Exploring the perceived value of work as part of psychosocial rehabilitation of the state patient : Komani Hospital, Queenstown
- Authors: Crocker, Ann Petro
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Work -- Psychological aspects Mentally ill -- Attitudes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:5953 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007464
- Description: During the research an attempt was made to gain an understanding of the perceived value of work in psychosocial rehabilitation with the Sate patient at Komani Hospital. The respondents' motivation to work and what they gain from working, was investigated, as well as the experience of the nonworking respondents and their motivation not to work. To achieve this, ten respondents who were working and ten respondents who were not working, were interviewed. This study involves only a limited number of State patients at Komani Hospital and therefore findings cannot be generalised and also because the study was done at one Hospital only. A literature study was undertaken during which it was evident that work as part of vocational rehabilitation contributed to the well being of the mentally disabled person. It was also stated in the literature that the disabled person must be actively involved in his/her own rehabilitation planning and that the person must make conscious decisions to move away from the "sick" role and participate in his/her rehabilitation process. Interview schedules were developed. Response received from the twenty participants was analysed. The overall findings of the study showed that the majority of respondents who were working, were motivated by money. The fact that the respondents work from Hospital and therefore disrupt the Hospital routine, work with abled co-workers and feeling needed by the factory where they are employed. also emphasised the respondents' motivation to keep on working. The findings of the study with the non-working group showed that some respondents want to work, but there are not enough work opportunities available in and from Hospital. The non-working respondents are not interested in working at the occupational therapy department because the pay patients get for work done at the department is too little, and therefore they reject the work there. Some respondents do not want to work. whether work is available or not. The non-working group is largely dependent on staff and co-patients for an income, or tobacco. The predominant activity of the non-working group of respondents during the day, as well as that of the majority of the working group respondents during weekends was sleeping, talking to friends, and smoking. The research findings, conclusions and recommendations could contribute to a better understanding of patients and the value of work for the patient in a Psychiatric Hospital.
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- Date Issued: 2002
Exploring the suitability of the evaluation criteria used in the MPT projects, by looking at hard and soft components of development programmes
- Authors: Ncapai, Wandile
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Community development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Community development , Economic development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Economic development projects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3397 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018255
- Description: The study explores the suitability of the evaluation criteria used in Microprojects Programme Trust (MPT), by looking at hard and soft components of the development programme. In this sense hard components of development refer to those components of projects that are tangible and can be physically observed and can bring material changes to the life of the community. Soft components of development refer to those components of projects that bring qualitative transformation to the life of the community, i.e. increased levels of awareness, human well-being and the empowerment process that addresses the community's abstract needs, these are not tangible and often cannot be physically observed. Midway through its contract periods MPT evaluate all projects. The purpose of these mid term evaluations is to make recommendations to MPT on future approaches and methodology for community development and operations. The mid-term evaluation also influences the distribution and allocation of resources and funding. It was therefore vital that the criteria used are subject to tests and critical analysis so as to assess their validity. The assessment of the mid-term evaluation criteria used in MPT projects has been to further determine the appropriateness or suitability of the evaluation criteria as an instrument to measure and guide the MPT community development approach in the Eastern Cape. The method used was to conduct focus group discussions so as to get an insight into the local community situation as well as to assess non-tangible improvements and changes that have occurred in the life of the community as a result of the project. The information generated was used to compare what the community believe they achieved with what the official mid-term evaluation reports indicate was assessed and achieved and that was contrasted with what the literature recommends should have been assessed. The study found that the mid-term evaluations conducted on MPT projects have no social context in which the evaluations themselves were conducted. The terms of reference and criteria were based on the programme design which was formulated and compiled by the European Union without the participation of the local South African community. The findings also indicated that projects become unsuccessful or partly successful if the "soft" components which have a bearing on social and economic realities are neglected. The thesis ends with recommendations on how the mid-term evaluations as well as MPT programme can be developed to be more responsive to the needs as identified by the communities themselves. It is strongly believed that this study will provide a valuable contribution towards increasing the ability of MPT programme to bring about both material and qualitative transformation to the I ives of the disadvantaged community of the Eastern Cape whilst ensuring that the mid-term evaluations are developed and shaped to become an appropriate instrument to measure and guide MPT programme approach to community development.
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- Date Issued: 2002
Extension theorems on L-topological spaces and L-fuzzy vector spaces
- Authors: Pinchuck, Andrew
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Topology , Vector spaces , Generalized spaces
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5405 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005219 , Topology , Vector spaces , Generalized spaces
- Description: A non-trivial example of an L-topological space, the fuzzy real line is examined. Various L-topological properties and their relationships are developed. Extension theorems on the L-fuzzy real line as well as extension theorems on more general L-topological spaces follow. Finally, a theory of L-fuzzy vector spaces leads up to a fuzzy version of the Hahn-Banach theorem.
