Analysis of the role and regulation of HOP1a and HOP1b splice variants in cancer biology
- Authors: Schwarz, Kelly
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432240 , vital:72854
- Description: Restricted access. Expected lease date in 2025. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2023
- Full Text:
- Authors: Schwarz, Kelly
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432240 , vital:72854
- Description: Restricted access. Expected lease date in 2025. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2023
- Full Text:
Exploring the interplay between foundation phase learners’ home and school literacy practices
- Authors: Magxala, Xoliswa Patience
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/431587 , vital:72788 , DOI 10.21504/10962/431587
- Description: The thesis looked at Foundation Phase children’s early home literacy practices and examined how these literacy practices are adopted at school in Libode, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, a rural area. The purpose of the study was to determine how early literacy practices at home are adopted in classrooms. The study aimed to determine the relationship between home and school literacy. To understand the literacy practices used at home and school by four Foundation Phase children and four Foundation Phase teachers, an interpretive ethnographic study design was used. Participants who spoke isiXhosa as their first language participated in data collection using structured observations, video and audio recordings, field notes, and unstructured interviews. The study’s framework, the Cultural Historical Activity Theory, was used as a tool to collect, examine, and interpret data through its various components. Themes were identified, arranged, and categorized. The findings revealed children from low socioeconomic backgrounds have rich literacy practices. Teachers do not acknowledge or recognize the contributions that these children’s cultural backgrounds make. The study recommends that schools start acknowledging the advantages that children’s environments have for them. It also suggests that teachers build on the knowledge that children bring from home, as this will have an impact on how they behave in class because students bring their family’s literacy habits, which serve as the foundation for their academic literacy habits, to school. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Education, Institute for the Study of Englishes in Africa, 2023
- Full Text:
- Authors: Magxala, Xoliswa Patience
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/431587 , vital:72788 , DOI 10.21504/10962/431587
- Description: The thesis looked at Foundation Phase children’s early home literacy practices and examined how these literacy practices are adopted at school in Libode, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, a rural area. The purpose of the study was to determine how early literacy practices at home are adopted in classrooms. The study aimed to determine the relationship between home and school literacy. To understand the literacy practices used at home and school by four Foundation Phase children and four Foundation Phase teachers, an interpretive ethnographic study design was used. Participants who spoke isiXhosa as their first language participated in data collection using structured observations, video and audio recordings, field notes, and unstructured interviews. The study’s framework, the Cultural Historical Activity Theory, was used as a tool to collect, examine, and interpret data through its various components. Themes were identified, arranged, and categorized. The findings revealed children from low socioeconomic backgrounds have rich literacy practices. Teachers do not acknowledge or recognize the contributions that these children’s cultural backgrounds make. The study recommends that schools start acknowledging the advantages that children’s environments have for them. It also suggests that teachers build on the knowledge that children bring from home, as this will have an impact on how they behave in class because students bring their family’s literacy habits, which serve as the foundation for their academic literacy habits, to school. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Education, Institute for the Study of Englishes in Africa, 2023
- Full Text:
Freshwater invasive alien crayfish species in South Africa: testing eDNA assessment and DNA barcoding
- Mdidimba, Nonkazimulo Dorothea
- Authors: Mdidimba, Nonkazimulo Dorothea
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/424413 , vital:72151
