Post-apartheid nostalgia and the future of the black visual archive
- Authors: Nsele, Zamansele Nsikakazi Busisiwe
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Nostalgia in art , Memory in art , Africa -- In art , Africans in art , Fanon, Frantz, 1925-1961. Peau noire, masques blancs. English , South Africa -- In art , Black people in art
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167177 , vital:41444
- Description: The implications of nostalgia often strike a discordant note in post-apartheid discourse and this has opened up critical possibilities for research scholarship. For instance, Jacob Dlamini’s memoir Native Nostalgia entered the discursive fray in 2009, and it was subsequently followed by Derek Hook’s psychoanalytical approach in (Post) apartheid Conditions: Psychoanalysis and Social Formation in 2014. Notably, there is not yet a sustained and intensive research focus that has been conducted on post-apartheid forms of nostalgia within the discipline of art history and visual culture. I present this dissertation as a response to this gap. This thesis identifies mainly two competing nostalgias in post-apartheid South Africa. Through the analysis of selected artwork and media imagery, this dissertation critiques the connections of these nostalgias to the representation of the black figure in post-apartheid visual culture and the implications thereof. I argue that nostalgias for an apartheid-colonial-imperialist past operate through erasure and in the sanitisation of memory and as a result they render suffering indiscernible or in a sadomasochistic way consumes suffering as enjoyable. This thesis simultaneously critiques art work and visual representation that responds to South Africa’s nostalgia for the future: a restorative nostalgia that has emerged in the form of “rainbow nationalism”. This is a form of nostalgia that is underpinned by a dogged commitment to triumphalism and as a result erases the ongoing scenes of abjection. I use nostalgia and Afropessimism as analytical frameworks to argue that both real and visual representational forces work in tandem to restrain the future and this, I suggest is fulfilled by the transference of the black body from one state of unfreedom to next, resonating with a cyclical pattern. Frantz Fanon’s (1967) Black Skin White Mask forms the conceptual bedrock of my study, particularly his visual layout of “negrophobogenesis” and colonial temporality, which he describes as a “hellish cycle” or as an “infernal cycle” wherein the past overwhelms the present and ideas of the future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Post-release monitoring in classical biological control of weeds: higher trophic levels modify competitive interactions between invasive macrophytes
- Authors: Schaffner, Urs , Hill, Martin P , Dudley, Tom , D’Antonio, Carla
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/150200 , vital:38949 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2020.02.008
- Description: While various aspects of classical biological control (CBC) of weeds, including non-target risk assessment, have been continuously improved in the past few decades, post-release monitoring remains neglected and underfunded. Detailed assessments of the population, community and ecosystem outcomes of CBC introductions, including reasons for success/failure and absence or evidence of non-target effects are generally lacking or fragmentary. Here we review recent advances in understanding the demography of biological control agents released into a novel environment, their impact on the target weed and on non-target species, and the consequences for the resident plant and animal communities and ecosystem functioning, including the restoration of ecosystem services. We argue that post-release monitoring of CBC programs offers unique but largely underutilized opportunities to improve our understanding of CBC outcomes and to inform management and decision-makers on when and how CBC should be integrated with other management options to enhance ecosystem restoration.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Potential of soil seed bank and ungulate-mediated endozoochory in old field restoration:
- Authors: Ruwanza, Sheunesu
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/150216 , vital:38950 , https://0-muse.jhu.edu.wam.seals.ac.za/article/750319/pdf
- Description: Soil seed bank plays a key role in old field restoration because it provides information about plant species that may regenerate (Hopfensperger 2007). Most studies on old field restoration have concentrated on floristic similarities between soil seed bank and standing vegetation (Török et al. 2018). However, investigating the effects of proximity to natural/old field edge (habitat fragmentation border) on soil seed bank could yield better recovery predictions. Proximity to natural/old field edge may favour recruitment of a different plant community than that found in the old field interior. This due to favorable abiotic (e.g., soil moisture) and biotic (e.g., seed dispersal) microenvironments created near the edge. On the other hand, ungulate-mediated endozoochory has been shown to potentially facilitate ecological restoration in degraded systems, given that ungulates disperse diaspores across different landscapes (Baltzinger et al. 2019). However, ungulate-mediated endozoochory dispersal in degraded old fields is affected by several factors that include availability of nearby natural perches that attract dispersers, structural vegetation complexities, presence of food especially fruits, and feeding regimes (Baltzinger et al. 2019).