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- Date Issued: 2002
Finite element simulations of shear aggregation as a mechanism to form platinum group elements (PGEs) in dyke-like ore bodies
- Authors: Mbandezi, Mxolisi Louis
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Platinum group , Magmas , Shear flow , Geophysics , Terrestrial heat flow
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5561 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018249
- Description: This research describes a two-dimensional modelling effort of heat and mass transport in simplified intrusive models of sills and their feeder dykes. These simplified models resembled a complex intrusive system such as the Great Dyke of Zimbabwe. This study investigated the impact of variable geometry to transport processes in two ways. First the time evolution of heat and mass transport during cooling was investigated. Then emphasis was placed on the application of convective scavenging as a mechanism that leads to the formation of minerals of economic interest, in particular the Platinum Group Elements (PGEs). The Navier-Stokes equations employed generated regions of high shear within the magma where we expected enhanced collisions between the immiscible sulphide liquid particles and PGEs. These collisions scavenge PGEs from the primary melt, aggregate and concentrate it to form PGEs enrichment in zero shear zones. The PGEs scavenge; concentrate and 'glue' in zero shear zones in the early history of convection because of viscosity and dispersive pressure (Bagnold effect). The effect of increasing the geometry size enhances scavenging, creates bigger zero shear zones with dilute concentrate of PGEs but you get high shear near the roots of the dyke/sill where the concentration will not be dilute. The time evolution calculations show that increasing the size of the magma chamber results in stronger initial convection currents for large magma models than for small ones. However, convection takes, approximately the same time to cease for both models. The research concludes that the time evolution for convective heat transfer is dependent on the viscosity rather than on geometry size. However, conductive heat transfer to the e-folding temperature was almost six times as long for the large model (M4) than the small one (M2). Variable viscosity as a physical property was applied to models 2 and 4 only. Video animations that simulate the cooling process for these models are enclosed in a CD at the back of this thesis. These simulations provide information with regard to the emplacement history and distribution of PGEs ore bodies. This will assist the reserve estimation and the location of economic minerals.
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- Date Issued: 2002
Formulation and assessment of monolithic beta blocker sustained release tablets prepared by direct compression
- Authors: Kieser, Leith Faye
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Drugs -- Dosage forms , Drugs -- Administration , Pharmacology, Experimental , Adrenergic beta blockers , Tablets (Medicine) , Tableting , Neuropharmacology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:3764 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003242 , Drugs -- Dosage forms , Drugs -- Administration , Pharmacology, Experimental , Adrenergic beta blockers , Tablets (Medicine) , Tableting , Neuropharmacology
- Description: Beta blockers are commonly prescribed for the chronic treatment of hypertension, one of the most prolific disease states worldwide. The beta blockers selected for this study include acebutolol hydrochloride, labetalol hydrochloride, metoprolol tartrate oxprenolol hydrochloride and propranolol hydrochloride. All of these compounds have a short elimination half-life, necessitating multiple dose per day regimens and therefore the development of sustained release dosage forms incorporating these agents was considered beneficial in terms of extending the dosing interval, with the aim of improving patient compliance and subsequent therapeutic outcomes. Preformulation studies that were conducted included moisture content analysis by Karl Fischer titration, and DSC, a method used to predict potential interactions between the drugs and tablet excipients. Tablets were manufactured by both wet granulation and direct compression techniques, and the resultant drug release characteristics were evaluated using the USP Apparatus 3(BIO.DIS). A validated isocratic HPLC method, capable of separating the five drug candidates simultaneously, was developed and used for the analysis of drug samples. Tablet quality was assessed using analyses that included the physical assessment of weight, diameter, thickness, hardness and friability, as well as content uniformity of tablets, before and after dissolution testing. Direct compression tablet formulations containing each of the five beta blockers were successfully adapted from a prototype wet granulation matrix tablet containing metoprolol tartrate, and various formulation variables were investigated to establish,their effect on the rate and extent of drug release from these tablets. The grade and quantity of ethylcellulose used in the wet granulation and direct compression formulae influenced the release rate of some drug candidates. In addition, an alternative formulation method, involving freeze-drying of the drug with an ethylcellulose dispersion, was shown to have potential for altering release rates further. Anti-frictional agents, talc and colloidal silicon dioxide, did not affect drug release from these matrices,however, they affected the physical character:istics such as tablet weight and thickness, of the resultant tablets. All of the matrix tablets formulated were shown to release drug according to square root of time kinetics, in a sustained manner over a 22 hour period.
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- Date Issued: 2002
Gender discourse and Malawian rural communities: a study of the meaning the people of traditional authority Likoswe of Chiradzulo make from human rights and gender messages
- Authors: Manda, Levi Zeleza
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Human rights -- Malawi , Mass media in community development -- Malawi , Communication in community development -- Malawi , Mass media -- Social aspects -- Malawi , Mass media criticism -- Malawi , Women's rights -- Malawi , Sex role -- Malawi
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3456 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002910 , Human rights -- Malawi , Mass media in community development -- Malawi , Communication in community development -- Malawi , Mass media -- Social aspects -- Malawi , Mass media criticism -- Malawi , Women's rights -- Malawi , Sex role -- Malawi
- Description: Contrary to earlier beliefs and media theories such as the hypodermic needle or magic bullet, the audience of public communication is not a passive homogenous mass that easily succumbs to media influence. The audience is active, that is, it makes an effort to interpret media content. Depending on predisposing cultural, political, religious, or economic factors the audience makes different meanings from media texts. Media messages are not wholly controlled by producers, although the producers have their preferred and expected readings. Using qualitative research techniques associated with ethnographic and cultural studies (notably focus group discussions), this study sought to explore the meanings rural people in Malawi make out of human rights and gender messages broadcast on radio and through music. Interpreted against Stuart Hall's (1974b) Encoding and Decoding model, the study concludes that while rural communities understand and appreciate the new sociopolitical discourse, they take a negotiated stance because they have their own doubts and fears. They fear losing their cultural identity. Additionally, men, in particular, negotiate the messages because they fear losing their social power over land, property and family.
