Showing items 361 - 380 of 1435

Your selections:

Comparative study of skipjack tuna Katsuwonus pelamis (Scombridae) fishery stocks from the South Atlantic and western Indian oceans

  • Authors: Dahlet, Lol I , Downey-Breedt, Nicola , Arce, Gabriel , Sauer, Warwick H H , Gasalla, Maria A
  • Date: 2019
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123988 , vital:35523 , https://doi.org/10.3989/scimar.04804.22C
  • Description: Temporal and spatial fluctuations in the abundance of oceanic pelagic populations spread geographically around the globe are common (Cushing 1975). The causes of these fluctuations may be exogenous (environmental or anthropogenic) or endogenous to the organism (e.g. ontogenetic drivers) (Ricker 1954). This scenario applies to some tuna stocks, including the skipjack tuna, Katsuwonus pelamis (Linnaeus, 1758), known as bonito-listrado in Brazil, katunkel, or ocean bonito in South Africa, and godhaa (bigger) or kadumas (smaller) skipjack in the Maldives. The skipjack belongs to the family Scombridae and inhabits tropical and subtropical areas of the globe. On average, 85% of skipjack catch occurs in waters warmer than 24°C (Fonteneau 2003). This resource is of particular importance, accounting for 57% of the global industrial tuna catch in 2016, and is mainly processed by the canning industry. Skipjack catches totaled 2.79 million t in 2016 (ISSF 2018), and currently 8.5% of worldwide catches are made by the pole-and line fleet. In Brazil and the Maldives, the resource is well-known. Catches in Brazil were seen to increase until 2014, while in the Maldives, 2006 marked the beginning of a strong and unsettling decline that continued until recent years. Off South Africa, skipjack catches are 1000 to 10000 times lower than those from Brazil and the Maldives, and the highest catches were recorded in 2012.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

Comparing organic and conventional farming systems in George, South Africa

  • Authors: Swanepoel, Marike
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Organic farming -- South Africa -- George , Sustainable agriculture -- South Africa -- George Agricultural systems -- South Africa -- George
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/43946 , vital:37086
  • Description: This study presents some of the findings of a long-term comparative study at the Nelson Mandela University George campus which started in 2014. This research compares the differences in crop yields and soil fertility under conventional and organic farming systems. Although previous research that was conducted will be presented briefly, the main focus of this dissertation is to report on the research results generated during the 2016/17 and 2017/18 cropping seasons. The baseline study (indicator measurements) was done in 2014 and investigated soil fertility before the different farming systems were implemented. The rapid increase in human population threatens food security, especially in developing countries. Climate change together with the degradation of soil and other natural resources due to high-input industrial farming, provide further challenges in terms of agriculture and future food security. Agricultural production in South Africa faces three obstacles: water scarcity, infertile soils and poor institutional support. Therefore, regenerative and sustainable agriculture practices such as organic farming, are increasingly being promoted as an alternative to conventional farming systems in southern Africa. What is the best way of farming? This is the question every farmer is confronted with. Some say organic whilst others say conventional, but how do we determine this? What is the role of crop rotation in pest management, soil fertility and crop yield? So we set up the research to compare the two farming systems so that decisions can be based on sound scientific findings. Results showed a significant increase in the case of the organic yield in season 2016/17 for cabbage and in both seasons (2016/17 & 2017/18) for cowpea and sweet potato, proving that organic farming yields can increase over time. Soil fertility changes from the baseline year (2014) till the end of season 2017/18 were compared. Overall organic farming systems showed very promising results with higher levels of soil pH followed by a significant increase in important soil nutrients (P, K & C) compared to conventional systems. Crop rotation also had positive effects.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

Comparing sequence and structure of falcipains and human homologs at prodomain and catalytic active site for malarial peptide based inhibitor design:

  • Authors: Musyoka, Thommas M , Njuguna, Joyce N , Tastan Bishop, Özlem
  • Date: 2019
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/162962 , vital:41000 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1186/s12936-019-2790-2
  • Description: Falcipains are major cysteine proteases of Plasmodium falciparum involved in haemoglobin degradation and remain attractive anti-malarial drug targets. Several inhibitors against these proteases have been identified, yet none of them has been approved for malaria treatment. Other Plasmodium species also possess highly homologous proteins to falcipains. For selective therapeutic targeting, identification of sequence and structure differences with homologous human cathepsins is necessary. The substrate processing activity of these proteins is tightly controlled via a prodomain segment occluding the active site which is chopped under low pH conditions exposing the catalytic site. Current work characterizes these proteases to identify residues mediating the prodomain regulatory function for the design of peptide based anti-malarial inhibitors.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

