The ethical function of research and teaching
- Authors: Tabensky, Pedro
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/305738 , vital:58608 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2011.00813.x"
- Description: It is the epistemic as well as the ethical responsibility of academics to aim to approach their research and teaching with a proper understanding of the ultimate ethical purpose or telos of their defining activities and products,which is the practical aim of promoting human flourishing. Minimally, academics should aim at understanding, and a key component of understanding is to understand the ideal ethical purpose of what is being researched and taught. For instance, sadistic Nazi medical researchers and teachers—Mengeles of sorts—in addition to having reprehensible commitments,would be significantly ignorant about their own intellectual concerns by virtue of their abject (belief-expressing) commitments. I will show that insights drawn from extreme cases such as this one apply across disciplines and in less extreme cases.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Tabensky, Pedro
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/305738 , vital:58608 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2011.00813.x"
- Description: It is the epistemic as well as the ethical responsibility of academics to aim to approach their research and teaching with a proper understanding of the ultimate ethical purpose or telos of their defining activities and products,which is the practical aim of promoting human flourishing. Minimally, academics should aim at understanding, and a key component of understanding is to understand the ideal ethical purpose of what is being researched and taught. For instance, sadistic Nazi medical researchers and teachers—Mengeles of sorts—in addition to having reprehensible commitments,would be significantly ignorant about their own intellectual concerns by virtue of their abject (belief-expressing) commitments. I will show that insights drawn from extreme cases such as this one apply across disciplines and in less extreme cases.
- Full Text:
The extent and perceptions of vandalism as a cause of street tree damage in small towns in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Richardson, Emma, Shackleton, Charlie M
- Authors: Richardson, Emma , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/180954 , vital:43676 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2014.04.003"
- Description: Street trees are important foundations of urban sustainability due to the ecosystem services that they provide society and the environment. However, street trees are vulnerable to vandalism and damage, especially when small, which constraints the flow of benefits they provide and also increases the costs of planting programmes. Despite being a common phenomenon, there is limited knowledge regarding the extent of vandalism and the reasons for it. Here we seek to understand the causes and extent of street tree damage in eleven small Eastern Cape (South Africa) towns and to assess the perceptions of residents and officials. The condition of newly planted street trees was assessed in each town and residents were interviewed in the two towns with the highest number of newly planted street trees. Almost half (42%) of recently planted street trees were totally snapped, ranging between 0% and 63% per town. There was no difference in the prevalence of trees being snapped between those with protective structures and those without. Each town used different structures around newly planted street trees, but in only two towns were all the structures intact. The prevalence of damage declined with increasing trunk thickness and increasing town size. According to residents, boredom, misbehaviour, lack of appreciation of trees and collection for wood were the main factors for tree vandalism by people along with damage by livestock. Ward councillors recognised the presence of vandalism, but indicated that it was not a priority topic in their ward meetings. Suggestions by residents to prevent vandalism included: planting in sensible areas, re-designing the protective structures, re-locating livestock and engendering community participation and ownership in all aspects of street tree planting.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Richardson, Emma , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/180954 , vital:43676 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2014.04.003"
- Description: Street trees are important foundations of urban sustainability due to the ecosystem services that they provide society and the environment. However, street trees are vulnerable to vandalism and damage, especially when small, which constraints the flow of benefits they provide and also increases the costs of planting programmes. Despite being a common phenomenon, there is limited knowledge regarding the extent of vandalism and the reasons for it. Here we seek to understand the causes and extent of street tree damage in eleven small Eastern Cape (South Africa) towns and to assess the perceptions of residents and officials. The condition of newly planted street trees was assessed in each town and residents were interviewed in the two towns with the highest number of newly planted street trees. Almost half (42%) of recently planted street trees were totally snapped, ranging between 0% and 63% per town. There was no difference in the prevalence of trees being snapped between those with protective structures and those without. Each town used different structures around newly planted street trees, but in only two towns were all the structures intact. The prevalence of damage declined with increasing trunk thickness and increasing town size. According to residents, boredom, misbehaviour, lack of appreciation of trees and collection for wood were the main factors for tree vandalism by people along with damage by livestock. Ward councillors recognised the presence of vandalism, but indicated that it was not a priority topic in their ward meetings. Suggestions by residents to prevent vandalism included: planting in sensible areas, re-designing the protective structures, re-locating livestock and engendering community participation and ownership in all aspects of street tree planting.
- Full Text:
The herbivorous arthropods associated with the invasive alien plant, Arundo donax, and the native analogous plant, Phragmites australis, in the Free State Province, South Africa s
- Canavan, Kim N, Paterson, Iain D, Hill, Martin P
- Authors: Canavan, Kim N , Paterson, Iain D , Hill, Martin P
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/406155 , vital:70243 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC155690"
- Description: The Enemy Release Hypothesis (ERH) predicts that when plant species are introduced outside their native range there is a release from natural enemies resulting in the plants becoming problematic invasive alien species (Lake and Leishman 2004; Puliafico et al. 2008). The release from natural enemies may benefit alien plants more than simply reducing herbivory because, according to the Evolution of Increased Competitive Ability (EICA) hypothesis, without pressure from herbivores more resources that were previously allocated to defence can be allocated to reproduction (Blossey and Notzold 1995). Alien invasive plants are therefore expected to have simpler herbivore communities with fewer specialist herbivores (Frenzel and Brandl 2003; Heleno et al. 2008; Heger and Jeschke 2014).
