Formulation, development and evaluation of lipid nanocarriers for minocycline hydrochloride
- Authors: Ranchhod, Janeeta
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/65234 , vital:28712
- Description: Expected release date-May 2019
- Full Text:
- Authors: Ranchhod, Janeeta
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/65234 , vital:28712
- Description: Expected release date-May 2019
- Full Text:
Fraction-specific geochemistry across the Asbestos Hills BIF of the Transvaal Supergroup, South Africa: implications for the origin of BIF and the history of atmospheric oxygen
- Oonk, Paul Bernardus Hendrikus
- Authors: Oonk, Paul Bernardus Hendrikus
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/50721 , vital:26021
- Description: Banded iron formations (BIF), deposited prior to and concurrent with the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) at ca. 2.4 Ga, record changes in oceanic and atmospheric chemistry during this critical time interval. Four previously unstudied drill-cores from the Griqualand West Basin, South Africa, capturing the rhythmically mesobanded, deep-water Kuruman BIF and the overlying granular, shallower Griquatown BIF, were sampled every ca. 10 m along core depth. Mineralogically, these BIFs consist of three iron-bearing fractions: (1) Fe-Ca-Mg-Mn carbonates, (2) magnetite with/without minor hematite and (3) Fe-silicates. These fractions are typically fine-grained on a sub-μm scale and their co-occurrence in varying amounts means that bulk-rock or microanalytical geochemical and stable isotope data are influenced by mineralogy.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Oonk, Paul Bernardus Hendrikus
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/50721 , vital:26021
- Description: Banded iron formations (BIF), deposited prior to and concurrent with the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) at ca. 2.4 Ga, record changes in oceanic and atmospheric chemistry during this critical time interval. Four previously unstudied drill-cores from the Griqualand West Basin, South Africa, capturing the rhythmically mesobanded, deep-water Kuruman BIF and the overlying granular, shallower Griquatown BIF, were sampled every ca. 10 m along core depth. Mineralogically, these BIFs consist of three iron-bearing fractions: (1) Fe-Ca-Mg-Mn carbonates, (2) magnetite with/without minor hematite and (3) Fe-silicates. These fractions are typically fine-grained on a sub-μm scale and their co-occurrence in varying amounts means that bulk-rock or microanalytical geochemical and stable isotope data are influenced by mineralogy.
- Full Text:
From dialect to ‘official’ language: towards the intellectualisation of Ndau in Zimbabwe
- Authors: Sithole, Emmanuel
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6086 , vital:21030
- Full Text:
- Authors: Sithole, Emmanuel
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6086 , vital:21030
- Full Text:
Garnishee orders as a tax collection tool: a critical review of the South African and Zimbabwean models
- Authors: Nzombe, Kudzanayi
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/8082 , vital:21352
- Description: Taxation statues of most jurisdictions contain provisions that deal with defaulting taxpayers. The taxation statutes of Zimbabwe and South Africa have employed the concept of garnishee orders as a method of recovering tax. This method is codified in the respective taxation statutes under the guise of “third party appointments”, or simply “appointment of an agent”. This method is very convenient and expeditious for the tax collection authorities, namely, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) and the South Africa Revenue Service (SARS). Other jurisdictions have also employed this method, with varying degrees of invasiveness into the taxpayers’ constitutional rights. The concept of garnishee orders can have negative constitutional implications for the taxpayers in both Zimbabwe and South Africa. In Zimbabwe, compared to South Africa, the tax collection field is not as developed in terms of jurisprudence and the legislation. There are lessons that Zimbabwe could learn from South Africa, considering that the latter has experienced more than two decades of constitutional democracy. Therefore, in order to identify areas for development, the two jurisdictions are critically reviewed, with particular attention to the legislative provisions and case law dealing with garnishee orders in the tax collection context. Approaches employed by other countries in relation to similar concepts and provisions are also analysed. The lessons learned from this analysis could suggest a less invasive method of recovering tax from defaulting taxpayers and an approach to be followed by the tax authorities, ZIMRA and SARS that would allow them to fulfil their responsibilities and mandate with taxpayer-friendly measures.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Nzombe, Kudzanayi
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/8082 , vital:21352
- Description: Taxation statues of most jurisdictions contain provisions that deal with defaulting taxpayers. The taxation statutes of Zimbabwe and South Africa have employed the concept of garnishee orders as a method of recovering tax. This method is codified in the respective taxation statutes under the guise of “third party appointments”, or simply “appointment of an agent”. This method is very convenient and expeditious for the tax collection authorities, namely, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) and the South Africa Revenue Service (SARS). Other jurisdictions have also employed this method, with varying degrees of invasiveness into the taxpayers’ constitutional rights. The concept of garnishee orders can have negative constitutional implications for the taxpayers in both Zimbabwe and South Africa. In Zimbabwe, compared to South Africa, the tax collection field is not as developed in terms of jurisprudence and the legislation. There are lessons that Zimbabwe could learn from South Africa, considering that the latter has experienced more than two decades of constitutional democracy. Therefore, in order to identify areas for development, the two jurisdictions are critically reviewed, with particular attention to the legislative provisions and case law dealing with garnishee orders in the tax collection context. Approaches employed by other countries in relation to similar concepts and provisions are also analysed. The lessons learned from this analysis could suggest a less invasive method of recovering tax from defaulting taxpayers and an approach to be followed by the tax authorities, ZIMRA and SARS that would allow them to fulfil their responsibilities and mandate with taxpayer-friendly measures.
- Full Text:
Generating shared interpretive resources in the mathematics classroom: using philosophy of mathematics to teach mathematics better
- Authors: De Lange, Laura
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching , Mathematics -- Philosophy
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4293 , vital:20645
- Description: Every student has a unique mathematical lived experience: a unique amalgamation of ideas about mathematics, exposure to mathematical concepts and feelings about mathematics. A student's unique set of circumstances means that not every explanatory account of mathematics will cohere with her previous experiences. For an explanation to have explanatory potential, it must provide an account which coheres with the other beliefs a student has about mathematics. If an explanation has no such coherence, it will not be recognisable as an explanation of the phenomenon of mathematics for the student. Our explanatory accounts of mathematics and mathematical knowledge are our philosophies of mathematics. Different philosophies of mathematics will better explain different sets of mathematical lived experiences. In this thesis I will argue that students should be exposed to a multiplicity of philosophies of mathematics so that they can endorse the philosophy of mathematics which has the most explanatory potential for their particular set of mathematical lived experiences. I argue that this will improve student understanding of mathematics. The claims inherent in any given philosophy of mathematics, when combined with other stereotypes or prejudices, can work to unjustly exclude members of subordinated groups, such as poor, black or female students, from mathematical participation. If we want to avoid reinforcing and reinscribing prejudicial claims about people in the mathematics classroom, we need to be aware of how a certain philosophy of mathematics can exclude certain students. In this thesis I will be defending the idea that, as mathematics educators, we should diversify the way we see mathematics so that we decrease this exclusion from mathematics. In order to diversify the way in which we see mathematics so as to decrease unjust exclusion, members of subordinated groups should be encouraged to share their mathematical experiences in a space sensitive to the power dynamics present in the mathematics classroom. These accounts can then be combined with existing philosophies of mathematics to create new ways of making sense of mathematics which do not unjustly exclude members of subordinated groups.
- Full Text:
- Authors: De Lange, Laura
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching , Mathematics -- Philosophy
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4293 , vital:20645
- Description: Every student has a unique mathematical lived experience: a unique amalgamation of ideas about mathematics, exposure to mathematical concepts and feelings about mathematics. A student's unique set of circumstances means that not every explanatory account of mathematics will cohere with her previous experiences. For an explanation to have explanatory potential, it must provide an account which coheres with the other beliefs a student has about mathematics. If an explanation has no such coherence, it will not be recognisable as an explanation of the phenomenon of mathematics for the student. Our explanatory accounts of mathematics and mathematical knowledge are our philosophies of mathematics. Different philosophies of mathematics will better explain different sets of mathematical lived experiences. In this thesis I will argue that students should be exposed to a multiplicity of philosophies of mathematics so that they can endorse the philosophy of mathematics which has the most explanatory potential for their particular set of mathematical lived experiences. I argue that this will improve student understanding of mathematics. The claims inherent in any given philosophy of mathematics, when combined with other stereotypes or prejudices, can work to unjustly exclude members of subordinated groups, such as poor, black or female students, from mathematical participation. If we want to avoid reinforcing and reinscribing prejudicial claims about people in the mathematics classroom, we need to be aware of how a certain philosophy of mathematics can exclude certain students. In this thesis I will be defending the idea that, as mathematics educators, we should diversify the way we see mathematics so that we decrease this exclusion from mathematics. In order to diversify the way in which we see mathematics so as to decrease unjust exclusion, members of subordinated groups should be encouraged to share their mathematical experiences in a space sensitive to the power dynamics present in the mathematics classroom. These accounts can then be combined with existing philosophies of mathematics to create new ways of making sense of mathematics which do not unjustly exclude members of subordinated groups.
