Cyclodextrins (CDs) have widely been used as component of drug delivery systems. However unmodified cyclodextrins are associated with cytotoxicity and poor water solubility thus limiting their use in pharmaceutical industry. The cationic-β-cyclodextrin (Cat-β-CD) polymer cores were synthesized using β-CD, epichlorohydrin and choline chloride via a one-step polycondensation process. The main aim of this study was to synthesize hierarchical nanoflowers composed of cationic-β-CD as polymeric core along with alginate and chitosan “petals” (Cat-β-CD/Alg-Chi nanoflowers) as carriers for oral delivery of 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) via an ionic-gelation technique. The drug loading capacity, particle size, zeta potential and surface morphology of the synthesized nanoflowers were determined. The prepared nanoflowers were formed with an average size of 300 nm and a zeta potential of + 9.90 mV with good encapsulation efficiency of up to 77.3%. In vitro release of 5-FU from the loaded nanoflowers showed controlled and sustained release compared to the inclusion complex alone. Cat-β-CD/Alg-Chi nanoflowers were assessed against L929 cells and found to be effectively inhibiting the growth of L929 cells in a concentration dependent manner.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Central obesity and normal-weight central obesity among adults attending healthcare facilities in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa: a cross-sectional study
- Authors: Owolabi, Eyitayo Omolara , Ter Goon, Daniel , Adeniyi, Oladele Vincent
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa Obesity Central obesity, Overall obesity, Waist circumference, Waist-to-hip ratio, Waist-to-height ratio, NICE BMI-WC composite index, Health risk, Abdominal obesity Computer File
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/5887 , vital:44664 , https://DOI10.1186/s41043-017-0133-x
- Description: Background Central obesity (CO) confers a significant threat on the cardio-metabolic health of individuals, independently of overall obesity. Disparities in the measures of fat distribution lead to misclassification of individuals who are at risk of cardio-metabolic diseases. This study sought to determine the prevalence and correlates of central obesity and normal-weight central obesity among adults attending selected healthcare facilities in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (BCMM), South Africa, assess their health risk and examine the association between central obesity and cardio-metabolic diseases among adults with normal weight, measured by body mass index (BMI). Methods A cross-sectional survey of 998 adults was carried out at the three largest outpatient clinics in BCMM. Overall and central obesity were assessed using BMI, waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and waist-to-height ratio (WHTR). The WHO STEPwise questionnaire was used for data collection. Blood pressure and blood glucose were measured. Normal-weight central obesity was defined as CO among individuals with normal weight, as assessed by BMI. Health risk levels were assessed using the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) BMI-WC composite index. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to determine the prevalence of CO, normal-weight central obesity and the predictors of CO. Results The mean age of participants was 42.6 (± 16.5) years. The prevalence of CO was 67.0, 58.0 and 71.0% by WC, WHR and WHTR, respectively. The prevalence of normal-weight central obesity was 26.9, 36.9 and 29.5% by WC, WHR and WHTR, respectively. About 41% of the participants had a very high health risk, 13% had increased risk or high risk and 33% had no health risk. Central obesity was significantly associated with hypertension but not associated with diabetes among those with normal weight (by BMI). Female sex, age over 30 years, marriage, secondary or tertiary level of education, non-smoking status, diabetes and hypertension significantly predicted central obesity among the study participants. Conclusion The prevalence of central obesity among the study participants is high, irrespective of the defining criteria. One in three adults of normal weight had central obesity. Body mass index should therefore not be used alone for clinical assessment by healthcare workers in the study setting.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Challenges of information and communication technology policy implementation in rural South Africa
- Authors: Chisango, Grasia , Lesame, Carol
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Information society , Digital inclusion , Education
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/5592 , vital:44611 , https://doi.org/10.18820/24150525/Comm.v22.4