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- Date Issued: 2002
GIS in participatory catchment management : a case study in the Kat River Valley, Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: McMaster, Alistair
- Date: 2002 , 2013-05-16
- Subjects: Watershed management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Geographic information systems
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4868 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007602 , Watershed management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Geographic information systems
- Description: In water resources management in South Africa, there is an emphasis on public participation. On a river catchment basis, one of the mechanisms for such participation is the establishment of catchment forums. However, members of catchment forums, particularly those coming from poor or rural communities, cannot be expected to engage in catchment management without having been enabled to do so. This thesis considers the use of GIS in the process of enabling the Kat River Valley Catchment Forum to better participate in catchment management. The research focus is on the use of GIS to facilitate an understanding of the Kat River Catchment and associated catchment concepts, and constructive communication and sharing, among the Catchment Forum. The GIS is used in the context of "GIS for Participatory Research", an outgrowth of Public Participation GIS (PPGIS), which focuses on GIS as a tool for empowerment within participatory processes. The study has used Action Research, situated in the Critical paradigm, as a methodology. The research has included seven Forum workshop processes and one series of in-village meetings. These engagements have involved map-based appraisals, issues and resource mapping, map-based planning, and the use of on-screen GIS for presentation and sharing. The use of GIS has facilitated the creation of customised maps, the integration of village-scale mapping into a catchment scale product, the presentation of synthesised data in digital and hardcopy format and, in so doing, has allowed catchment-scale appraisal. Outcomes enabling participation in catchment management have included developed mapping skills and an enhanced understanding of the catchment as a whole, and developed conceptual access to a decision-making language (or way of thinking), among participants. Furthermore, the Forum as a whole has identified common needs, and has developed a set of map-based action plans. The research process has yielded a number of lessons regarding "GIS for participation" and the participatory framework within which it takes place. Chief among these is that the GIS operator should take on the role of a participatory practitioner.
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- Date Issued: 2002
Identification and analysis of the factors that influence the development of female entrepreneurs in the informal sector
- Authors: Sokabo, Nobenguni B
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Women-owned business enterprises -- South Africa , Small business -- South Africa , Businesswomen -- South Africa , Women in development -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:10907 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/98 , Women-owned business enterprises -- South Africa , Small business -- South Africa , Businesswomen -- South Africa , Women in development -- South Africa
- Description: There is a remarkable increase in the participation of females in business activities due to their involvement in the informal sector. These activities appear to be insignificant and not measurable because they are outside the regulatory framework, but they also absorb multitudes of the unemployable. Notwithstanding the challenges of low levels of education, lack of skills and finance as well as the need to balance reproductive and productive roles, females are under pressure to generate income through trading in small scale businesses that can hardly grow beyond subsistence level. With the meagre earnings from their activities, they ensure the survival of their families. If female entrepreneurs are developed and brought into the economic main stream, they will bring with them their unique survivalist techniques that will contribute towards economic development and growth in the country. This report examines the constraints that affect the development of female entrepreneurs in the informal sector.
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- Date Issued: 2002
Identifying the need for the development of an instrument to determine senior phase teachers' science-assessment competence
- Authors: Lombard, Elsa Helena
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Science -- Ability testing -- South Africa , Science -- Study and teaching -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Evaluation , Educational tests and measurements -- South Africa , Competency-based education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:10786 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/100 , Science -- Ability testing -- South Africa , Science -- Study and teaching -- South Africa -- Port Elizabeth -- Evaluation , Educational tests and measurements -- South Africa , Competency-based education -- South Africa
- Description: The focus of this study is the competences expected of teachers in the senior phase to assess the Natural Sciences learning area. In order to be in line with the new developments, the South African science teacher will need relevant assessment training in order to utilise appropriate techniques that are in line with the new educational philosophy. The question arises: What competences do teachers need for assessing science in the senior phase? An ethnographic case study was implemented as research methodology in the descriptive research paradigm. The investigation comprised observing the classroom practices of a sample of three senior phase science teachers in two primary schools and in one secondary school in the Port Elizabeth region. The data obtained from the observations were triangulated with related artefacts produced by both the teachers and the learners in each case. In order to establish these expected competences a document analysis was done from a selection of South African documents. The descriptions of the real life assessment practices of the sample of science teachers were then compared with the competences expected by the South African education system. The comparison between the real-life assessment practices and the expected practices concurred with Shepard’s (2000, p.12) belief that the abilities needed to implement classroom assessment “are daunting”. The classroom-based assessment practices of the sample of teachers revealed a variety of assessment beliefs, practices and competence. The needs of these teachers are so diversified and intense that individualised professional development is needed if sustained implementation of the new curriculum and accompanying assessment competences is to be facilitated. The research established the need to develop an instrument that the science teachers can use to assess their own competence. There should be training modules drawn up in line with this instrument. Teachers should be able to choose the professional development modules that would address their own unique needs
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- Date Issued: 2002
Imaging the metaphysical in contemporary art practice : a comparative study of intertextuality, poststructuralism and metaphysical symbolism
- Authors: Opperman, J. A.