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- Date Issued: 2020
Power in Africa: a comparison of selected South African and Nigerian dystopian fiction
- Authors: Simelane, Smangaliso
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Dystopias in literature , Africa -- In literature , South African fiction (English) -- History and criticism , Nigerian fiction (English) -- History and criticism , Beukes, Lauren -- Moxyland , Herne, Lily -- Deadlands , Bandele-Thomas, Biyi, 1967- The Sympathetic Undertaker and Other Dreams , Bandele-Thomas, Biyi, 1967- The Man Who Came in from the Back of Beyond
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148171 , vital:38716
- Description: Dystopias have frequently been explored in literature to better understand the present and imagine the effects of certain elements of society if taken to a logical extreme. In this way, dystopian fiction can act as both cautionary tales and a form of social commentary. This can be explored within the context of African dystopian fiction where power is a recurring theme, highlighting the anxiety and turbulent history several countries on the continent continue to face. To demonstrate this, I compare selected South African and Nigerian Dystopian texts. With regards to South Africa, I analyse novels by South African science fiction authors Lauren Beukes and Lily Herne, namely Moxyland (2008) and Deadlands (2011) respectively, to investigate how South Africa’s past under Apartheid shapes the segregated societies presented. Nigerian dystopian texts by Biyi Bandele-Thomas, namely The Sympathetic Undertaker And Other Dreams (1993) and The Man Who Came in from the Back of Beyond (1992), are discussed with regards to the way Nigeria’s colonial past and several military juntas have contributed to the kinds of corruption that are depicted. I argue that all four texts warn of the dangers of power, albeit in ways that pertain specifically to their countries of origin. With regards to the South African texts, readers are shown the ways in which those in power can manipulate the desire to survive to keep those they subjugate dependent and, consequently, obedient through what Judith Butler terms ‘passionate attachments’. In the case of the Nigerian dystopias, I argue that Bandele-Thomas’s texts warn of tyranny and effects of the corruption that result from misused power strategies. While the dire settings of dystopian fiction may be grim enough, on their own, to motivate change in the real world, this may not be enough to prevent the texts from becoming pessimistic and fatalistic outlooks. Hence, I seek to understand how the selected novels maintain hope and, consequently, convince readers that the depicted dystopias are ones that can be avoided. Typically, dystopian literature fosters hope by setting the narratives in the future, giving readers hope that they may take steps today to protect their societies from becoming like the damned worlds described by dystopian authors. However, the selected texts are not set in the future. Hence, I explore three literary techniques that might foster hope within the selected African dystopian texts in lieu of temporal distancing. They are, namely: identification with the protagonist, defamiliarization and cognitive estrangement.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Practices, dynamics and discourses of cross-racial adoption: the case of Buffalo city municipality in South Africa
- Authors: Nyasha, Kausi
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Interracial adoption -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Adoption -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD(Social Work)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/18009 , vital:42003
- Description: This study investigated the practices, dynamics, and discourses pertaining to crossracial adoption (CRA) in the Buffalo City Municipality (BCM) in South Africa. The researcher made use of qualitative methods to collect and analyse relevant data, which was made from both the in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The research sample comprised of six adoption social workers, ten adoptive parents and ten adoptees, who were selected by means of purposive non-random sampling. The researcher also made use of observations, in order to that relevant, valuable, and rich information could be obtained. All the data was subsequently analysed by means of thematic analysis. The principal findings of the study revealed that although it has been legal since 1991, the practices of CRA in South Africa continues to be controversial and that, in the vast majority of cases, it entails black children being adopted by white parents. Relevant discourses covered cultural genocide, the best interests of adopted children, racial identity, colour-blindness, acculturation, and racial consciousness. The phenomenon of CRA needed to be evaluated from all of these standpoints, owing to the racial, cultural, and political perceptions which continue to linger after generations of enforced racial segregation in South Africa. It is evident from the findings that perceptions pertaining to race, culture, and politics exert a significant influence on social relations in the caring for and protection of vulnerable children and on family dynamics in adoptive families. It also emerged from the findings that CRA placements have begun to decline significantly, owing to factors such as long and tedious assessment processes, the xviii attitudes of social workers, a general lack of adequate pre- and post-adoption support for adoptive parents, and shortages of adoption social work staff and resources. The researcher endeavoured to assess the roles of adoption social workers within the adoption triad with respect to determining the adoptability of children and matching them with prospective adoptive parents, recruiting and selecting prospective adoptive parents, counselling prospective parents, counselling biological parents, counselling adopted children, and the providing of post-adoption services. It could be concluded from the findings that