- Description: While the South African government has implemented an information and communication technology (ICT) policy to address issues of universal access and service, questions remain about the effective implementation of this policy in rural areas. This article explores the extent to which ICT policy and regulation were implemented in rural South Africa, with specific reference to the Eastern Cape province. Focus group interviews and in-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted to collect qualitative data from 28 high school learners, two local municipal mayors and two women support group leaders in the Chris Hani District Municipality. A theme analysis indicated that the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA) is failing to fulfil its mandate of promoting universal access and service. It is recommended that the provincial government in the Eastern Cape design an ICT strategy for its municipalities and that there should be easy access to Thusong Service Centres in rural areas.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Challenges with modelling transcription factor binding
- Authors: Machanick, Philip , Kibet, Caleb K
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/439158 , vital:73551 , 10.1109/NEXTCOMP.2017.8016178
- Description: Modelling transcription factor binding presents a number of challenges. In its simplest form, binding can be modelled by a consensus sequence but a number of factors including degeneracy of binding sites, alternative modes of binding and differences between artificially-constructed and in vivo DNA make modelling binding complex. In this paper we outline difficulties and report on progress with improving modelling of binding. We focus on improving measurement of binding models, a necessary prerequisite for finding better models.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Changes in chemical composition of essential oils from leaves of different Lantana camara L. (Verbenaceae) varieties after feeding by the introduced biological control agent, Falconia intermedia Distant (Hemiptera: Miridae)
- Authors: Ngxande-Koza, S W , Heshula, L U P , Hill, Martin P
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59834 , vital:27664 , https://doi.org/10.4001/003.025.0462
- Description: Lantana camara L. (Verbenaceae) is one of the most problematic plant invaders in South Africa and has been targeted for biological control for over 50 years. Essential oil constituents which often change in response to insect herbivory are reported to play a crucial role in plant-insect interactions. However, nothing is known about the chemical profiles of essential oils of L. camara varieties in South Africa and how this changes under herbivory. Therefore, essential oils were collected using hydrodistillation from undamaged and insect-damaged leaves of four L. camara varieties and analysed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to elucidate their chemical profiles. A total of 163 compounds were identified from the undamaged leaves of the various L. camara varieties. Feeding by the biocontrol agent Falconia intermedia Distant (Hemiptera: Miridae) resulted in changes in the quality and quantity of chemical constituents of the essential oils. Only 75 compounds were identified from the insect-damaged leaves of L. camara varieties. Terpenes were the major components across the varieties, while caryophyllene, hexane, naphthalene, copaene and a-caryophyllene were common in all the varieties tested from both undamaged and insect-damaged leaves. Results from this study indicated the chemical distinctiveness of the Whitney Farm variety from other varieties. The changes in chemical concentrations indicated that feeding by the mirid on L. camara varieties causes an induction by either reducing or increasing the chemical concentrations. These inductions following the feeding by F. intermedia could be having a negative impact on the success of biological control against L. camara varieties. However, the focus of this paper is to report on the chemical baseline of L. camara varieties. Hence, comparisons of chemical compound concentrations of L. camara essential oils tested and the feeding-induced changes with respect to their quality and quantity are discussed.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Changes in forest cover and carbon stocks of the coastal scarp forests of the Wild Coast, South Africa
- Authors: Mangwale, Kagiso , Shackleton, Charlie M , Sigwela, Ayanda
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60903 , vital:27887 , https://doi.org/10.2989/20702620.2016.1255480
- Description: Land-use intensification and declines in vegetative cover are considered pervasive threats to forests and biodiversity globally. The small extent and high biodiversity of indigenous forests in South Africa make them particularly important. Yet, relatively little is known about their rates of use and change. From analysis of past aerial photos we quantified rates of forest cover change in the Matiwane forests of the Wild Coast, South Africa, between 1942 and 2007, as well as quantified above- and belowground (to 0.5 m depth) carbon stocks based on a composite allometric equation derived for the area. Rates of forest conversion were spatially variable, with some areas showing no change and others more noticeable changes. Overall, the net reduction was 5.2% (0.08% p.a.) over the 65-year period. However, the rate of reduction has accelerated with time. Some of the reduction was balanced by natural reforestation into formerly cleared areas, but basal area, biomass and carbon stocks are still low in the reforested areas. The total carbon stock was highest in intact forests (311.7 ± 23.7 Mg C ha−1), followed by degraded forests (73.5 ± 12.3 Mg C ha−1) and least in regrowth forests (51.2 ± 6.2 Mg C ha−1). The greatest contribution to total carbon stocks was soil carbon, contributing 54% in intact forests, and 78% and 68% in degraded and regrowth forests, respectively. The Matiwane forests store 4.78 Tg C, with 4.7 Tg C in intact forests, 0.06 Tg C in degraded forests and 0.02 Tg C in regrowth forests. The decrease in carbon stocks within the forests as a result of the conversion of the forest area to agricultural fields was 0.19 Tg C and approximately 0.0003 Tg C was released through harvesting of firewood and building timber.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Characterization and physicochemical studies of the conjugates of graphene quantum dots with differently charged zinc phthalocyanines