- Full Text:
- Authors: Canavan, Kim N , Paterson, Iain D , Hill, Martin P
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/406155 , vital:70243 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC155690"
- Description: The Enemy Release Hypothesis (ERH) predicts that when plant species are introduced outside their native range there is a release from natural enemies resulting in the plants becoming problematic invasive alien species (Lake and Leishman 2004; Puliafico et al. 2008). The release from natural enemies may benefit alien plants more than simply reducing herbivory because, according to the Evolution of Increased Competitive Ability (EICA) hypothesis, without pressure from herbivores more resources that were previously allocated to defence can be allocated to reproduction (Blossey and Notzold 1995). Alien invasive plants are therefore expected to have simpler herbivore communities with fewer specialist herbivores (Frenzel and Brandl 2003; Heleno et al. 2008; Heger and Jeschke 2014).
- Full Text:
The impact of manufacturing variables on in vitro release of clobetasol 17-propionate from pilot scale cream formulations
- Fauzee, Ayesha F B, Khamanga, Sandile M, Walker, Roderick B
- Authors: Fauzee, Ayesha F B , Khamanga, Sandile M , Walker, Roderick B
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/183872 , vital:44077 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.3109/03639045.2013.842579"
- Description: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of different homogenization speeds and times, anchor speeds and cooling times on the viscosity and cumulative % clobetasol 17-propionate released per unit area at 72 h from pilot scale cream formulations. A 24 full factorial central composite design for four independent variables were investigated. Thirty pilot scale batches of cream formulations were manufactured using a Wintech® cream/ointment plant. The viscosity and in vitro release of CP were monitored and compared to an innovator product that is commercially available on the South African market, namely, Dermovate® cream. Contour and three-dimensional response surface plots were produced and the viscosity and cumulative % CP released per unit area at 72 h were found to be primarily dependent on the homogenization and anchor speeds. An increase in the homogenization and anchor speeds appeared to exhibit a synergistic effect on the resultant viscosity of the cream whereas an antagonistic effect was observed for the in vitro release of CP from the experimental cream formulations. The in vitro release profiles were best fitted to a Higuchi model and diffusion proved to be the dominant mechanism of drug release that was confirmed by use of the Korsmeyer–Peppas model. The research was further validated and confirmed by the high prognostic ability of response surface methodology (RSM) with a resultant mean percentage error of (±SD) 0.17 ± 0.093 suggesting that RSM may be an efficient tool for the development and optimization of topical formulations.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Fauzee, Ayesha F B , Khamanga, Sandile M , Walker, Roderick B
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/183872 , vital:44077 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.3109/03639045.2013.842579"
- Description: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of different homogenization speeds and times, anchor speeds and cooling times on the viscosity and cumulative % clobetasol 17-propionate released per unit area at 72 h from pilot scale cream formulations. A 24 full factorial central composite design for four independent variables were investigated. Thirty pilot scale batches of cream formulations were manufactured using a Wintech® cream/ointment plant. The viscosity and in vitro release of CP were monitored and compared to an innovator product that is commercially available on the South African market, namely, Dermovate® cream. Contour and three-dimensional response surface plots were produced and the viscosity and cumulative % CP released per unit area at 72 h were found to be primarily dependent on the homogenization and anchor speeds. An increase in the homogenization and anchor speeds appeared to exhibit a synergistic effect on the resultant viscosity of the cream whereas an antagonistic effect was observed for the in vitro release of CP from the experimental cream formulations. The in vitro release profiles were best fitted to a Higuchi model and diffusion proved to be the dominant mechanism of drug release that was confirmed by use of the Korsmeyer–Peppas model. The research was further validated and confirmed by the high prognostic ability of response surface methodology (RSM) with a resultant mean percentage error of (±SD) 0.17 ± 0.093 suggesting that RSM may be an efficient tool for the development and optimization of topical formulations.
