Community care worker perceptions of their roles in tuberculosis care and their information needs:
- Okeyo, Ida L A, Dowse, Roslind
- Authors: Okeyo, Ida L A , Dowse, Roslind
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/156596 , vital:40029 , DOI: 10.4102/hsag.v21i0.962
- Description: Community care workers (CCWs) inhabit a central role in the management of tuberculosis (TB) patients in South Africa. CCWs attend training courses, but training is not standardised at either the national or provincial level. To explore perceptions of CCWs of their role in TB care and TB information needs.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Okeyo, Ida L A , Dowse, Roslind
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/156596 , vital:40029 , DOI: 10.4102/hsag.v21i0.962
- Description: Community care workers (CCWs) inhabit a central role in the management of tuberculosis (TB) patients in South Africa. CCWs attend training courses, but training is not standardised at either the national or provincial level. To explore perceptions of CCWs of their role in TB care and TB information needs.
- Full Text:
Community care workers in TB care: identifying and meeting their information needs
- Authors: Okeyo, Ida L A
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPharm
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4211 , vital:20633
- Description: According to the 2015 World Health Organisation global tuberculosis report, South Africa had 155,473 new TB cases in the last year, 61% of whom were HIV-positive. The tuberculosis (TB) epidemic in South Africa has resulted in the increasing use of community care workers (CCWs) for the management and supervision of TB patients on treatment. CCWs are increasingly being deployed to address the shortages of healthcare workers. CCWs supervising TB patients often act as information providers, advising and counselling patients on general care and medication use. Their effectiveness depends on appropriate knowledge, adequate training and access to good quality information about TB and TB medicines. The hypothesis for this study was that user-friendly, simple, illustrated information can enhance TB knowledge of CCWs, as well as serve as a practice tool in facilitating their counselling and education of patients. A conceptual framework was used to guide the development of an intervention to test this hypothesis through the following objectives: exploring the roles and TB information needs of CCWs working with TB patients; evaluating baseline TB knowledge and health literacy levels of CCWs; developing simple, illustrated information materials to address CCW TB information needs; and assessing the influence of the information materials on TB knowledge and practice of CCWs. Six CCWs from Grahamstown Hospice and 25 CCWs from six primary healthcare clinics in Grahamstown participated in the study, which was conducted in three main phases. Phase 1 began with focus group discussions and individual semi-structured interviews with 14 CCWs to explore their perceptions regarding their roles in TB care and their information needs. This was followed by individual interviews with all 31 CCWs using a structured questionnaire to collect quantitative data on health literacy and establish baseline TB knowledge. For Phase 2, the design of an A5 booklet was informed by the findings from Phase 1 and contained information about TB and TB medication. Pictograms were designed using a rigorous, iterative design process and were included in the booklet which was translated into isiXhosa and Afrikaans. The booklets were individually distributed to CCWs during an information session in which the topics in the booklet were discussed. Three months after completion of Phase 2, individual follow-up interviews were conducted with all CCWs to measure post-intervention TB knowledge. Focus group discussions or semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 of the CCWs to explore the role and impact of the information materials on everyday CCW practice. Qualitative data were transcribed and analysed thematically by developing codes and identifying themes. Quantitative results were analysed using the t-test, Pearson Chi-square and a Z-test of proportions at a 0.05 level of significance. The conceptual framework provided a useful lens through which to view, and reflect on, the interaction between the elements of the healthcare system in relation to the results obtained. CCWs associated their roles in TB control with helping patients and having an impact in patients’ lives which they perceived as being meaningful. The good relationships with patients noted by study CCWs, as well as the appreciation they received from patients, contributed to their confidence and belief that they were well positioned and able to positively influence health outcomes. This study found that CCWs in the healthcare system were disadvantaged by the lack of support and supervision, deficiencies in training and lack of information materials, all of which reflect a negative interaction between CCWs with the healthcare system. Use of the booklet resulted in an improvement in CCW knowledge about the disease, TB medication, MDR and XDR-TB and HIV/AIDS and TB co-infection. The mean knowledge score significantly increased from 76.1% at baseline to 85.4% at follow up showing that the use of the booklet had a positive impact on TB knowledge. Poor knowledge areas were identified as being related to TB medication-related knowledge and drug-resistant TB, highlighting the need for additional intervention to improve knowledge in these areas. The health literacy level of CCWs, which was assessed using the modified Newest Vital Signs– South Africa test, showed that the majority of CCWs had only marginal health literacy, indicating the need for wider assessment of health literacy within CCWs, and the need to tailor training and information materials to cater for their health literacy levels. The pictorial-based, simple booklet tailored for CCWs was also found to enhance confidence in decision making, and reduce their uncertainty when confronted with difficult care scenarios. CCWs were enthusiastic about the inclusion of pictograms which were reported to enhance recall of TB information and understanding of text. The booklet also served as a patient educational tool, where it reportedly improved communication and had a positive effect on the CCW-patient interpersonal relationship. The simplicity of the booklet and the inclusion of pictograms resulted in a user-friendly appealing information source for patients. Factors contributing to the success of the booklet can be attributed to paying attention to CCW information needs, involving CCWs in the design process, translating the booklet into local dialect, ensuring simplicity of the text and including pictograms that had undergone a rigorous design process. This study was the first to design TB information materials targeted specifically for CCWs that were also suitable as patient education materials. The study demonstrated that these information materials can have a positive outcome on CCW roles in TB care by improving their knowledge and facilitating patient communication and education.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Okeyo, Ida L A
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPharm
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4211 , vital:20633
- Description: According to the 2015 World Health Organisation global tuberculosis report, South Africa had 155,473 new TB cases in the last year, 61% of whom were HIV-positive. The tuberculosis (TB) epidemic in South Africa has resulted in the increasing use of community care workers (CCWs) for the management and supervision of TB patients on treatment. CCWs are increasingly being deployed to address the shortages of healthcare workers. CCWs supervising TB patients often act as information providers, advising and counselling patients on general care and medication use. Their effectiveness depends on appropriate knowledge, adequate training and access to good quality information about TB and TB medicines. The hypothesis for this study was that user-friendly, simple, illustrated information can enhance TB knowledge of CCWs, as well as serve as a practice tool in facilitating their counselling and education of patients. A conceptual framework was used to guide the development of an intervention to test this hypothesis through the following objectives: exploring the roles and TB information needs of CCWs working with TB patients; evaluating baseline TB knowledge and health literacy levels of CCWs; developing simple, illustrated information materials to address CCW TB information needs; and assessing the influence of the information materials on TB knowledge and practice of CCWs. Six CCWs from Grahamstown Hospice and 25 CCWs from six primary healthcare clinics in Grahamstown participated in the study, which was conducted in three main phases. Phase 1 began with focus group discussions and individual semi-structured interviews with 14 CCWs to explore their perceptions regarding their roles in TB care and their information needs. This was followed by individual interviews with all 31 CCWs using a structured questionnaire to collect quantitative data on health literacy and establish baseline TB knowledge. For Phase 2, the design of an A5 booklet was informed by the findings from Phase 1 and contained information about TB and TB medication. Pictograms were designed using a rigorous, iterative design process and were included in the booklet which was translated into isiXhosa and Afrikaans. The booklets were individually distributed to CCWs during an information session in which the topics in the booklet were discussed. Three months after completion of Phase 2, individual follow-up interviews were conducted with all CCWs to measure post-intervention TB knowledge. Focus group discussions or semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 of the CCWs to explore the role and impact of the information materials on everyday CCW practice. Qualitative data were transcribed and analysed thematically by developing codes and identifying themes. Quantitative results were analysed using the t-test, Pearson Chi-square and a Z-test of proportions at a 0.05 level of significance. The conceptual framework provided a useful lens through which to view, and reflect on, the interaction between the elements of the healthcare system in relation to the results obtained. CCWs associated their roles in TB control with helping patients and having an impact in patients’ lives which they perceived as being meaningful. The good relationships with patients noted by study CCWs, as well as the appreciation they received from patients, contributed to their confidence and belief that they were well positioned and able to positively influence health outcomes. This study found that CCWs in the healthcare system were disadvantaged by the lack of support and supervision, deficiencies in training and lack of information materials, all of which reflect a negative interaction between CCWs with the healthcare system. Use of the booklet resulted in an improvement in CCW knowledge about the disease, TB medication, MDR and XDR-TB and HIV/AIDS and TB co-infection. The mean knowledge score significantly increased from 76.1% at baseline to 85.4% at follow up showing that the use of the booklet had a positive impact on TB knowledge. Poor knowledge areas were identified as being related to TB medication-related knowledge and drug-resistant TB, highlighting the need for additional intervention to improve knowledge in these areas. The health literacy level of CCWs, which was assessed using the modified Newest Vital Signs– South Africa test, showed that the majority of CCWs had only marginal health literacy, indicating the need for wider assessment of health literacy within CCWs, and the need to tailor training and information materials to cater for their health literacy levels. The pictorial-based, simple booklet tailored for CCWs was also found to enhance confidence in decision making, and reduce their uncertainty when confronted with difficult care scenarios. CCWs were enthusiastic about the inclusion of pictograms which were reported to enhance recall of TB information and understanding of text. The booklet also served as a patient educational tool, where it reportedly improved communication and had a positive effect on the CCW-patient interpersonal relationship. The simplicity of the booklet and the inclusion of pictograms resulted in a user-friendly appealing information source for patients. Factors contributing to the success of the booklet can be attributed to paying attention to CCW information needs, involving CCWs in the design process, translating the booklet into local dialect, ensuring simplicity of the text and including pictograms that had undergone a rigorous design process. This study was the first to design TB information materials targeted specifically for CCWs that were also suitable as patient education materials. The study demonstrated that these information materials can have a positive outcome on CCW roles in TB care by improving their knowledge and facilitating patient communication and education.