- Full Text:
Genetic diversity, evolutionary relationships and conservation of southern African Labeo fishes in relation to water management
- Authors: Ramoejane, Mpho
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5209 , vital:20786
- Description: Labeo spp. are large, herbivorous fishes that are important components of aquatic ecosystems and are a high conservation priority in South Africa. This thesis contributes to determination of conservation priorities for Labeo umbratus (Smith 1841) by resolving the taxonomic status of this species in the evolutionary context of southern African Labeo spp., assessing the presence of unique lineages in historically isolated river basins, and assessing the threat of intra- and interspecific hybridisation associated with introductions. Phylogenetic analyses of five DNA sequence data sets (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene [COI], cytochrome b gene [Cyt b], Recombination activating gene 1 [Rag1], COI+Rag1 and COI+Cyt b+Rag1) showed that the Labeo umbratus group (sensu Reid, 1985), which comprises the species Labeo umbratus, Labeo capensis (Smith 1841), Labeo seeberi Gilchrist and Thompson 1911 and Labeo rubromaculatus Gilchrist and Thompson 1913, is monophyletic, morphologically distinct and geographically disjunct from other African Labeo spp. groups except in the Tugela River system were L. rubromaculatus co-occurs with Labeo molybdinus Du Plessis 1963. Phylogeographic analysis of mitochondrial DNA (Cyt b) sequence data demonstrated that the populations of the L. umbratus from the Orange and the southward-flowing river systems are reciprocally monophyletic and were identified as evolutionary significant units. The populations in the southward-flowing river systems were further divided into southwestern (Gourits and Gamtoos) and southeastern (Sundays, Bushmans, Great Fish, Keiskamma, Buffalo and Nahoon) polyp hyletic sublineages. Four management units (Gourits Basin; Gamtoos Basin; Sundays+Bushmans+Great Fish River Basins; and Keiskamma+Buffalo+Nahoon River Basin) were not reciprocally monophyletic but were proposed on the basis of containing unique haplotype frequencies for conservation purposes. To evaluate the threat of hybridisation to the genetic integrity of L. umbratus, the occurrence of Labeo umbratus x L. capensis hybrids was investigated using mtDNA Cyt b and nDNA S7 intron sequence data and morphological data. Genetic evidence for interspecific hybridisation was detected for populations in two impoundments, Hardap Dam (Orange River Basin) and Darlington Dam (Sundays River Basin, Eastern Cape, South Africa). Some putative hybrids were identifiable morphologically on account of intermediacy between the parental species in meristic and morphometric characters. Translocation via direct stocking (Hardap Dam) or via an inter-basin water transfer scheme (Darlington Dam) was identified as a driver for hybridisation. Introductions associated with an inter-basin water transfer scheme has resulted in introgression between the previously isolated Orange River and southern lineages of L. umbratus. Further translocation of fish from these affected areas to non-contaminated river systems and impoundments such as Kat River (Great Fish River) and Slagboom (Sundays River) should be avoided.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Ramoejane, Mpho
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5209 , vital:20786
- Description: Labeo spp. are large, herbivorous fishes that are important components of aquatic ecosystems and are a high conservation priority in South Africa. This thesis contributes to determination of conservation priorities for Labeo umbratus (Smith 1841) by resolving the taxonomic status of this species in the evolutionary context of southern African Labeo spp., assessing the presence of unique lineages in historically isolated river basins, and assessing the threat of intra- and interspecific hybridisation associated with introductions. Phylogenetic analyses of five DNA sequence data sets (cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene [COI], cytochrome b gene [Cyt b], Recombination activating gene 1 [Rag1], COI+Rag1 and COI+Cyt b+Rag1) showed that the Labeo umbratus group (sensu Reid, 1985), which comprises the species Labeo umbratus, Labeo capensis (Smith 1841), Labeo seeberi Gilchrist and Thompson 1911 and Labeo rubromaculatus Gilchrist and Thompson 1913, is monophyletic, morphologically distinct and geographically disjunct from other African Labeo spp. groups except in the Tugela River system were L. rubromaculatus co-occurs with Labeo molybdinus Du Plessis 1963. Phylogeographic analysis of mitochondrial DNA (Cyt b) sequence data demonstrated that the populations of the L. umbratus from the Orange and the southward-flowing river systems are reciprocally monophyletic and were identified as evolutionary significant units. The populations in the southward-flowing river systems were further divided into southwestern (Gourits and Gamtoos) and southeastern (Sundays, Bushmans, Great Fish, Keiskamma, Buffalo and Nahoon) polyp hyletic sublineages. Four management units (Gourits Basin; Gamtoos Basin; Sundays+Bushmans+Great Fish River Basins; and Keiskamma+Buffalo+Nahoon River Basin) were not reciprocally monophyletic but were proposed on the basis of containing unique haplotype frequencies for conservation purposes. To evaluate the threat of hybridisation to the genetic integrity of L. umbratus, the occurrence of Labeo umbratus x L. capensis hybrids was investigated using mtDNA Cyt b and nDNA S7 intron sequence data and morphological data. Genetic evidence for interspecific hybridisation was detected for populations in two impoundments, Hardap Dam (Orange River Basin) and Darlington Dam (Sundays River Basin, Eastern Cape, South Africa). Some putative hybrids were identifiable morphologically on account of intermediacy between the parental species in meristic and morphometric characters. Translocation via direct stocking (Hardap Dam) or via an inter-basin water transfer scheme (Darlington Dam) was identified as a driver for hybridisation. Introductions associated with an inter-basin water transfer scheme has resulted in introgression between the previously isolated Orange River and southern lineages of L. umbratus. Further translocation of fish from these affected areas to non-contaminated river systems and impoundments such as Kat River (Great Fish River) and Slagboom (Sundays River) should be avoided.