although the practice of CRA is an efficacious and desirable form of care for children who are in need of protection, despite any present shortcomings in relation to legislation pertaining to the practice, the phenomenon requires considerably more attention from relevant academics and researchers than it has received to date. The overarching conclusion which emerged from the findings was that although the practice of CRA has attracted controversy and denunciations from several racial groups, it has unlimited potential for erasing the racial stigmas which continue to haunt South African society as well as affording permanency care to those children who are in need of it. The study ends with some recommendations as well as a conceptual framework to deal with the issues of the practices, dynamics and discourses of CRA in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions about the Value of Teaching Practice Assessment as a Catalyst to the Improvement of Quality Model
- Authors: Bako, Yellow
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Teaching -- Evaluation Effective teaching
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (Education)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/17921 , vital:41978
- Description: Teaching Practice assessment is criticized for not promoting critical reflection and problem-solving thinking in pre-service teachers as expected. Pre-service teachers lack praxis: translating theoretical knowledge into authentic practice. Teaching Practice assessment is too traditional to offer authentic evaluation for life-long learning. Globally, Teaching Practice is the greatest academic process in training preservice teachers. However, there are concerns raised regarding what is regarded as inadequate teacher preparation, inconsistencies and subjectivity in Teaching Practice assessment, and misalignment between instructional theory and classroom practice have resulted in high demand for quality improvement of the Teaching Practice assessment framework. The research has adopted the post-positivism research paradigm, mixed methods research approach, and the QUAN-QUAL sequential explanatory research design. The population was all Post Graduate students at one university and all Diploma in Education students at on Teachers College in Zimbabwe. Data collection instruments used were: observations schedule, interviews, questionnaires, and documentary analysis. Results have shown that Teaching Practice assessment was of great value for academic, pedagogical, and teacher professional development. Subject content knowledge posed greater challenge to preservice teachers than pedagogical content knowledge during Teaching Practice assessment. School environment, accommodation, lack of material and financial resources, heavy workload, indiscipline, unexpected assessment visits, and contradictions by assessors were major factors that affected Teaching Practice assessment. Pre-service teachers preferred to be assessed by college-based to university-based assessors because they give them feedback for learning, they motivate, and they understand their plight, and they appear more professional in their conduct than university-based assessors. The study therefore suggests a framework for improving the quality of Teaching Practice that includes a balanced curriculum, intensified training on content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge; a proper collaboration between college and university assessors; training in ICT, and more focused Teaching Practice workload, and the practice of reflective, authentic, and emancipatory assessment practices for sustainable development.
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- Date Issued: 2020
PRECEPT: a framework for ethical digital forensics investigations
- Authors: Ferguson, R I , Renaud, Karen , Wilford, Sara , Irons, Alastair
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/149884 , vital:38909 , https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-05-2019-00979
- Description: This paper argues the need for a practical, ethically grounded approach to digital forensic investigations, one that acknowledges and respects the privacy rights of individuals and the intellectual capital disclosure rights of organizations, as well as acknowledging the needs of law enforcement. The paper derives a set of ethical guidelines, and then maps these onto a forensics investigation framework. The framework to expert review in two stages is subjected, refining the framework after each stage. The paper concludes by proposing the refined ethically grounded digital forensics investigation framework. The treatise is primarily UK based, but the concepts presented here have international relevance and applicability.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Predicting non-target impacts:
- Authors: Paynter, Quentin , Paterson, Iain D , Kwong, Raelene M
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/149982 , vital:38921 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2020.02.002
- Description: Biocontrol of invasive alien weeds has produced great benefits, but concerns over undesirable impacts on non-target plants and/or indirect interactions between biocontrol agents and other biota impede the implementation of biocontrol in some countries. Although great strides have been made, continuing uncertainties predicting the realized host range of candidate agents is probably resulting in some being erroneously rejected due to overestimation of risk. Further refinement of host-range testing protocols is therefore desirable. Indirect interactions are inherently harder to predict, and the risk of both direct and indirect non-target impacts may change over time due to biocontrol agents evolving or expanding their range under climate change. Future research directions to better understand the risk of non-target impacts over time are discussed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Prediction of mass spectra for natural products using an ab initio approach
- Authors: Novokoza, Yolanda