- Full Text:
Community structure and trophic ecology of shallow and deep rocky reefs in a well-established marine protected area
- Authors: Heyns, Elodie R
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/54438 , vital:26565
- Description: The now formally adopted ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) considers not only commercially important species, but the entire ecosystem and the processes that support these species. A key component of EAF management is the implementation of no-take Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Shallow water fish stocks are depleted and fishing effort is moving deeper and further offshore to keep up with demands. This situation calls for a detailed investigation of deep nearshore reefs to provide critical information relevant to policy uptake and management decisions regarding existing and new MPAs in terms of zonation and use. To address this need, the aim of this thesis was to investigate reefs that lie between 45 and 75 m and compare them in terms of community structure and function to the relatively well-studied shallow reefs that lie within SCUBA diving depth (<25 m). Ecological collections were made in the centre of a large and well-established MPA, Tsitsikamma National Park, to ensure that data represented non-anthropogenically impacted communities. Data were collected from two study sites; Rheeders Reef, (shallow reef) and Middlebank, a deep reef complex situated near the Storms River Mouth. The first step to address the aim of this study was to obtain baseline data on the distribution patterns of both the macrobenthic invertebrates and fish assemblages. Baseline data were obtained by underwater video methods and included the use of a remotely operated vehicle, baited remote underwater stereo-video systems (stereo-BRUVs) and traditional underwater camera equipment operated by SCUBA divers. To establish functional differences between the two study sites, fatty acid (FA) and stable isotope (SI) analyses were employed. These biomarker techniques provided insight into the importance of different sources of primary production, nutritional condition and species packing. From 360 photoquadrats examined for macrobenthic invertebrate distribution patterns, 161 invertebrates were identified that demonstrated a clear changeover of species along the depth gradient. Species richness was highest on the shallow reef and decreased with an increase in depth. To understand how the measured environmental variables impacted the macrobenthic assemblage data a LINKTREE analysis was performed. LINKTREEs produce hierarchical cluster analysis based on the macrobenthic assemblage data and provide a threshold of environmental variables that correspond to each cluster. The outcome of the LINKTREE analysis indicated that the changeover of species resulted in four distinct clusters, each cluster associated with a particular set of environmental variables that fell within a depth range. On the shallowest sites, the high energy environment resulting from wave action and surge prevented the settlement of suspended particles. The high energy environment of the shallow reef selected for low-growing encrusting species. High light intensities supported great abundances of benthic algae, and as light was lost with increasing depth, algal cover gradually diminished until it was completely absent on the deep reef. The reduced impact of surface wave action on the deep reef caused increased levels of settled suspended particles. The high levels of settled particles likely caused clogging of feeding parts of the encrusting species. Consequently, upright growth forms were more common in the lower energy environment of the deep reef. A total of 48 fish species were identified from 51 stereo-BRUVs samples. Fish assemblages differed significantly between the shallow and deep reefs. The shallowest sites were characterised by many small and juvenile fish species that fed at lower trophic levels. The deep reef supported the majority of the large predatory fish that fed at higher trophic levels. Many species demonstrated depth-related ontogenetic shifts in habitat use, and as such the deep reef hosted the majority of the sexually mature individuals. The fish assemblages also demonstrated a strong association with the macrobenthic clusters identified as habitat types by the LINKTREE analysis. The results from 201 FA and 191 SI samples provided information on specific feeding interactions, but more importantly shed some light on different processes that supported the shallow and deep reef communities. The shallow reef community was characterised by greater diversity of food sources, a pattern that could be explained by the presence of benthic algae and terrestrial inputs. Greater diversity of carbon sources at the bottom of the food web meant that a larger variety of species could be supported. Higher species richness increased the number of distinct taxa that performed similar functions, rendering the shallow reef more redundant and consequently more resilient to disturbance. In contrast, the deep reef demonstrated a food web supported mainly by pelagic production, which was more variable both over space and time. The deep reef was less redundant when compared to the shallow reef, as fewer species demonstrated similar trophic niches. These factors, in addition to the increased presence of sensitive calcareous macrobenthic species on the deep study site, rendered the deep reef more vulnerable to disturbance when compared to the shallow reef. Although the data presented here were from a single study area, the limitations typically associated with these inaccessible and challenging sampling environments made the dataset a significant contribution to the knowledge of reef ecosystems. The study addressed priority research questions for South Africa as identified during the National Biodiversity Assessment. The observable differences in structure, function and vulnerability point to the need for continued protection of our shallow reefs and offshore expansion of our MPA networks. Future research should determine if the patterns identified here are common throughout the Agulhas Ecoregion to provide managers with robust evidence for the extension our MPAs offshore.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Heyns, Elodie R
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/54438 , vital:26565
- Description: The now formally adopted ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF) considers not only commercially important species, but the entire ecosystem and the processes that support these species. A key component of EAF management is the implementation of no-take Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Shallow water fish stocks are depleted and fishing effort is moving deeper and further offshore to keep up with demands. This situation calls for a detailed investigation of deep nearshore reefs to provide critical information relevant to policy uptake and management decisions regarding existing and new MPAs in terms of zonation and use. To address this need, the aim of this thesis was to investigate reefs that lie between 45 and 75 m and compare them in terms of community structure and function to the relatively well-studied shallow reefs that lie within SCUBA diving depth (<25 m). Ecological collections were made in the centre of a large and well-established MPA, Tsitsikamma National Park, to ensure that data represented non-anthropogenically impacted communities. Data were collected from two study sites; Rheeders Reef, (shallow reef) and Middlebank, a deep reef complex situated near the Storms River Mouth. The first step to address the aim of this study was to obtain baseline data on the distribution patterns of both the macrobenthic invertebrates and fish assemblages. Baseline data were obtained by underwater video methods and included the use of a remotely operated vehicle, baited remote underwater stereo-video systems (stereo-BRUVs) and traditional underwater camera equipment operated by SCUBA divers. To establish functional differences between the two study sites, fatty acid (FA) and stable isotope (SI) analyses were employed. These biomarker techniques provided insight into the importance of different sources of primary production, nutritional condition and species packing. From 360 photoquadrats examined for macrobenthic invertebrate distribution patterns, 161 invertebrates were identified that demonstrated a clear changeover of species along the depth gradient. Species richness was highest on the shallow reef and decreased with an increase in depth. To understand how the measured environmental variables impacted the macrobenthic assemblage data a LINKTREE analysis was performed. LINKTREEs produce hierarchical cluster analysis based on the macrobenthic assemblage data and provide a threshold of environmental variables that correspond to each cluster. The outcome of the LINKTREE analysis indicated that the changeover of species resulted in four distinct clusters, each cluster associated with a particular set of environmental variables that fell within a depth range. On the shallowest sites, the high energy environment resulting from wave action and surge prevented the settlement of suspended particles. The high energy environment of the shallow reef selected for low-growing encrusting species. High light intensities supported great abundances of benthic algae, and as light was lost with increasing depth, algal cover gradually diminished until it was completely absent on the deep reef. The reduced impact of surface wave action on the deep reef caused increased levels of settled suspended particles. The high levels of settled particles likely caused clogging of feeding parts of the encrusting species. Consequently, upright growth forms were more common in the lower energy environment of the deep reef. A total of 48 fish species were identified from 51 stereo-BRUVs samples. Fish assemblages differed significantly between the shallow and