- Full Text:
Geomorphological connectivity and sensitivity examined in a recently degraded gravel-bed stream: implications for river-floodplain rehabilitation
- Authors: Powell, Rebecca
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/53722 , vital:26313
- Description: The study of river complexity and sensitivity to future human land-use activities and climate change is a fast growing field within the discipline of fluvial geomorphology. Associated with this is a need to improve river rehabilitation and catchment management approach, design and effectiveness. This study aimed to investigate drivers of the recent geomorphological sensitivity of the Baviaanskloof River-floodplain, an upland system in South Africa, by integrating the concepts of geomorphological connectivity and Panarchy. The understanding generated was used to evaluate the approach of the State agency, Working for Wetlands (WfWet), to river-floodplain rehabilitation in the catchment.The concepts of geomorphological connectivity and Panarchy provide useful frameworks for understanding interactions between geomorphological processes and structure across scales of space and time. Geomorphological connectivity explains the degree to which water and sediment is linked in a river landscape, determined by the distribution of erosional and depositional landforms (Brierley et al. 2006; Fryirs et al. 2007a; Fryirs et al. 2007b). Panarchy attempts to explain lagged response to disturbances, non-linear interactions, and sudden shifts in system state, and has been applied largely to ecological systems. Panarchy theory, when combined with the concept of geomorphological connectivity, provides a guiding framework for understanding river complexity in greater depth. The first results chapter of this study investigated river long-term and recent geomorphological history, towards understanding the nature and timing of river geomorphological cycling between erosion and deposition. Optically Stimulated Luminescence dating of alluvial fan and floodplain sedimentary units was conducted, for analysis of river-floodplain long-term history (100s to 1 000s of years). Interviews with 11 local landowners, combined with analysis of historic aerial imagery and river-floodplain topographic surveys, provided a means of describing recent (last few decades) geomorphological dynamics. The results indicated that the Baviaanskloof is naturally a cut- and-fill landscape over scales of several hundred to thousands of years, characterized by the alternation between phases of high fluvial energy and alluvial fan expansion, and low energy conditions associated with floodplain accretion. Recent and widespread river-floodplain degradation was compressed into a short period of approximately 30 years, suggesting that one or more drivers have pushed the system beyond a threshold, resulting in increased water and sediment connectivity. The second results chapter investigated the role of human land-use activities and flooding frequency and magnitude, as drivers of recent river-floodplain degradation. Human impacts were investigated by describing land-use activities for the preceding 80 years, and relating these activities to changes in river-floodplain form and behavior. Temporal trends in flood events of different frequency and magnitude were investigated by analyzing rainfall data, integrated with landowner reports of flood-inducing rainfall magnitudes. The findings indicated that human land-use activities have been an important driver of recent river- floodplain degradation, through the enhancement of water and sediment connectivity across spatial scales of the catchment. Episodic and high magnitude floods synergized with human driven increased connectivity, precipitating stream power and geomorphological threshold breaches, resulting in a shift in river behaviour. The third results chapter investigated the influence of tributary-junction streams and fans on the geomorphological form, behavior and sensitivity of the Baviaanskloof River. Local- scale topographic impacts of tributary fans and streams were described using topographic surveys and geomorphological mapping techniques. Tributary streams form a major control on the behaviour of the river, by influencing the degree of coarse sediment connectivity with the main channel. Although tributary fans buffer the river from disturbances occurring in the wider catchment, they initiate topographic variations along the floodplain, influencing local-scale patterns of deposition and erosion along the river. The main river responds to water and sediment inputs from tributary junction streams by locally adjusting longitudinal slope, maintaining an overall constant slope of 0.0066 m/m. The response of the Baviaanskloof River to tributary junction fans and streams is however variable, and is fashioned by complex interactions between geomorphological and anthropogenic factors. The final two chapters of the thesis evaluate the findings of the study within the context of river-floodplain rehabilitation approaches in South Africa, and within the theoretical, philosophical and methodological context of the research. The first of these two chapters evaluates the approach of the WfWet programme to river-floodplain rehabilitation in the Baviaanskloof. The chapter indicates that the present practice of WfWet is to reinstate a pre-degradation state, which is not suited to the Baviaanskloof River-floodplain, since the river-floodplain has passed a geomorphological threshold, resulting in a new set of interacting processes and landforms. The author presents a conceptual model illustrating the existence of geomorphological adaptive cycles interacting across spatial and temporal scales, thereby attempting to explain a river Panarchy specific to the Baviaanskloof. From this conceptual model, a hierarchical rehabilitation framework, targeting geomorphological processes and structure situated at different spatial and temporal scales of the landscape is suggested. The final chapter discusses the implications of integrating the concepts of geomorphological connectivity and river Panarchy theory in studies of river complexity and sensitivity to geomorphological change. The author suggests that there is scope for further investigation of the application of the two concepts within the discipline of fluvial geomorphology, particularly with regard to developing quantitative approaches to measuring and describing connectivity and Panarchy.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Powell, Rebecca
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/53722 , vital:26313
- Description: The study of river complexity and sensitivity to future human land-use activities and climate change is a fast growing field within the discipline of fluvial geomorphology. Associated with this is a need to improve river rehabilitation and catchment management approach, design and effectiveness. This study aimed to investigate drivers of the recent geomorphological sensitivity of the Baviaanskloof River-floodplain, an upland system in South Africa, by integrating the concepts of geomorphological connectivity and Panarchy. The understanding generated was used to evaluate the approach of the State agency, Working for Wetlands (WfWet), to river-floodplain rehabilitation in the catchment.The concepts of geomorphological connectivity and Panarchy provide useful frameworks for understanding interactions between geomorphological processes and structure across scales of space and time. Geomorphological connectivity explains the degree to which water and sediment is linked in a river landscape, determined by the distribution of erosional and depositional landforms (Brierley et al. 2006; Fryirs et al. 2007a; Fryirs et al. 2007b). Panarchy attempts to explain lagged response to disturbances, non-linear interactions, and sudden shifts in system state, and has been applied largely to ecological systems. Panarchy theory, when combined with the concept of geomorphological connectivity, provides a guiding framework for understanding river complexity in greater depth. The first results chapter of this study investigated river long-term and recent geomorphological history, towards understanding the nature and timing of river geomorphological cycling between erosion and deposition. Optically Stimulated Luminescence dating of alluvial fan and floodplain sedimentary units was conducted, for analysis of river-floodplain long-term history (100s to 1 000s of years). Interviews with 11 local landowners, combined with analysis of historic aerial imagery and river-floodplain topographic surveys, provided a means of describing recent (last few decades) geomorphological dynamics. The results indicated that the Baviaanskloof is naturally a cut- and-fill landscape over scales of several hundred to thousands of years, characterized by the alternation between phases of high fluvial energy and alluvial fan expansion, and low energy conditions associated with floodplain accretion. Recent and widespread river-floodplain degradation was compressed into a short period of approximately 30 years, suggesting that one or more drivers have pushed the system beyond a threshold, resulting in increased water and sediment connectivity. The second results chapter investigated the role of human land-use activities and flooding frequency and magnitude, as drivers of recent river-floodplain degradation. Human impacts were investigated by describing land-use activities for the preceding 80 years, and relating these activities to changes in river-floodplain form and behavior. Temporal trends in flood events of different frequency and magnitude were investigated by analyzing rainfall data, integrated with landowner reports of flood-inducing rainfall magnitudes. The findings indicated that human land-use activities have been an important driver of recent river- floodplain degradation, through the enhancement of water and sediment connectivity across spatial scales of the catchment. Episodic and high magnitude floods synergized with human driven increased connectivity, precipitating stream power and geomorphological threshold breaches, resulting in a shift in river behaviour. The third results chapter investigated the influence of tributary-junction streams and fans on the geomorphological form, behavior and sensitivity of the Baviaanskloof River. Local- scale topographic impacts of tributary fans and streams were described using topographic surveys and geomorphological mapping techniques. Tributary streams form a major control on the behaviour of the river, by influencing the degree of coarse sediment connectivity with the main channel. Although tributary fans buffer the river from disturbances occurring in the wider catchment, they initiate topographic variations along the floodplain, influencing local-scale patterns of deposition and erosion along the river. The main river responds to water and sediment inputs from tributary junction streams by locally adjusting longitudinal slope, maintaining an overall constant slope of 0.0066 m/m. The response of the Baviaanskloof River to tributary junction fans and streams is however variable, and is fashioned by complex interactions between geomorphological and anthropogenic factors. The final two chapters of the thesis evaluate the findings of the study within the context of river-floodplain rehabilitation approaches in South Africa, and within the theoretical, philosophical and methodological context of the research. The first of these two chapters evaluates the approach of the WfWet programme to river-floodplain rehabilitation in the Baviaanskloof. The chapter indicates that the present practice of WfWet is to reinstate a pre-degradation state, which is not suited to the Baviaanskloof River-floodplain, since the river-floodplain has passed a geomorphological threshold, resulting in a new set of interacting processes and landforms. The author presents a conceptual model illustrating the existence of geomorphological adaptive cycles interacting across spatial and temporal scales, thereby attempting to explain a river Panarchy specific to the Baviaanskloof. From this conceptual model, a hierarchical rehabilitation framework, targeting geomorphological processes and structure situated at different spatial and temporal scales of the landscape is suggested. The final chapter discusses the implications of integrating the concepts of geomorphological connectivity and river Panarchy theory in studies of river complexity and sensitivity to geomorphological change. The author suggests that there is scope for further investigation of the application of the two concepts within the discipline of fluvial geomorphology, particularly with regard to developing quantitative approaches to measuring and describing connectivity and Panarchy.