Comparison of consumer perspectives of the natural and commercial synthetic chemical-based mosquito repellent products

  • Authors: Ndoyana, Lusanda
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Insect baits and repellents , Mosquitoes -- Control Consumers -- Attitudes Consumers -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42902 , vital:36704
  • Description: The present study was conducted to determine the perceptions of consumers between the natural mosquito repellent products and the synthetic chemical mosquito repellent products. The perception is that natural mosquito repellent products are more effective than synthetic chemical mosquito repellents based on odour, cost and quality. A comparison of the two products was done in a form of a structured questionnaire where randomly selected participants were given two questionnaires. The participants were asked to provide their perceptions concerning cost, quality and odour. Each participant was also given one formulated natural (green) candle and one synthetic (white) chemical mosquito repellent product. The formulated natural candles contain Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus (OLE) as the active ingredient. OLE is a natural plant-based repellent which is extracted from the leaves and twigs of the lemon-scented gum eucalyptus plant. The results showed that both products were effective in terms of cost, product quality and odour. However, the natural mosquito repellent product was more effective than the synthetic chemical product based on the observed p-value results.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

Comparison of leg dominance and fatigue state on lower extremity kinematics during cutting manoeuvres in male soccer players

  • Authors: Nienaber, Madeleine
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Human mechanics , Kinematics Kinesiology Sports injuries Soccer players -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42880 , vital:36702
  • Description: Soccer is one of the most popular sports played in South Africa and around the world. Soccer is a high intensity, semi-contact sport which is associated with an increased prevalence of injuries, especially to the lower extremities. Central and neuromuscular fatigue is believed to cause changes to kinetic and kinematic patterns of soccer players which may increase the risk for injuries, specifically related to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). To investigate the effects of fatigue on knee joint kinematics during the stance phase of a cutting manoeuvre of the dominant and non-dominant legs. A quantitative approach, more specifically, an experimental study design was adopte and a quasi-experimental study design was selected. A ‘within-participants post-test only design’ was used, which is also known as a ‘repeated measures design’ because all participants were ‘repeatedly’ measured under each experimental condition. Due to the non-randomization of the quasi-experimental design, non-probability sampling was utilized to sample the population group for the proposed study. A total of 13 male soccer players volunteered for the study. The participants had the following characteristics (mean ± SD): age 22.15 ± 2.77 years; height 169.64 ± 5.75 cm and weight 64.60 ± 7.04 kg. Non-significant differences within hip joint kinematics were observed between the dominant and non-dominant legs in a non-fatigued state in all three planes of motion (F = 0.61, p = 0.55). Similar kinematic characteristics were observed for the knee joint (F = 1.25, p = 0.48) and the ankle joint (F = 3.33, p = 0.64). Non-significant differences were also observed during the fatigued state in all three planes of motion for the hip joints (F = 8.98, p = 0.72), knee joints (F = 5.21, p = 0.41) and ankle joints (F = 0.21, p = 0.12). Peak vertical forces were however significantly different between the fatigued state compared to the non-fatigued state during the cutting manoeuvre (F = 23.51, p = 0.035), thereby indicating that neuromuscular fatigue may influence landing forces on impact during a directional change. The effect of leg dominance did not have a statistically significant impact on any kinematic measures as well as the interactions between fatigue and non-fatigue trials were also not observed for any of the kinematic parameters. Several initial contact and peak stance–phase lower limb-joint rotations were influenced by fatigue during the execution of the sub-maximal 60° cutting manoeuvre. The main effect of fatigue produced an increase in knee internal rotation and hip abduction and a decrease in peak knee abduction angles compared to non-fatigue, but they were not statistically significant. Significant differences were found between dominant and non-dominant legs as well as between fatigue and non-fatigue with ankle pronation (p=0.007) and ankle external rotation (p=0.033). Knee abduction angle during cutting (p=0.061) also showed an effect even though not statistically significant. The purpose was to examine the combined effects of leg dominance and fatigue on lower-limb biomechanics during a sub-maximal 60° cutting manoeuvre. The conclusion of the present study related to limb dominance was that no statistically significant differences were evident for any of the dependent variables (limb dominance; fatigue state) related to the independent variables (i.e. joint [hip, knee, ankle], contact time, ground reaction however, between-subject fatigue variations that is large enough could negatively impact the biomechanical data comparisons. Future research should target specific locations of fatigue within a general fatigue paradigm and develop standardized tasks to achieve this.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