- Authors: Matshitse, Refilwe , Sekhosana, Kutloana E , Achadu, Ojodomo John , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/189227 , vital:44829 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00958972.2017.1387652"
- Description: Unsubstituted zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc), 2,9,16,23-tetrakis[4-(N-methylpyridyloxy)]-phthalocyanine (ZnTPPcQ) and Zn tetrasulfo phthalocyanine (ZnTSPc) were non-covalently (electrostatic and/or π–π interaction) attached to graphene quantum dots (GQDs) to form GQDs-Pc nanoconjugates. Relative to Pcs alone, the presence of GQDs improved the triplet quantum yields with the following values: GQDs-ZnPc (0.73), GQDs-ZnTPPcQ (0.76) and GQDs-ZnTSPc (0.67). Respective Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) efficiencies were calculated to be 0.81, 0.80 and 0.28. However, singlet oxygen generating abilities of the as-synthesized nanoconjugates were relatively low due to the screening effect of GQDs and quenching in water. This study shows that, the type of Pc, loading and solvent used are among the vital properties to consider when constructing GQD-nanoconjugate systems with optimal triplet quantum yield properties and investigation of their physicochemical properties.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Characterization of conjugates of NaYF4
- Authors: Watkins, Zane , Uddin, Imran , Britton, Jonathan , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/238132 , vital:50589 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molstruc.2016.10.011"
- Description: NaYF4:Er/Yb/Gd upconversion nanoparticles (UCNP) capped with amino groups were covalently attached to chloro aluminium tetrasulphonated phthalocyanine (ClAlTSPc) and chloro aluminium tetracarboxy phthalocyanine (ClAlTCPc). The conjugates were characterized using different techniques such as infrared spectroscopy (IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). There was a decrease in the intensity of fluorescence emission spectra of the UCNPs at 658 nm in the presence of the phthalocyanines. This decrease indicates an energy transfer between the donor UCNP and conjugated accepting phthalocyanine (Pc), due to Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET). FRET efficiencies of 18% and 21% for ClAlTSPc and ClAlTCPc, respectively, were obtained. Oxygen generation by ClAlTSPc following FRET was proved.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Characterization of phthalocyanine functionalized quantum dots by dynamic light scattering, laser Doppler, and capillary electrophoresis
- Authors: Ramírez-García, Gonzalo , Oluwole, David O , Nxele, Siphesihle Robin , d’Orlyé, Fanny , Nyokong, Tebello , Bedioui, Fethi , Varenne, Anne
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/238184 , vital:50595 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-016-0120-x"
- Description: In this work, we characterized different phtalocyanine-capped core/shell/shell quantum dots (QDs) in terms of stability, ζ-potential, and size at various pH and ionic strengths, by means of capillary electrophoresis (CE), and compared these results to the ones obtained by laser Doppler electrophoresis (LDE) and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The effect of the phthalocyanine metallic center (Zn, Al, or In), the number (one or four), and nature of substituents (carboxyphenoxy- or sulfonated-) of functionalization on the phthalocyanine physicochemical properties were evaluated. Whereas QDs capped with zinc mono-carboxyphenoxy-phtalocyanine (ZnMCPPc-QDs) remained aggregated in the whole analyzed pH range, even at low ionic strength, QDs capped with zinc tetracarboxyphenoxy phtalocyanine (ZnTPPc-QDs) were easily dispersed in buffers at pH equal to or higher than 7.4. QDs capped with aluminum tetrasulfonated phthalocyanine (AlTSPPc-QDs) and indium tetracarboxyphenoxy phthalocyanines (InTCPPc-QDs) were stable in aqueous suspension only at pH higher than 9.0 due to the presence of functional groups bound to the metallic center of the phthalocyanine. The ζ-potential values determined by CE for all the samples decreased when ionic strength increased, being well correlated with the aggregation of the nanoconjugates at elevated salt concentrations. The use of electrokinetic methodologies has provided insights into the colloidal stability of the photosensitizer-functionalized QDs in physiological relevant solutions and thereby, its usefulness for improving their design and applications for photodynamic therapy.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Children and wild foods in the context of deforestation in rural Malawi