- Full Text:
The incurious seeker: waiting, and the search for the stranger in the fiction of Samuel Beckett and JM Coetzee
- Authors: Marais, Mike
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/143971 , vital:38299 , https://mediatropes.com/index.php/Mediatropes/article/view/22380/18161
- Description: In J.M. Coetzee and the Novel: Writing and Politics after Beckett, Patrick Hayes argues that Coetzee, while influenced by Beckett’s prose style, assimilates it in such a way that his writing not only departs from the latter’s solipsism but also provides “an anti-foundational imagining of moral community” (71). While there is much merit to this argument, Hayes’s distinction between Beckett’s solipsism and Coetzee’s concern with community downplays the extent to which the human subject’s conception of herself depends on the differential process through which community establishes itself. In the first section of this paper I show that, already in Murphy, we find evidence in support of Ileana Marculescu’s argument that Beckett inscribes solipsism in his writing only to subvert it. Murphy’s attempts at solipsistic knowledge fail precisely because he has been estranged from himself by language and community. What appears to be solipsism is, in fact, a search for the self from which he has been divided by community. In Beckett’s writing, the self’s concern with its ability to know itself is always a concern with community.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Marais, Mike
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/143971 , vital:38299 , https://mediatropes.com/index.php/Mediatropes/article/view/22380/18161
- Description: In J.M. Coetzee and the Novel: Writing and Politics after Beckett, Patrick Hayes argues that Coetzee, while influenced by Beckett’s prose style, assimilates it in such a way that his writing not only departs from the latter’s solipsism but also provides “an anti-foundational imagining of moral community” (71). While there is much merit to this argument, Hayes’s distinction between Beckett’s solipsism and Coetzee’s concern with community downplays the extent to which the human subject’s conception of herself depends on the differential process through which community establishes itself. In the first section of this paper I show that, already in Murphy, we find evidence in support of Ileana Marculescu’s argument that Beckett inscribes solipsism in his writing only to subvert it. Murphy’s attempts at solipsistic knowledge fail precisely because he has been estranged from himself by language and community. What appears to be solipsism is, in fact, a search for the self from which he has been divided by community. In Beckett’s writing, the self’s concern with its ability to know itself is always a concern with community.
- Full Text:
The influence of gold nanoparticles on the electroactivity of nickel tetrasulfonated phthalocyanine
- Maringa, Audacity, Nyokong, Tebello
- Authors: Maringa, Audacity , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/189774 , vital:44930 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1142/S1088424614500333"
- Description: We report on the electrodeposition of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) followed by deposition of nickel tetrasulfonated phthalocyanine (NiTSPc) film by electropolymerization (poly-NiTSPc-GCE) to form Poly-NiTSPc/AuNPs-GCE. The presence of the gold nanoparticles caused a lowering of the anodic and cathodic peak separation (ΔEp) of ferricyanide from 126 mV on poly-NiTSPc to 110 mV on poly-NiTSPc/AuNPs. The electrooxidation of nitrite improved on modified electrodes compared to GCE, with the latter giving Ep = 0.78 V and the modified electrodes gave Ep = 0.62 V or 0.61 V. Poly-NiTSPc/AuNPs-GCE had higher currents compared to poly-NiTSPc-GCE. This indicates the enhancement effect caused by the AuNPs. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and chronoamperometric studies also showed that poly-NiTSPc/AuNPs-GCE was a better electrocatalyst than poly-NiTSPc-GCE or AuNPs-GCE.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Maringa, Audacity , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/189774 , vital:44930 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1142/S1088424614500333"
- Description: We report on the electrodeposition of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) followed by deposition of nickel tetrasulfonated phthalocyanine (NiTSPc) film by electropolymerization (poly-NiTSPc-GCE) to form Poly-NiTSPc/AuNPs-GCE. The presence of the gold nanoparticles caused a lowering of the anodic and cathodic peak separation (ΔEp) of ferricyanide from 126 mV on poly-NiTSPc to 110 mV on poly-NiTSPc/AuNPs. The electrooxidation of nitrite improved on modified electrodes compared to GCE, with the latter giving Ep = 0.78 V and the modified electrodes gave Ep = 0.62 V or 0.61 V. Poly-NiTSPc/AuNPs-GCE had higher currents compared to poly-NiTSPc-GCE. This indicates the enhancement effect caused by the AuNPs. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and chronoamperometric studies also showed that poly-NiTSPc/AuNPs-GCE was a better electrocatalyst than poly-NiTSPc-GCE or AuNPs-GCE.
- Full Text:
The intellectualisation of African languages, multilingualism and education: a research-based approach
- Kaschula, Russell H, Maseko, Pamela
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H , Maseko, Pamela
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: African languages -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa , Language policy -- South Africa , Education, Higher -- South Africa , Educational change -- South Africa , Multiligualism , Multicultural education -- South Africa , Language and languages -- Study and teaching
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59321 , vital:27548 , http://alternation.ukzn.ac.za/Files/docs/21 SpEd13/Alternation Spec Ed 13 (2014).pdf#page=13