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Molecular dynamics , Molecular dynamics -- Computer simulation , Mass spectroscopy , Electron impact ionization
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167166 , vital:41443
- Description: Mass spectrometry (MS) is a technique that measures the fragmentation of molecules, dependent on the molecule’s chemical composition and structure, by first introducing a charge on the molecules. The instrument records the mass to charge ratio, but the energy from the ionization process causes the molecule to fragment. The resultant mass spectrum is highly indicative of not only the molecule analyzed, but also its chemical composition. MS is used in research and industry for both routine and research purposes. One such way to ionize molecules for MS is by bombarding the molecule with electrons which is the basis of electron impact mass spectrometry (EIMS). Although EIMS is widely used, prediction of electron impact mass spectra from first principles is a challenging problem due to a need to accurately determine the probability of different fragmentation pathways of a molecule. Ab initio molecular dynamics based methods are able to explore in an automatic fashion the energetically available fragmentation paths thus give reaction mechanisms in an unbiased way. The mass spectra of five molecules have been explored in work-flows leading to the prediction of mass spectra. These molecules include three natural products alpha-hispanolol, PFB oxime derivative and boronolide (for which experimental mass spectra were not available) and two compounds from the NIST database (for which experimental mass spectra were available). For each of these systems many random conformations were generated using the RDKit library. To all conformations random velocities were applied to each atom. Ab initio molecular dynamics was performed on each conformer, using these initial random velocities using CP2K software, at DFTB+ level at a variety of highly raised temperatures (to accelerate the formation of fragments) Fragmentation was monitored by iterating through all bonds, and identifying bond breakages during dynamics. Graph theoretical packages were used then to track distinct fragments generated. For each of these fragments, charges were determined from Mulliken analysis for all atoms on the fragment from the QM calculations and sum of atomic spin densities per fragment was also plotted. The fragment with the greatest charge (corresponding to the formation of a cation fragment) was taken for plotting on the mass spectrum. Finally, from the mass of the fragment and its elemental composition, the isotopic distribution for the fragment was determined, and this distribution was included by addition in to the mass spectrum. For all trajectories, the sum of all isotopic distributions determined the final mass spectrum.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Preferences of resettled refugees on pictograms describing common symptoms of illness:
- Authors: Bellamy, Kim , Dowse, Roslind , Ostini, Remo , Martini, Nataly , Kairuz, Therese
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/${Handle} , vital:40086 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1007/s10903-019-00908-3
- Description: Illustrated health resources are useful for people who have limited English linguistic ability. The aim was to compare the preferences of resettled refugees from Africa and non-African countries, on pictograms describing common symptoms of illness. Data were collected in two cities in Queensland, Australia. Participants indicated their preference for three types of pictograms depicting seven symptoms. Pictogram sources included the International Pharmaceutical Federation, royaltyfree stock images, and pictograms designed in South Africa.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Preformulation studies of efavirenz with lipid excipients using thermal and spectroscopic techniques
- Authors: Makoni, Pedzisai A , Kasongo, Kasongo W , Walker, Roderick B
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/183253 , vital:43934 , xlink:href=" https://doi.org/10.1691/ph.2020.0053"
- Description: Investigation and identification of potential lipids for the manufacture of efavirenz loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) was undertaken. Polymorphic modification and characteristics of the lipids with the best solubilising potential for efavirenz was explored using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Wide-angle X-ray Scattering (WAXS). Lipid screening revealed that EFV is highly soluble in solid and liquid lipids, with glyceryl monostearate (GM) and Transcutol® HP (THP) exhibiting the best solubilising potential for EFV. GM exists in a stable β-polymorphic modification prior to exposure to heat, but exists in an α-polymorphic modification following exposure to heat. However, it was established that the addition of THP to GM revealed the co-existence of the α- and β'-polymorphic modifications of the lipid. EFV (60% w/w) exists in a crystalline state in a 70:30 mixture of GM and THP. Investigation of binary mixtures of EFV/GM and GM/THP, in addition to eutectic mixtures of EFV, GM and THP using FT-IR, DSC and WAXS revealed no potential interactions between EFV and the lipids selected for the production of the nanocarriers.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Preliminary study on the potential use of Fly Ash as a Ventilated Improved Pit Latrine Additive:
- Authors: Collings, Dylan , Tandlich, Roman , Dube, Cyril S , Madikizela, Phindile , Ngqwala, Nosiphiwe P , Ahmed, Mustaque
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/160334 , vital:40436 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.5276/JSWTM/2019.395
- Description: This study describes the results of a series of laboratory experiments on aimed at developing of a protocol for the use of fly ash as a pit additive in the ventilated improved pit latrines (VIPs) in South Africa. Model VIP vaults were prepared in the laboratory and filled with synthetic faecal sludge; and dosed with fly ash in amounts ranging from 5 to 20 % (w/w).