- Authors: Maseko, Heather N , Shackleton, Charlie M , Nagoli, J , Pullanikkatil, Deepa
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/182101 , vital:43800 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-017-9956-8"
- Description: There is growing recognition of the contribution of wild foods to local diets, nutrition, and culture. Yet disaggregation of understanding of wild food use by gender and age is limited. We used a mixed methods approach to determine the types, frequencies, and perceptions of wild foods used and sold by children in four villages in southern Malawi that have different levels of deforestation. Household and individual dietary diversity scores are low at all sites. All households consume one or more wild foods. Across the four sites, children listed 119 wild foods, with a wider variety at the least deforested sites than the most deforested ones. Older children can name more wild foods than younger ones. More children from poor households sell wild foods than from well-off households. Several reasons were provided for the consumption or avoidance of wild foods (most commonly taste, contribution to health, limited alternatives, hunger, availability, local taboos).
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- Date Issued: 2017
Chinese Cabbage:
- Authors: Mwaba, Stary
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/146699 , vital:38549 , https://www.ru.ac.za/artsofafrica/latestnews/rhodesparticipatesintheafrica-chinasymposiumatthegoetheinstitute.html
- Description: Stary Mwaba, an MFA candidate in the Arts of Africa and the Global South research team in the Fine Art Department, presented a paper on his installation, Chinese Cabbage, which was first displayed in his solo exhibition, Life on Mars, at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Germany in 2015. At the Africa–China symposium, Mwaba talked about his personal inroad into the Zambia–China debate, which draws from a family history of living along the Tazara Railway that was built by the Chinese in the 1960s, as well as the experience of his daughter attending a Chinese-run international school in Lusaka. Mwaba is currently expanding this research as part of his MFA studies at Rhodes by collecting oral narratives along the line of rail in Zambia and by addressing, through his painting practice, issues pertinent to the controversial copper slug known as Black Mountain in Kitwe.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Collaborative research in contexts of inequality: the role of social reflexivity
- Authors: Leibowitz, Brenda , Bozalek, Vivienne , Farmer, Jean-Lee , Garraway, James , Herman, Nicoline , Jawitz, Jeff , McMillan, Wendy , Mistri, Gita , Ndebele, Clever , Nkonki, Vuyisile , Quinn, Lynn , Van Schalkwyk, Susan , Vorster, Jo-Anne , Winberg, Chris
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66634 , vital:28973 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-016-0029-5
- Description: publisher version , This article reports on the role and value of social reflexivity in collaborative research in contexts of extreme inequality. Social reflexivity mediates the enablements and constraints generated by the internal and external contextual conditions impinging on the research collaboration. It fosters the ability of participants in a collaborative project to align their interests and collectively extend their agency towards a common purpose. It influences the productivity and quality of learning outcomes of the research collaboration. The article is written by fourteen members of a larger research team, which comprised 18 individuals working within the academic development environment in eight South African universities. The overarching research project investigated the participation of academics in professional development activities, and how contextual, i.e. structural and cultural, and agential conditions, influence this participation. For this sub-study on the experience of the collaboration by fourteen of the researchers, we wrote reflective pieces on our own experience of participating in the project towards the end of the third year of its duration. We discuss the structural and cultural conditions external to and internal to the project, and how the social reflexivity of the participants mediated these conditions. We conclude with the observation that policy injunctions and support from funding agencies for collaborative research, as well as support from participants’ home institutions are necessary for the flourishing of collaborative research, but that the commitment by individual participants to participate, learn and share, is also necessary.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Colonised minds?: post-development theory and the desirability of development in Africa
- Authors: Matthews, Sally
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142213 , vital:38059 , DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2017.1279540