- Description: The expansion of the wild populations of the two invasive alien crayfish species, i.e., Cherax quadricarinatus and Procambarus clarkii in South Africa is of high concern. Given this, innovative and improved monitoring methods are required to be explored in order to effectively detect and manage their spread. Environmental DNA (eDNA) has shown promising and reliable results to detect and monitor alien crayfish in freshwater systems even at low densities. This research study aimed to field-test the application of eDNA for detecting and monitoring invasive alien freshwater crayfish species (IAFCs) in South African freshwater systems (Chapter 2). Further, this study also aimed to confirm the true taxonomic identity of the IAFCs in South African freshwater systems by using DNA barcoding to avoid potential misidentifications with morphological identification alone (Chapter 3). Also, ectocommensal temnocephalans and leeches attached to the crayfishes were also identified with DNA barcoding. The mitochondrial COI gene fragment of the crayfishes and the ectocommensal temnocephalans and leeches was amplified, sequenced, and used for species identification. For eDNA monitoring of C. cainii, C. quadricarinatus and P. clarkii, water samples were collected from Eastern Cape, Free State and KwaZulu Natal sites that are known to house these species. The current study did not detect the eDNA of the wild populations of both C. quadricarinatus and P. clarkii. This failure was encountered despite employing several methods, such as, end-point polymerase chain reaction (PCR), quantitative PCR (qPCR) and next-generation sequencing (NGS). The eDNA assessment to detect IAFCs in the wild populations is discussed in detail, and corrective measures suggested (Chapter 2). However, only C. cainii was able to be detected by eDNA. Cherax cainii is housed/farmed in an aquaculture facility (Vaughn Bursey’s Stock Farm in Eastern Cape) with large number of individuals per pond. For this, NGS was able to detect C. cainii but the other two methods, end-point PCR and qPCR were not able to detect the species. Based on the results, refinement of eDNA monitoring methods for the South African freshwater systems is recommended. Evaluation of different DNA collection methods, preservation, DNA extraction kits and primer design to obtain effective eDNA detection is discussed as possible sources of error. Interestingly, the newly established population of P. clarkii in Mimosa Dam in Free State was infested with alien leeches, that were confirmed by DNA barcoding to be Helobdella europaea and Helobdella octatestica. Consequently, this study reports for the first time in South Africa the presence of this alien freshwater leeches. The presence of alien leeches and P. clarkii suggests a double invasion in Mimosa Dam, P. clarkii seems to continue expanding its range in the country. However, the long-established population of P. clarkii in Driehoek Farm in Mpumalanga, which has been in the country for over 30 years did not have any leech or temnocephalan infestation. This could suggest several interesting ecological phenomena, including environmental filtering over time of the co-invaders, differential source populations, and post-introduction adaptation. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Zoology and Entomology, 2023
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mdidimba, Nonkazimulo Dorothea
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/424413 , vital:72151
- Description: The expansion of the wild populations of the two invasive alien crayfish species, i.e., Cherax quadricarinatus and Procambarus clarkii in South Africa is of high concern. Given this, innovative and improved monitoring methods are required to be explored in order to effectively detect and manage their spread. Environmental DNA (eDNA) has shown promising and reliable results to detect and monitor alien crayfish in freshwater systems even at low densities. This research study aimed to field-test the application of eDNA for detecting and monitoring invasive alien freshwater crayfish species (IAFCs) in South African freshwater systems (Chapter 2). Further, this study also aimed to confirm the true taxonomic identity of the IAFCs in South African freshwater systems by using DNA barcoding to avoid potential misidentifications with morphological identification alone (Chapter 3). Also, ectocommensal temnocephalans and leeches attached to the crayfishes were also identified with DNA barcoding. The mitochondrial COI gene fragment of the crayfishes and the ectocommensal temnocephalans and leeches was amplified, sequenced, and used for species identification. For eDNA monitoring of C. cainii, C. quadricarinatus and P. clarkii, water samples were collected from Eastern Cape, Free State and KwaZulu Natal sites that are known to house these species. The current study did not detect the eDNA of the wild populations of both C. quadricarinatus and P. clarkii. This failure was encountered despite employing several methods, such as, end-point polymerase chain reaction (PCR), quantitative PCR (qPCR) and next-generation sequencing (NGS). The eDNA assessment to detect IAFCs in the wild populations is discussed in detail, and corrective measures suggested (Chapter 2). However, only C. cainii was able to be detected by eDNA. Cherax cainii is housed/farmed in an aquaculture facility (Vaughn Bursey’s Stock Farm in Eastern Cape) with large number of individuals per pond. For this, NGS was able to detect C. cainii but the other two methods, end-point PCR and qPCR were not able to detect the species. Based on the results, refinement of eDNA monitoring methods for the South African freshwater systems is recommended. Evaluation of different DNA collection methods, preservation, DNA extraction kits and primer design to obtain effective eDNA detection is discussed as possible sources of error. Interestingly, the newly established population of P. clarkii in Mimosa Dam in Free State was infested with alien leeches, that were confirmed by DNA barcoding to be Helobdella europaea and Helobdella octatestica. Consequently, this study reports for the first time in South Africa the presence of this alien freshwater leeches. The presence of alien leeches and P. clarkii suggests a double invasion in Mimosa Dam, P. clarkii seems to continue expanding its range in the country. However, the long-established population of P. clarkii in Driehoek Farm in Mpumalanga, which has been in the country for over 30 years did not have any leech or temnocephalan infestation. This could suggest several interesting ecological phenomena, including environmental filtering over time of the co-invaders, differential source populations, and post-introduction adaptation. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Zoology and Entomology, 2023