- Description: This paper seeks to understand the relationship between the intellectualisation of African languages and the facilitation of a research approach which will enhance this intellectualisation. The paper examines the legislative language policies and other documents published by government since 1994, which guide language use and practices in higher education, including the Catalytic Project on Concept Formation in indigenous African languages (one of the recommendations contained in the Report commissioned by the Minister of Higher Education for the Charter for Humanities and Social Sciences and the language clauses of the Green Paper for Post-Secondary School Education and Training). These policy documents are analysed against the backdrop of the research work of the newly initiated NRF SARChI Chair in the Intellectualisation of African Languages, Multilingualism and Education hosted by Rhodes University. The paper argues that while policy provides an enabling environment for the promotion and development of indigenous African languages and advocates for promotion of equity and equality, in actual fact, HEIs still grapple in implementing provisions of these policies. The paper further discusses the teaching, learning and research in the African Language Studies Section of the School of Languages at Rhodes University and how the Section adopted the provisions of the national policy and institutional policy on language in turning itself into a source of intellectual vitality in the teaching, learning and research of particularly isiXhosa. Six focus areas of research, linked to the NRF SARChI Chair, will be outlined in order to create a practical link between Policy, Implementation and the Intellectualisation of African Languages. , Ucwaningo lolu luhlose ukuqonda ubudlelwano obuphakathi kokusetshenziswa kwezilimi zesintu emazingeni aphakame kanye nokusetshenziswa kwendlela yocwaningo ezokwengeza amathuba okusetshenziswa kwezilimi lezi (Finlayson & Madiba 2002). Ucwaningo luhlaziya inqubomgomo yolimi esemthethweni neminye imibhalo eshicelelwe uhulumeni elawula ukusebenza nokusetshenziswa kwezilimi kwezemfundo ephakame kusuka ngonyaka wezi-1994, kanye ne-Catalytic Project on Concept Formation in indigenous African languages (esinye seziphakamiso esiqukethwe embikweni owethulwa ngungqonqoshe wezemfundo ephakeme nge-Charter of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSSC 2011) kanye nezinhlamvu zamazwi e-Green paper for Post-secondary School education and training (2012). Imibhalo yenqubomgomo ihlaziywa kubhekwe umsebenzi wocwaningo kasihlalo we- NRF SARChl ekusetshenzisweni kwezilimi zesintu emazingeni aphakeme nobuliminingi kanye nezemfundo e- Rhodes University. Ucwaningo lolu luphakamisa umbono othi noma inqubomgomo isipha amandla okukhuphula nokuthuthukisa izilimi zesintu kanye nokukhuthaza ukulingana nokungacwasi, eqinisweni izikhungo zemfundo ephakeme zihlangabezana nobunzima bokusebenzisa izihlinzeko zenqubomgomo. Ucwaningo lolu luzoxoxa futhi ngokufundisa nokufunda kanye nocwaningo emnyangweni wezifundo zezilimi zesintu esikoleni sezilimi e-Rhodes University kanye nokuthi umnyango lo wamukela njani izihlinzeko zenqubomgomo kazwelonke kanye nezesikhungo eziphathelane nokuguqulwa kwezilimi zibe umthombo wenhlakanipho ekufundiseni nasekufundeni kanye nocwaningo ngolimi lwesiXhosa. Imikhaka emqoka eyisithupha yocwaningo ehlobene nesihlalo se-NRF SARChl izovezwa ukuze kwakhiwe ubudlelwano obenzekayo phakathi kwenqubomgomo, ukusetshenziswa kwayo kanye nokusetshenziswa kwezilimi zesintu emazingeni aphakeme.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H , Maseko, Pamela
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: African languages -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- South Africa , Language policy -- South Africa , Education, Higher -- South Africa , Educational change -- South Africa , Multiligualism , Multicultural education -- South Africa , Language and languages -- Study and teaching
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59321 , vital:27548 , http://alternation.ukzn.ac.za/Files/docs/21 SpEd13/Alternation Spec Ed 13 (2014).pdf#page=13
- Description: This paper seeks to understand the relationship between the intellectualisation of African languages and the facilitation of a research approach which will enhance this intellectualisation. The paper examines the legislative language policies and other documents published by government since 1994, which guide language use and practices in higher education, including the Catalytic Project on Concept Formation in indigenous African languages (one of the recommendations contained in the Report commissioned by the Minister of Higher Education for the Charter for Humanities and Social Sciences and the language clauses of the Green Paper for Post-Secondary School Education and Training). These policy documents are analysed against the backdrop of the research work of the newly initiated NRF SARChI Chair in the Intellectualisation of African Languages, Multilingualism and Education hosted by Rhodes University. The paper argues that while policy provides an enabling environment for the promotion and development of indigenous African languages and advocates for promotion of equity and equality, in actual fact, HEIs still grapple in implementing provisions of these policies. The paper further discusses the teaching, learning and research in the African Language Studies Section of the School of Languages at Rhodes University and how the Section adopted the provisions of the national policy and institutional policy on language in turning itself into a source of intellectual vitality in the teaching, learning and research of particularly isiXhosa. Six focus areas of research, linked to the NRF SARChI Chair, will be outlined in order to create a practical link between Policy, Implementation and the Intellectualisation of African Languages. , Ucwaningo lolu luhlose ukuqonda ubudlelwano obuphakathi kokusetshenziswa kwezilimi zesintu emazingeni aphakame kanye nokusetshenziswa kwendlela yocwaningo ezokwengeza amathuba okusetshenziswa kwezilimi lezi (Finlayson & Madiba 2002). Ucwaningo luhlaziya inqubomgomo yolimi esemthethweni neminye imibhalo eshicelelwe uhulumeni elawula ukusebenza nokusetshenziswa kwezilimi kwezemfundo ephakame kusuka ngonyaka wezi-1994, kanye ne-Catalytic Project on Concept Formation in indigenous African languages (esinye seziphakamiso esiqukethwe embikweni owethulwa ngungqonqoshe wezemfundo ephakeme nge-Charter of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSSC 2011) kanye nezinhlamvu zamazwi e-Green paper for Post-secondary School education and training (2012). Imibhalo yenqubomgomo ihlaziywa kubhekwe umsebenzi wocwaningo kasihlalo we- NRF SARChl ekusetshenzisweni kwezilimi zesintu emazingeni aphakeme nobuliminingi kanye nezemfundo e- Rhodes University. Ucwaningo lolu luphakamisa umbono othi noma inqubomgomo isipha amandla okukhuphula nokuthuthukisa izilimi zesintu kanye nokukhuthaza ukulingana nokungacwasi, eqinisweni izikhungo zemfundo ephakeme zihlangabezana nobunzima bokusebenzisa izihlinzeko zenqubomgomo. Ucwaningo lolu luzoxoxa futhi ngokufundisa nokufunda kanye nocwaningo emnyangweni wezifundo zezilimi zesintu esikoleni sezilimi e-Rhodes University kanye nokuthi umnyango lo wamukela njani izihlinzeko zenqubomgomo kazwelonke kanye nezesikhungo eziphathelane nokuguqulwa kwezilimi zibe umthombo wenhlakanipho ekufundiseni nasekufundeni kanye nocwaningo ngolimi lwesiXhosa. Imikhaka emqoka eyisithupha yocwaningo ehlobene nesihlalo se-NRF SARChl izovezwa ukuze kwakhiwe ubudlelwano obenzekayo phakathi kwenqubomgomo, ukusetshenziswa kwayo kanye nokusetshenziswa kwezilimi zesintu emazingeni aphakeme.