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- Date Issued: 2020
Preparation and characterization of sodium alginate-based dissolvable bandages as potential wound dressings
- Authors: Ndlovu, Sindi Prescila
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Nanostructured materials
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc (Chemistry)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/18800 , vital:42734
- Description: Burn wounds are among the leading causes of mortality and morbidity globally. Burn wounds are painful, cause social isolation and causes post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to prolonged hospital treatment. The challenges encountered in the treatment of burn wounds are infections resulting from the use of wound dressings that do not protect the wounds from microbial invasion. Sodium alginate-based dissolvable bandages were prepared and encapsulated with various antibiotics (ampicillin and ciprofloxacin) and nanoparticles (i.e. zinc oxide and silver). The dissolvable bandages were characterized by FTIR, SEM/EDX, TEM, XRD and TGA. Furthermore, the porosity, water uptake, biodegradation, antibacterial studies, and water vapour transmittance properties of the bandages were also studied. The prepared sodium alginate-based dissolvable bandage incorporated with varied amount of drugs (such as ampicillin, ciprofloxacin, zinc oxide and silver nanoparticle) exhibited good porosity, high water uptake, excellent WVTR with sustained drug release profiles. The loading of ZnO Nps, CLP/ZnO Nps and Ag Nps/CLP into the bandages improved the antibacterial activity of the bandages against both gram-negative and gram-positive strains of bacteria. XRD confirmed the amorphous nature of the dissolvable bandage and the absence of free drugs. FTIR revealed the successful encapsulation of the antibiotics and nanoparticle into the dissolvable bandages. The dissolvable bandages exhibited high water uptake ranging from 870-4468% with good porosity suggesting that they can absorb large amount of wound exudates. The drug release for all the bandages obeyed the Korsemeyer Peppas drug release model with n values in the range 0.1-1.0. The results obtained indicate that the bandages are potential wound dressings for burns and for patients with sensitive skins.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Primary school teachers’ perceptions and experiences regarding the risk and protective factors impacting learner conduct
- Authors: Mxhobo, Buhle Vuyo
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: LCSH
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSW
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/46446 , vital:39584
- Description: Learners are interconnected with their families, schools and communities and can thus be affected risk or protective factorsthat occur in the community.Such factors could relate to lack of parent-to-learner relationships, poor teacher-to-learner relationships and/or violencewitnessedfrom the community.The purpose of this study was to gain anunderstanding of primary school teachers’ perceptions andexperiences regarding the riskand protective factors impactinglearner conduct. This study utiliseda qualitative approach. An explorative, descriptive andcontextual design wasfollowed. Semi-structured individual interviews wereimplemented. Thesampling technique used was non-probability, purposive sampling. Tesch’s model (in Creswell, 2009) wasfollowed for the data analysis process.The data led to identification of three themes, namely: risk and protective factorsimpacting learner conduct. Recommendations that preventrisk factors and promoteprotective factorswere identified.The researcher implemented Guba’s model (Krefting, 1991) for data verification. This study contributes to the social work knowledgein that it provides a deeper understanding of factors affecting learner contact.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Prioritising African perspectives in psychiatric genomics research
- Authors: Kamaara, Eunice , Kong, Camillia , Campbell, Megan M
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/302520 , vital:58204 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1111/dewb.12248"
- Description: Psychiatric genomics research with African populations comes with a range of practical challenges around translation of psychiatric genomics research concepts, procedures, and nosology. These challenges raise deep ethical issues particularly around legitimacy of informed consent, a core foundation of research ethics. Through aconsideration of the constitutive function of language, the paper problematises like‐for‐like, designative translations which often involve the ‘indigenization’ of English terms or use of metaphors which misrepresent the risks and benefits of research. This paper argues that effective translation of psychiatric genomics research terminology in African contexts demands substantive engagement with African conceptual schemas and values. In developing attenuated forms of translational thinking, researchers may recognise the deeper motivational reasons behind participation in research, highlighting the possibility that such reasons may depart from the original meaning implied within informed consent forms. These translational issues might be ameliorated with a critical re-examination of how researchers develop and present protocols to institutional ethics review boards.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Privacy risk and the use of Facebook Apps: a gender-focused vulnerability assessment