- Full Text:
Happiness is somebody’s name
- Authors: Jijana, Thabo
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) South Africa , South African fiction (English) 21st century , Short stories, South African (English) 21st century
- Language: English , Xhosa
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7268 , vital:21237
- Description: This collection of loosely interlinked short stories is a “book of imaginary beings”. It draws its influence from amaXhosa history, religion and mythology. Written in a fluid blend of isiXhosa and English, the stories make use of innovative forms and an inventive, pared-down language to create new and strange perspectives on our past, present and future. Ranging in length from brief mini-sagas to longer vignettes, the collection touches on such diverse subjects as the lore and superstitions surrounding the mythical being of tokoloshe, sorcery in the black community, and other fantastical elements of amaXhosa folklore. Literary influences include the Syrian writer Osama Olamar, whose writing about inanimate and everyday objects is both interesting and rare; Amos Tutuola, whose appropriation of Yoruba mythology I have learned much from; the Argentinian writer Julio Cortazar who has the facility to articulate the fantastical in a straightforward narrative; and Taban Lo Liyong, the Ugandan writer, whose fabulist work has served as stimulus for many of these stories.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Jijana, Thabo
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) South Africa , South African fiction (English) 21st century , Short stories, South African (English) 21st century
- Language: English , Xhosa
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7268 , vital:21237
- Description: This collection of loosely interlinked short stories is a “book of imaginary beings”. It draws its influence from amaXhosa history, religion and mythology. Written in a fluid blend of isiXhosa and English, the stories make use of innovative forms and an inventive, pared-down language to create new and strange perspectives on our past, present and future. Ranging in length from brief mini-sagas to longer vignettes, the collection touches on such diverse subjects as the lore and superstitions surrounding the mythical being of tokoloshe, sorcery in the black community, and other fantastical elements of amaXhosa folklore. Literary influences include the Syrian writer Osama Olamar, whose writing about inanimate and everyday objects is both interesting and rare; Amos Tutuola, whose appropriation of Yoruba mythology I have learned much from; the Argentinian writer Julio Cortazar who has the facility to articulate the fantastical in a straightforward narrative; and Taban Lo Liyong, the Ugandan writer, whose fabulist work has served as stimulus for many of these stories.
- Full Text:
Health promotion: approaches to dietary salt reduction
- Authors: Mushoriwa, Fadzai
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPharm
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/44761 , vital:25439
- Description: Background Globally, non-communicable diseases are the leading causes of mortality and morbidity, with the majority of these occurring in low-middle income countries. The devastating consequences of non-communicable diseases could be curtailed through better management of four modifiable factors: physical inactivity; tobacco use; harmful use of alcohol; and unhealthy diets. The World Health Organisation has recommended dietary salt reduction as a cost-effective strategy in combatting the burden of NCDs. Consumer awareness and education is one of three primary strategies that have been identified by the World Health Organisation to achieve population-wide salt reduction. It involves the provision of salt reduction knowledge and the promotion of healthy salt related practices. These campaigns are a necessity in populations with high discretionary salt use such as South Africa. For these health promotion activities to succeed, they need to be developed with consideration of factors such as the environment, culture, and socio-economic standing of the intended target population. This two-phase health promotion study was conducted at St Mary’s Development and Care Centre and the Assumption Sisters Nutrition Centre. These are two community based organisations located in Grahamstown, South Africa. A needs assessment was conducted to identify the knowledge and practices of cooks and guardians from these centres on dietary salt reduction. The aim of the second phase of the study was to conduct an educational intervention and to develop a culturally appropriate and contextually specific health information intervention through a participatory process. Method: This was a qualitative study that was supported by elements of quantitative research.. The first phase of the current study was a needs assessment. The first step involved an observational phase with cooks from the centres. The aim was to observe their discretionary salt use during food preparation and to document the salt content in the processed foods available at each centre. Semi-structured interviews were then conducted, with 3 cooks and 16 guardians1 from the centres, to assess their knowledge and practices regarding salt reduction.Parents or the people responsible for the care of the children attending both centres. Guided by findings from the needs assessment phase, an educational intervention was developed. This phase involved the participatory development of three health information leaflets and a series of educational interactive sessions were conducted. Quantitative tests to assess the readability, suitability, and actionability were conducted on the leaflets. Qualitative assessment of the leaflets involved formative evaluations conducted by health care professionals, phase 1 participants, Rhodes University peer educators, an African languages and cultural expert, and a Rhodes University student wellness manager. This step was included to assess the content validity, context specificity, acceptability, and cultural appropriateness of the materials. Educational interactive sessions were guided by constructs of the Social Cognitive Theory and were conducted on three main topics: ‘Salt and my health’, ‘Reducing salt in my diet’, and ‘Reading food labels’. Results: The majority of the processed foods available at both centres contained low to medium levels of salt. Children at the centres were not provided with salt shakers on the tables during meal times. Cooks did not use measuring utensils when adding salt during meal preparation. Semistructured interviews revealed that participants lacked both declarative and procedural knowledge. In terms of declarative knowledge, they were unaware of the daily salt intake recommendations and the relationship between salt and sodium. Participants were able to identify hypertension as one of the health related consequences of high salt consumption. Most participants were responsible for purchasing groceries in their households. Their selfreported food label reading behaviours and inability to read food labels highlighted their lack of procedural knowledge. Most participants reported that they added salt during meal preparation and at mealtimes, highlighting high discretionary salt use. Some participants were also aware of cultural or religious uses of salt. The developed health information leaflets were considered to be written at a readability level appropriate for the target audience. The leaflets were also deemed to be actionable, culturally appropriate, and contextually specific and suitable materials. The educational interactive sessions were found to be interesting and informative. Conclusions: Findings from the needs assessment revealed the need for an educational intervention to address the identified gaps in the participants’ knowledge and practices regarding dietary salt reduction. The developed health information leaflets were found to be informative, culturally appropriate, and contextually specific, as planned. Interactive sessions provided an excellent platform to supply participants with concise and accurate information, increasing the possibility of improving their salt reduction related knowledge.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mushoriwa, Fadzai
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPharm
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/44761 , vital:25439
- Description: Background Globally, non-communicable diseases are the leading causes of mortality and morbidity, with the majority of these occurring in low-middle income countries. The devastating consequences of non-communicable diseases could be curtailed through better management of four modifiable factors: physical inactivity; tobacco use; harmful use of alcohol; and unhealthy diets. The World Health Organisation has recommended dietary salt reduction as a cost-effective strategy in combatting the burden of NCDs. Consumer awareness and education is one of three primary strategies that have been identified by the World Health Organisation to achieve population-wide salt reduction. It involves the provision of salt reduction knowledge and the promotion of healthy salt related practices. These campaigns are a necessity in populations with high discretionary salt use such as South Africa. For these health promotion activities to succeed, they need to be developed with consideration of factors such as the environment, culture, and socio-economic standing of the intended target population. This two-phase health promotion study was conducted at St Mary’s Development and Care Centre and the Assumption Sisters Nutrition Centre. These are two community based organisations located in Grahamstown, South Africa. A needs assessment was conducted to identify the knowledge and practices of cooks and guardians from these centres on dietary salt reduction. The aim of the second phase of the study was to conduct an educational intervention and to develop a culturally appropriate and contextually specific health information intervention through a participatory process. Method: This was a qualitative study that was supported by elements of quantitative research.. The first phase of the current study was a needs assessment. The first step involved an observational phase with cooks from the centres. The aim was to observe their discretionary salt use during food preparation and to document the salt content in the processed foods available at each centre. Semi-structured interviews were then conducted, with 3 cooks and 16 guardians1 from the centres, to assess their knowledge and practices regarding salt reduction.Parents or the people responsible for the care of the children attending both centres. Guided by findings from the needs assessment phase, an educational intervention was developed. This phase involved the participatory development of three health information leaflets and a series of educational interactive sessions were conducted. Quantitative tests to assess the readability, suitability, and actionability were conducted on the leaflets. Qualitative assessment of the leaflets involved formative evaluations conducted by health care professionals, phase 1 participants, Rhodes University peer educators, an African languages and cultural expert, and a Rhodes University student wellness manager. This step was included to assess the content validity, context specificity, acceptability, and cultural appropriateness of the materials. Educational interactive sessions were guided by constructs of the Social Cognitive Theory and were conducted on three main topics: ‘Salt and my health’, ‘Reducing salt in my diet’, and ‘Reading food labels’. Results: The majority of the processed foods available at both centres contained low to medium levels of salt. Children at the centres were not provided with salt shakers on the tables during meal times. Cooks did not use measuring utensils when adding salt during meal preparation. Semistructured interviews revealed that participants lacked both declarative and procedural knowledge. In terms of declarative knowledge, they were unaware of the daily salt intake recommendations and the relationship between salt and sodium. Participants were able to identify hypertension as one of the health related consequences of high salt consumption. Most participants were responsible for purchasing groceries in their households. Their selfreported food label reading behaviours and inability to read food labels highlighted their lack of procedural knowledge. Most participants reported that they added salt during meal preparation and at mealtimes, highlighting high discretionary salt use. Some participants were also aware of cultural or religious uses of salt. The developed health information leaflets were considered to be written at a readability level appropriate for the target audience. The leaflets were also deemed to be actionable, culturally appropriate, and contextually specific and suitable materials. The educational interactive sessions were found to be interesting and informative. Conclusions: Findings from the needs assessment revealed the need for an educational intervention to address the identified gaps in the participants’ knowledge and practices regarding dietary salt reduction. The developed health information leaflets were found to be informative, culturally appropriate, and contextually specific, as planned. Interactive sessions provided an excellent platform to supply participants with concise and accurate information, increasing the possibility of improving their salt reduction related knowledge.