- Full Text:
The life history traits of the arctiine moth Pareuchaetes insulata, a biological control agent of Chromolaena odorata in South Africa
- Uyi, Osariyekemwen O, Zachariades, Costas, Hill, Martin P
- Authors: Uyi, Osariyekemwen O , Zachariades, Costas , Hill, Martin P
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/406170 , vital:70244 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC160238"
- Description: Pareuchaetes insulata (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae) was released in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, as a biological control agent against Chromolaena odorata (L.) King and Robinson (Asteraceae) between 2001 and 2009. Although the moth did establish at one out of some 30 release sites, its population level is generally low in the field. Two closely related biological control agents, P. pseudoinsulata Rego Barros and P. aurata aurata (Butler) had previously failed to establish despite several years of releases. Studies of life history traits of P. insulata (males and females) were conducted to determine whether several aspects of its developmental and reproductive biology can explain its poor performance, and to compare the development and reproductive biology of P. insulata with the two other closely related species. At 25 °C, overall mortality of immature stages was generally low (below 12 %). Although the duration of the larval life stage was statistically longer for females, overall they eclosed as adults before the males (i.e. protogyny). Pupal mass, growth rate and total leaf area consumed were higher in females. Mated females laid 74% of their eggs on the first four nights following eclosion and lived an average of 5.92 ± 0.19 days. The moth also showed good biological attributes such as high fecundity (number of eggs), egg hatchability and female mating success (the number of matings that resulted in fertile eggs). Significant positive correlations were detected between insect performance metrics and leaf consumption and between fecundity and pupal mass. A 23 % greater lifetime reproductive output (387.62 ± 19.50 eggs per female) for P. insulata compared with P. aurata aurata was recorded. We hypothesize that the absence of protandry in P. insulata might have contributed to the low population levels of the moth in the field. The results of this study contribute to our understanding of the life history traits of erebid moths in the subfamily Arctiinae deployed for the biological control of C. odorata.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Uyi, Osariyekemwen O , Zachariades, Costas , Hill, Martin P
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/406170 , vital:70244 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC160238"
- Description: Pareuchaetes insulata (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae) was released in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, as a biological control agent against Chromolaena odorata (L.) King and Robinson (Asteraceae) between 2001 and 2009. Although the moth did establish at one out of some 30 release sites, its population level is generally low in the field. Two closely related biological control agents, P. pseudoinsulata Rego Barros and P. aurata aurata (Butler) had previously failed to establish despite several years of releases. Studies of life history traits of P. insulata (males and females) were conducted to determine whether several aspects of its developmental and reproductive biology can explain its poor performance, and to compare the development and reproductive biology of P. insulata with the two other closely related species. At 25 °C, overall mortality of immature stages was generally low (below 12 %). Although the duration of the larval life stage was statistically longer for females, overall they eclosed as adults before the males (i.e. protogyny). Pupal mass, growth rate and total leaf area consumed were higher in females. Mated females laid 74% of their eggs on the first four nights following eclosion and lived an average of 5.92 ± 0.19 days. The moth also showed good biological attributes such as high fecundity (number of eggs), egg hatchability and female mating success (the number of matings that resulted in fertile eggs). Significant positive correlations were detected between insect performance metrics and leaf consumption and between fecundity and pupal mass. A 23 % greater lifetime reproductive output (387.62 ± 19.50 eggs per female) for P. insulata compared with P. aurata aurata was recorded. We hypothesize that the absence of protandry in P. insulata might have contributed to the low population levels of the moth in the field. The results of this study contribute to our understanding of the life history traits of erebid moths in the subfamily Arctiinae deployed for the biological control of C. odorata.