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Mind and body , Metaphysics in art
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech (Fine Art, Painting)
- Identifier: vital:10762 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/101 , Mind and body , Metaphysics in art
- Description: It was then that I decided to investigate how contemporary forms of metaphysical imaging have evolved formally and stylistically. I began to question how such approaches might be informed by current philosophical thought, given that many contemporary theorists have adopted a sceptical view towards metaphysical discourse. This point of contention presented me with the initial challenge of finding an artist whose exploration of metaphysical content is supported by topical philosophical thought. I intended this inquiry to serve as a basis from which to develop my own approach to imaging metaphysical content and to situate it within the context of contemporary thought.
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- Date Issued: 2002
Implementing non-photorealistic rendering enhancements with real-time performance
- Authors: Winnemöller, Holger
- Date: 2002 , 2013-05-09
- Subjects: Computer animation , Computer graphics , Real-time data processing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4580 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003135 , Computer animation , Computer graphics , Real-time data processing
- Description: We describe quality and performance enhancements, which work in real-time, to all well-known Non-photorealistic (NPR) rendering styles for use in an interactive context. These include Comic rendering, Sketch rendering, Hatching and Painterly rendering, but we also attempt and justify a widening of the established definition of what is considered NPR. In the individual Chapters, we identify typical stylistic elements of the different NPR styles. We list problems that need to be solved in order to implement the various renderers. Standard solutions available in the literature are introduced and in all cases extended and optimised. In particular, we extend the lighting model of the comic renderer to include a specular component and introduce multiple inter-related but independent geometric approximations which greatly improve rendering performance. We implement two completely different solutions to random perturbation sketching, solve temporal coherence issues for coal sketching and find an unexpected use for 3D textures to implement hatch-shading. Textured brushes of painterly rendering are extended by properties such as stroke-direction and texture, motion, paint capacity, opacity and emission, making them more flexible and versatile. Brushes are also provided with a minimal amount of intelligence, so that they can help in maximising screen coverage of brushes. We furthermore devise a completely new NPR style, which we call super-realistic and show how sample images can be tweened in real-time to produce an image-based six degree-of-freedom renderer performing at roughly 450 frames per second. Performance values for our other renderers all lie between 10 and over 400 frames per second on homePC hardware, justifying our real-time claim. A large number of sample screen-shots, illustrations and animations demonstrate the visual fidelity of our rendered images. In essence, we successfully achieve our attempted goals of increasing the creative, expressive and communicative potential of individual NPR styles, increasing performance of most of them, adding original and interesting visual qualities, and exploring new techniques or existing ones in novel ways. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
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- Date Issued: 2002
Improving job performance by using non-monetary reward systems to motivate low-skilled workers in the automotive component industry
- Authors: Taljaard, Jacob Johannes
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Employee motivation -- South Africa , Performance awards
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:10910 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/131 , Employee motivation -- South Africa , Performance awards
- Description: Automotive component manufacturing companies where the labour is low skilled and the processes are labour intensive, are being challenged on a more regular basis to find methods to satisfy needs to motivate employees to improve performance. Automotive companies are becoming more under pressure to motivate employees through non-monetary rewards, due to collective bargaining which has made pay for performance very inflexible. It is because of this fact that employers have to assess non-monetary reward methods to motivate employees to improve performance. To be motivators, rewards must be aligned with the needs of people and the things that they value. If these rewards are aligned with employees needs, this could lead to increase in employee motivation, which will in turn lead to improvement in performance, and therefore lead to companies becoming more competitive. This research paper aims to assess what would be the motivators when establishing a non-monetary reward system. To this end the various motivational theories are presented which clearly identifies what needs people have and how they can be satisfied to change behaviour and therefore improve performance. Secondly, reward systems are discussed with various types of rewards being considered and more specifically non-monetary rewards. Applied research was undertaken to determine non-monetary rewards that will motivate low-skilled employees to improve performance. A survey, with the aid of a structured questionnaire, was used to gain information from 60 employees. The research was conducted in three companies that manufacture components for the auto industry. The majority of the respondents indicated that: 1. basic needs must be satisfied with monetary rewards; 2. non-monetary rewards, if linked to higher hierarchical needs, will then motivate employees; 3. non-monetary rewards should preferably be of a physical nature such as certificates, caps and t-shirts; 4. satisfaction of these higher level needs motivate employees and improve their performance; 5. employees prefer feedback and recognition as a non-monetary reward on a regular basis, and 6. the needs of employees should be identified through a survey to establish which rewards will satisfy these needs.