- Full Text:
Hearing the citizens: inequality, access to journalists and the prospects for inclusively mediated spaces of political deliberation in South Africa
- Authors: Oelofsen, Marietjie
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/35030 , vital:24309
- Description: This study examines the extent to which material and social inequality in post-apartheid South Africa affect possibilities for poor citizens to gain access to mainstream spaces of mediated political deliberation. Access is problematized in terms of the possibilities that exist for poor citizens to ‘appear’ in these spaces as emancipated citizens with political agency. The study is motivated by a perception that South Africa’s middle-class and privileged citizens have more access to political deliberation because mainstream journalists pay more attention to their political concerns. Because mediated political deliberation provides a space for articulating the political will of citizens it is important that it reflects the multiple, and diverse range of voices that make up South Africa’s polity. If the experience of socioeconomically marginalised citizens is not registered in the same way as the experience of citizens with economic and political power, the balance of political decision-making continues to be skewed against the interests of the poor. Rather than a media-centric approach, the study centres on perceptions and views of poor citizens about their relationship with mainstream journalists. The study combines information from group interviews with citizens from Hangberg, Cape Town with 410 news reports in 18 mainstream newspapers about Hangberg citizens over a 20-year period. The interviews show that poor citizens feel largely excluded from mediated political deliberation; not because they do not appear in the news but because of how they appear in the news. The news reports confirm that mainstream journalists pay more attention to voices with political and economic power than to the voices of poor citizens. Even in news reports about Hangberg citizens, political leaders and non-governmental experts often talk about the problems in Hangberg more than the citizens of Hangberg themselves talk about these problems. Building on a relatively new scholarly interest in ‘active’ and ‘political’ listening in media studies and democratic theory (Bickford 1996, Dreher 2009, Couldry 2009, Dobson 2014, Wasserman 2013, Garman and Malila 2014), I consider listening as a constitutive element of the way in which journalists engage with poor citizens in mediated deliberative spaces. I ask whether different practices of listening can enable journalists to construct narratives that provide marginalised groups with different possibilities for equal access to, and participation in these spaces?
- Full Text:
- Authors: Oelofsen, Marietjie
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/35030 , vital:24309
- Description: This study examines the extent to which material and social inequality in post-apartheid South Africa affect possibilities for poor citizens to gain access to mainstream spaces of mediated political deliberation. Access is problematized in terms of the possibilities that exist for poor citizens to ‘appear’ in these spaces as emancipated citizens with political agency. The study is motivated by a perception that South Africa’s middle-class and privileged citizens have more access to political deliberation because mainstream journalists pay more attention to their political concerns. Because mediated political deliberation provides a space for articulating the political will of citizens it is important that it reflects the multiple, and diverse range of voices that make up South Africa’s polity. If the experience of socioeconomically marginalised citizens is not registered in the same way as the experience of citizens with economic and political power, the balance of political decision-making continues to be skewed against the interests of the poor. Rather than a media-centric approach, the study centres on perceptions and views of poor citizens about their relationship with mainstream journalists. The study combines information from group interviews with citizens from Hangberg, Cape Town with 410 news reports in 18 mainstream newspapers about Hangberg citizens over a 20-year period. The interviews show that poor citizens feel largely excluded from mediated political deliberation; not because they do not appear in the news but because of how they appear in the news. The news reports confirm that mainstream journalists pay more attention to voices with political and economic power than to the voices of poor citizens. Even in news reports about Hangberg citizens, political leaders and non-governmental experts often talk about the problems in Hangberg more than the citizens of Hangberg themselves talk about these problems. Building on a relatively new scholarly interest in ‘active’ and ‘political’ listening in media studies and democratic theory (Bickford 1996, Dreher 2009, Couldry 2009, Dobson 2014, Wasserman 2013, Garman and Malila 2014), I consider listening as a constitutive element of the way in which journalists engage with poor citizens in mediated deliberative spaces. I ask whether different practices of listening can enable journalists to construct narratives that provide marginalised groups with different possibilities for equal access to, and participation in these spaces?
- Full Text:
Help or hindrance? a critical analysis of the agreement on sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and its effects on developing countries
- Authors: Waterworth, Tayla
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7090 , vital:21216
- Description: WHILE it is accepted that the category of "developing country" is a broad one, it can nevertheless be acknowledged that the countries which fall within this categorisation share several common features. Such common features include their lack of financial resources and scientific capacity, and their reliance on trade in primary agricultural goods. The Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures was originally created to regulate trade in primary agricultural goods, and so its provisions are of great significance to developing countries. In its Preamble the Agreement acknowledges both the unique circumstances of developing countries and its desire to assist them in entering into and expanding within the international trading markets. As part of this endeavour, several provisions were included in the Agreement which purport to protect and provide for the interests of developing countries. In its inception, its Preamble, and the very nature of its content, the Agreement shows a desire to assist developing countries wherever possible. Unfortunately, a close analysis of the provisions of the Agreement shows that this desire has not been fulfilled. Many of the provisions of the Agreement are heavily skewed toward the interests of importing Members, often at the expense of developing Members - particularly those that export primary agricultural goods. Even the provisions of the Agreement which purport to provide protection and special and differential treatment specifically for developing countries frequently fall short, either as a result of ambiguous phrasing or poor textual interpretation by the dispute settlement bodies of the World Trade Organization. As a result, there exists a potential within the Agreement to have a significant detrimental impact on the international trading opportunities of exporting developing countries. In this thesis I analyse the provisions of the Agreement to determine where, why and how they are likely to have, or are having, a detrimental impact on developing countries (particularly exporting developing countries). After identifying these problems I examine and discuss several potential solutions and how they may be implemented to minimise - or even remove - the negative impact on developing countries and their international trading markets.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Waterworth, Tayla
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7090 , vital:21216
- Description: WHILE it is accepted that the category of "developing country" is a broad one, it can nevertheless be acknowledged that the countries which fall within this categorisation share several common features. Such common features include their lack of financial resources and scientific capacity, and their reliance on trade in primary agricultural goods. The Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures was originally created to regulate trade in primary agricultural goods, and so its provisions are of great significance to developing countries. In its Preamble the Agreement acknowledges both the unique circumstances of developing countries and its desire to assist them in entering into and expanding within the international trading markets. As part of this endeavour, several provisions were included in the Agreement which purport to protect and provide for the interests of developing countries. In its inception, its Preamble, and the very nature of its content, the Agreement shows a desire to assist developing countries wherever possible. Unfortunately, a close analysis of the provisions of the Agreement shows that this desire has not been fulfilled. Many of the provisions of the Agreement are heavily skewed toward the interests of importing Members, often at the expense of developing Members - particularly those that export primary agricultural goods. Even the provisions of the Agreement which purport to provide protection and special and differential treatment specifically for developing countries frequently fall short, either as a result of ambiguous phrasing or poor textual interpretation by the dispute settlement bodies of the World Trade Organization. As a result, there exists a potential within the Agreement to have a significant detrimental impact on the international trading opportunities of exporting developing countries. In this thesis I analyse the provisions of the Agreement to determine where, why and how they are likely to have, or are having, a detrimental impact on developing countries (particularly exporting developing countries). After identifying these problems I examine and discuss several potential solutions and how they may be implemented to minimise - or even remove - the negative impact on developing countries and their international trading markets.