- Full Text:
Kenyan comedy: transmogrifying stereotypes and fashioning a ‘Kenyanness’ of aesthetic escapism
- Authors: Lumasia, Patrick Chesi
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432477 , vital:72874 , DOI 10.21504/10962/432477
- Description: Despite the proliferation of stereotypes in Kenyan comedy, little research exists to show the two intersect to shape a peculiar notion of ‘Kenyanness’. Indeed, Kenyan comedy, besides reproducing and playing on the quotidian and the historical, is heavily invested with ethnic and gender stereotypes that reflect the Kenyan milieu as it intersects with the global. This comedy is oftentimes seen by some critics as detrimental to Kenyan society because it supposedly shapes and reinforces ethnic and/or gender relations in the country. However, this study contends that Kenyan comedy is open to multiple interpretations and meaning contestations that are not necessarily clear to the comedians and audiences due to the asymmetry that abounds between the production and consumption ends of the comedy’s spectrum. The comedy is therefore ambivalent. This research seeks to demonstrate that Kenyan comedy—as a form of entertainment and critique of society—does not seek to fix and reify Kenyan identities. Instead, the comedy frees these identities from the presumed vice-hold, constricting world of stereotypes by disrupting the linearity of the stereotypes, thereby unsettling the hierarchical structure of hegemonic ideology embedded in them through postmodern humour: a form of humour amenable to postmodern sensibilities. To this end, the comedy offers Kenyans momentary escape into a comedic utopia, through which, they address pertinent issues affecting their nationhood, even as they endeavor to fashion a ‘Kenyanness’ of aesthetic escapism that is celebratory of the country’s rich socio-cultural diversity. The study employs Jörg Schweinitz’s (2011) stereotype theory and the postpositivist realist theory of identity in its study of stand-up, scripted episodic and topical comedy as transposed on to YouTube. Specifically, the thesis considers: the Churchill Show (2012 – 2022) that aired on NTV; 2012–2022; The Real Househelps of Kawangware (2014–2021) on KTN/NTV; Auntie Boss (2016–2021) on NTV; The Wicked Edition and The Trending Trend Talkers (2014–). , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Literary Studies in English, 2023
- Full Text:
- Authors: Lumasia, Patrick Chesi
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432477 , vital:72874 , DOI 10.21504/10962/432477
- Description: Despite the proliferation of stereotypes in Kenyan comedy, little research exists to show the two intersect to shape a peculiar notion of ‘Kenyanness’. Indeed, Kenyan comedy, besides reproducing and playing on the quotidian and the historical, is heavily invested with ethnic and gender stereotypes that reflect the Kenyan milieu as it intersects with the global. This comedy is oftentimes seen by some critics as detrimental to Kenyan society because it supposedly shapes and reinforces ethnic and/or gender relations in the country. However, this study contends that Kenyan comedy is open to multiple interpretations and meaning contestations that are not necessarily clear to the comedians and audiences due to the asymmetry that abounds between the production and consumption ends of the comedy’s spectrum. The comedy is therefore ambivalent. This research seeks to demonstrate that Kenyan comedy—as a form of entertainment and critique of society—does not seek to fix and reify Kenyan identities. Instead, the comedy frees these identities from the presumed vice-hold, constricting world of stereotypes by disrupting the linearity of the stereotypes, thereby unsettling the hierarchical structure of hegemonic ideology embedded in them through postmodern humour: a form of humour amenable to postmodern sensibilities. To this end, the comedy offers Kenyans momentary escape into a comedic utopia, through which, they address pertinent issues affecting their nationhood, even as they endeavor to fashion a ‘Kenyanness’ of aesthetic escapism that is celebratory of the country’s rich socio-cultural diversity. The study employs Jörg Schweinitz’s (2011) stereotype theory and the postpositivist realist theory of identity in its study of stand-up, scripted episodic and topical comedy as transposed on to YouTube. Specifically, the thesis considers: the Churchill Show (2012 – 2022) that aired on NTV; 2012–2022; The Real Househelps of Kawangware (2014–2021) on KTN/NTV; Auntie Boss (2016–2021) on NTV; The Wicked Edition and The Trending Trend Talkers (2014–). , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Literary Studies in English, 2023
- Full Text:
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