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- Date Issued: 2002
In the best interests of the child? : a case study of the psychological discourses of the custody decision-making process in a South African context
- Authors: Durrbaum, René
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Custody of children -- South Africa -- Psychological aspects Children of divorced parents -- South Africa -- Psychology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3153 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007484
- Description: This study focuses on the process of custody decision-making in a South African divorce context with the aim of critically examining the operation of the principle of the best interests of the child. A narrative approach is incorporated into Parker and Fairclough's discourse analytic approaches in the context of an instrumental case study. More specifically, the focus falls on moving beyond the understandings of custody embodied within the current psychological literature in order to examine the relationship between theory and practice and to view custody as a dynamic process at both a textual and analytical level. Concepts of dialoguing, context, audience and intertextuality together with a storied approach are central. Further, an attempt is made to provide a disruptive reading of the case through the use of notions of power, ideology and institutional practices embedded within the case and its broader contexts. The analysis demonstrates the need for decision-making to be viewed as a broader process situated across multiple professional, institutional and socio-political texts and contexts. Further, it is argued that in order for the process to uphold the principle of the child's best interests, specialised training must be supplemented with changes at the level of policy, aimed at moving toward a more inclusive, process-oriented approach to custody decision-making.
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- Date Issued: 2002
Investigation of the bioconversion of constituents of olive effluents for the production of valuable chemical compounds
- Authors: Notshe, Thandiwe Loretta
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Phenols , Sewage -- Purification , Effluent quality
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4078 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007446 , Phenols , Sewage -- Purification , Effluent quality
- Description: Olive mill wastewater is produced in large quantities during the production of olive oil and olive production effluents are produced during the processing of olives. This project was planned to find a use for constituents found in olive production wastewater. The task was carried out by first characterizing the olive effluents, then screening microorganisms for growth in the effluents and reduction of the pollutant properties of the effluents. An investigation into the biotransformation of aromatic compounds present in the effluents into useful chemicals, was carried out. The olive production effluents were collected from different stages in the process for treating olive wastewater, viz, a fermentation tank (FB), the surface of a digester (LV) and an evaporation pond (SO). The three effluents were characterized by investigating their phenolic composition. Protocatechuic acid, vanillic acid, syringic acid, hydroxyphenyl acetic acid, coumaric acid and ferulic acid were identified in an olive effluent, FB, using thin layer chromatography (TLC) and High perfomance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Hydroxyphenyl acetic acid constitutes almost 60% of the organics in olive effluent FB. Five bacteria, namely RU-LV1; RU-FBI and RU-FB2; RU-SOI and RU-S02, were isolated from the olive effluents LV, FB and SO respectively. These isolates were found to be halotolerant and were able to grow over a broad temperature and pH range, with the maximum temperature and pH for growth being 28°C and pH 7 respectively. A range of microorganisms were evaluated for their ability to grow and reduce the total phenolic content of the olive effluents. Among these Neurospora crassa showed the highest potential for the biological reduction of total phenolics in olive effluents. Approximately 70% of the total phenolic content was removed by N. crassa. Trametes verscilor, Pseudomonas putida strains, RU-KMI and RU-KM3s, and the bacteria isolated from olive effluents could also degrade the total phenolic content of olive effluents, but to a lesser extent. The ability of the five bacterial isolates to grow and degrade aromatic compounds was assessed by growing them in medium with standard aromatic compounds. RU-L V1 degraded 96%, 100%, 73% and 100% of caffeic acid, protocatechuic acid, p-coumaric acid and vanillic acid respectively. The other isolates degraded caffeic acid and protocatechuic acid, but their ability to degraded p-coumaric acid and vanillic acid was found to be lesser than the ability of RU-LV1 to degrade the same aromatic compounds. Whole cells of RU-LV1 degraded vanillic acid but no metabolic products were observed on HPLC analysis. Resting cells, French pressed extract, cell free extracts and cell debris from RU-LV1 cells induced with vanillic acid degraded vanillic acid, ferulic acid and vanillin at rates higher than those obtained from non-induced cultures. No products were observed during the degradation of vanillic acid. Ferulic acid was converted into vanillic acid by French pressed extract, cell free extract and cell debris of RU-LV1. The maximum yield of vanillic acid as a product (0 .23 mM, 50 %yield) was obtained when cell free extracts of RU-LVI, grown in glucose and induced by vanillic acid, were used for the degradation of 0.4 mM ferulic acid. Vanillin was rapidly converted into vanillic acid by resting cells, cell free extracts and French pressed extract of RU-LVI. Using molecular techniques, the similarity ranking of the RU-LVI 16S rRNA gene and its clone showed a high similarity to Corynebacterium glutamicum and Corynebacterium acedopltilum. The rapid degradation of vanillin to vanillic acid suggests that extracts from RU-LV1 degrade ferulic acid into vanillin which is immediately oxidized to vanillic acid. Vanillic acid is also considered as a high value chemical. This project has a potential of producing useful chemicals from cheap substrates that can be found in olive effluents. , KMBT_363
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- Date Issued: 2002
Leaders' and participants' perceptions of the management of the Life Science Project in Namibia
- Authors: Kirkegaard, Niels Hugo
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Life Science Project (Namibia) Educational leadership Educational leadership -- Namibia School management and organization School management and organization -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1662 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003545
- Description: After Independence in 1991, Namibia embarked on implementing a new and different educational system. This system was seen as a radical departure from the old apartheid system. The Namibian government approached Ibis, a Danish NGO, to support the change process by establishing and developing a new subject, life science, in Junior Secondary schools in Namibia through the Life Science Project (LSP). In a project of this nature, where a foreign (Danish) educational intervention in a relatively young and new democracy is the issue, cross-cultural aspects are likely to emerge, and these are the focus of this study. This half-thesis is an attempt to illuminate, not to evaluate, managerial as well as cross-cultural features of the project based on perceptions of selected Danish managers and Namibian advisory teachers from the former LSP expressed in the goal of the research: - To explore selected leaders’ and participants’ perception of the management of the Life Science Project. In line with this goal, I elected to conduct the research in the interpretive paradigm, using unstructured interviews as my chief source of data. The findings illuminate what would appear to be an inconsistency in the management of the project. The project seemed to be able to accommodate regional and even personal differences and to be flexible to internal changes. At the same time it appears that in its relationship to the external or task environment it did not show the same openness and flexibility to accommodate diversity. It is suggested that this could be a result of the apparent failure on the part of the project to clarify its own underlying values. The study also reveals interesting and unexpected perceptions of leadership, which may also be interpreted in terms of cultural values and beliefs. These two features of managerial issues could lead one to reflect upon the importance of recognising values in organisations which work across cultures.