- Full Text:
I did not die
- Authors: Mzamo, Tebello
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7246 , vital:21232
- Description: My novella is about a mine worker and his family. Set in both Lesotho and South Africa, it engages the effects of migrant labour on families in post-apartheid South Africa. Told through the eyes of the different family members, the narrative uses shifting points of view and moves fluidly through time to present an intimate but complex view of the lives of ordinary working class people. It incorporates witchcraft and ghosts to reveal the blurred lines between the realms of life and death. This collection is inspired by my own father who is a former mine worker. I am influenced by Joyce Carol Oates and Chibundu Onuzo's darkly realistic style, Veronique Tadjo’s explorations of migration and death, the family chronicles of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor. I am also inspired by female fantasy and horror writers such as those collected in Ann and Jeff VanderMeer’s anthology, Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mzamo, Tebello
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7246 , vital:21232
- Description: My novella is about a mine worker and his family. Set in both Lesotho and South Africa, it engages the effects of migrant labour on families in post-apartheid South Africa. Told through the eyes of the different family members, the narrative uses shifting points of view and moves fluidly through time to present an intimate but complex view of the lives of ordinary working class people. It incorporates witchcraft and ghosts to reveal the blurred lines between the realms of life and death. This collection is inspired by my own father who is a former mine worker. I am influenced by Joyce Carol Oates and Chibundu Onuzo's darkly realistic style, Veronique Tadjo’s explorations of migration and death, the family chronicles of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor. I am also inspired by female fantasy and horror writers such as those collected in Ann and Jeff VanderMeer’s anthology, Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology.
- Full Text:
I want to believe there is a girl here under the table
- Authors: Asfour, Fouad-Martin
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) South Africa , South African fiction (English) 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7190 , vital:21227
- Description: Written in non-linear fragments, my thesis is what Audre Lorde in her novel Zami calls a "biomythography" - the weaving together of myth, history and biography in epic narrative form, a style of composition that represents all the ways in which we perceive the world. Using repetition and shifting memories, I draw from my bicultural upbringing in Offenbach, a city in Germany populated mostly by migrants, as well as my experience of working in art and culture internationally, travelling and living in different countries. Interrogating objects, buildings, family photographs, books and movies, and listening to the silences of the unvoiced, I upset and play with experiences of othering, assumptions and expectations about identity and ask questions about home, belonging and migration, mother tongue and translation. I draw inspiration from Korean American artist Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's use of texts, documents and images to explore dislocation and memory, as well as authors who engage language, translation and belonging such as Mikhail Shishkin, Yoko Tawada, Gloria Anzaldua and Mohammed Khair-Eddine.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Asfour, Fouad-Martin
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) South Africa , South African fiction (English) 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7190 , vital:21227
- Description: Written in non-linear fragments, my thesis is what Audre Lorde in her novel Zami calls a "biomythography" - the weaving together of myth, history and biography in epic narrative form, a style of composition that represents all the ways in which we perceive the world. Using repetition and shifting memories, I draw from my bicultural upbringing in Offenbach, a city in Germany populated mostly by migrants, as well as my experience of working in art and culture internationally, travelling and living in different countries. Interrogating objects, buildings, family photographs, books and movies, and listening to the silences of the unvoiced, I upset and play with experiences of othering, assumptions and expectations about identity and ask questions about home, belonging and migration, mother tongue and translation. I draw inspiration from Korean American artist Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's use of texts, documents and images to explore dislocation and memory, as well as authors who engage language, translation and belonging such as Mikhail Shishkin, Yoko Tawada, Gloria Anzaldua and Mohammed Khair-Eddine.
- Full Text:
Identification of SNPs within the CYP2A6 enzyme of TNBC cell lines and the resulting change in activity
- Dingle, Laura Margaret Kirkpatrick
- Authors: Dingle, Laura Margaret Kirkpatrick
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64349 , vital:28536
- Description: Expected release date-May 2019
- Full Text:
- Authors: Dingle, Laura Margaret Kirkpatrick
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64349 , vital:28536
- Description: Expected release date-May 2019
- Full Text:
Identifying growth criteria and sediment movement mechanisms of needle ice using high-frequency environmental and visual monitoring
- Authors: Borg, Carl-Johan
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Frazil ice , Sediment transport , Ice mechanics , Photography -- Digital techniques , Environmental monitoring
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/17656 , vital:22268
- Description: Environmental growth conditions and mechanisms involved in sediment transport by needle ice have historically been difficult to assess and are poorly documented. The spatial and temporal dynamics that relate to the environment, growth and decay of needle ice are not fully understood. This study monitored needle ice growth, melt and visually identified sediment displacement mechanisms by needle ice, with the aim of revealing environmental growth criteria, timing of growth/melt, ground-surface-air energy balance and sediment displacement mechanisms. Furthermore, the impact of needle ice displacement on vegetation and patterned ground formation was analysed. High-frequency visual monitoring, using three cameras, supplemented by high-frequency measurements of air temperature, soil moisture and wind speed was used to investigate needle ice growth and decay dynamics. Results from visual and environmental monitoring of needle ice growth, showed that the needle ice growing environment was more dynamic, especially in terms of surface temperature, than previously argued. Needle ice growth was observed to occur during surface temperatures from -2.0°C to 2.2°C, soil moisture levels from 0.4% to 37.4% and in winds speeds of 0 m/s to 12.6 m/s. Needle ice initiation was documented a few minutes to hours before or after the onset of surface temperature dropping to below 0°C. Imagery displayed that the depth of ice nucleation was variable within the soil column, possibly relating to the energy balance of radiative cooling, convective heat loss, ground conductivity and latent heat release at the air-surface-ground boundary. Heaving and resettling, toppling and rolling were identified as slope displacement mechanisms when needle ice decayed. Animal trampling and hail were additionally documented as substantial surface altering processes. Furthermore, no impact of needle ice reducing vegetation stability was identified, although a tendency to hinder vegetation expansion was noted. Also, no creation of patterned ground was observed as a result of needle ice decay.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Borg, Carl-Johan
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Frazil ice , Sediment transport , Ice mechanics , Photography -- Digital techniques , Environmental monitoring
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/17656 , vital:22268
- Description: Environmental growth conditions and mechanisms involved in sediment transport by needle ice have historically been difficult to assess and are poorly documented. The spatial and temporal dynamics that relate to the environment, growth and decay of needle ice are not fully understood. This study monitored needle ice growth, melt and visually identified sediment displacement mechanisms by needle ice, with the aim of revealing environmental growth criteria, timing of growth/melt, ground-surface-air energy balance and sediment displacement mechanisms. Furthermore, the impact of needle ice displacement on vegetation and patterned ground formation was analysed. High-frequency visual monitoring, using three cameras, supplemented by high-frequency measurements of air temperature, soil moisture and wind speed was used to investigate needle ice growth and decay dynamics. Results from visual and environmental monitoring of needle ice growth, showed that the needle ice growing environment was more dynamic, especially in terms of surface temperature, than previously argued. Needle ice growth was observed to occur during surface temperatures from -2.0°C to 2.2°C, soil moisture levels from 0.4% to 37.4% and in winds speeds of 0 m/s to 12.6 m/s. Needle ice initiation was documented a few minutes to hours before or after the onset of surface temperature dropping to below 0°C. Imagery displayed that the depth of ice nucleation was variable within the soil column, possibly relating to the energy balance of radiative cooling, convective heat loss, ground conductivity and latent heat release at the air-surface-ground boundary. Heaving and resettling, toppling and rolling were identified as slope displacement mechanisms when needle ice decayed. Animal trampling and hail were additionally documented as substantial surface altering processes. Furthermore, no impact of needle ice reducing vegetation stability was identified, although a tendency to hinder vegetation expansion was noted. Also, no creation of patterned ground was observed as a result of needle ice decay.