- Full Text:
The meanings of citizenship: media use and democracy in South Africa
- Wasserman, Herman, Garman, Anthea
- Authors: Wasserman, Herman , Garman, Anthea
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/159901 , vital:40354 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02533952.2014.929304
- Description: In 1994, South Africans embarked on a project to create new meanings of citizenship in order to transcend the disenfranchisement and divisions created by apartheid. This article examines the context in which new forms of citizenship are evolving in South Africa and how South African citizens use the media to give meaning to concepts such as “an active public sphere,” “civic agency” and “participatory politics.” The objective of the research is to provide information about the way in which the media contribute to the quality of democracy in South Africa through mediating citizenship in a way that improves prospects for citizens to exert influence over public decisions.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Wasserman, Herman , Garman, Anthea
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/159901 , vital:40354 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02533952.2014.929304
- Description: In 1994, South Africans embarked on a project to create new meanings of citizenship in order to transcend the disenfranchisement and divisions created by apartheid. This article examines the context in which new forms of citizenship are evolving in South Africa and how South African citizens use the media to give meaning to concepts such as “an active public sphere,” “civic agency” and “participatory politics.” The objective of the research is to provide information about the way in which the media contribute to the quality of democracy in South Africa through mediating citizenship in a way that improves prospects for citizens to exert influence over public decisions.
- Full Text:
the programmable bride
- Authors: Krueger, Anton
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/229698 , vital:49701 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC156969"
- Description: the man gently opens his machine and finding an agreeable port for his firm flash, he eagerly installs the software he's been waiting on for so very long... once booted up, the man takes his first tentative steps, finding his bride perfect in every way, already completely in love with him, and dreamy... the man tenderly reaches out for her-she understands him so well, she's concerned about his needs, she wants to know how he feels, wants only to please him, she only-/but-there's an interruption/somebody's on the stairs, someone's knocking at his door-the man is forced to close her down a little too abruptly, shutting the machine to attend to other matters while he's away he can't wait to get back, he thinks about her all the time; he longs to flip his laptop lid up, to open her again... but when finally he silently prises open the instrument of his heart's desires, she seems a little disorientated... he didn't shut her down properly …
- Full Text:
- Authors: Krueger, Anton
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/229698 , vital:49701 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC156969"
- Description: the man gently opens his machine and finding an agreeable port for his firm flash, he eagerly installs the software he's been waiting on for so very long... once booted up, the man takes his first tentative steps, finding his bride perfect in every way, already completely in love with him, and dreamy... the man tenderly reaches out for her-she understands him so well, she's concerned about his needs, she wants to know how he feels, wants only to please him, she only-/but-there's an interruption/somebody's on the stairs, someone's knocking at his door-the man is forced to close her down a little too abruptly, shutting the machine to attend to other matters while he's away he can't wait to get back, he thinks about her all the time; he longs to flip his laptop lid up, to open her again... but when finally he silently prises open the instrument of his heart's desires, she seems a little disorientated... he didn't shut her down properly …
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The Seduction of Ash: " Mia Couto's" The Day Mabata-bata Exploded" and" The Bird-Dreaming Baobab
- Authors: Njovane, Thandokazi
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142702 , vital:38103 , 10.4314/eia.v41i2.2
- Description: Chesca Long-Innes argues that Mia Couto's installation of the fantastic in his short story collection, Voices Made Night, may best be understood "not so much as a product of any 'magical realist' poetics, but as 'naturalised,' or motivated as a function of the collective neurosis of a [Mozambican] society traumatised by its continuing history of poverty and extreme violence". Couto's use of the fantastic, she adds, encompasses both empirical and psychic reality, and both are characterised by instability and elusiveness. The collection, she then maintains, constitutes a reinvention or reimagining of subjective realities constructed and perpetuated by the social trauma underpinning what she terms the "psycho-pathology of post-colonial Mozambique, in which the society as a whole is [. . .] caught in the grip of a profound depression or melancholia".
- Full Text:
- Authors: Njovane, Thandokazi
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142702 , vital:38103 , 10.4314/eia.v41i2.2
- Description: Chesca Long-Innes argues that Mia Couto's installation of the fantastic in his short story collection, Voices Made Night, may best be understood "not so much as a product of any 'magical realist' poetics, but as 'naturalised,' or motivated as a function of the collective neurosis of a [Mozambican] society traumatised by its continuing history of poverty and extreme violence". Couto's use of the fantastic, she adds, encompasses both empirical and psychic reality, and both are characterised by instability and elusiveness. The collection, she then maintains, constitutes a reinvention or reimagining of subjective realities constructed and perpetuated by the social trauma underpinning what she terms the "psycho-pathology of post-colonial Mozambique, in which the society as a whole is [. . .] caught in the grip of a profound depression or melancholia".
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The territorial invasion of Apis florea in Africa
- Bezabih, G, Adgaba, N, Hepburn, H Randall, Pirk, Christian W W
- Authors: Bezabih, G , Adgaba, N , Hepburn, H Randall , Pirk, Christian W W
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/452044 , vital:75098 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC163586
- Description: Apis florea took an inadvertent leap onto the African continent and was detected in Khartoum, Sudan, for the first time in 1985 (Lord and Nagi 1987; Mogga and Ruttner 1988). The occurrence of these bees in Africa is very likely via global transportation. Since then, A. florea has been gradually expanding its territory to the whole of Sudan (Moritz et al. 2010) and to neighbouring countries. Moreover, in Asia A. florea has been steadily expanding westwards, and it is now well established in the Middle East (Hepburn et al. 2005; Haddad et al. 2009).