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- Date Issued: 2002
Modelling the broiler performance under small-scales and semi commercial management condition
- Authors: Prince, Siliga Hulisani
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Broilers (Chickens)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech (Agricultural Management)
- Identifier: vital:10963 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/110 , Broilers (Chickens)
- Description: Introduction : World poultry meat consumption consists of three major segments: broilers, turkeys, and other poultry which includes spent egg layers, spent breeder hens/males, ducks, geese, guinea-fowl, pheasants, quail, ratites, ostriches and emus. Broilers clearly dominate the world poultry consumption contributing about 70 percent to the world poultry market. Turkeys account for about eight percent while other poultry provides the balance of 22 percent (Roenick, 1998). The world broiler industry has been, and continues to be a very dynamic industry. It has been typified with unprecedented growth in terms of production. In 1961, the world produced 6.5 billion broilers. By 1990, the total annual production was a little over 27 billion broilers and by 1996, total world production had grown to 35.3 billion (Van der Sluis., 1999). This represents a fivefold increase in 35 years, and it has not stopped growing since, with world production surpassed 38 billion in 1998 (Van der Sluis., 1999). In Africa the human population was estimated to be 819.9 million, while the total poultry population of the continent was estimated as 1.133 million chickens, 15 million ducks and seven million turkeys in 1998. Production scale being 1.781701 metric tones (MT) of hen eggs, 2.269000 MT of chickens’ meat, 32.824MT of turkey meat and 52.989MT of duck meat (Gueye, 2000). Commercial poultry products are also imported and exported. For example, 12.000 metric tons of poultry meat was estimated to have been exported from South Africa in 1999, whereas 87.000 and 10.000 metric tons of poultry meat was imported into South Africa and Egypt, respectively (Gueye, 2000). In South Africa poultry production is moving toward the 21st century with the potential for increased development being greater than any other sector of the agricultural industry. The small-scale to medium-scale or semi-commercial farmer is becoming a role-player that needs to be serviced by the poultry industry (Fourie, 2000). The industry will have to take up the challenges that are facing an entrepreneur starting with a poultry venture. The poultry industry has developed from a humble beginning at the turn of the century into a multi-million Rand enterprise where protein is provided through the commercial and small marketing sector (Fourie, 2000). Some of the larger commercial companies market three million birds per week. It is estimated that the commercial company sector is responsible for 75 to 85 percent of production and marketing of white meat in this country whereas the small-scale and medium-scale or semi commercial poultry production enterprises provide 20 to 25 percent of the white meat through the sales of slaughtered and live poultry sale to rural, peri-urban and urban settlements (Fourie., 2000). Small-scale and semi-commercial broiler production is developed by entrepreneurs who buy day-old chicks from the big commercial hatcheries, rear them to the age of five to eight weeks and sell them through a marketing network or small outlets. The small-scale consist of farmers who reared 100 t0 1000 chickens per batch and semi-commercial consist of farmers who reared 1000 to 5000 chickens per batch. These types of farmers acquire very little technical backup in terms of a training and services center where assistance is available every day of the week. The broiler industry requires birds that are of commercial crosses selected for their ability to grow very fast and produce a good quality carcass in the shortest time frame. The small farmers purchase broiler stock, as the day-old chicks from commercial hatcheries and reared them up to six to eight weeks before slaughtered or sold as live chickens. The selling of live chickens through a network outlets system is becoming an industry that is growing at a steady pace, as household food security is becoming important to communities (Fourie, 2000). The price of feed is the single most expensive item on the list of expenses of a farmer because of their financial constraints. The small-scale and semicommercial broiler farmer is faced with the problem of buying small quantities of feed at an inflated price. The problem can be alleviated by groups of small farmers joining co-operative and buying feeds in bulk from suppliers and redistributing to small farmers. The community co-operative can once again play a major role in the distribution of small amounts of feed to its member. The biggest challenge is to provide training with a “hands on” approach. It will be ideal to have a training center where small farmers can be trained in all aspects of poultry production. The training facility will have to operate as a fully operational poultry unit with no risks to bio-security of a commercial enterprise. Training will have to be provided in aspects like hatchery, housing, broilers and record management depending on the farmer’s needs. There is also a need for the research on broiler performance under small-scale and semi commercial farming. Research in this sector of poultry production should look in appropriate feeds, feeding, technology, genotype and performance of genotypes under the system. Emphasis in this study will be on growth patterns and performance of the Ross hybrids as a modern broiler under small-scale and semi commercial management condition. Aspect of the environment such as age, type of feeds and feeding methods, housing, seasons, lighting and genotype will be taken into consideration. The result of the study will provide a realistic database for mathematical modeling of production response and guideline for management planning in small-scale and semi-commercial management condition. Also this result will be important to broiler breeders, to determine the suitability of the modern broiler to small-scale and semi commercial management conditions. The objective of the study was to evaluate the mathematical model that could describe the performance of broilers under the small-scale and semi-commercial management conditions.