- Full Text:
Implementing the annual national assessment at an ordinary public primary school in the Eastern Cape: a case study analysis
- Authors: Lascelles, Philippa Anne
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Educational tests and measurements -- South Africa , Educational tests and measurements -- South Africa -- Case studies , Education, Elementary -- South Africa , Elementary schools -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7713 , vital:21288
- Description: This empirical study describes in rich detail five teachers’ perceptions of the Annual National Assessment [ANA] at one level of the school system (Grade Three of the Foundation Phase [FP]) at an ordinary public primary school in an urban area of the Eastern Cape. Secondly, the study described the process of preparing for, implementing and assessing the 2014 ANA at the selected school. In order to generate insights for a deep understanding of how teachers perceive, prepare for and implement the ANA, the challenges that arise, and how the ANA is impacting on curriculum and pedagogy, an interpretive qualitative research approach and case study method were adopted. The researcher, a participant observer operating from an insider position, used ethnographic techniques to describe, document and analyse teachers’ perceptions and experiences of implementing the 2014 ANA tests in a specific context (one school) and at one level of the school system (Grade 3). Data gathered through observations, semi-structured interviews and document analysis were coded and analysed in order to identify emerging themes. These are compared to trends and developments in contemporary literature on educational assessment. The findings revealed that while the teachers were compliant and efficient in their implementation and administration of the ANA, they have a narrow perception of the ANA as a summative assessment serving systemic purposes. There was little, if any, evidence of them using the ANA for the formative assessment purposes intended by policy. As a result, opportunities for using the ANA to enhance teaching and learning were lost. The study illuminated the roles and responsibilities of the teachers, the school management team and Eastern Cape [EC] Department of Education [DoE] in the ANA preparation and implementation process, and the need for strengthening the support provided by the EC DoE. Although context specific, the study sheds light on how Grade 3 teachers in an ordinary public school perceive and implement the ANA. The insights afforded and lessons that can be learned from this case study may be relevant to other Foundation Phase school contexts.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Lascelles, Philippa Anne
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Educational tests and measurements -- South Africa , Educational tests and measurements -- South Africa -- Case studies , Education, Elementary -- South Africa , Elementary schools -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7713 , vital:21288
- Description: This empirical study describes in rich detail five teachers’ perceptions of the Annual National Assessment [ANA] at one level of the school system (Grade Three of the Foundation Phase [FP]) at an ordinary public primary school in an urban area of the Eastern Cape. Secondly, the study described the process of preparing for, implementing and assessing the 2014 ANA at the selected school. In order to generate insights for a deep understanding of how teachers perceive, prepare for and implement the ANA, the challenges that arise, and how the ANA is impacting on curriculum and pedagogy, an interpretive qualitative research approach and case study method were adopted. The researcher, a participant observer operating from an insider position, used ethnographic techniques to describe, document and analyse teachers’ perceptions and experiences of implementing the 2014 ANA tests in a specific context (one school) and at one level of the school system (Grade 3). Data gathered through observations, semi-structured interviews and document analysis were coded and analysed in order to identify emerging themes. These are compared to trends and developments in contemporary literature on educational assessment. The findings revealed that while the teachers were compliant and efficient in their implementation and administration of the ANA, they have a narrow perception of the ANA as a summative assessment serving systemic purposes. There was little, if any, evidence of them using the ANA for the formative assessment purposes intended by policy. As a result, opportunities for using the ANA to enhance teaching and learning were lost. The study illuminated the roles and responsibilities of the teachers, the school management team and Eastern Cape [EC] Department of Education [DoE] in the ANA preparation and implementation process, and the need for strengthening the support provided by the EC DoE. Although context specific, the study sheds light on how Grade 3 teachers in an ordinary public school perceive and implement the ANA. The insights afforded and lessons that can be learned from this case study may be relevant to other Foundation Phase school contexts.
- Full Text:
Improving the cold tolerance of false codling moth, thaumatotibia leucotreta, for better performance in a sterile insect release programme
- Authors: Daniel, Claire Ashleigh
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Cryptophlebia leucotreta -- South Africa , Cryptophlebia leucotreta -- Reproduction -- Effect of temperature on , Cryptophlebia leucotreta -- Biological control -- South Africa , Citrus -- Diseases and pests -- Biological control -- South Africa , Insect pests -- Biological control -- South Africa , Insecticides , Citrus fruit industry -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5271 , vital:20803
- Description: The false codling moth (FCM), Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is a major pest of citrus and other important crops in Sub-Saharan Africa. The introduction of a sterile insect technique (SIT) programme for FCM in South Africa has proven to be very effective in the control of FCM. The objective was to flood citrus orchards with large numbers of sterile males resulting in a ratio of at least 10 sterile to 1 wild moth, increasing the probability of a female moth mating with a sterile male. This target is often achieved and the programme is generally successful, however there are some challenges regarding this programme. The mass rearing environment, artificial diet, handling methods and irradiation have an impact on sterile insect quality as environmental differences between the rearing facility and field, influences the insect phenotype and competitiveness. This is evident as wild male moths can theoretically actively fly at a temperature of 12°C and laboratory-reared sterilized moths, due to the radiation treatment, appear unable to fly below 20°C. As a consequence, sterile males are out-competed by wild males during the cooler months of the year. This is detrimental to the SIT programme as FCM do not undergo diapause, meaning they are active during winter and will still reproduce. Therefore, to maximize the effect of the SIT programme, it is vital to increase the flight ability of mass reared sterile males at lower temperatures. Various studies have shown that by adding cryoprotectants to the basic laboratory diets increases the cold tolerance of certain insects and thus may allow them to be mobile at lower temperatures, however it imperative that any chemical used to augment the commercial diet of the insect has no negative effects on the insect physiology and development. To investigate this detail for FCM, five generations of FCM were reared on diets augmented with various known insect cryoprotectants. These augmented FCM were subsequently used in experiments designed to determine firstly, if the cryoprotectants had a positive result on the cold tolerance of the FCM, and secondly, if they had any adverse effects on other physiological aspects such as duration of development. Laboratory trials indicated that the flight ability of male FCM was improved when larvae were reared on diets augmented with trehalose and cholesterol (with an average of 40 % of cholesterol and trehalose augmented males that flew at 15 °C where 0 % of the control flew). Results obtained during the field trials support the laboratory results as there was a significant increase in the number of trehalose augmented moths caught in the field during March and July (winter). Results also showed potential for cholesterol to be used as an additive. Other important findings show that both cholesterol and trehalose have no negative impacts on developmental rate, pupal size, and egg production and viability. Trehalose was found to increase the pupal mass of male and female FCM, as well as the number of eggs laid per female. Cholesterol was found to increase developmental rate and the number of eggs laid. The main findings of this study were that diet additives could improve the massrearing of FCM for SIT and the competitiveness of the males, especially at lower temperatures. However, the additives were expensive and cost could well be a constraint to the wide scale implementation of the new technology.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Daniel, Claire Ashleigh
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Cryptophlebia leucotreta -- South Africa , Cryptophlebia leucotreta -- Reproduction -- Effect of temperature on , Cryptophlebia leucotreta -- Biological control -- South Africa , Citrus -- Diseases and pests -- Biological control -- South Africa , Insect pests -- Biological control -- South Africa , Insecticides , Citrus fruit industry -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5271 , vital:20803
- Description: The false codling moth (FCM), Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is a major pest of citrus and other important crops in Sub-Saharan Africa. The introduction of a sterile insect technique (SIT) programme for FCM in South Africa has proven to be very effective in the control of FCM. The objective was to flood citrus orchards with large numbers of sterile males resulting in a ratio of at least 10 sterile to 1 wild moth, increasing the probability of a female moth mating with a sterile male. This target is often achieved and the programme is generally successful, however there are some challenges regarding this programme. The mass rearing environment, artificial diet, handling methods and irradiation have an impact on sterile insect quality as environmental differences between the rearing facility and field, influences the insect phenotype and competitiveness. This is evident as wild male moths can theoretically actively fly at a temperature of 12°C and laboratory-reared sterilized moths, due to the radiation treatment, appear unable to fly below 20°C. As a consequence, sterile males are out-competed by wild males during the cooler months of the year. This is detrimental to the SIT programme as FCM do not undergo diapause, meaning they are active during winter and will still reproduce. Therefore, to maximize the effect of the SIT programme, it is vital to increase the flight ability of mass reared sterile males at lower temperatures. Various studies have shown that by adding cryoprotectants to the basic laboratory diets increases the cold tolerance of certain insects and thus may allow them to be mobile at lower temperatures, however it imperative that any chemical used to augment the commercial diet of the insect has no negative effects on the insect physiology and development. To investigate this detail for FCM, five generations of FCM were reared on diets augmented with various known insect cryoprotectants. These augmented FCM were subsequently used in experiments designed to determine firstly, if the cryoprotectants had a positive result on the cold tolerance of the FCM, and secondly, if they had any adverse effects on other physiological aspects such as duration of development. Laboratory trials indicated that the flight ability of male FCM was improved when larvae were reared on diets augmented with trehalose and cholesterol (with an average of 40 % of cholesterol and trehalose augmented males that flew at 15 °C where 0 % of the control flew). Results obtained during the field trials support the laboratory results as there was a significant increase in the number of trehalose augmented moths caught in the field during March and July (winter). Results also showed potential for cholesterol to be used as an additive. Other important findings show that both cholesterol and trehalose have no negative impacts on developmental rate, pupal size, and egg production and viability. Trehalose was found to increase the pupal mass of male and female FCM, as well as the number of eggs laid per female. Cholesterol was found to increase developmental rate and the number of eggs laid. The main findings of this study were that diet additives could improve the massrearing of FCM for SIT and the competitiveness of the males, especially at lower temperatures. However, the additives were expensive and cost could well be a constraint to the wide scale implementation of the new technology.