- Description: While post-development theory is very concerned with the ways in which development has impacted upon the countries of the Global South, there has been relatively little written on post-development theory from an African perspective. This paper identifies some of the ways in which post-development theory fails to adequately understand the African experience of development. In particular, I explore the difficulty that post-development theory confronts when faced with the continued desire on the part of many people in Africa for development.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Community entomology: insects, science and society
- Authors: Weaver, Kim N , Hill, Jaclyn M , Martin, Grant D , Paterson, Iain D , Coetzee, Julie A , Hill, Martin P
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123343 , vital:35429 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC-c859bebd5
- Description: Educative outreach programmes have been found to be effective ways in which to raise awareness around basic scientific concepts. The Biological Control Research Group (BCRG) in the Department of Zoology and Entomology at Rhodes University, South Africa, is involved in community engaged initiatives that aim to be interactive and informative around entomology, and more specifically, the use of biological control against invasive alien plants. As a higher education institution, Rhodes University has a civic responsibility to engage with local communities and work with them around local challenges. Three groups of activities undertaken by the BCRG in partnership with local schools and other community partners are described and assessed in this paper as a way of assessing them and exploring future research areas around the aims and outcomes of these programmes.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Community ‘Broadband Islands’ for digital government access in rural South Africa
- Authors: Terzoli, Alfredo , Siebörger, Ingrid , Gumbo, Sibukelo
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/431248 , vital:72758 , https://www.academic-bookshop.com/ourshop/prod_6128029-ECDG-2017-PDF-Proceedings-of-the-17th-European-Conference-on-Digital-Government.html
- Description: In the developing world, one of the main obstacles to the realization of the potential of digital government in rendering services to citizens is the lack of access infrastructure. In this paper we present a model for the diffusion of Internet connectivity and access to computing infrastructure in rural communities in South Africa, through the aggregation of inde-pendent small and micro networks. The model is based on multi-year experimentation in the Siyakhula Living Lab, a long term joint venture between the Telkom Centres of Excellence hosted at Rhodes Universi-ty and the University of Fort Hare in South Africa. At the core of the model is the concept of ‘Broadband Island’, a high speed LAN realized through easy-to-deploy wireless technologies connecting groups of nearby schools. Each connected school, doubling as Digital Access Nodes for the community, hosts computing infrastructure in a serv-ers/thin clients configuration. Two schools belonging to the Broadband Island are then connected to the Internet with whatever technique makes sense within that specific geographical area: VSAT, microwave link, fibre etc. Each Broadband Island can be provisioned and support-ed by a variety of independent entities (such as Municipalities, Educa-tion Districts, NGOs, local action groups etc), possibly combined in con-sortia and in some cases using a Public Private Partnership format.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Community-based natural resource use and management of Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary, Uganda, for livelihood benefits
- Authors: Gosling, Amanda , Shackleton, Charlie M , Gambiza, James
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60844 , vital:27839 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-017-9546-y
- Description: publisher version , Conservation and sustainable management of wetlands requires participation of local stakeholders, including communities. The Bigodi Wetland is unusual because it is situated in a common property landscape but the local community has been running a successful community-based natural resource management programme (CBNRM) for the wetland for over a decade. Whilst external visitors to the wetland provide ecotourism revenues we sought to quantify community benefits through the use of wetland goods such as firewood, plant fibres, and the like, and costs associated with wild animals damaging farming activities. We interviewed 68 households living close to the wetland and valued their cash and non-cash incomes from farming and collection of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and water. The majority of households collected a wide variety of plant and fish resources and water from the wetland for household use and livestock. Overall, 53% of total household cash and non-cash income was from collected products, mostly the wetland, 28% from arable agriculture, 12% from livestock and 7% from employment and cash transfers. Female-headed households had lower incomes than male-headed ones, and with a greater reliance on NTFPs. Annual losses due to wildlife damage were estimated at 4.2% of total gross income. Most respondents felt that the wetland was important for their livelihoods, with more than 80% identifying health, education, craft materials and firewood as key benefits. Ninety-five percent felt that the wetland was in a good condition and that most residents observed the agreed CBNRM rules regarding use of the wetland. This study confirms the success of the locally run CBNRM processes underlying the significant role that the wetland plays in local livelihoods.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Comparing the fish assemblages and food web structures of large floodplain rivers