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- Date Issued: 2002
Modelling the distribution and abundance of several demersal fish species on the Agulhas Bank, South Africa
- Authors: Sampson, Mark Robert
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Fishes -- South Africa -- Geographical distribution , Fishes -- South Africa -- Geographical distribution -- Mathematical models
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5343 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006207 , Fishes -- South Africa -- Geographical distribution , Fishes -- South Africa -- Geographical distribution -- Mathematical models
- Description: The Agulhas Bank supports a speciose fish community, many of which are commercially important. Despite substantial research being conducted on aspects of their biology spatial aspects of their distribution and abundance in relation to environment parameters has been ignored. This study, therefore, addressed aspects related to the distribution and abundance of representative species on the Agulhas Bank within a Geographic Information System (GIS). Four candidate species were chosen due to their importance either in numbers or unit mass to the South African demersal trawl fishery. The species also shared morphological and taxonomic similarities. The candidate species chosen were the two Cape hake species, shallow-water hake Meluccius capensis, and deep-water hake Merluccius paradoxus, and the two pleuronectiform species being Agulhas sole Austroglossus pectoralis and redspotted tonguesole Cynoglossus zanzibarensis. The use of a GIS was appropriate and allowed for hidden spatial patterns be exposed and illustrated visually, while also facilitating the quantification of the relationships between distribution/abundance and certain environmental predictors using statistical methods The Department of Marine and Coastal Management, Cape Town, supplied biological data in the form of length frequency and biomass information from spring (AprillMay) and autumn (September/October) cruises conducted between 1986 and 1993 on the R. V. Africana. The Council for National Geoscience, Cape Town, supplied sediment data for the entire southern African coastline. Initial exploratory data analysis highlighted potential relationships between environmental variables and abundance for each specie's life-history stanzas. Variations in spatial distribution were found to be significantly different between each life-history stanzas within species. Fish density as a function of the additive effects of the various environmental parameters, including temperature, depth and sediment type, was assessed using a Poisson Generalized Additive Model (GAM), while distribution was analysed with a logistic GAM. A predictive logistic model was then created, taking into consideration the importance of the predictor variables for each species, allowing for predictive estimates to be made for each species by inputting environmental information within the study area. The importance of certain environmental variables influencing distribution and abundance were noted. General patterns indicated that sediment was the most important to both the distribution and abundance of the two pleuronectiform species and juvenile life-history stanzas, while the adult gadoids' distribution and abundance appeared to be depth dependent.
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- Date Issued: 2002
Participation and dialogue in development
- Authors: Neves, David Telles
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Action theory , Communication in economic development
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3148 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007456 , Action theory , Communication in economic development
- Description: "Participation" is a frequently articulated requirement within the context of community development. Yet despite this, the concept of participation is neither comprehensively theorised, nor entirely unproblematic. The theoretical paucity surrounding participation is particularly marked within accounts of its interactional and relational dynamics . This thesis is accordingly concerned with theorising the interactional and relational features of participation in, and for, development. To this end a small development intervention, constituted as an agricultural co-operative within a rural area of South Africa, is examined. In this inquiry the phenomenon of participation is viewed through the lens of dialogical-activity. This enables explication of the "joint activity" directed towards participatory development, within the focal research setting. The overarching theoretical framework for this thesis is conferred by Activity theory. Orientated towards examining the collective and artefactually mediated nature of human action, Activity theory is foregrounded in Y. Engeström's (1989; 1999b) analytic schema of the Activity System. This Activity System framework is expanded by the inclusion of communicative and semiotic elements; an inclusion effected by reference to R. Engeström's theory of communicative action (1995,1999), which in turn, draws on theoretical precepts gleaned from the work of Mikhail Bakhtin. The resultant fusing of dialogue and activity therefore serves to extend Activity theoretical insights. The results of this research are based on data collected from a multitude of sources within the focal participatory development research setting, including internal project documentation, interview transcripts and field notes. The dialogical Bakhtin-derived an alytic categories of speech genre , voice and social language were drawn on in order to examine this textual data , and to explicate the interactional and relational features of participatory development. Analysis of these served to reveal the polyphony of (speech genre constituted) voices, wherein the phenomenon of participation is disparately accentuated. The results chapter moreover discusses the substantial mismatches and discontinuities in the referential object invoked by the various roleplayers, within the focal research context. This thesis considers the sources of these discontinuities and tensions, including how they point to historically constituted contradictions within participatory development. It furthermore briefly examines the opportunities and affordances these offer up for expansive new forms of activity. Finally, in re-examining participation and development, the complex, and sometimes antithetic relationship that exists between these two concepts and their associated social practices, are considered.