- Authors: van der Schyff, Karl , Flowerday, Stephen , Furnell, Steven
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/149054 , vital:38800 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cose.2020.101866
- Description: The surveillance and subsequent privacy risks (i.e., misuse of personal information) of Facebook App data constitute a persistent problem that affects millions of users. However, despite Facebook App research on specifics such as privacy concerns, value of information, and demographics, none of them has conducted vulnerability assessments on the use of Facebook Apps as influenced by specific factors such as age, gender, and information privacy attitudes. As such, the purpose of this study was to predict the extent to which these factors influence an individual's intention to continue using Facebook Apps as part of a gender-focused vulnerability assessment. We evaluate two hypotheses by way of ordinal logistic regression using data gathered from 621 respondents. The results are indicative of the following: First, females are particularly vulnerable to privacy risks as a function of continued use of Facebook Apps. More specifically, those risks related to Facebook's access to personal information. Second, results indicate that a user's age is nonsignificant in relation to the continued use of Facebook Apps. We conclude with several theoretical and practice-oriented information privacy recommendations.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Probing the structural dynamics of the Plasmodium falciparum tunneling-fold enzyme 6-pyruvoyl tetrahydropterin synthase to reveal allosteric drug targeting sites:
- Authors: Khairallah, Afrah , Ross, Caroline J , Tastan Bishop, Özlem
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/163057 , vital:41008 , https://doi.org/10.3389/fmolb.2020.575196
- Description: The de novo folate synthesis pathway is a well-established drug target in the treatment of many infectious diseases. Antimalarial antifolate drugs have proven to be effective against malaria, however, rapid drug resistance has emerged on the two primary targeted enzymes: dihydrofolate reductase and dihydroptoreate synthase. The need to identify alternative antifolate drugs and novel metabolic targets is of imminent importance. The 6-pyruvol tetrahydropterin synthase (PTPS) enzyme belongs to the tunneling fold protein superfamily which is characterized by a distinct central tunnel/cavity. The enzyme catalyzes the second reaction step of the parasite’s de novo folate synthesis pathway and is responsible for the conversion of 7,8-dihydroneopterin to 6-pyruvoyl-tetrahydropterin. In this study, we examine the structural dynamics of Plasmodium falciparum PTPS using the anisotropic network model, to elucidate the collective motions that drive the function of the enzyme and identify potential sites for allosteric modulation of its binding properties.
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- Date Issued: 2020
Production, purification and characterization of a multifunctional, thermostable and acido/alkaline stable putative xylanase from the psychrotrophic bacterium, Sphingomonas aerolata
- Authors: Mathibe, Brian Nkanyiso
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/164478 , vital:41122
- Description: Thesis (MSc)--Rhodes University, Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2020
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- Date Issued: 2020
Profitable day-neutral strawberry variety and planting date combination for year-round strawberry fruit production in the Southern Cape
- Authors: Parehwa, Patience
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Strawberries -- Fertilizers
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/48599 , vital:40894
- Description: South Africa’s strawberry production is currently limited to winter and spring production. Strawberry growers have not been able to extend the growing season for year-round strawberry production primarily due to variety- and climatic limitations. Consumers world-wide, however, demand year-round supply of strawberries on their markets. Delayed planting and robust day-neutral varieties may allow growers to extend the marketing season. To investigate the most profitable variety and planting date combination for season extension in the Southern Cape, trials were conducted at Groeneweide Farm, George. Day-neutral strawberry varieties Monterey, San Andreas and Albion were planted at 30-day intervals from April to September for 3 seasons. They were planted in single layer, standard coir grow-bags at a density of 75 000/ha. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) were performed on vegetative growth stages (crown and runner formation), yield (flowering and fruit yield), fruit quality (fruit mass and total soluble solids content) and gross income. The analysis encompassed variety, month and planting month × variety interaction. ‘Monterey’ significantly outperformed ‘San Andreas’ which in turn significantly (p<0.05) outperformed ‘Albion’ for crown number, flower number, yield, fruit size and margin above cost. ‘San Andreas’ produced significantly fewer runners than ‘Monterey’ and ‘Albion’. ‘Albion’ produced significantly higher TSS followed by ‘Monterey’ and ‘San Andreas’. Over all, the three day-neutral varieties had no significant differences in yield within all planting dates. However, August and September planting dates produced significantly more runners, flowers and higher margin above cost, but significantly smaller fruit and lower total soluble solids (TSS). ‘Monterey’ planted in April and May produced the highest margin above cost and brought earliness to the production window. Together with ‘San Andreas’ planted in August, which extended the harvest season and gave similar margin above cost, it is possible to maximise profitability, extend both ends of the harvest season and also minimise hygiene costs associated with weekly runner removal. Since the strawberry price is very responsive, to quantity supplied, an oversupply out of the normal season, may however lead to lower prices affecting gross income.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Promoting leader integrity through the human resource management value chain
- Authors: De Villiers, Bridget
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Leadership -- South Africa , Leadership -- South Africa -- Moral and ethical aspects Business ethics Professional ethics Personnel management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/50469 , vital:42197
- Description: Ethical breaches in the public and private sector in South Africa are prevalent and the effects thereof pervasive on the economy and within broader society. These ethical breaches include corruption, bribery, and the mismanagement of resources and may be attributed to poor decision-making on the part of organisational leaders. The complexity of the circumstances in which organisations operate in the 21st century requires that leaders effectively navigate moral dilemmas while considering the broad range of interests represented by many organisational stakeholders. Leaders need to act in a manner that is ethically sound to avoid the negative consequences associated with unethical organisational conduct, including a loss of profit, credibility and reputation. Ethical leadership is central to moral organisational governance, as compliance with rules and regulations alone is ineffective in building and sustaining an ethical organisation. Literature points to the centrality of leader integrity to the notion of ethical leadership and that an ethical organisational culture is sustained by leaders who possess integrity. In promoting leader integrity studies highlight management interventions and organisational success factors that promote an ethical organisation. Within the context of this study these management interventions and success factors were identified as promoting leader integrity. Further, the literature identified the important role of leaders in supporting these interventions and creating the conditions necessary to foster the success factors. These management interventions are offered through and the success factors are linked to the human resource management value chain. The main aim of this study was to explore the promotion of leader integrity through the human resource management value chain in South African organisations. The main aim of the study led to the development of several theoretical and empirical sub-objectives that were addressed through the following actions: A literature study was conducted examining the nature of ethical leadership and leader integrity and included a consideration of the dark side of leadership. The literature was further examined in relation to the nature of an ethical organisation and organisational integrity, the role of the leader in promoting an ethical organisational culture, and regarding the management interventions and success factors that were seen to promote leader integrity. The insights gained from the literature review assisted in the compilation of a survey questionnaire, this being the Management Interventions and Success Factors Scale. This scale, together with an existing scale, The Perceived Leader Integrity Scale (version 1.2), were used in the empirical study to determine the perceptions of employees as to whether specific management interventions and success factors were seen to promote leader integrity, and the extent to which their managers were seen to act with integrity. These employees worked in the public and private sectors across South Africa, and a final sample size of 606 respondents was achieved. The empirical results of the study revealed that management interventions and success factors were seen to promote leader integrity. However, due to high levels of inconsistency in the responses received it was recommended that a clearer link needs to be created in terms of how the success factors and interventions promote leader integrity. The empirical study further revealed that South African leaders were seen to act with integrity, more especially not to engage in acts of extreme negative deviance such as theft or sabotage, but that there was room for improvement as there were employees who reported moderate and low levels of integrity among their managers. Together with the literature review the empirical study contributed towards the development of a model and a framework for the promotion of leader integrity across the HRM value chain. South African leaders have a crucial role to play in promoting not only the moral fibre of the organisations that they represent, but also in contributing positively to moral regeneration at both a national and a global level through effective and integrity-based organisational governance. This is achieved through adopting an integrated, strategic and holistic approach to the promotion of leader integrity as proposed in this study.
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- Date Issued: 2020