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In silico analysis of plasmodium falciparum Hsp70-x for potential binding sites and hits
- Authors: Amusengeri, Arnold
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59136 , vital:27435
- Description: Restricted access-thesis embargoed for 1 year - release date April 2019
- Full Text:
- Authors: Amusengeri, Arnold
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59136 , vital:27435
- Description: Restricted access-thesis embargoed for 1 year - release date April 2019
- Full Text:
Indigenous and traditional musics in the school classroom : a re-evaluation of the South African Indigenous African Music (IAM) curriculum
- Authors: McConnachie, Boudina
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Ethnomusicology , Indigenous people -- Music , Music -- Instruction and study -- Africa , Music -- Instruction and study -- Curricula -- Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:21182 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6806
- Description: Musical ideals set by European standards and values, entrenched through colonial oppression and promoted by the continued veneration of Western culture need to be re-evaluated. Despite the intention of the ANC government, through the Department of Basic Education's Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement music curricula, to integrate Indigenous Knowledge and musics into the South African classroom, evidence shows that opportunities to do so are not seized. With reference to the proclaimed values of an African sensibility in the model of the South African music education curriculum, the history of its development and the current pedagogical movement towards transformation in the production of knowledge and the inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge (IK), this thesis questions why teachers in government schools in South Africa are not executing the Indigenous African Music (IAM) syllabus in the CAPS FET music curriculum. Taking the history of music education and the development of curriculum models and frameworks into account, it interrogates what strategies could improve the application of the current music curriculum in government schools in South Africa. These questions are addressed in the thesis by way of a discussion of the music curriculum and what its praxis in the classroom reveals about its efficacy, through observations and personal experiences, the observations of teachers and student teachers, a comparison with the experience in Zimbabwe, and an analysis of the music curriculum as it is currently devised and implemented. Straddling three methodological approaches, namely the ethnographic, the autoethnographic and the action research approach this study finds that the CAPS FET music curriculum does provide realistic opportunities to engage with African Indigenous and traditional music. This, however, is dependent upon the training of the teacher, facilities available in the classroom and the prior knowledge of the learner. A fundamental flaw of this curriculum is the approach to practical assessment of Indigenous and traditional African musics and the lack of assessment criteria and practical guidelines. In addition, the findings suggest that the fault regarding implementation of the curriculum lies in the training of students (who become teachers) at tertiary level, where an integrated approach to skills development regarding Indigenous African music is suggested.
- Full Text:
- Authors: McConnachie, Boudina
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Ethnomusicology , Indigenous people -- Music , Music -- Instruction and study -- Africa , Music -- Instruction and study -- Curricula -- Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:21182 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6806
- Description: Musical ideals set by European standards and values, entrenched through colonial oppression and promoted by the continued veneration of Western culture need to be re-evaluated. Despite the intention of the ANC government, through the Department of Basic Education's Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement music curricula, to integrate Indigenous Knowledge and musics into the South African classroom, evidence shows that opportunities to do so are not seized. With reference to the proclaimed values of an African sensibility in the model of the South African music education curriculum, the history of its development and the current pedagogical movement towards transformation in the production of knowledge and the inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge (IK), this thesis questions why teachers in government schools in South Africa are not executing the Indigenous African Music (IAM) syllabus in the CAPS FET music curriculum. Taking the history of music education and the development of curriculum models and frameworks into account, it interrogates what strategies could improve the application of the current music curriculum in government schools in South Africa. These questions are addressed in the thesis by way of a discussion of the music curriculum and what its praxis in the classroom reveals about its efficacy, through observations and personal experiences, the observations of teachers and student teachers, a comparison with the experience in Zimbabwe, and an analysis of the music curriculum as it is currently devised and implemented. Straddling three methodological approaches, namely the ethnographic, the autoethnographic and the action research approach this study finds that the CAPS FET music curriculum does provide realistic opportunities to engage with African Indigenous and traditional music. This, however, is dependent upon the training of the teacher, facilities available in the classroom and the prior knowledge of the learner. A fundamental flaw of this curriculum is the approach to practical assessment of Indigenous and traditional African musics and the lack of assessment criteria and practical guidelines. In addition, the findings suggest that the fault regarding implementation of the curriculum lies in the training of students (who become teachers) at tertiary level, where an integrated approach to skills development regarding Indigenous African music is suggested.
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Information and propaganda in the federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland with special reference to print and radio propaganda for Africans, 1953-1963
- Authors: Zimudzi, Tapiwa Brown
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6957 , vital:21204
- Description: This thesis contributes to the history of the information and propaganda policy and practice of the government of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland by examining this government's pro-Federation print and radio propaganda for Africans in the Federation. Using a multi-theoretical approach, it analyses the character of this propaganda, highlighting its main methods and themes as well as the policy considerations, plus political and economic circumstances that gave rise to it. It also discusses how Africans in the Federation reacted to this propaganda and assesses its effectiveness in gaining the support of these Africans for Federation and the policies of the Federal government. The thesis argues that Federal government propaganda aimed at gaining the support of Africans for Federation was predominantly panic-driven propaganda and was the product of an information panic that lay at the heart of the very idea of Federation itself. This information panic arose out of the Federal government's belated recognition of the strength of African opposition to Federation and of how this opposition seriously threatened the continued survival of the Federation. It is also argued that this panic-driven pro-Federation propaganda elicited largely hostile reactions from the majority of Africans in the Federation and failed to persuade them to support Federation.
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- Authors: Zimudzi, Tapiwa Brown
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6957 , vital:21204
- Description: This thesis contributes to the history of the information and propaganda policy and practice of the government of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland by examining this government's pro-Federation print and radio propaganda for Africans in the Federation. Using a multi-theoretical approach, it analyses the character of this propaganda, highlighting its main methods and themes as well as the policy considerations, plus political and economic circumstances that gave rise to it. It also discusses how Africans in the Federation reacted to this propaganda and assesses its effectiveness in gaining the support of these Africans for Federation and the policies of the Federal government. The thesis argues that Federal government propaganda aimed at gaining the support of Africans for Federation was predominantly panic-driven propaganda and was the product of an information panic that lay at the heart of the very idea of Federation itself. This information panic arose out of the Federal government's belated recognition of the strength of African opposition to Federation and of how this opposition seriously threatened the continued survival of the Federation. It is also argued that this panic-driven pro-Federation propaganda elicited largely hostile reactions from the majority of Africans in the Federation and failed to persuade them to support Federation.
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