deep reefs. The shallowest sites were characterised by many small and juvenile fish species that fed at lower trophic levels. The deep reef supported the majority of the large predatory fish that fed at higher trophic levels. Many species demonstrated depth-related ontogenetic shifts in habitat use, and as such the deep reef hosted the majority of the sexually mature individuals. The fish assemblages also demonstrated a strong association with the macrobenthic clusters identified as habitat types by the LINKTREE analysis. The results from 201 FA and 191 SI samples provided information on specific feeding interactions, but more importantly shed some light on different processes that supported the shallow and deep reef communities. The shallow reef community was characterised by greater diversity of food sources, a pattern that could be explained by the presence of benthic algae and terrestrial inputs. Greater diversity of carbon sources at the bottom of the food web meant that a larger variety of species could be supported. Higher species richness increased the number of distinct taxa that performed similar functions, rendering the shallow reef more redundant and consequently more resilient to disturbance. In contrast, the deep reef demonstrated a food web supported mainly by pelagic production, which was more variable both over space and time. The deep reef was less redundant when compared to the shallow reef, as fewer species demonstrated similar trophic niches. These factors, in addition to the increased presence of sensitive calcareous macrobenthic species on the deep study site, rendered the deep reef more vulnerable to disturbance when compared to the shallow reef. Although the data presented here were from a single study area, the limitations typically associated with these inaccessible and challenging sampling environments made the dataset a significant contribution to the knowledge of reef ecosystems. The study addressed priority research questions for South Africa as identified during the National Biodiversity Assessment. The observable differences in structure, function and vulnerability point to the need for continued protection of our shallow reefs and offshore expansion of our MPA networks. Future research should determine if the patterns identified here are common throughout the Agulhas Ecoregion to provide managers with robust evidence for the extension our MPAs offshore.
- Full Text:
Comparative analysis of existing pipelines for assessment of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal biodiversity in natural and commercial rooibos (aspalathus linearis) and honeybush (cyclopia intermedia) soil samples
- Authors: De Wit, Hermina Johanna
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2915 , vital:20342
- Full Text:
- Authors: De Wit, Hermina Johanna
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2915 , vital:20342
- Full Text:
Comparative studies on photophysical and optical limiting characterizations of low symmetry phthalocyanine linked to Fe 3 O 4–Ag core–shell or hybrid nanoparticles
- Bankole, Owolabi M, Nyokong, Tebello
- Authors: Bankole, Owolabi M , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/188788 , vital:44785 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1039/C6NJ01511E"
- Description: Photophysical and nonlinear optical (NLO) behaviours of low symmetry zinc phthalocyanine (1) linked to Fe3O4/Ag core–shell (represented as Fe/Ag) or Fe3O4–Ag hybrid (represented as FeAg) nanoparticles were investigated in DMSO. Triplet quantum yields and NLO parameters of phthalocyanine improved due to the combined effects of magnetic–metallic nanoparticles. A direct relationship between the increased triplet excited state absorptions by already excited molecules and reverse saturable absorption (RSA) was established as the predominant mechanism responsible for nonlinearity of the samples. Our findings show that, at the same approximate concentrations and conditions, 1-FeAg enhanced the OL potentials of 1 more than 1-Fe/Ag.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Bankole, Owolabi M , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/188788 , vital:44785 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1039/C6NJ01511E"
- Description: Photophysical and nonlinear optical (NLO) behaviours of low symmetry zinc phthalocyanine (1) linked to Fe3O4/Ag core–shell (represented as Fe/Ag) or Fe3O4–Ag hybrid (represented as FeAg) nanoparticles were investigated in DMSO. Triplet quantum yields and NLO parameters of phthalocyanine improved due to the combined effects of magnetic–metallic nanoparticles. A direct relationship between the increased triplet excited state absorptions by already excited molecules and reverse saturable absorption (RSA) was established as the predominant mechanism responsible for nonlinearity of the samples. Our findings show that, at the same approximate concentrations and conditions, 1-FeAg enhanced the OL potentials of 1 more than 1-Fe/Ag.
- Full Text:
Composing affect: reflection on configurations of body, sound and technology in contemporary South African performance
- Authors: Cilliers, Ilana
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3377 , vital:20478
- Description: This thesis engages with experiential performance modes through the lenses of phenomenology and affect theory. Because experiential performance relies per definition on personal, subjective ‘experience’, specific responses cannot be anticipated. However, by attempting to compose ‘affect’, a performance has the potential to ‘move’ an attendant towards response. Deleuze and Guattari define ‘affect’ as “an ability to affect and be affected….a prepersonal intensity corresponding to the passage from one experiential state of the body to another and implying an augmentation or diminution in that body’s capacity to act” (1987: xvi). One current strategy for manifesting affect in performance seems to be the ways in which different configurations of body, sound and technology are employed. The body is the means through which sound is received or ‘experienced’ in the phenomenological sense, but it can also act as a source for sonic material. The body is furthermore the means by which sonic technology is manipulated. It is the complex, reverberating relationships between body, sound and technology, and their potential for eliciting affective transformation, which is the focus of my enquiry. In the first chapter I unpack the roles of the natural phenomena, body and sound, and their complex relationships to affect. The chapter serves as philosophical basis for the rest of the investigation, and draws largely on works by philosophers Susan Kozel, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Brian Massumi, Gille Deleuze and Félix Guatarri and sound theorists Don Ihde, Marshall McLuhan, Brandon LaBelle and Frances Dyson.In the remaining three chapters I discuss current South African theatre works that employ the strategy of placing emphasis on sound, sonic technology, and its relationship to the human body. These works are my own piece herTz (2014), Jaco Bouwer’s pieces Samsa-masjien (2014) and Na-aap (2013), and First Physical Theatre Company’s Everyday Falling (2010). While they range from being plays to physical theatre performances to performative experiments, they all place specific emphasis on sonic devices, drawing attention to sound by revealing microphones, speakers, midi boards, etc. to the attendants, and including the generation and manipulation of sound in the action of the performance.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Cilliers, Ilana
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3377 , vital:20478
- Description: This thesis engages with experiential performance modes through the lenses of phenomenology and affect theory. Because experiential performance relies per definition on personal, subjective ‘experience’, specific responses cannot be anticipated. However, by attempting to compose ‘affect’, a performance has the potential to ‘move’ an attendant towards response. Deleuze and Guattari define ‘affect’ as “an ability to affect and be affected….a prepersonal intensity corresponding to the passage from one experiential state of the body to another and implying an augmentation or diminution in that body’s capacity to act” (1987: xvi). One current strategy for manifesting affect in performance seems to be the ways in which different configurations of body, sound and technology are employed. The body is the means through which sound is received or ‘experienced’ in the phenomenological sense, but it can also act as a source for sonic material. The body is furthermore the means by which sonic technology is manipulated. It is the complex, reverberating relationships between body, sound and technology, and their potential for eliciting affective transformation, which is the focus of my enquiry. In the first chapter I unpack the roles of the natural phenomena, body and sound, and their complex relationships to affect. The chapter serves as philosophical basis for the rest of the investigation, and draws largely on works by philosophers Susan Kozel, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Brian Massumi, Gille Deleuze and Félix Guatarri and sound theorists Don Ihde, Marshall McLuhan, Brandon LaBelle and Frances Dyson.In the remaining three chapters I discuss current South African theatre works that employ the strategy of placing emphasis on sound, sonic technology, and its relationship to the human body. These works are my own piece herTz (2014), Jaco Bouwer’s pieces Samsa-masjien (2014) and Na-aap (2013), and First Physical Theatre Company’s Everyday Falling (2010). While they range from being plays to physical theatre performances to performative experiments, they all place specific emphasis on sonic devices, drawing attention to sound by revealing microphones, speakers, midi boards, etc. to the attendants, and including the generation and manipulation of sound in the action of the performance.