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- Date Issued: 2002
Permaculture as an aspect of environmental learning: an investigation into secondary school communities in Zimbabwe
- Authors: Nyika, Mugove Walter
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Permaculture -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Zimbabwe Land use -- Zimbabwe Land use -- Environmental aspects -- Zimbabwe Agriculture -- Zimbabwe Sustainable agriculture -- Zimbabawe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1960 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008447
- Description: The Schools and Colleges Permaculture (SCOPE) Programme in Zimbabwe has developed a process for use by schools in planning for the sustainable management of their land. The process is called Integrated Land-Use Design (ILUD) and is based on Permaculture principles. The ILUD process has so far been implemented in 54 pilot schools where it has been used to facilitate the re-design of the school grounds through the active participation of the students, staff and parents. The aim of this research was to investigate what environmental learning takes place during the implementation of the ILUD process and related activities, with a view to informing the improvement of the process. The research was conducted within the interpretive paradigm with particular use being made of the Symbolic Interactionist theoretical framework to explore the social situations in which the ILUD process has been applied. A purposive sample of two schools and five form 4 (grade 11) pupils from each school was selected for the study. The main data collection method was the structured interview. Other data were collected from nonparticipant observations and the analysis of documents, particularly photographs. The data was analysed using the constant comparative method. The findings point towards a significant contribution from the Permaculture activities to the environmental knowledge, environmental management skills and the positive environmental attitudes of the pupils. The work done at the two schools indicates the usefulness of the ILUD process as a tool for environmental action in the schools but its application in the communities was found to be limited by constraints such as lack of resources and the limited capacity of teachers to work in the field of adult education and training. It is recommended that Permaculture should be integrated into the secondary school curriculum if the momentum of the progress made so far is to be maintained. The SCOPE Programme itself needs to be strengthened for its work with communities. There is, for example, a need for adult education and training methods if the introduction of ILUD to the communities is to be successful.
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- Date Issued: 2002
Physiological and perceptual responses of SANDF personnel to varying combinations of marching speed and backpack load
- Authors: Christie, Candice Jo-Anne
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Marching -- Physiological aspects , Walking -- Physiological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5128 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005207 , Marching -- Physiological aspects , Walking -- Physiological aspects
- Description: The objective of the present study was to establish effective combinations of marching speed and backpack load in order to meet specific military requirements. Thirty infantrymen from the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) comprised the sample and experimental procedures were conducted in a laboratory setting using a Cybex Trotter treadmill. Sixteen conditions were set up which included combinations of four speeds (3.5, 4.5, 5.5, and 6.5 km.h⁻¹) and four backpack loads (20, 35, 50, and 65kg). Each subject was required to complete 8 of the sixteen conditions, each consisting of a six-minute treadmill march. Physiological data (heart rate, ventilation and metabolic responses), kinematic gait responses (step-rate and stride length) and perceptions of exertion (“Central” and “Local” RPE) were collected during the third and sixth minutes of the treadmill march and areas of body discomfort were identified post-march. Responses revealed five distinct categories of exertional strain. Three marches constituted “nominal” (below 40% VO₂max) and three “excessive” strain (above 75% VO₂ max). These represent combinations of extreme military demands and are highly unlikely to be utilised by the military. Three “tolerable” levels of required effort were recommended and these 10 combinations were further divided into three sub-categories. The “moderate” stress marches were identified as “ideal” for prolonged marches and had statistically similar responses of working heart rates (range of 118 bt.min⁻¹ to 127 bt.min⁻¹), energy expenditure (26 kJ.min⁻¹ and 27 kJ.min⁻¹) and ratings of perceived exertion (“Central” ratings of 10 and 11). Thus, marching at 5.5 km.h⁻¹with 20kg, 4.5 km.h⁻¹ with 35kg or 3.5 km.h⁻¹ with 50kg all require a similar energy cost. Four “heavy” category marches were identified for possible use when the duration of the march is reduced. During these marches responses were statistically similar with heart rates ranging from 127 bt.min⁻¹ to 137 bt.min⁻¹, energy expenditure from 32 kJ.min⁻¹ to 37 kJ.min⁻¹ and “Central” ratings of perceived exertion were 12 and 13. When short, high intensity marches are necessary, then combinations from the “very heavy” category may be utilised but with caution. During these marches, soldiers were taxed between 65% and 75% of VO2 max. The results of this study clearly demonstrate that the interplay between speed and load needs to be adjusted when determining “ideal” combinations for specific military demands. Essentially, if speed is of the essence then load must be reduced, and if heavy loads need to be transported then speed must be reduced.
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- Date Issued: 2002