- Full Text:
- Authors: Bezabih, G , Adgaba, N , Hepburn, H Randall , Pirk, Christian W W
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/452044 , vital:75098 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC163586
- Description: Apis florea took an inadvertent leap onto the African continent and was detected in Khartoum, Sudan, for the first time in 1985 (Lord and Nagi 1987; Mogga and Ruttner 1988). The occurrence of these bees in Africa is very likely via global transportation. Since then, A. florea has been gradually expanding its territory to the whole of Sudan (Moritz et al. 2010) and to neighbouring countries. Moreover, in Asia A. florea has been steadily expanding westwards, and it is now well established in the Middle East (Hepburn et al. 2005; Haddad et al. 2009).
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The transformers : journalism education
- Authors: Priscilla Boshoff
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70688 , vital:29689
- Description: Universities are strange places. People come in as one kind of being, and leave quite different. They are places of transformation. One way in which they effect this transformation is to challenge our preconceived notions of the world, and our relationship to it. However, at the same time, universities are also places of privilege and so can be conservative – in the sense of conserving and fostering particular interests in their favour.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Priscilla Boshoff
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70688 , vital:29689
- Description: Universities are strange places. People come in as one kind of being, and leave quite different. They are places of transformation. One way in which they effect this transformation is to challenge our preconceived notions of the world, and our relationship to it. However, at the same time, universities are also places of privilege and so can be conservative – in the sense of conserving and fostering particular interests in their favour.
- Full Text:
The transformers: journalism education
- Authors: Boshoff, Priscilla A
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141911 , vital:38015 , http://journals.co.za/content/rujr/2014/34/EJC159497
- Description: Universities are strange places. People come in as one kind of being, and leave quite different. They are places of transformation. One way in which they effect this transformation is to challenge our preconceived notions of the world, and our relationship to it. However, at the same time, universities are also places of privilege and so can be conservative – in the sense of conserving and fostering particular interests in their favour.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Boshoff, Priscilla A
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141911 , vital:38015 , http://journals.co.za/content/rujr/2014/34/EJC159497
- Description: Universities are strange places. People come in as one kind of being, and leave quite different. They are places of transformation. One way in which they effect this transformation is to challenge our preconceived notions of the world, and our relationship to it. However, at the same time, universities are also places of privilege and so can be conservative – in the sense of conserving and fostering particular interests in their favour.
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Thinking Africa Newsletter: (June 2014)
- Authors: Matthews, Sally
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: vital:38065 , http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12137/23
- Description: Thinking Africa Newsletter (June 2014).
- Full Text:
- Authors: Matthews, Sally
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: vital:38065 , http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12137/23
- Description: Thinking Africa Newsletter (June 2014).
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Thinking Africa Newsletter: (March 2014)
- Authors: Matthews, Sally
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: vital:38067 , http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12137/22
- Description: Thinking Africa Newsletter (March 2014).
- Full Text:
- Authors: Matthews, Sally
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: vital:38067 , http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12137/22
- Description: Thinking Africa Newsletter (March 2014).
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Towards a platform to visualize the state of South Africa's information security
- Swart, Ignus, Irwin, Barry V W, Grobler, Marthie
- Authors: Swart, Ignus , Irwin, Barry V W , Grobler, Marthie
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/429688 , vital:72632 , 10.1109/ISSA.2014.6950511
- Description: Attacks via the Internet infrastructure is increasingly becoming a daily occurrence and South Africa is no exception. In response, certain governments have published strategies pertaining to information security on a national level. These policies aim to ensure that critical infrastructure is protected, and that there is a move towards a greater state of information security readiness. This is also the case for South Africa where a variety of policy initiatives have started to gain momentum. While establishing strategy and policy is essential, ensuring its implementation is often difficult and dependent on the availability of resources. This is even more so in the case of information security since virtually all standardized security improvement processes start off with specifying that a proper inventory is required of all hardware, software, people and processes. While this may be possible to achieve at an organizational level, it is far more challenging on a national level. In this paper, the authors examine the possibility of making use of available data sources to achieve inventory of infrastructure on a national level and to visualize the state of a country's information security in at least a partial manner.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Swart, Ignus , Irwin, Barry V W , Grobler, Marthie
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/429688 , vital:72632 , 10.1109/ISSA.2014.6950511
- Description: Attacks via the Internet infrastructure is increasingly becoming a daily occurrence and South Africa is no exception. In response, certain governments have published strategies pertaining to information security on a national level. These policies aim to ensure that critical infrastructure is protected, and that there is a move towards a greater state of information security readiness. This is also the case for South Africa where a variety of policy initiatives have started to gain momentum. While establishing strategy and policy is essential, ensuring its implementation is often difficult and dependent on the availability of resources. This is even more so in the case of information security since virtually all standardized security improvement processes start off with specifying that a proper inventory is required of all hardware, software, people and processes. While this may be possible to achieve at an organizational level, it is far more challenging on a national level. In this paper, the authors examine the possibility of making use of available data sources to achieve inventory of infrastructure on a national level and to visualize the state of a country's information security in at least a partial manner.