Comparison of mesozooplankton communities at three shallow seamounts in the South West Indian Ocean using size spectrum analysis

  • Authors: Rasoloarijao, Zo , Huggett, Jenny
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Seamounts
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/43012 , vital:36731
  • Description: Seamounts influence ocean dynamics and consequently the surrounding ecosystem. Zooplankton communities associated with seamounts may be influenced by various mechanisms related to increased retention,such as Taylor columns and/or enhanced local productivity, leading to increased predation pressure. Through this study we investigated mesozooplankton distribution and community structure in the vicinity of three shallow seamounts in the South West Indian Ocean (SWIO) during September 2016, December 2016 and April/May 2017 at La Pérouse, MadRidge and Walters Shoal respectively. The water-column was profiled at 42 stations using a CTD-F equipped with a L-ADCP and mesozooplankton was sampled with a Bongo net or a Hydrobios Midi MultiNet, both fitted with 200 µm mesh. Walters Shoal had significantly lower mesozooplankton total abundance and biovolume compared to La Perouse and MadRidge. La Perouse and MadRidge showed similar mesozooplankton community structures with steep Normalised Biovolume Size Spectrum (NBSS) slopes, indicating higher productivity and dominance of small organisms, compared to Walters Shoal where the slopes were flatter. Total and per taxon abundances and biovolumes at locations “On” and “Off” the seamount were similar, as was the size diversity for MadRidge and Walter Shoal. None of the environmental parameters tested had a significant effect on variability of the mesozooplankton community structure at the stations overall.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

Competencies of Qualified Primary Health Care professional nurses in Assessing, Diagnosing and Managing clients in health facilities in Buffalo City Metro”

  • Authors: Falati, Patience Yoliswa
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Primary health care
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters/Doctoral , MPH
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/16716 , vital:40766
  • Description: The study investigated the competencies of qualified PHC professional nurses in assessing, diagnosing and managing clients in the facilities. Aim: The study aimed to explain the competences of qualified PHC professional nurses in assessing, diagnosing and managing clients in the facilities. The research study followed a descriptive and qualitative design. Data was collected from qualified PHC professional nurses in 79 clinics (both urban and rural), 4CHC’s and 4 hospital casualties. A structured questionnaire with closed ended questions was used. Data analysis was done by means of descriptive statistics. The study showed that the overall percentage of 90% denotes that these PHC professional nurses are competent in all the aspects of competences. Assessing competences of qualified PHC professional nurses in assessing, diagnosing and managing clients in the facilities is of vital importance for quality health care/ improving service delivery and client satisfaction. Recommendation were made to influence the implementation of policies and guidelines for quality service delivery
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