- Authors: Taylor, Geraldine C , Weyl, Olaf L F , Hill, Jaclyn M , Peel, Richard A , Hay, Clinton J
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68961 , vital:29343 , https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.13032
- Description: The Upper Zambezi, Kavango and Kwando are large floodplain rivers with substantial biodiversity, providing water and ecosystem services to a large tract of southern Africa. These rivers differ in hydrological regime. The Upper Zambezi and Kavango rivers are in flood for 4 months (March, April, May, June) while, in the Kwando River, floods are later and last for 1–2 months in July and August. The Upper Zambezi River has the largest annual flood pulse, followed by the Kavango River, while the Kwando River experiences small and unreliable floods. During years of exceptional flooding of the Upper Zambezi and Kavango rivers, the rivers are interconnected at peak flows and therefore share a common ichthyofauna. This provided a natural experiment to investigate the responses of fish communities comprised of the same species to differing flood regimes by comparing the fish assemblages and food‐web structures between rivers.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Comprehensive kinetic analysis of thermoluminescence peaks of α-Al2O3: C, Mg
- Authors: Kalita, Jitumani M , Chithambo, Makaiko L
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/116142 , vital:34323 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlumin.2017.01.003
- Description: A comprehensive kinetic analysis of the glow peaks in α-Al2O3:C,Mg is reported. A thermoluminescence glow curve measured at 1 °C/s after beta irradiation to 1 Gy shows a high intensity peak hereafter referred to as the main peak at 161 °C and six lower intensity secondary peaks at 42, 72, 193, 279, 330, 370 °C respectively. For ease of reference, the secondary peaks are labelled as I, II, IV, V, VI and VII respectively and the main peak denoted peak III. Kinetic analysis of the glow peaks has been carried out using the initial rise, whole glow peak, peak shape, variable heating rate and glow curve deconvolution methods as well as by way of phosphorescence. Using Tm-Tstop, Tm-dose and phosphorescence analyses, the order of kinetics of the peaks has been evaluated as first order. Analysis by the peak shape, whole glow peak and deconvolution methods produce the same conclusion. The activation energy of peaks I through VII are calculated as ~0.83, 0.96, 1.37, 1.20, 1.15, 1.61 and 1.94 eV respectively. The frequency factors for all the peaks are of the order of 109 to 1014 s−1. The question of thermal quenching affecting the peaks was considered. The peaks III, IV and V, the only ones that could be conveniently studied in this regard, were found to be affected by thermal quenching. The activation energy for thermal quenching was calculated for peak III as 0.96±0.03 eV, for peak VI as 0.95±0.07 eV and for peak V as 1.26±0.08 eV. The thermal quenching phenomenon has been discussed with reference to F+ and F centres. An energy band model has been developed to discuss the luminescence mechanisms in α-Al2O3:C,Mg in light of finding in this work.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Conceptualising knowledge for access in the sciences: academic development from a social realist perspective
- Authors: Ellery, Karen
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59863 , vital:27671 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-016-0085-x
- Description: Whilst arguing from a social realist perspective that knowledge matters in academic development (AD) curricula, this paper addresses the question of what knowledge types and practices are necessary for enabling epistemological access. It presents a single, in-depth, qualitative case study in which the curriculum of a science AD course is characterised using Legitimation Code Theory (LCT). Analysis of the course curriculum reveals legitimation of four main categories of knowledge types along a continuum of stronger to weaker epistemic relations: disciplinary knowledge, scientific literacies knowledge, general academic practices knowledge and everyday knowledge. These categories are ‘mapped’ onto an LCT(Semantics)(how meaning relates to both context and empirical referents) topological plane to reveal a curriculum that operates in three distinct but interrelated spaces by facing towards both the field of science and the practice of academia. It is argued that this empirically derived differentiated curriculum framework offers a conceptual means for considering the notion of access to ‘powerful’ knowledge in a range of AD and mainstream contexts.
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- Date Issued: 2017