- Full Text:
Computer simulations of the interaction of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) aspartic protease with spherical gold nanoparticles: implications in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)
- Whiteley, Chris G, Lee, Duu-Jong
- Authors: Whiteley, Chris G , Lee, Duu-Jong
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67083 , vital:29030 , https://doi.org/10.1088/0957-4484/27/36/365101
- Description: publisher version , The interaction of gold nanoparticles (AuNP) with human immune-deficiency virus aspartic protease (HIVPR) is modelled using a regime of molecular dynamics simulations. The simulations of the 'docking', first as a rigid-body complex, and eventually through flexible-fit analysis, creates 36 different complexes from four initial orientations of the nanoparticle strategically positioned around the surface of the enzyme. The structural deviations of the enzymes from the initial x-ray crystal structure during each docking simulation are assessed by comparative analysis of secondary structural elements, root mean square deviations, B-factors, interactive bonding energies, dihedral angles, radius of gyration (R g), circular dichroism (CD), volume occupied by C α , electrostatic potentials, solvation energies and hydrophobicities. Normalisation of the data narrows the selection from the initial 36 to one 'final' probable structure. It is concluded that, after computer simulations on each of the 36 initial complexes incorporating the 12 different biophysical techniques, the top five complexes are the same no matter which technique is explored. The significance of the present work is an expansion of an earlier study on the molecular dynamic simulation for the interaction of HIVPR with silver nanoparticles. This work is supported by experimental evidence since the initial 'orientation' of the AgNP with the enzyme is the same as the 'final' AuNP-HIVPR complex generated in the present study. The findings will provide insight into the forces of the binding of the HIVPR to AuNP. It is anticipated that the protocol developed in this study will act as a standard process for the interaction of any nanoparticle with any biomedical target.
- Full Text: false
- Authors: Whiteley, Chris G , Lee, Duu-Jong
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67083 , vital:29030 , https://doi.org/10.1088/0957-4484/27/36/365101
- Description: publisher version , The interaction of gold nanoparticles (AuNP) with human immune-deficiency virus aspartic protease (HIVPR) is modelled using a regime of molecular dynamics simulations. The simulations of the 'docking', first as a rigid-body complex, and eventually through flexible-fit analysis, creates 36 different complexes from four initial orientations of the nanoparticle strategically positioned around the surface of the enzyme. The structural deviations of the enzymes from the initial x-ray crystal structure during each docking simulation are assessed by comparative analysis of secondary structural elements, root mean square deviations, B-factors, interactive bonding energies, dihedral angles, radius of gyration (R g), circular dichroism (CD), volume occupied by C α , electrostatic potentials, solvation energies and hydrophobicities. Normalisation of the data narrows the selection from the initial 36 to one 'final' probable structure. It is concluded that, after computer simulations on each of the 36 initial complexes incorporating the 12 different biophysical techniques, the top five complexes are the same no matter which technique is explored. The significance of the present work is an expansion of an earlier study on the molecular dynamic simulation for the interaction of HIVPR with silver nanoparticles. This work is supported by experimental evidence since the initial 'orientation' of the AgNP with the enzyme is the same as the 'final' AuNP-HIVPR complex generated in the present study. The findings will provide insight into the forces of the binding of the HIVPR to AuNP. It is anticipated that the protocol developed in this study will act as a standard process for the interaction of any nanoparticle with any biomedical target.
- Full Text: false
Conceptualising an epistemically diverse curriculum for a course for academic developers
- Quinn, Lynn, Vorster, Jo-Anne E
- Authors: Quinn, Lynn , Vorster, Jo-Anne E
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66601 , vital:28970 , https://dx.doi.org/10.20853/30-6-717
- Description: Pre-print , In this conceptual article we use Luckett’s model for an epistemically diverse curriculum, Kitchener’s levels of cognition and Maton’s concepts of knowledge and knowers to analyse a curriculum of a postgraduate diploma in higher education specifically for academic developers. We describe three meta-level frameworks which we offer to our participants to make explicit the pedagogy of the course. Our main argument is that a course which prepares participants to practise in the complex contemporary higher education context requires them to engage with specific kinds of knowledge, ways of thinking and ways of being so that they can contribute towards addressing the numerous and vexing teaching and learning challenges in their institutional contexts. We argue that analyses such as these help to make explicit the organising principles of a curriculum to the curriculum designers themselves who are then able to use the insights to strengthen the design, pedagogy and assessment of their courses. Keywords: academic development, pedagogy.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Quinn, Lynn , Vorster, Jo-Anne E
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66601 , vital:28970 , https://dx.doi.org/10.20853/30-6-717
- Description: Pre-print , In this conceptual article we use Luckett’s model for an epistemically diverse curriculum, Kitchener’s levels of cognition and Maton’s concepts of knowledge and knowers to analyse a curriculum of a postgraduate diploma in higher education specifically for academic developers. We describe three meta-level frameworks which we offer to our participants to make explicit the pedagogy of the course. Our main argument is that a course which prepares participants to practise in the complex contemporary higher education context requires them to engage with specific kinds of knowledge, ways of thinking and ways of being so that they can contribute towards addressing the numerous and vexing teaching and learning challenges in their institutional contexts. We argue that analyses such as these help to make explicit the organising principles of a curriculum to the curriculum designers themselves who are then able to use the insights to strengthen the design, pedagogy and assessment of their courses. Keywords: academic development, pedagogy.
- Full Text:
Conjugation of azide-functionalised CdSe/ZnS quantum dots with tetrakis (5-hexyn-oxy) Fe (II) phthalocyanine via click chemistry for electrocatalysis
- Nxele, Siphesihle R, Nyokong, Tebello
- Authors: Nxele, Siphesihle R , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/188755 , vital:44782 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2016.01.234"
- Description: In this work, azide-funtionalised CdSe/ZnS QDs are conjugated with tetrakis(5-hexyn-oxy) Fe(II) phthalocyanine for the electrocatalytic detection of paraquat. The conjugate was fully characterised using various techniques to confirm the success of the reaction. They also showed good electrocatalytic ability towards the electroreduction of paraquat with limits of detection (LoD) of 5.9 × 10−9 μM which is a great improvement compared to other reported sensors for this analyte.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Nxele, Siphesihle R , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/188755 , vital:44782 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2016.01.234"
- Description: In this work, azide-funtionalised CdSe/ZnS QDs are conjugated with tetrakis(5-hexyn-oxy) Fe(II) phthalocyanine for the electrocatalytic detection of paraquat. The conjugate was fully characterised using various techniques to confirm the success of the reaction. They also showed good electrocatalytic ability towards the electroreduction of paraquat with limits of detection (LoD) of 5.9 × 10−9 μM which is a great improvement compared to other reported sensors for this analyte.
- Full Text:
Constructing a local approach to journalism education: a study of Zambian educators’ conceptualisation of the ideal journalism curriculum
- Authors: Milupi, Mulako
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3552 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021228
- Description: This research is an investigation of Zambian journalism educators’ conception of the knowledge, competencies and values that should inform their teaching practice. The study establishes how such educators conceptualise of the purpose of journalism education within the Zambian context. As part of this examination, it identifies characteristics of this context that educators regard to be of relevance to their conceptualisation of such purpose. It then identifies what they understand as the implications for the design of the ideal journalism education curriculum. The study assesses the relevance of these perspectives to the teaching of journalism in Zambia, as an example of an African country with a ‘developing’ economy. The study draws for its theoretical framework on journalism studies generally and scholarship about journalism education more specifically. It is argued that a review of the global history of journalism education points to the existence of three main traditions of teaching that have developed internationally. The first of these traditions is described as being dedicated to the project of ‘professionalisation’; the second to the production of ‘critical practitioners’, and the third to the project of ‘social development’. These traditions are based on different understandings with regard to the principles on which journalism education programmes should be based and the kind of knowledge that they should draw on. It is noted that this body of literature does not include extensive research of the way in which particular groups of African journalism educators respond to these traditions. In order to contribute to such research, the empirical component of this study sets out to explore Zambian journalism educators’ conceptualisation of journalism education within their own social context. It does so by means of an exploration of journalism educators based, respectively, at the Evelyn Hone College of Applied Arts (EHC) and the University of Zambia (UNZA)’s Mass Communication Department. The foremost conclusion of the research is that both the professionalising and developmental tradition can be observed to influence the participants’ discussion.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Milupi, Mulako
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3552 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021228
- Description: This research is an investigation of Zambian journalism educators’ conception of the knowledge, competencies and values that should inform their teaching practice. The study establishes how such educators conceptualise of the purpose of journalism education within the Zambian context. As part of this examination, it identifies characteristics of this context that educators regard to be of relevance to their conceptualisation of such purpose. It then identifies what they understand as the implications for the design of the ideal journalism education curriculum. The study assesses the relevance of these perspectives to the teaching of journalism in Zambia, as an example of an African country with a ‘developing’ economy. The study draws for its theoretical framework on journalism studies generally and scholarship about journalism education more specifically. It is argued that a review of the global history of journalism education points to the existence of three main traditions of teaching that have developed internationally. The first of these traditions is described as being dedicated to the project of ‘professionalisation’; the second to the production of ‘critical practitioners’, and the third to the project of ‘social development’. These traditions are based on different understandings with regard to the principles on which journalism education programmes should be based and the kind of knowledge that they should draw on. It is noted that this body of literature does not include extensive research of the way in which particular groups of African journalism educators respond to these traditions. In order to contribute to such research, the empirical component of this study sets out to explore Zambian journalism educators’ conceptualisation of journalism education within their own social context. It does so by means of an exploration of journalism educators based, respectively, at the Evelyn Hone College of Applied Arts (EHC) and the University of Zambia (UNZA)’s Mass Communication Department. The foremost conclusion of the research is that both the professionalising and developmental tradition can be observed to influence the participants’ discussion.
- Full Text:
Constructions of roles in studio teaching and learning
- Authors: Belluigi, Dina Z
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59792 , vital:27651 , https://doi.org/10.1111/jade.12042
- Description: Various constructions of supervisors and students emerge from education literature on art, design and architecture studio pedagogy. Constructions of the supervisor within the studio and during assessment are considered, with a discussion of the threads which underpin them. This is followed by a discussion of some of the current dominant constructions of the student, and possible effects of these roles and relationships on their engagement with learning. As many of these constructions may be inherited or unconscious, a concern for the agency of those involved to rupture, subvert, rescript or resist such constructions motivates this research, while acknowledging that this may be limited by structural and cultural contexts.
- Full Text: false
- Authors: Belluigi, Dina Z
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59792 , vital:27651 , https://doi.org/10.1111/jade.12042
- Description: Various constructions of supervisors and students emerge from education literature on art, design and architecture studio pedagogy. Constructions of the supervisor within the studio and during assessment are considered, with a discussion of the threads which underpin them. This is followed by a discussion of some of the current dominant constructions of the student, and possible effects of these roles and relationships on their engagement with learning. As many of these constructions may be inherited or unconscious, a concern for the agency of those involved to rupture, subvert, rescript or resist such constructions motivates this research, while acknowledging that this may be limited by structural and cultural contexts.
- Full Text: false
Contesting masculinities: a study of selected texts of resistance to conscription into the South African Defence Force (SADF) in the 1980s
- Authors: Mason, Paul
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2332 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020842
- Description: The theoretical framework for this thesis and analysis of primary texts revolves around the problem of conscription into the South African Defence Force (SADF) in the 1980s. The ideology of masculinity that underpinned and sustained the practice of conscription is referred to throughout as the hegemonic version. This term is interchangeable with others, namely masculinism and ‗the real man.‘ The aim is to interpret the selected texts for strains of resistance to the practice of conscription and its assumptions as to what to what constitutes the natural or real man. In the Introduction to this thesis I begin by explaining the personal dimension of my role as researcher, after which I motivate my research project and explain its theoretical and methodological orientation, focusing on the concepts that play a significant role in analysis of the primary texts. The Introduction concludes with an outline of the content of Chapters 1–5. Chapter 1 begins with a brief discussion, on the general level, of the practice of conscription and resistance to it, and proceeds to a concern with conscription in 1980s South Africa. Attention is paid to prevailing attitudes towards gender and sexuality within both the SADF and the End Conscription Campaign (ECC). Discussion of gender and sexuality as constructs of identity proceeds to a focus on the conceptual tools for textual analysis provided by theories of masculinity. The final section of this chapter pays attention to specific post-structuralist notions of identity that serve analysis of the primary texts, that is, the notions of the subject, agency and the author. Having engaged mainly with secondary texts in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 presents the first sustained critical engagement with primary texts in which resistance was expressed against the institution of conscription and the hegemonic version of masculinity that underpinned it. These expressions of resistance occurred within a rock music counter-culture of the period, known as the Voëlvry movement. Attention is given to overlaps or links between this counter-culture and that of America in the 1960s, as well echoes between the Vietnam and Border Wars. Analysis of these links is applied to a memoir selected for its appropriateness. Threaded through the chapter is a concern with expressions of masculine identity within the Voëlvry counter-culture, the SADF and the ECC. Chapter 3 focuses on three novels and one collection of short stories, each narrated in the first person and written by gay authors who performed their National Service. Attention is paid to the protagonists‘ perceptions of themselves, their troubled relationships with their fathers, and the struggle to come out within a context that prohibited them from doing so. Chapter 4 concerns three wartime memoirs and two written by men who refused to perform their National Service. Underlying concerns in this chapter are the question of fact versus fiction in the genre of the memoir, authors‘ perceptions of and relationships with women, and expressions of vulnerability. Chapter 5 concentrates on the interviews that comprise the Appendix. The chapter establishes its theoretical ground by focusing on principles of narrative structure and the relation of personal to narrative identity. The chapter pays attention to the displays of power and the vulnerabilities of both veteran soldiers and resisters. Theory deployed in analysis of the primary texts serves the principal concerns articulated in the title to the thesis.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mason, Paul
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2332 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020842
- Description: The theoretical framework for this thesis and analysis of primary texts revolves around the problem of conscription into the South African Defence Force (SADF) in the 1980s. The ideology of masculinity that underpinned and sustained the practice of conscription is referred to throughout as the hegemonic version. This term is interchangeable with others, namely masculinism and ‗the real man.‘ The aim is to interpret the selected texts for strains of resistance to the practice of conscription and its assumptions as to what to what constitutes the natural or real man. In the Introduction to this thesis I begin by explaining the personal dimension of my role as researcher, after which I motivate my research project and explain its theoretical and methodological orientation, focusing on the concepts that play a significant role in analysis of the primary texts. The Introduction concludes with an outline of the content of Chapters 1–5. Chapter 1 begins with a brief discussion, on the general level, of the practice of conscription and resistance to it, and proceeds to a concern with conscription in 1980s South Africa. Attention is paid to prevailing attitudes towards gender and sexuality within both the SADF and the End Conscription Campaign (ECC). Discussion of gender and sexuality as constructs of identity proceeds to a focus on the conceptual tools for textual analysis provided by theories of masculinity. The final section of this chapter pays attention to specific post-structuralist notions of identity that serve analysis of the primary texts, that is, the notions of the subject, agency and the author. Having engaged mainly with secondary texts in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 presents the first sustained critical engagement with primary texts in which resistance was expressed against the institution of conscription and the hegemonic version of masculinity that underpinned it. These expressions of resistance occurred within a rock music counter-culture of the period, known as the Voëlvry movement. Attention is given to overlaps or links between this counter-culture and that of America in the 1960s, as well echoes between the Vietnam and Border Wars. Analysis of these links is applied to a memoir selected for its appropriateness. Threaded through the chapter is a concern with expressions of masculine identity within the Voëlvry counter-culture, the SADF and the ECC. Chapter 3 focuses on three novels and one collection of short stories, each narrated in the first person and written by gay authors who performed their National Service. Attention is paid to the protagonists‘ perceptions of themselves, their troubled relationships with their fathers, and the struggle to come out within a context that prohibited them from doing so. Chapter 4 concerns three wartime memoirs and two written by men who refused to perform their National Service. Underlying concerns in this chapter are the question of fact versus fiction in the genre of the memoir, authors‘ perceptions of and relationships with women, and expressions of vulnerability. Chapter 5 concentrates on the interviews that comprise the Appendix. The chapter establishes its theoretical ground by focusing on principles of narrative structure and the relation of personal to narrative identity. The chapter pays attention to the displays of power and the vulnerabilities of both veteran soldiers and resisters. Theory deployed in analysis of the primary texts serves the principal concerns articulated in the title to the thesis.
- Full Text:
Contesting masculinities: two border war memoirs
- Authors: Mason, Paul
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/458488 , vital:75748 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC193816
- Description: This article begins by discussing what Christo Doherty in his article "Trauma and the Conscript Memoirs of the South African 'Border War'," published in English in Africa 42.2 (2015), calls the "explanatory schema" for the analysis of "anti-heroic" conscript memoirs. At the centre of Doherty's schema is the concept of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with its satellite concerns of "trauma narratives" and the "victim-perpetrator." In contrast, my analysis of two memoirs hinges upon a concern with the contest between hegemonic and counter-hegemonic discourses of masculinity that prevailed in the 1980s. The memoirs I focus upon are two that are briefly discussed by Doherty - Rick Andrew's Buried in the Sky (2001) and Anthony Feinstein's Battle Scarred: Hidden Costs of the Border War (1998/2011). The aim of the article is to apply to the memoirs an analytic framework that does justice to a wider range of intra- and inter-masculine dynamics than can be accommodated by a trauma-centred analysis.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mason, Paul
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/458488 , vital:75748 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC193816
- Description: This article begins by discussing what Christo Doherty in his article "Trauma and the Conscript Memoirs of the South African 'Border War'," published in English in Africa 42.2 (2015), calls the "explanatory schema" for the analysis of "anti-heroic" conscript memoirs. At the centre of Doherty's schema is the concept of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with its satellite concerns of "trauma narratives" and the "victim-perpetrator." In contrast, my analysis of two memoirs hinges upon a concern with the contest between hegemonic and counter-hegemonic discourses of masculinity that prevailed in the 1980s. The memoirs I focus upon are two that are briefly discussed by Doherty - Rick Andrew's Buried in the Sky (2001) and Anthony Feinstein's Battle Scarred: Hidden Costs of the Border War (1998/2011). The aim of the article is to apply to the memoirs an analytic framework that does justice to a wider range of intra- and inter-masculine dynamics than can be accommodated by a trauma-centred analysis.
- Full Text:
Controls on the distribution of manganese in banded iron-formations (BIF) of the palaeoproterozoic transvaal supergroup, South Africa
- Authors: Fryer, Lindi
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2926 , vital:20343
- Description: The 2.65 to 2.05 Ga Transvaal Supergroup comprises one of the best-preserved and largely continuous successions in the world of Banded Iron-Formation (BIF), a chemical sedimentary rock composed of fine (mm to cm scale) interbanded iron-rich and iron-poor bands, developed atop the Archaean Kaapvaal Craton of southern Africa. The Transvaal BIF sequence contains at its upper stratigraphic part, an intriguing interlayered BIF-Mn association, namely the Hotazel Formation in the Kalahari Manganese Field, which constitutes the largest land-based manganese deposit on record. The genesis of the Hotazel deposits, and their exact significance in terms of atmosphere-hydrosphere-biosphere evolution, remain as elusive as they are challenging. In this thesis, an attempt is made to illuminate the origin and diagenesis of the Hotazel Formation and its post-depositional hydrothermal modification, through a highresolution geochemical study of the narrowest of the three BIF-Mn sedimentary cycles present in the Hotazel stratigraphy. This approach is coupled with a preliminary geochemical study of the distribution of Mn in older BIF of the Transvaal Supergroup as well (Kuruman and Griquatown Formations), so as to test recent models that causally link all BIFs in the Transvaal Supergroup under a common and evolving palaeo-environment of deposition. The results indicate that the cyclic deposition of the Hotazel BIF and enveloped Mn-rich sediments would have taken place in a stratified basin with a well-developed chemocline in terms of the vertical distributions of Mn and Fe, much like recent anoxic stratified basins such as the Orca Basin in the Gulf of Mexico. The increased Mn abundances as Mn-bearing ferrous carbonates in the upper part of the Griquatown BIF predating the Hotazel strata, also seems to lend support to the notion that the two BIFs are temporally interlinked as part of a broader sedimentary continuum. Finally, the largely conservative behaviour of Mn and associated elements during hydrothermal alteration of the Hotazel rocks is re-assessed, and renewed emphasis is placed on the possibility that brine metasomatism may have been a key factor in Mn redistribution and residual enrichment.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Fryer, Lindi
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2926 , vital:20343
- Description: The 2.65 to 2.05 Ga Transvaal Supergroup comprises one of the best-preserved and largely continuous successions in the world of Banded Iron-Formation (BIF), a chemical sedimentary rock composed of fine (mm to cm scale) interbanded iron-rich and iron-poor bands, developed atop the Archaean Kaapvaal Craton of southern Africa. The Transvaal BIF sequence contains at its upper stratigraphic part, an intriguing interlayered BIF-Mn association, namely the Hotazel Formation in the Kalahari Manganese Field, which constitutes the largest land-based manganese deposit on record. The genesis of the Hotazel deposits, and their exact significance in terms of atmosphere-hydrosphere-biosphere evolution, remain as elusive as they are challenging. In this thesis, an attempt is made to illuminate the origin and diagenesis of the Hotazel Formation and its post-depositional hydrothermal modification, through a highresolution geochemical study of the narrowest of the three BIF-Mn sedimentary cycles present in the Hotazel stratigraphy. This approach is coupled with a preliminary geochemical study of the distribution of Mn in older BIF of the Transvaal Supergroup as well (Kuruman and Griquatown Formations), so as to test recent models that causally link all BIFs in the Transvaal Supergroup under a common and evolving palaeo-environment of deposition. The results indicate that the cyclic deposition of the Hotazel BIF and enveloped Mn-rich sediments would have taken place in a stratified basin with a well-developed chemocline in terms of the vertical distributions of Mn and Fe, much like recent anoxic stratified basins such as the Orca Basin in the Gulf of Mexico. The increased Mn abundances as Mn-bearing ferrous carbonates in the upper part of the Griquatown BIF predating the Hotazel strata, also seems to lend support to the notion that the two BIFs are temporally interlinked as part of a broader sedimentary continuum. Finally, the largely conservative behaviour of Mn and associated elements during hydrothermal alteration of the Hotazel rocks is re-assessed, and renewed emphasis is placed on the possibility that brine metasomatism may have been a key factor in Mn redistribution and residual enrichment.
- Full Text:
Cosmological structure formation using spectral methods
- Authors: Funcke, Michelle
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2969 , vital:20348
- Description: Numerical simulations are becoming an increasingly important tool for understanding the growth and development of structure in the universe. Common practice is to discretize the space-time using physical variables. The discreteness is embodied by considering the dynamical variables as fields on a fixed spatial and time resolution, or by constructing the matter fields by a large number of particles which interact gravitationally (N-body methods). Recognizing that the physical quantities of interest are related to the spectrum of perturbations, we propose an alternate discretization in the frequency domain, using standard spectral methods. This approach is further aided by periodic boundary conditions which allows a straightforward decomposition of variables in a Fourier basis. Fixed resources require a high-frequency cut-off which lead to aliasing effects in non-linear equations, such as the ones considered here. This thesis describes the implementation of a 3D cosmological model based on Newtonian hydrodynamic equations in an expanding background. Initial data is constructed as a spectrum of perturbations, and evolved in the frequency domain using a pseudo-spectral evolution scheme and an explicit Runge-Kutta time integrator. The code is found to converge for both linear and non-linear evolutions, and the convergence rate is determined. The correct growth rates expected from analytical calculations are recovered in the linear case. In the non-linear model, we observe close correspondence with linear growth and are able to monitor the growth on features associated with the non-linearity. High-frequency aliasing effects were evident in the non-linear evolutions, leading to a study of two potential resolutions to this problem: a boxcar filter which adheres to“Orszag’s two thirds rule” and an exponential window function, the exponential filter suggested by Hou and Li [1], and a shifted version of the exponential filter suggested, which has the potential to alleviate high frequency- ripples resulting from the Gibbs’ phenomenon. We found that the filters were somewhat successful at reducing aliasing effects but that the Gibbs’ phenomenon could not be entirely removed by the choice of filters.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Funcke, Michelle
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2969 , vital:20348
- Description: Numerical simulations are becoming an increasingly important tool for understanding the growth and development of structure in the universe. Common practice is to discretize the space-time using physical variables. The discreteness is embodied by considering the dynamical variables as fields on a fixed spatial and time resolution, or by constructing the matter fields by a large number of particles which interact gravitationally (N-body methods). Recognizing that the physical quantities of interest are related to the spectrum of perturbations, we propose an alternate discretization in the frequency domain, using standard spectral methods. This approach is further aided by periodic boundary conditions which allows a straightforward decomposition of variables in a Fourier basis. Fixed resources require a high-frequency cut-off which lead to aliasing effects in non-linear equations, such as the ones considered here. This thesis describes the implementation of a 3D cosmological model based on Newtonian hydrodynamic equations in an expanding background. Initial data is constructed as a spectrum of perturbations, and evolved in the frequency domain using a pseudo-spectral evolution scheme and an explicit Runge-Kutta time integrator. The code is found to converge for both linear and non-linear evolutions, and the convergence rate is determined. The correct growth rates expected from analytical calculations are recovered in the linear case. In the non-linear model, we observe close correspondence with linear growth and are able to monitor the growth on features associated with the non-linearity. High-frequency aliasing effects were evident in the non-linear evolutions, leading to a study of two potential resolutions to this problem: a boxcar filter which adheres to“Orszag’s two thirds rule” and an exponential window function, the exponential filter suggested by Hou and Li [1], and a shifted version of the exponential filter suggested, which has the potential to alleviate high frequency- ripples resulting from the Gibbs’ phenomenon. We found that the filters were somewhat successful at reducing aliasing effects but that the Gibbs’ phenomenon could not be entirely removed by the choice of filters.
- Full Text:
Creating evidence-based guidelines for healthy eating educational campaigns aimed at low-income South Africans: a case study of Grahamstown
- Authors: Booth, Christopher
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3336 , vital:20485
- Description: Through a literature review and qualitative research, this study explores what a media-centric nutritional intervention needs to include in order to be effective amongst those whose health is most impacted by poor nutrition – poorer and mostly black South Africans. The study sketches the current nutritional landscape of South Africa, and draws on both Behaviour Change Communication and Media Effect theories to hypothesise how a campaign might be devised to change popular understandings of the relationship between health and nutrition, and inspire some change in food consumption behaviours and choices. The study explores the key factors that drive nutritional behaviours (including the environmental constraint of cost, the peer pressure and socialisation of food, and the desire for knowledge and change) and explores how media-based interventions could be more effective. To do this, this study creates three layers of an idealised and hypothetical “Super 7” fruit and vegetable consumption promotion campaign. From this data, and the insights developed, new guidelines for possible future nutritional education campaigns are suggested and developed.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Booth, Christopher
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/3336 , vital:20485
- Description: Through a literature review and qualitative research, this study explores what a media-centric nutritional intervention needs to include in order to be effective amongst those whose health is most impacted by poor nutrition – poorer and mostly black South Africans. The study sketches the current nutritional landscape of South Africa, and draws on both Behaviour Change Communication and Media Effect theories to hypothesise how a campaign might be devised to change popular understandings of the relationship between health and nutrition, and inspire some change in food consumption behaviours and choices. The study explores the key factors that drive nutritional behaviours (including the environmental constraint of cost, the peer pressure and socialisation of food, and the desire for knowledge and change) and explores how media-based interventions could be more effective. To do this, this study creates three layers of an idealised and hypothetical “Super 7” fruit and vegetable consumption promotion campaign. From this data, and the insights developed, new guidelines for possible future nutritional education campaigns are suggested and developed.
- Full Text:
Crime travel: a survey of representations of transnational crime in South African crime fiction
- Authors: Naidu, Samantha
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:26347 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/53900 , http://jcpcsonline.com/ , https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9456-8657
- Description: The literatures, the histories, the politics, and the arts whose focus, locales, or subjects involve Britain and other European countries and their former colonies, the now decolonized, independent nations in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean, and also Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand.
- Full Text: false
- Authors: Naidu, Samantha
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:26347 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/53900 , http://jcpcsonline.com/ , https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9456-8657
- Description: The literatures, the histories, the politics, and the arts whose focus, locales, or subjects involve Britain and other European countries and their former colonies, the now decolonized, independent nations in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean, and also Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand.
- Full Text: false
Curriculum in the context of transformation: reframing traditional understandings and practices
- Authors: Voster, Jo-Anne
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Book , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59557 , vital:27626
- Description: Curriculum is central to the pedagogic project of the university, and like all aspects of education, it is underpinned by values, beliefs and ideologies. Curriculum choices are made based on what disciplines and professions value and what academic departments and / or individual academics find interesting and believe to be useful for students to learn and know. Decisions about how to teach and assess curriculum knowledge is very often made on the basis of lecturers’ preferences and beliefs about good teaching and learning. At the current conjuncture, academics in South African higher education are also called upon to take into account a number of transformation imperatives when making curriculum choices. The case studies in this collection present examples of how some lecturers at Rhodes University are thinking about curriculum in the context of cur - rent educational concerns and show some of the ways in which they attempt to ensure that greater epistemological access becomes a reality for more students.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Voster, Jo-Anne
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Book , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59557 , vital:27626
- Description: Curriculum is central to the pedagogic project of the university, and like all aspects of education, it is underpinned by values, beliefs and ideologies. Curriculum choices are made based on what disciplines and professions value and what academic departments and / or individual academics find interesting and believe to be useful for students to learn and know. Decisions about how to teach and assess curriculum knowledge is very often made on the basis of lecturers’ preferences and beliefs about good teaching and learning. At the current conjuncture, academics in South African higher education are also called upon to take into account a number of transformation imperatives when making curriculum choices. The case studies in this collection present examples of how some lecturers at Rhodes University are thinking about curriculum in the context of cur - rent educational concerns and show some of the ways in which they attempt to ensure that greater epistemological access becomes a reality for more students.
- Full Text:
Cyclodextrin grafted calcium carbonate vaterite particles: efficient system for tailored release of hydrophobic anticancer or hormone drugs
- Lakkakula, Jaya R, Kurapati, Rajendra, Tynga, Ivan, Krause, Rui W M, Abrahamse, Heidi, Raichur, Ashok M
- Authors: Lakkakula, Jaya R , Kurapati, Rajendra , Tynga, Ivan , Krause, Rui W M , Abrahamse, Heidi , Raichur, Ashok M
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/125435 , vital:35783 , https://doi.org/10.1039/C6RA12951J
- Description: Porous CaCO3 microparticles have been used earlier for sustained drug release of hydrophilic drugs but have certain drawbacks for use with hydrophobic drugs. Hence, to overcome these drawbacks, a novel composite of CaCO3 along with cyclodextrin (CD–CaCO3) for the delivery of hydrophobic drugs was developed. Cyclodextrins (CDs), when incorporated within CaCO3, increased the porosity and surface area of microparticles thereby enhancing the encapsulation efficiency of hydrophobic drugs (5-Fluorouracil or Na-L-thyroxine) by forming inclusion complexes with cyclodextrin. Thermogravimetric and FTIR studies confirmed the interaction between the cyclodextrin and CaCO3 microparticles. Raman spectra confirmed the peak of vaterite crystals before and after loading of hydrophobic drugs within the composite. In vitro release studies when performed at pH 4.8 (5-Fu) and pH 1.2 (Na-L-thy) showed release at low pH as CaCO3 is soluble at acidic pH unlike slower release at basic pH. Release kinetics followed a Higuchi kinetic model at pH 4.8 (5-Fu) and pH 1.2 (Na-L-thy) respectively.
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- Authors: Lakkakula, Jaya R , Kurapati, Rajendra , Tynga, Ivan , Krause, Rui W M , Abrahamse, Heidi , Raichur, Ashok M
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/125435 , vital:35783 , https://doi.org/10.1039/C6RA12951J
- Description: Porous CaCO3 microparticles have been used earlier for sustained drug release of hydrophilic drugs but have certain drawbacks for use with hydrophobic drugs. Hence, to overcome these drawbacks, a novel composite of CaCO3 along with cyclodextrin (CD–CaCO3) for the delivery of hydrophobic drugs was developed. Cyclodextrins (CDs), when incorporated within CaCO3, increased the porosity and surface area of microparticles thereby enhancing the encapsulation efficiency of hydrophobic drugs (5-Fluorouracil or Na-L-thyroxine) by forming inclusion complexes with cyclodextrin. Thermogravimetric and FTIR studies confirmed the interaction between the cyclodextrin and CaCO3 microparticles. Raman spectra confirmed the peak of vaterite crystals before and after loading of hydrophobic drugs within the composite. In vitro release studies when performed at pH 4.8 (5-Fu) and pH 1.2 (Na-L-thy) showed release at low pH as CaCO3 is soluble at acidic pH unlike slower release at basic pH. Release kinetics followed a Higuchi kinetic model at pH 4.8 (5-Fu) and pH 1.2 (Na-L-thy) respectively.
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Cytotoxic activity of marine sponge extracts from the sub-Antarctic Islands and the Southern Ocean
- Olsen, Elisabeth, De Cerf, Christopher, Dziwornu, Godwin A, Puccinelli, Eleonora, Parker-Nance, Shirley, Ansorge, Isabelle J, Samaai, Toufiek, Dingle, Laura M K, Edkins, Adrienne L, Sunassee, Suthananda N
- Authors: Olsen, Elisabeth , De Cerf, Christopher , Dziwornu, Godwin A , Puccinelli, Eleonora , Parker-Nance, Shirley , Ansorge, Isabelle J , Samaai, Toufiek , Dingle, Laura M K , Edkins, Adrienne L , Sunassee, Suthananda N
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66300 , vital:28931 , https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2016/20160202
- Description: publisher version , Over the past 50 years, marine invertebrates, especially sponges, have proven to be a valuable source of new and/or bioactive natural products that have the potential to be further developed as lead compounds for pharmaceutical applications. Although marine benthic invertebrate communities occurring off the coast of South Africa have been explored for their biomedicinal potential, the natural product investigation of marine sponges from the sub-Antarctic Islands in the Southern Ocean for the presence of bioactive secondary metabolites has been relatively unexplored thus far. We report here the results for the biological screening of both aqueous and organic extracts prepared from nine specimens of eight species of marine sponges, collected from around Marion Island and the Prince Edward Islands in the Southern Ocean, for their cytotoxic activity against three cancer cell lines. The results obtained through this multidisciplinary collaborative research effort by exclusively South African institutions has provided an exciting opportunity to discover cytotoxic compounds from sub-Antarctic sponges, whilst contributing to our understanding of the biodiversity and geographic distributions of these cold-water invertebrates. Therefore, we acknowledge here the various contributions of the diverse scientific disciplines that played a pivotal role in providing the necessary platform for the future natural products chemistry investigation of these marine sponges from the sub- Antarctic Islands and the Southern Ocean. Significance: This study will contribute to understanding the biodiversity and geographic distributions of sponges in the Southern Ocean. This multidisciplinary project has enabled the investigation of marine sponges for the presence of cytotoxic compounds. Further investigation will lead to the isolation and identification of cytotoxic compounds present in the active sponge extracts. , University of Cape Town; South African Medical Research Council; National Research Foundation (South Africa); CANSA; Rhodes University; Department of Science and Technology; Department of Environmental Affairs; SANAP
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- Authors: Olsen, Elisabeth , De Cerf, Christopher , Dziwornu, Godwin A , Puccinelli, Eleonora , Parker-Nance, Shirley , Ansorge, Isabelle J , Samaai, Toufiek , Dingle, Laura M K , Edkins, Adrienne L , Sunassee, Suthananda N
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66300 , vital:28931 , https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2016/20160202
- Description: publisher version , Over the past 50 years, marine invertebrates, especially sponges, have proven to be a valuable source of new and/or bioactive natural products that have the potential to be further developed as lead compounds for pharmaceutical applications. Although marine benthic invertebrate communities occurring off the coast of South Africa have been explored for their biomedicinal potential, the natural product investigation of marine sponges from the sub-Antarctic Islands in the Southern Ocean for the presence of bioactive secondary metabolites has been relatively unexplored thus far. We report here the results for the biological screening of both aqueous and organic extracts prepared from nine specimens of eight species of marine sponges, collected from around Marion Island and the Prince Edward Islands in the Southern Ocean, for their cytotoxic activity against three cancer cell lines. The results obtained through this multidisciplinary collaborative research effort by exclusively South African institutions has provided an exciting opportunity to discover cytotoxic compounds from sub-Antarctic sponges, whilst contributing to our understanding of the biodiversity and geographic distributions of these cold-water invertebrates. Therefore, we acknowledge here the various contributions of the diverse scientific disciplines that played a pivotal role in providing the necessary platform for the future natural products chemistry investigation of these marine sponges from the sub- Antarctic Islands and the Southern Ocean. Significance: This study will contribute to understanding the biodiversity and geographic distributions of sponges in the Southern Ocean. This multidisciplinary project has enabled the investigation of marine sponges for the presence of cytotoxic compounds. Further investigation will lead to the isolation and identification of cytotoxic compounds present in the active sponge extracts. , University of Cape Town; South African Medical Research Council; National Research Foundation (South Africa); CANSA; Rhodes University; Department of Science and Technology; Department of Environmental Affairs; SANAP
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