Composition portfolio

  • Authors: Cooper, Corinne Jane
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Xhosa (African people) -- Music , Musical bow -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Sound recordings in ethnomusicology -- South Africa , Dywili, Nofinishi. The bow project , Music -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MMus
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/168338 , vital:41568
  • Description: In June 2014, I was introduced to Christine Dixie by a film maker I had worked with on a previous project. Christine was looking for a composer who could arrange a soundtrack around musical themes that she had commissioned from Jared Lang to accompany her video installation To Be King (Dixie 2014. Jared composed five different melodies that I wove into a palette of sounds that comprised the soundtrack. To Be King was exhibited at the National Arts Festival in 2014 as part of the Main Festival. It moved to Cape Town in 2015 and 2017, to Venice and London in 2017, and to Lithuania in 2018. In 2017, Christine approached me to compose a soundtrack for a different work, based again on seventeenth century Spanish artist, Velázquez’ painting ‘Las Meninas’ (1656), but this time, using a series of sculptures representing the different figures in the painting, a reinterpretation with strong Eastern Cape (South Africa) themes and associations. Christine proposed reimagining the figures in the painting by clothing them in Shweshwe 1 material and placing African masks on each of them, masks that she had sought out during her travels around Africa. The use of Shweshwe material, ties the figures very closely to the Eastern Cape, and in particular, close to where I grew up in Alice, just 60 kilometres away from where it is manufactured in King William’s Town. Alice is important in the unfolding of this portfolio as Ntsikana, purportedly the first Xhosa person to be converted to Christianity and a prophet, lived in Peddie (which is about 70 kilometers from Grahamstown and Rhodes University) and Gqora, near the Kat River District which is located in the Amathola District near Alice. (Kumalo 2015, p.26). Alice is steeped in history, and is the town where Lovedale Mission Station was founded in 1824 and later, the Lovedale Press in 1861. Therefore, this project felt close to my roots, hence this interaction between Western and African cultures is very relevant to my world view and has impacted on my scoring of this music. I was initially challenged by the idea that the project would require a deeper understanding of traditional Xhosa music and while I had been exposed to Xhosa culture while growing up in Alice, my formative years were largely shaped by the culture of my Christian parents who immigrated to South Africa from England during the 1960s. During the first decade of the twentieth century, in my capacity as a sound engineer, I was tasked with recording and mastering a double CD called The Bow Project. Various South African composers were invited to transcribe and paraphrase or reimagine traditional Xhosa bow music for the classical string quartet. The uhadi songs 2 of Nofinishi Dywili formed the basis for many of these intercultural explorations, and I recorded and mastered the string quartets as well as 12 individual recordings of Dywili’s music. I spent many hours listening to Dywili’s recordings while I mastered them, but though I was very familiar with how they sounded, I realised, as I started compiling this portfolio, that I was not familiar with their notation and rhythmic structures. I approach sound engineering with a very different ear and sonic perspective to that of a composer. To learn more about uhadi bow music I visited the International Library of African Music (ILAM) which is housed by Rhodes University in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape. Here I consulted with sound engineer and African music specialist, Elijah Madiba, on Xhosa instruments and traditional music-making. With Madiba’s assistance I listened carefully to different bow performances and examined a variety of instruments. After this introduction I loaned a selection of recordings from the ILAM collection and listened to them as carefully as I could. Every time I listened, I seemed to hear something different, both melodically and rhythmically. To gain a deeper understanding of how this music was created I decided to transcribe some of the songs. Following a steep learning curve I completed transcriptions of two songs with my transcriptions including a wealth of vocal parts. As my ears grew accustomed to the sound world I heard additional counter melodies. Notating the rhythms using staff notation was challenging, as this music is created according to a different format, but I am familiar with staff notation and if I was going to use this material while composing then I needed to remain with that which was familiar. I finally settled on notating with shifting time signatures and the first song is scored in bars of 3/4, 4/4, and 2/4 while the other song uses 3/4, 2/4. It was a very worthwhile exercise and after completion I humbly set about composing the eleven pieces that would musically express Dixie’s new work: Worlding the White Spirit Maiden (2019).
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

Computational analysis of missense mutations from the human Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) protein by Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Dynamic Residue Network Analysis:

  • Authors: Kimuda, Phillip M , Brown, David K , Amamuddy, Olivier S , Ross, Caroline J , Matovu, Enock , Tastan Bishop, Özlem
  • Date: 2019
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/163238 , vital:41021 , https://doi.org/10.21955/aasopenres.1115054.1
  • Description: Missense mutations are changes in the DNA that result in a change in the amino acid sequence. Depending on their location within the protein they can have a negative impact on how the protein functions. This is especially important for proteins involved in the body’s response to infection and diseases. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is one such protein that functions to recruit white blood cells to sites of inflammation.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

Computational fluid dynamics design and performance testing of a cyclone heat exchanger used in a gasification plant

  • Authors: George, Tomy
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Computational fluid dynamics Renewable energy sources Biomass gasification
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/19087 , vital:39877
  • Description: Renewable energy resources are considered to be the most promising source of energy in the coming centuries owing to its potential to get replenished by the nature itself. However, there are a number of challenges that are to be addressed prior to considering a particular resource as a reliable and effective one according to the energy demand fluctuations. Energy extracted from the biomass available in the nature has a lot of potential especially in the case of producing energy from syngas produced by the controlled burning of wood. This research deals with the minimisation of energy wastage in a gasification plant where syngas is produced from wood and transferred to an internal combustion engine to further generate electrical energy. The syngas produced from the wood is to be fed through a cyclone for purification before it can be fed into the IC engine, where the dust, carbon and other impurities are separated from the syngas by making use of the centrifugal force developed inside the cyclone. This syngas is further cooled and fed into the IC engine in its purest form as specified by the requirements of the engine. It is envisaged that if it is possible to recover the heat energy otherwise wasted in the cyclone and through the cooling circuit, it can be used for preheating the wood or for other minor heating purposes, and thereby the heat wastage can be minimised. Therefore, in this research, a series of numerical investigation conducted which involved the modelling of heat exchanger around a cyclone in order to extract heat from the surface of the cyclone. Two basic design of the Heat exchanger were considered in the study, a rectangular and a conical design. With a water flow rate of 2 l/min in conical design, the heat absorbed by the water was found to be 5.555 kJ/s and in rectangular design, the heat absorbed by the water was 4.872 kJ/s. An experimental analysis conducted to validate the simulation by a rectangular Heat exchanger shows the amount of heat absorbed by the water is 4.87 kJ/s. In a study with variable water flow rate through the jacket, it is observed that heat absorbed by the water in conical heat exchanger is more than heat absorbed by the water in rectangular jacket within the flow rate of 4 l/min. and the heat absorbed by the water in rectangular heat exchanger is higher than conical heat exchanger with water flow rate above 4 l/min.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

Concept cartoons as a formative assessment instrument in physics – a case study

  • Authors: Nwaigwe, Chinelo Georgina Candy
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Comic books, strips, etc., in education , Science -- Study and teaching Educational evaluation Educational toys
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42759 , vital:36689
  • Description: Studies have shown that the practice of formative assessment is a challenge for many teachers in South Africa. Teachers are either entrenched in their old habits and methods of assessment, or they have not been adequately trained and supported to apply formative assessment in the instructional process. The aim of this research was to explore Physical Sciences teachers’ perceptions of formative assessment and the usefulness of Concept Cartoons as a formative assessment instrument to assist teachers in their practice of formative assessment. The perceptions of eight Grade 11 Physical Sciences teachers on formative assessment were sought before and after an intervention. During the intervention, the teachers were trained to use Concept Cartoons as a formative assessment instrument. The teachers’ perceptions were also sought after an implementation phase where they implemented Concept Cartoons as a formative assessment instrument in their own classrooms. The teachers were purposefully selected from six schools in the Port Elizabeth area. A qualitative case study approach, informed by a constructivist perspective, was applied in this study. Data were collected through open-ended questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and the participants’ post-implementation written reflections. These data were analysed and presented in both narrative and tabular formats, supported by verbatim quotes from the participants. The conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that the use of Concept Cartoons as a formative assessment instrument had a substantially positive influence on the Physical Sciences teachers’ understanding and practice of formative assessment. The data also suggest that Concept Cartoons supported both learner- and teacher learning, thus functioning as an Educative Curriculum Material (ECM). Another finding in this study was that a relatively short intervention (i.e. a workshop) could make a difference in teachers’ learning and professional development. Support, however, is needed, particularly in the form of teaching resources or materials, so as to ensure the translation of knowledge into practice. Though the findings are presented within the context of the six sampled schools, and focussed on Grade 11, further research may determine these findings to be informative for other institutions within similar settings.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

Conceptualizing, categorizing and recording the outcomes of biological control of invasive plant species, at a population level

  • Authors: Hoffmann, John H , Moran, V Clifford , Hill, Martin P
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/423315 , vital:72047 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2019.02.005"
  • Description: Rates of establishment of agents, their population dynamics after release, and measures of the damage they inflict on their target hosts are all useful indicators of progress and success in weed biological control but cannot account for the overall degree and extent of weed biocontrol achievements (i.e. outcomes) at a plant population level. Current conventions that describe weed biocontrol outcomes as ‘negligible’, ‘partial’, ‘substantial’ or ‘complete’, are often idiosyncratic and imprecise and are inadequate for describing the complexities involved. Using selected examples from South Africa, an extension of the present system is proposed for conceptualizing and categorizing weed biocontrol outcomes more easily; it incorporates four different invasion parameters i.e. density, area, biomass and number of propagules, for different regions and habitats. This approach should help to provide weed biocontrol practitioners with a shared basis for describing, succinctly and with greater precision, the results of their weed biocontrol programs, at a plant population level.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

Condition Report 3: Art History in Africa: debating localization,legitimization and new solidarities

  • Authors: Simbao, Ruth K , Kouoh, Koyo , Nzewi, Ugochukwu-Smooth C , Sousa, Suzana , Koide, Emi
  • Date: 2019
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/146055 , vital:38491 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1162/afar_a_00456
  • Description: Following on from the African Arts dialogue, “Zimbabwe Mobilizes: ICAC's Shift from Coup de Grăce to Cultural Coup” (Simbao et al. 2017) this dialogue considers another important event in the visual arts that recently took place on the African continent. Like the International Conference on African Cultures (ICAC) that was held in Harare in 2017, this event in Dakar contributes in important ways towards a shift of the center of gravity of the global academy, particularly the study of art history in and of Africa.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

Conditions constraining and enabling research production in Historically Black Universities in South Africa

  • Authors: Muthama, Evelyn
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Universities and colleges, Black -- South Africa , Universities and colleges -- Research -- South Africa , Education, Higher -- South Africa , Universities and colleges -- South Africa -- History , Black people -- Education -- South Africa -- History , Discrimination in higher education -- South Africa -- History
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/131527 , vital:36591
  • Description: The South African higher education system has a highly uneven landscape emerging from its apartheid past. Institutions remain categorised along racial lines within categories known as ‘Historically Black’ and ‘Historically White’ institutions, or alternatively ‘Historically Disadvantaged’ and ‘Historically Advantaged’ universities. Alongside such categorisations, universities fall within three types, which arose from the restructuring of the higher education landscape post-apartheid through a series of mergers: traditional universities, comprehensive universities, and universities of technology. This study which is part of a larger National Research Foundation-funded project looking at institutional differentiation in South Africa, sought to investigate the conditions enabling and constraining production of research in the Historically Black Universities (HBUs). By providing clarity as to the nature of truth and the concept of knowledge underpinning study, Critical Realism ensures that the study moves beyond the experiences and events captured in the data to the identification of causal mechanisms. Archer’s theory of Social Realism is used alongside Critical Realism, both as a meta-theory to provide an account of the social world and as a more substantive theory in the analysis of data. Social Realism entails understanding that the social world emerges in a complex interplay of powers in the domains of structure, culture and agency. Identifying the powers in each of these domains that enabled or constrained research development meant moving beyond suggesting simple causal relationships to ensure that I identified the complexities of the interplay of mechanisms. Data was collected from all seven institutions designated by the Department of Higher Education and Training as HBUs, by online survey, in depth interviews with academics and heads of research, and through the collection of a range of national and institutional documentation. Using analytical dualism, I endeavoured to identify some of the enablements and constraints at play. There were a number of areas of strength in research in the HBUs. There has also been a significant increase in research output over the last decade; however, the study also identified a number of mechanisms that constrained research productivity. The study found that while there were a number of mechanisms that appeared to have causal tendencies across all the institutions, there were a number of very specific institutional differences. There was very little consistency in understanding of the purpose of research as being key to what universities and academics do. The implication of this incoherence in the domain of culture (i.e. beliefs and discourses in Archer’s terms) is that various interventions in the structural domain intended to foster increased research output often had unintended consequences. Unless there are explicit discussions about how and why research is valuable to the institution and to the country there is unlikely to be sustained growth in output. In particular, the data analysis raises concerns about an instrumentalist understanding of research output in the domain of culture. This in part emerged from the lack of a historical culture of research and was found to be complimentary to managerialist discourses. Another key mechanism identified in the analysis was the use of direct incentives to drive research productivity. Such initiatives seemed to be complementary to a more instrumentalist understanding of the purpose of research and thereby to potentially constrain the likelihood of sustained research growth. While many of the participants were in favour of the use of research incentives, it was also evident that this was often problematic because it steered academics towards salami slicing, and other practices focused on quantity as opposed to quality research. Predatory publications, in particular, have emerged as a problem whereby the research does not get read or cited and so it fails to contribute to knowledge dissemination. Another constraint to research production was related to the increased casualisation of academic staff, which has exacerbated difficulties in attracting and retaining staff especially in rural areas. In South Africa, 56% of academics in universities are now hired on a contract basis which constrained the nurturing of an academic identity and the extent of commitment to the university and its particular academic project. In the HBUs, these employment conditions were exacerbated by increased teaching loads as a result of increased number of students (undergraduates and postgraduates) that have not been matched with similar increases in academic staff. There was a nascent discourse of social justice that focused on research as a core driver of knowledge production in some of the HBUs. This is potentially an area of strength for the HBUs especially emerging from their rural position as there was a complementary culture of social concerns. There was evidence that the nexus between research and community engagement could be a strong means of both strengthening institutional identity and increasing research productivity. But unless the nexus is clearly articulated, a systematic process of support is unlikely to emerge. Given the extent to which the rural positioning of HBUs has been acknowledged to constrain research engagement, this finding has a number of positive implications.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

Conflict transformation and campus protests at Rhodes University, 2015 - 2016

  • Authors: Hunter, Andrew John
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Student strikes -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , College students -- Political activity -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Protest movements -- South Africa Conflict management
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/40115 , vital:35756
  • Description: This research explores the severe challenges of conflict resolution in the face of deep-rooted, intractable conflict. The dynamics of the student protests at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa, in 2015 and 2016 are used as a case study. There were four waves of protest at Rhodes University in 2015 and 2016: RhodesMustFall, around issues of transformation and decolonisation; FeesMustFall 2015 and 2016, with the demand for fee-free tertiary education; and ReferenceList, a protest against rape and rape culture. Each protest had its own dynamic, and provided to a greater or lesser extent the potential for resolution. The study was informed by conflict theory, models and approaches that included perspectives on decolonisation and transformation, social movement theory, conflict dynamics and conflict management strategies, rape culture and sexual violence. Key concepts were drawn from the works of Galtung on structural violence, and in particular his concept of the conflict triangle, and Lederach’s work on conflict transformation. This was qualitative research within the interpretivist paradigm. The chief sources of data were a series of semi-structured interviews; university statements and communications; statements by student protesters which appeared on social media; print and electronic media. The findings reveal that conflict resolution strategies were employed in all four protests. These succeeded in two of the protests: RhodesMustFall and FeesMustFall 2015. The other two protests – ReferenceList and FeesMustFall 2016 - ended in deadlock and hurting stalemate. The most successful negotiations were those facilitated by mediators from within the university community. There were also some significant attempts at intervention from outside. However, mediators from outside were generally unaware of the dynamics, lacked the trust from both sides, were easily open to manipulation, and failed to achieve solutions. What has emerged from this study, and which is consistent with conflict theory, are the limitations of conflict resolution strategies in situations of intractable conflict. Of particular significance was role of emotion in the protests under study. Humiliation, shame, fear and hatred all played their part. The protests saw the emergence of the tactics of “reverse humiliation”: an unconscious strategy by protesters to use humiliation and shame to undermine and weaken others. Where one or more of the parties had nothing to lose by allowing the conflict to continue, the negotiations had little prospect of success. In the context of intractable conflict and deep emotion, conflict management strategies, though useful, are of limited value. A model of a ‘peace and transformation mosaic’ of conflict resolution is proposed, and a number of recommendations for policy and strategy are made.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

Conjuring our beings: Stacey Gillian Abe and Immy Mali in conversational partnership

  • Authors: Abe, Stacey Gillian , Mali, Immy
  • Date: 2019
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145963 , vital:38482 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1162/afar_a_00457
  • Description: The series of Conversational Partnerships began in 2017 in African Arts vol. 50, no. 2, with a conversation between two artists: Eria Nsubuga SANE from Uganda and Sikhumbuzo Makandula from South Africa. The format of a “conversational partnership” (Rubin and Rubin 2012: 7) emphasizes the cocreation of meaning by the interviewer and interviewee as coauthors. This enables a move away from the art history format of the interviewer (usually a writer) assuming the role of the sole author and the interviewee (often an artist) having no status as an author despite the fact that her or his practice-led creation of knowledge is foundational to the content of the interview. Stacey Gillian Abe and Immy Mali participated in a joint artists' residency as part of the RAW program at Rhodes University in South Africa from November to December 2017. During this time, they engaged with each other's practice-led work, and they created this conversational partnership at a writing breakaway in the Eastern Cape.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

Consider the unexpected: Scaling ESD as a matter of learning

  • Authors: Mickelsson, Martin , Kronlid, David O , Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/182438 , vital:43830 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2018.1429572"
  • Description: This article aims to introduce a view of scaling as a learning process. In the article we discuss the concept of ‘scaling up’ or ‘scaling’ of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) activities on the basis of how ‘scaling up’ ESD is highlighted in the UNESCO Global Action Programme (GAP) on ESD. Drawing on a Deweyan theory of learning as processes of transactional encounters, the article presents a conceptual framework of scaling-ESD-activities-as-learning. This conceptual framework is intended to have implications for ESD policy and ESE research. The theoretical specifications and practical implications presented are results of data collected using a participatory research approach (Re-Solve) and an abductive analysis. In this article, we argue that viewing scaling as a learning process enables a nuanced notion of scaling ESD-activities. This should be seen in relation to (a) complex sustainability challenges, (b) ethical aspects, (c) a more attentive and strict approach to scaling in ESD policy and (d) addressing questions of significant importance to scaling research.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

Considering the links between non-timber forest products and poverty alleviation

  • Authors: Shackleton, Charlie M , Pullanikkatil, Deepa
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book chapter
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433551 , vital:72983 , ISBN 978-3-319-75580-9 , https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-75580-9_2
  • Description: The debates around the value and importance of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are complex and ongoing. The complexity is a result of many factors, including the wide variety of species, products and uses, as well as the variety of constituencies and disciplines each seeing advantage from ‘co-opting’ the importance of the contribution of NTFPs to their own areas of interest and concern. Conservationists are interested in NTFPs because their combined high value in many settings offers a potential alternative to the destruction of forests by either commercial logging or their widespread conversion to other land uses.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

Construction material logistics management: the case of north-central Nigeria

  • Authors: Alumbugu, Polycarp Olaku
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Construction projects-- Nigeria --Management Construction projects --Management Logistics-- Nigeria -- Management , Construction industry -- Nigeria
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/44879 , vital:38179
  • Description: The Management of Construction Material Logistics Systems plays a significant role in meeting the goals of cost, quality and time to completion of a construction project. Studies have revealed that the cost of construction materials is usually about 50%-60% of the total cost of the project and that the logistic cost accounts for between 17%-35% of the cost material. Fundamentally, it is accepted that any inefficiency in the delivery of construction material could lead to a time overrun and thus, a rise in construction costs addressing the operational performance of logistics would have a positive impact on the goals of a construction project. The aim of this study was to investigate and evaluate the operational performance of material logistics in North-Central Nigeria as there is little specific research conducted on its effectiveness and efficiency. The methodology used included an extensive literature review and a field study conducted on ten quantitative approach that is rooted in the positivist paradigm, and purposive sampling techniques, was adopted. The descriptive method of data analysis was employed, and the findings and interpretations presented through graphs and images. Analysis of the findings led to the conclusion that material logistics did not operate as a system. There was almost no collaboration and integration of the logistics systems to create a synergistic interrelationship between functions in pursuit of higher overall effectiveness and efficiency. Improvement was needed in warehouse and transport operations and processes; technology and automation of logistics operations were absent, and delivery of material to customers was not effective. The implication was that the current materials logistics system did not meet the delivery goals of cost, quality and time of a construction project. The recommendations suggested included the adoption of the framework developed in this study. This would serve as a guide towards effective and efficient logistics management for material manufacturing firms, and for construction professionals.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

Construction material logistics management: the case of North-Central Nigeria

  • Authors: Alumbugu, Polycarp Olaku
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Construction industry -- Nigeria
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/44556 , vital:38132
  • Description: The Management of Construction Material Logistics Systems plays a significant role in meeting the goals of cost, quality and time to completion of a construction project. Fundamentally, it is accepted that any inefficiency in the delivery of construction material could lead to a time overrun and thus, a rise in construction costs. Therefore addressing the operational performance of logistics would have a positive impact on the goals of a construction project. The aim of this study was to investigate and evaluate the operational performance of material logistics in North-Central Nigeria as there is little specific research conducted on its effectiveness and efficiency. The methodology used included an extensive literature review and a field study conducted on ten quantitative approach that is rooted in the positivist paradigm, and purposive sampling techniques, was adopted. The descriptive method of data analysis was employed, and the findings and interpretations presented through graphs and images. Analysis of the findings led to the conclusion that material logistics did not operate as a system. There was almost no collaboration and integration of the logistics systems to create a synergistic interrelationship between functions in pursuit of higher overall effectiveness and efficiency. Improvement was needed in warehouse and transport operations and processes; technology and automation of logistics operations were absent, and delivery of material to customers was not effective. The implication was that the current materials logistics system did not meet the delivery goals of cost, quality and time of a construction project. The recommendations suggested included the adoption of the framework developed in this study. This would serve as a guide towards effective and efficient logistics management for material manufacturing firms, and for construction professionals.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • Copyright
  • Contact