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Towards a Sandbox for the Deobfuscation and Dissection of PHP Malware
- Wrench, Peter M, Irwin, Barry V W
- Authors: Wrench, Peter M , Irwin, Barry V W
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/429700 , vital:72633 , 10.1109/ISSA.2014.6950504
- Description: The creation and proliferation of PHP-based Remote Access Trojans (or web shells) used in both the compromise and post exploitation of web platforms has fuelled research into automated methods of dissecting and analysing these shells. Current malware tools disguise themselves by making use of obfuscation techniques designed to frustrate any efforts to dissect or reverse engineer the code. Advanced code engineering can even cause malware to behave differently if it detects that it is not running on the system for which it was originally targeted. To combat these defensive techniques, this paper presents a sandbox-based environment that aims to accurately mimic a vulnerable host and is capable of semi-automatic semantic dissection and syntactic deobfuscation of PHP code.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Wrench, Peter M , Irwin, Barry V W
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/429700 , vital:72633 , 10.1109/ISSA.2014.6950504
- Description: The creation and proliferation of PHP-based Remote Access Trojans (or web shells) used in both the compromise and post exploitation of web platforms has fuelled research into automated methods of dissecting and analysing these shells. Current malware tools disguise themselves by making use of obfuscation techniques designed to frustrate any efforts to dissect or reverse engineer the code. Advanced code engineering can even cause malware to behave differently if it detects that it is not running on the system for which it was originally targeted. To combat these defensive techniques, this paper presents a sandbox-based environment that aims to accurately mimic a vulnerable host and is capable of semi-automatic semantic dissection and syntactic deobfuscation of PHP code.
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Towards building an indigenous knowledge platform to enable culturally-sensitive education underpinned by technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK)
- Ntšekhe, Mathe, Terzoli, Alfredo, Thinyane, Mamello
- Authors: Ntšekhe, Mathe , Terzoli, Alfredo , Thinyane, Mamello
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/431424 , vital:72773 , http://proceedings.e-skillsconference.org/2014/e-skills275-284Ntsekhe821.pdf
- Description: The everyday use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is ingrained to the fabric of today’s society. A question open for debate is whether this use is or can be optimized to engender authentic solutions, which are aligned to the natural environment of the people? In this paper, we examine at the question from the vantage point of ed-ucating the rural African child. We engage with the sub-question: can ICTs facilitate education grounded in people's own realities, especially those of the marginalized rural poor? We believe this is possible under specific conditions, which include making Indigenous Knowledge (IK) readily available. We propose building an ICT platform that allows injec-tion of IK into the education process: develop a solution that valorizes IK, but also supports efforts to use ICTs in education driven by Tech-nology, Pedagogy, and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework. The main goal of this framework is to facilitate effective teaching with tech-nology. TPACK partially embeds IK within pedagogical knowledge and ‘contexts’ of learning; we argue for explicit inclusion of IK within the framework to complement the other knowledges.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Ntšekhe, Mathe , Terzoli, Alfredo , Thinyane, Mamello
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/431424 , vital:72773 , http://proceedings.e-skillsconference.org/2014/e-skills275-284Ntsekhe821.pdf
- Description: The everyday use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is ingrained to the fabric of today’s society. A question open for debate is whether this use is or can be optimized to engender authentic solutions, which are aligned to the natural environment of the people? In this paper, we examine at the question from the vantage point of ed-ucating the rural African child. We engage with the sub-question: can ICTs facilitate education grounded in people's own realities, especially those of the marginalized rural poor? We believe this is possible under specific conditions, which include making Indigenous Knowledge (IK) readily available. We propose building an ICT platform that allows injec-tion of IK into the education process: develop a solution that valorizes IK, but also supports efforts to use ICTs in education driven by Tech-nology, Pedagogy, and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework. The main goal of this framework is to facilitate effective teaching with tech-nology. TPACK partially embeds IK within pedagogical knowledge and ‘contexts’ of learning; we argue for explicit inclusion of IK within the framework to complement the other knowledges.
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Tracing the ANC’s criticism of South African media: 20 years of democracy
- Authors: Malila, Vanessa
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/158661 , vital:40219 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC159512
- Description: We often forget the strides that have been made in the media industry in South Africa since the end of apartheid and the repressive conditions under which the media industry operated prior to 1994. In the current context of complaints by the ANC about the lack of transformation in the industry and the poor reporting by the mainstream commercial media, the gains in ownership changes and the massive growth of the community media sector in South Africa are sometimes overshadowed. Despite a positive early relationship between the media and the ANC government, things have become progressively more difficult between these two institutions and the criticism from the ANC more vociferous in recent years.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Malila, Vanessa
- Date: 2014
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/158661 , vital:40219 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC159512
- Description: We often forget the strides that have been made in the media industry in South Africa since the end of apartheid and the repressive conditions under which the media industry operated prior to 1994. In the current context of complaints by the ANC about the lack of transformation in the industry and the poor reporting by the mainstream commercial media, the gains in ownership changes and the massive growth of the community media sector in South Africa are sometimes overshadowed. Despite a positive early relationship between the media and the ANC government, things have become progressively more difficult between these two institutions and the criticism from the ANC more vociferous in recent years.
- Full Text: