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Flexible, High Speed Audio Networking for Hotels and Convention Centres

  • Authors: Foss, Richard , Fujimori, J I , Chigwamba, Nyasha , Klinkradt, Bradley , Okai-Tettey, Harold
  • Date: 2006
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/427292 , vital:72428 , https://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=13472
  • Description: This paper describes the use of mLAN (music Local Area Network) to solve the problem of audio routing within hotels and convention centers. mLAN is a Firewire based digital network interface technology that allows professional audio equipment, PCs and electronic instruments to be easily and efficiently interconnected using a single cable. In order to solve this problem, an existing mLAN Connection Management Server, augmented with additional functionality, has been utilized. A graphical client application has been created that displays the various locations within a hotel/convention center, and sends out appropriate routing messages in Extensible Mark-up Language (XML) to an mLAN connection management server. The connection management server, in turn, controls a number of mLAN audio distribution boxes on the firewire network.
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Floral resources of Apis mellifera capensis in the fynbos biome in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

  • Authors: Addi, A , Phillipson, P , Hepburn, H Randall
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/451845 , vital:75081 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC32660
  • Description: The plant species utilized by Cape honeybees, Apis mellifera capensis, as primary nectar and pollen sources were studied in the Eastern Cape Province in an area where fynbos vegetation mingles with grassland communities. From direct field observations and analyses of pollen loads collected by foragers, 54 plant species were identified as nectar and pollen sources. Of 37 endemic and exotic pollen source plants, Metalasia muricata, Eucalyptus grandis, E. camadulensis, Erica chamissonis, Helichrysum odoratissimum, H. anomalum, Crassula cultrata and Acacia longifolia were dominant species.
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Food, philosophy and love

  • Authors: Ristic, Nevenka
  • Date: 2006 , 2013-06-14
  • Subjects: Plato -- Symposium , Food -- Philosophy , Eating (Philosophy) , Love -- Philosophy
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:2738 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007478 , Plato -- Symposium , Food -- Philosophy , Eating (Philosophy) , Love -- Philosophy
  • Description: This thesis is a metaphilosophical investigation into how food can be handled philosophically. The first chapter considers the question of whether food can be the subject matter of philosophy, and concludes that there are three possible ways: Foodist Philosophy, Philosophy of Food, and Philosophy and Food. This thesis focuses on the category Foodist Philosophy. The second chapter develops an account of foodist philosophy: it is a style of philosophy that assumes that our food and eating practices are fundamental aspects of the human condition. The third chapter analyses Plato's concept of love in the Symposium and these conclusions are objected to in a foodist critique in the fourth chapter. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
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Foucault, historicism and political philosophy

  • Authors: Allsobrook, Christopher John
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: Foucault, Michel, 1926-1984 Sartre, Jean Paul, 1905-1980 Political science -- Philosophy Power (Philosophy) Existential phenomenology Knowledge, Theory of History -- Philosophy Historicism
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MPhil
  • Identifier: vital:2726 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003073
  • Description: This thesis defends an ontological and epistemological account of Michel Foucault's post-structuralist philosophy, to argue that political philosophy needs to take into account the historical and political contingency of subjectivity and discourse. I show that by addressing the historical and political contingency of knowledge, Foucault's work overcomes the flaw of foundational epistemology in political philosophy, which treats true discourse as universal and disinterested. In doing so I hope to have to refuted the mainly positivistic and humanist schools of thought that lay claim to universal and foundationalist notions, by demonstrating the extent to which their misgivings about Foucault's work are informed by and founded upon an unjustified a-historicism. The thesis is composed of three chapters, the first of which deals with an ontology of the subject, the second, with an ontology of social relations, and the last with epistemology. In each chapter I use dialectical analysis to reveal how interests necessarily mediate subjectivity, social relations, and knowledge. The first two chapters defend Foucault's conception of power, by way of an analysis of the relations between Foucault's work and Sartre's existential phenomenology. I show how both Foucault and Sartre successfully address the problem of historicism for political philosophy with their respective conceptions of human freedom. The final chapter defends Foucault's conception of the relations between power and discourse, to show how it overcomes the a-historicism of universal, foundational epistemology. These three chapters demonstrate the importance of accounting for historicism in political philosophy. Claims to universal interest, because knowledge is conditioned by conflicts of interest, often mask political domination. It is important, then, to remember, in political philosophy, that knowledge is evaluative and interested, reflecting historically and politically mediated evaluations. One should be suspicious of ' natural facts' , used to justify actions or beliefs, thereby masking the choices that inform them. I have used the work of Michel Foucault to motivate this claim.
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From 'here and now' to there and then : the evaluation of the effectiveness of Ehlers and Clark's model for treating PTSD in a rape survivor

  • Authors: Davidow, Amy
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: Post-traumatic stress disorder -- Treatment -- South Africa , Rape trauma syndrome -- Treatment -- South Africa , Psychotherapy -- South Africa , Cognitive therapy
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:2961 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002470 , Post-traumatic stress disorder -- Treatment -- South Africa , Rape trauma syndrome -- Treatment -- South Africa , Psychotherapy -- South Africa , Cognitive therapy
  • Description: The purpose of this research is to document the response of a rape survivor to a treatment based on Ehlers and Clark's (2000) therapy model and to use the material to evaluate the effectiveness of this kind of therapy in the South African context. In so doing, the specific local cultural and contextual factors, which may affect the overall effectiveness of the treatment, will be highlighted and discussed.
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Frontier heartland : analysing the impact of forestry and tourism on 'white' identity in Maclear

  • Authors: Griffin, Donna-Lee
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: Agriculture -- South Africa -- Maclear Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Maclear Economic development -- South Africa -- Maclear Tourism management -- South Africa -- Maclear Forests and forestry -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Maclear Whites -- South Africa -- Maclear -- Economic conditions
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:2115 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008066
  • Description: The North Eastern Cape in South Africa is part of a larger province that is in desperate need of job creation and economic development. In light of these needs, efforts have been made by members of the community and outside investors to generate new forms of income in the area. These economic developments emerged in the form of small-scale tourism initiatives and commercial forestry. The impact of these developments on the small community of Maclear differs in nature and is bringing about social change and influencing identity. In this thesis, I explore the effects of each of these developments on the local farming community, particularly the established white English-speaking farmers. For various important reasons, such as the changes to land use patterns occurring around them in terms of forestry and tourism initiatives, I chose to examine the situation of this minority. In general discussions and portrayals of white farmers, it is hypothesized that whites living in small farming communities are resistant to change, politically stagnant and socially conservative. In this thesis I test this hypothesis and investigate what South Africans might see as the core, or whether there is a core of, white settler identity. TIle idea of 'frontiers' being heartlands was emphasized in Maclear as residents spoke about the pioneering efforts of their forefathers and discussed these efforts as the essence of their identity. Forestry is a contemporary ' frontier' encroaching on these white Settlers. A dynamic concept of landscape is central to these identity construction efforts. In this thesis I explore, through different articulations of landscape, how residents, recent arrivals and investors attempt to embed their identity and resources in the community. I ask whether it is possible for members of the white community to produce an alternate and politically viable interpretation of landscape in post-apartheid South Africa. Can land and landscape offer them a sense of belonging and identity? What is their experience in view of the impositions of major investors who see land purely as an economic unit? The research does not explicitly investigate how 'new' black farmers and farming groups perceive and experience land and landscape. What is noted is the imagined passivity of black labourers on white-owned land. This thesis touches on issues inlportant to democratic change and progress in South Africa. How will the new government deal with the thorny issue of land redistribution in the face of competing claims for land and identity? How will the various sections of the white community (in this case the farming community) negotiate their identity in the new South Africa? Also, what do ' frontier' towns like Maclear reveal about the nature of white identity in post-apartheid South Africa? This thesis relies on gender and constructionist theories of landscape as developed by Appadurai (1996) to explain the dynamic nature of landscape in Maclear. It also explores and appraises the idea of ' frontier'. In the analysis of identity, I take into account that white settlers 'success' relies in part on the settlers ability to adapt to the ' frontier' and their ability to construct a new identity in their newfound 'homeland' (simliar to Paul Gilroy's (1993) "double consciousness). Keywords: South Africa, Maclear, Farming, White Identity, Landscape and Tourism.
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Frozen in time to reclaiming one's life: the evaluation of the Ehlers and Clark Cognitive Therapy Model in the assessment and treatment of a hijacking survivor

Fuelwood harvesting and selection in Valley Thicket, South Africa

  • Authors: Pote, J , Shackleton, Charlie M , Cocks, Michelle L , Lubke, Roy
  • Date: 2006
  • Language: English
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: vital:6531 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005972
  • Description: The Thicket Biome is the second smallest biome in South Africa, and is renowned for its high biodiversity. Yet, less than 5% of the biome is in formal conservation areas. Much of the currently intact thicket outside protected areas is threatened by land transformation to commercial agriculture or heavy use by rural communities. There is limited understanding of the ecological structure and function of thicket communities and their response to these human pressures. This paper reports on a study to characterize the woody communities in Valley Thicket and Thornveld surrounding a rural village. We also examined the demand and selection for specific woody species. There was a marked selection for key species for different uses, including fuelwood, construction timber, and cultural stacks. There was also strong selection for specific size classes of stem, especially those between 16–45 cm circumference. The density, biomass and species richness of woody species was reduced close to the village, and increased with distance away from human settlement. A similar trend was found for the basal area of preferred species, but not for the basal area of all species. The strong selectivity for both species and size class means that the anthropogenic impacts are not uniform within the woody strata, leading to marked changes in community structure and floristics at a local scale.
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Gazing at horror: body performance in the wake of mass social trauma

  • Authors: Tang, Cheong Wai Acty
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: Abramovic, Marina Performance art -- South Africa Drama -- Psychological aspects Psychic trauma Performance art -- Psychological aspects Loss (Psychology) Ritual in art Art, Modern -- 20th century
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:2149 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002381
  • Description: This thesis explores various dilemmas in making theatre performances in the context of social disruption, trauma and death. Diverse discourses are drawn in to consider issues of body, subjectivity and spectatorship, refracted through the writer’s experiences of and discontent with making theatre. Written in a fractal-like structure, rather than a linear progression, this thesis unsettles discourses of truth, thus simultaneously intervening in debates about the epistemologies of the body and of theatre in context of the academy. Chapter 1: Methodological Anxieties Psychoanalytic theory provides a way in for investigating the dynamics of theatrical performance and its corporeal presence, by focusing on desire and its implication in the notions of loss and anxiety. The theories of the unconscious and the gaze have epistemological implications, shifting definitions of “presence” and “truth” in theatre performance and writing about theatre. This chapter tries to outline the rationale for, as well as to enact, an alternative methodology for writing, as an ethical response to loss that does not insist on consensus and truth. Chapter 2: (Refusing to) Look at Trauma This chapter examines the politics that strives to make suffering visible. Discursive binaries of public/private, dead/living, and invisible/visible underlie the politics of AIDS and sexuality. These discourses impact on the reception of Bill T. Jones's choreography, despite his use of modernist artistic processes in search of a bodily presence that aims to collapse the binary of representation (text) and its subject (being). The theory of the gaze shows this politics to be a phallocentric discourse; and narrative analysis traces the metanarrative that results in the commodification of oppositional identities, so that spectators participate in the politics as consumers. An ethical artistic response thus needs to shift its focus to the subjectivity of the spectator. Chapter 3: The Screen and the Viewer’s Blindness By appealing to a transcendent reality, and by constituting spectators as a participative community, ritual theatre claims to enact change. The “truth” of ritual rests not on rational knowledge, but on the performer’s competence to produce a shamanic presence, which director Brett Bailey embraces in his early work. Ritual presence operates by identification and belonging to a father/god as the source of meaning; but it represses the loss of this originary wholeness. Spectators of ritual theatre are drawn into an enactment of communion/community, the centre of which is, however, loss/emptiness. The claim of enacting change becomes problematic for its absence of truth. Bailey attempts to perform a hybrid, postcolonial aesthetics; but the problem rests in the larger context of performing the notion of “South Africa”, a communal identity hardened around the metanarrative of suffering, abjecting those that do not belong to the land of the father/god – foreigners that unsettle the meaning of South African identity. Conclusion: Bodies of Discontent The South African stage is circumscribed by political and economic discourses; the problematization of national identity is also a problematization of image-identification in the theatre. In search for a way to unsettle these interrogative discourses, two moments of performing foreignness are examined, one fictional, one theatrical. These moments enact a parallel to the feminine hysteric, who disturbs the phallocentric truth of the psychoanalyst through body performance. These moments of disturbing spectatorship are reflected in the works of performance artist Marina Abramovic. Her explorations into passive-aggression, shamanism and finally theatricality and the morality of spectatorship allow for an overview of the issues raised in this thesis regarding body, viewing, and subjecthood. Sensitivity to the body and its discontent on the part of the viewer becomes crucial to ethical performance.
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Generic substitution: the use of medicinal products containing different salts and implications for safety and efficacy

  • Authors: Verbeeck, R K , Kanfer, Isadore , Walker, Roderick B
  • Date: 2006
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Article
  • Identifier: vital:6445 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006632
  • Description: In their quest to gain early entry of new generic products into the market prior to patent expiration, one of the strategies pursued by generic drug product manufacturers is to incorporate different salts of an approved active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in a brand company's marketed dosage form and subject such dosage forms to bioequivalence assessment. These initiatives present challenges to regulatory authorities where the decision to approve bioequivalent products containing such pharmaceutical alternatives must be considered in the light of safety and efficacy, and more particularly, with respect to their substitutability. This article describes the various issues and contentions associated with the concept of pharmaceutical alternatives, specifically with respect to the uses of different salts and the implications for safety, efficacy and generic substitution.
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Grahamstown film and heritage as reflected by His Majesty's building

  • Authors: Still-Drewett, F
  • Date: 2006
  • Language: English
  • Type: Text
  • Identifier: vital:6981 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012409
  • Description: Grahamstown Film and Heritage as reflected by His Majesty's Building. The building of His Majesty's theatre has had and continues to have an influential and varied history in the town of Grahamstown. The heritage of the building is linked both to its historical purpose and role in the community, and with the imposing architectural features and central locality. In this oral history project HMT became a vehicle for researching broader issues. The following issues arose: the effects of apartheid policy in entertainment areas; the arrival of national franchises and resultant tensions of preservation of building and cultural heritage versus economic development; the impact of new media such as TV and Video on the cinema theatre; and the community Fruit & Veg 'Colour' dispute. Four key informants were selected and 5 oral history interviews conducted in May 2006. The history of the theatre, film and entertainment memoirs, social comment, and a life history were recorded. , The oral history project pertaining to this paper is housed at the Cory Library, Rhodes University. See also Oral History Association of South Africa: http://www.ohasa.org.za/
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Graph matching with subdivision surfaces for texture synthesis on surfaces

  • Authors: Bangay, Shaun D , Morkel, Chantelle
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433351 , vital:72964 , https://doi.org/10.1145/1108590.1108601
  • Description: Existing texture synthesis-from example strategies for polygon meshes typically make use of three components: a multi-resolution mesh hierarchy that allows the overall nature of the pattern to be reproduced before filling in detail; a matching strategy that extends the synthesized texture using the best fit from a texture sample; and a transfer mechanism that copies the selected portion of the texture sample to the target surface. We introduce novel alternatives for each of these components. Use of √2-subdivision surfaces provides the mesh hierarchy and allows fine control over the surface complexity. Adaptive subdivision is used to create an even vertex distribution over the surface. Use of the graph defined by a surface region for matching, rather than a regular texture neighbourhood, provides for flexible control over the scale of the texture and allows simultaneous matching against multiple levels of an image pyramid created from the texture sample. We use graph cuts for texture transfer, adapting this scheme to the context of surface synthesis. The resulting surface textures are realistic, tolerant of local mesh detail and are comparable to results produced by texture neighbourhood sampling approaches.
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Habitat segregation in competing species of intertidal mussels in South Africa

  • Authors: Bownes, Sarah
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: Mussels -- South Africa Mussels -- Growth Mussels -- Habitat -- South Africa Mussels -- Larvae Perna -- South Africa Mytilus galloprovincialis -- South Africa Choromytilus meridionalis -- South Africa Mytilidae -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: vital:5706 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005392
  • Description: Mytilus galloprovincialis is invasive on rocky shores on the west coast of South Africa where it has become the dominant intertidal mussel. The success of this species on the west coast and its superior competitive abilities, have led to concern that it may become invasive on the south coast at the expense of the indigenous mussel Perna perna. On shores where these species co-occur, there appears to be habitat segregation among zones occupied by mussels. M.galloprovincialis dominates the high-shore and P.perna the low-shore, with a mixed zone at mid-shore level. This study examined the factors responsible for these differences in distribution and abundance. The study was conducted in Plettenberg Bay and Tsitsikamma (70km apart) on the south coast of South Africa. Each site included two randomly selected locations (300-400m apart). A third mussel species, Choromytilus meridionalis, is found in large numbers at the sand/rock interface at one location in Plettenberg Bay. Aspects of settlement, recruitment, growth and mortality of juvenile and adult mussels were examined at different tidal heights at each site. Quantitative analysis of mussel population structure at these sites supported the initial observation of vertical habitat segregation. Post-larvae were identified to species and this was confirmed using hinge morphology and mitochondrial DNA analysis. Size at settlement was determined for each species to differentiate between primary and secondary settlement. Adult distribution of C.meridionalis was primarily determined by settlement, which was highly selective in this species. Settlement, recruitment and growth of P.perna decreased with increasing tidal height, while post-settlement mortality and adult mortality increased higher upshore. Thus all aspects of P.perna’s life history contribute to the adult distribution of this species. Presumably, the abundance of P.perna on the high-shore is initially limited by recruitment while those that survive remain prone to elimination throughout adulthood. M.galloprovincialis displayed the same patterns of settlement and recruitment as P.perna. However, post-settlement mortality in this species was consistently low in the low and high zones. Juvenile growth also decreased upshore, suggesting that M.galloprovincialis may be able to maintain high densities on the high-shore through the persistence of successive settlements of slow-growing individuals. The low cover of M.galloprovincialis on the lowshore appeared to be determined by adult interactions. M.galloprovincialis experienced significantly higher adult mortality rates than P.perna in this zone. There were seasonal variations in the competitive advantages enjoyed by each species through growth, recruitment or mortality on the low-shore. In summer, P.perna had higher recruitment rates, faster growth and lower mortality rates, while M.galloprovincialis had slightly higher recruitment rates and faster growth rates in winter. P.perna is a warm water species while M.galloprovincialis thrives on the cold-temperate west coast of South Africa. Therefore both species appear to be at the edge of their optimal temperature regimes on the south coast, which may explain the seasonal advantages of each. Nevertheless, P.perna has maintained spatial dominance on the low-shore suggesting that it may ultimately be the winner in competition between these species. M.galloprovincialis appears to have a refuge from competition with P.perna on the high-shore due to its greater tolerance of desiccation stress, while being competitively excluded from the low-shore. Warm water temperatures coupled with poor recruitment rates at most sites may limit the success of M.galloprovincialis on this coast.
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Hierarchical rule generalisation for speaker identification in fiction books

  • Authors: Glass, Kevin R , Bangay, Shaun D
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433174 , vital:72949 , https://doi.org/10.1145/1216262.1216266
  • Description: This paper presents a hierarchical pattern matching and generalisation technique which is applied to the problem of locating the correct speaker of quoted speech found in fiction books. Patterns from a training set are generalised to create a small number of rules, which can be used to identify items of interest within the text. The pattern matching technique is applied to finding the Speech-Verb, Actor and Speaker of quotes found in fiction books. The technique performs well over the training data, resulting in rule-sets many times smaller than the training set, but providing very high accuracy. While the rule-set generalised from one book is less effective when applied to different books than an approach based on hand coded heuristics, performance is comparable when testing on data closely related to the training set.
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High speed end-to-end connection management in a bridged IEEE 1394 network of professional audio devices

  • Authors: Okai-Tettey, Harold A
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: IEEE 1394 (Standard) Digital communications Computer networks Sound -- Recording and reproducing -- Digital techniques Computer sound processing
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: vital:4653 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006638
  • Description: A number of companies have developed a variety of network approaches to the transfer of audio and MIDI data. By doing this, they have addressed the configuration complications that were present when using direct patching for analogue audio, digital audio, word clock, and control connections. Along with their approaches, controlling software, usually running on a PC, is used to set up and manage audio routings from the outputs to the inputs of devices. However one of the advantages of direct patching is the conceptual simplicity it provides for a user in connecting plugs of devices, the ability to connect from the host plug of one device to the host plug of another. The connection management or routing applications of the current audio networks do not allow for such a capability, and instead employ what is referred to as a two-step approach to connection management. This two-step approach requires that devices be first configured at the transport layer of the network for input and output routings, after which the transmit and receive plugs of devices are manually configured to transmit or receive data. From a user’s point of view, it is desirable for the connection management or audio routing applications of the current audio networks to be able to establish routings directly between the host plugs of devices, and not the audio channels exposed by a network’s transport, as is currently the case. The main goal of this work has been to retain the conceptual simplicity of point-to-point connection management within digital audio networks, while gaining all the benefits that digital audio networking can offer.
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Household fuelwood use in small electrified towns of the Makana District, Eastern Cape, South Africa

  • Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Gambiza, James , Jones, R
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/182362 , vital:43823 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.17159/2413-3051/2007/v18i4a3394"
  • Description: Access to secure energy supplies is a key foundation for sustainable development. Consequently local planning and development initiatives must be based on a sound knowledge of the energy use patterns and preferences of local users. This paper reports on such for three small urban settlements in the Eastern Cape Province, with a particular focus on fuelwood use. Despite widespread electrification over a decade ago, and perceptions that the ease of fuelwood collection was declining, most households continued to use fuelwood for cooking and space heating, whereas electricity was favoured for lighting. The most common reason for this was because fuelwood was cheap (or free) compared to electricity. Annual demand was approximately 1 450 kg per household per year. Households that collected their own supplies of fuelwood were significantly poorer than those that either bought their stocks, or those that did not use fuelwood at all. Indigenous species were favoured over exotic species, although fuelwood vendors traded mostly in exotic species, particularly Eucalyptus and wattle. The greater reliance of poorer and unelectrified households on fuelwood requires that local authorities consider this in energy planning, otherwise the poor will be neglected in policies such as the Free Basic Electricity.
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Household wealth status and natural resource use in the Kat River valley, South Africa

  • Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Shackleton, Sheona E
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/181301 , vital:43717 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2005.04.011"
  • Description: Much work has demonstrated the significant role and value of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in the livelihoods of rural people in southern Africa and elsewhere. The findings provide a mean or composite picture, averaged across the sample households within each community. Yet, within any given community, there is significant socio-economic differentiation. It is important to acknowledge such differentiation when considering policy and management interventions to support rural livelihoods and promote sustainable resource use. This paper reports on a study in South Africa, the objective of which was to explore wealth-related differences and similarities in the use and value of NTFPs. Data on NTFP consumption, purchase, and sale were collected from households in three rural villages. Households were divided into three wealth classes and patterns of NTFPs use between the classes examined. There was no difference in the proportions of households in each wealth class using NTFPs, nor the total number of NTFPs used per household. Yet, there was some supporting evidence that poorer households derive greater benefits from NTFPs than do wealthy or intermediate households. One clear difference was that, with increasing wealth, households purchased significantly more NTFPs, and a greater proportion of wealthy households did so. Conversely, a greater proportion of poor households were involved in the sale of one or more NTFPs, and they sold a greater number per household, compared to wealthy and intermediate households. Detailed examination of use and value of four NTFPs (fuelwood, wild fruits, edible herbs, and grass hand brushes) revealed that in all instances, the poorest households used more of the resource per capita than the other wealth classes. This was not the case for comparisons based on the total household as the unit of analysis. Gross annual direct-use value did not differ between the wealth classes for any of the four NTFPs examined, at the household level. But on a per capita basis, a significantly higher gross annual direct-use value was evident within poorer households for fuelwood and edible herbs. The significance of these differences is discussed.
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How the internet supports the consumer decision process: the case study of McCarthy Call-a-Car

  • Authors: Limbada, Suhayl
  • Date: 2006
  • Subjects: McCarthy Call-a Car , Automobile dealers -- South Africa , Automobile industry and trade , Internet marketing , Consumer behavior , Customer services , Consumer satisfaction
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
  • Identifier: vital:1171 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002787 , McCarthy Call-a Car , Automobile dealers -- South Africa , Automobile industry and trade , Internet marketing , Consumer behavior , Customer services , Consumer satisfaction
  • Description: This thesis aims to provide a better understanding of the ways in which the Internet supports the consumer decision process of potential customers in an online car retail environment. The thesis is mainly focused on how this can be done in South Africa. A case study approach was adopted in investigating the case of McCarthy Call-a-Car. Interviews were carried out with McCarthy Call-a-Car employees and documents and the Call-a-Car website, were analysed. It was revealed that Call-a-Car focuses on using the Internet to support customers in the pre-purchase phase only. The purchase and post-purchase phases are carried out offline at its dealership network and Club McCarthy respectively. The findings showed that Call-a-Car views the Internet as a marketing tool that provides convenience to customers searching for product information in the pre-purchase phase. The interviews revealed that due to Call-a-Car's strategy, as well as practical problems of selling online, the customer will still have to visit a dealership to conclude a purchase and for post-purchase support. From this research it appears that there are three main issues arising out of Call-a-Car's usage of the Internet in the customer buying process: firstly, the research revealed that instead of cutting out the middle-man, the Internet has created new types of intermediaries called "cybermediaries" and that Call-a-Car is one such intermediary. Secondly, it was revealed that trust is crucial in the online environment and that Call-a-Car builds trust through branding. Thirdly, the Internet has not affected prices online, despite theoretical estimations that the Internet would induce lower prices. The main recommendations for future research are empirical studies to investigate if the cybermediary model is unique to the car industry and whether this business model could be applied to other look and feel industries such as real estate. Future studies could also investigate the mechanics of trust-building and brand-building in the online environment and finally, studies from the customer perspective considering what Internet tools the customer would like to see online to support them during their buying decision process.
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Identifying and Investigating Intrusive Scanning Patterns by Visualizing Network Telescope Traffic in a 3-D Scatter-plot

  • Authors: van Riel, Jean-Pierre , Irwin, Barry V W
  • Date: 2006
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/428719 , vital:72531 , https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1type=pdfanddoi=aeb0738f0e53a8c9f407fee7e55c852643f2644c
  • Description: Detecting and investigating intrusive Internet activity is an ever-present challenge for network administrators and security researchers. Network monitoring can generate large, unmanageable amounts of log data, which further complicates distinguishing between illegitimate and legiti-mate traffic. Considering the above issue, this article has two aims. First, it describes an investigative methodology for network monitoring and traffic review; and second, it discusses results from applying this meth-od. The method entails a combination of network telescope traffic cap-ture and visualisation. Observing traffic from the perspective of a dedi-cated sensor network reduces the volume of data and alleviates the concern of confusing malicious traffic with legitimate traffic. Compliment-ing this, visual analysis facilitates the rapid review and correlation of events, thereby utilizing human intelligence in the identification of scan-ning patterns. To demonstrate the proposed method, several months of network telescope traffic is captured and analysed with a tailor made 3D scatter-plot visualisation. As the results show, the visualisation saliently conveys anomalous patterns, and further analysis reveals that these patterns are indicative of covert network probing activity. By incorporat-ing visual analysis with traditional approaches, such as textual log re-view and the use of an intrusion detection system, this research contrib-utes improved insight into network scanning incidents.
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Identifying and targeting idiosyncratic cognitive processes in group therapy for social phobia : the case of Vumile

  • Authors: Edwards, David J A , Kannan, Swetha
  • Date: 2006
  • Language: English
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: vital:6244 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007859
  • Description: “Vumile” was a patient in a cognitive therapy group that was designed for socially phobic African students and based on a therapy model developed by Clark and Wells. The case narrative shows how Vumile constructed a personal model of the factors maintaining his social phobia, and within the group and through homework challenged negative beliefs, reduced selfconsciousness and engaged in a range of previously avoided behaviors. A significant maintaining factor, spontaneous images of women looking at him with pity or mockery, was only identified in the last session. However, Vumile was able to use the skills he had learned to investigate this further and to correct these processes, which were distorting his experience of social interactions with women. Significant gains were made after the end of the formal treatment program and these are reflected in scores at follow-up on several self-report scales measuring anxiety, depression and various aspects of social phobic behavior and cognition.
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