Effects of lethal management on black-backed jackal population structure and source-sink dynamics
- Authors: Minnie, Liaan
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Black-backed jackal Carnivorous animals
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/12658 , vital:27104
- Description: Lethal carnivore management, aimed at reducing carnivore impacts, threatens the persistence of carnivores globally. The effects of killing carnivores will depend on their life histories and social structures. Smaller canids, like black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas), are highly adaptable and display variable population-level responses to mortality sources, which may contribute to their success in fragmented landscapes. Jackals, the dominant predator of livestock in South Africa, are widely hunted to reduce this predation. This hunting is heterogeneous across the landscape, focussed on livestock and game farms, with nature reserves acting as refuges. The aim of this research was to investigate the ecology and population dynamics of jackals in response to heterogeneous anthropogenic mortality. I hypothesized that the spatial variation in hunting results in the formation of a source-sink population structure, which contributes to the persistence of jackals. I addressed this hypothesis by evaluating two criteria, essential for the formation of a source-sink system in larger mammals. Firstly, I confirm that hunting pressures result in the formation of distinct subpopulations with asymmetrical dispersal (i.e. compensatory immigration) from unhunted reserves to neighbouring hunted farms. Secondly, I show that jackal subpopulation display asynchronous demographics, with farm populations displaying a relatively younger age structure and an associated increase in reproductive output (i.e. compensatory reproduction). This confirms the formation of a hunting-induced source-sink system. additionally, I show that jackals have a catholic diet, which confers a level of adaptability to direct (anthropogenic mortality, prey provisioning) and indirect (alteration in prey base) habitat modifications. This dietary flexibility allows jackals to obtain the appropriate resources to achieve reproductive condition. The relatively better body condition of younger jackals in sink habitats allows for compensatory reproduction which contributes to the success of jackals on hunted farms. Based on my findings, I hypothesize that the compensatory life history responses of jackals to anthropogenic mortality may be ascribed to two interconnected mechanism. Dispersal is presumably driven by density-dependent interference competition, as dominant territorial pairs outcompete subordinates in high-density reserve areas, forcing them to disperse onto low-density farms (i.e. ideal despotic model). Additionally, farms likely represent attractive habitats, owing to a reduction in conspecifics and a concomitant increase in resource availability (including anthropogenic resource provisioning). Therefore, dispersing subordinates presumably select for farms which are perceived as good quality habitats, as the high risks of anthropogenic mortality cannot be perceived by dispersing individuals. This results in the formation of an attractive sink or ecological trap. These compensatory processes will continue to counter population management actions as long as recruitment from unmanaged areas persists. This hypothesis provides a conceptual framework for future research directions in understanding jackal persistence and management (i.e. specifically focussing on controlling dispersal) of jackal populations.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Minnie, Liaan
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Black-backed jackal Carnivorous animals
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/12658 , vital:27104
- Description: Lethal carnivore management, aimed at reducing carnivore impacts, threatens the persistence of carnivores globally. The effects of killing carnivores will depend on their life histories and social structures. Smaller canids, like black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas), are highly adaptable and display variable population-level responses to mortality sources, which may contribute to their success in fragmented landscapes. Jackals, the dominant predator of livestock in South Africa, are widely hunted to reduce this predation. This hunting is heterogeneous across the landscape, focussed on livestock and game farms, with nature reserves acting as refuges. The aim of this research was to investigate the ecology and population dynamics of jackals in response to heterogeneous anthropogenic mortality. I hypothesized that the spatial variation in hunting results in the formation of a source-sink population structure, which contributes to the persistence of jackals. I addressed this hypothesis by evaluating two criteria, essential for the formation of a source-sink system in larger mammals. Firstly, I confirm that hunting pressures result in the formation of distinct subpopulations with asymmetrical dispersal (i.e. compensatory immigration) from unhunted reserves to neighbouring hunted farms. Secondly, I show that jackal subpopulation display asynchronous demographics, with farm populations displaying a relatively younger age structure and an associated increase in reproductive output (i.e. compensatory reproduction). This confirms the formation of a hunting-induced source-sink system. additionally, I show that jackals have a catholic diet, which confers a level of adaptability to direct (anthropogenic mortality, prey provisioning) and indirect (alteration in prey base) habitat modifications. This dietary flexibility allows jackals to obtain the appropriate resources to achieve reproductive condition. The relatively better body condition of younger jackals in sink habitats allows for compensatory reproduction which contributes to the success of jackals on hunted farms. Based on my findings, I hypothesize that the compensatory life history responses of jackals to anthropogenic mortality may be ascribed to two interconnected mechanism. Dispersal is presumably driven by density-dependent interference competition, as dominant territorial pairs outcompete subordinates in high-density reserve areas, forcing them to disperse onto low-density farms (i.e. ideal despotic model). Additionally, farms likely represent attractive habitats, owing to a reduction in conspecifics and a concomitant increase in resource availability (including anthropogenic resource provisioning). Therefore, dispersing subordinates presumably select for farms which are perceived as good quality habitats, as the high risks of anthropogenic mortality cannot be perceived by dispersing individuals. This results in the formation of an attractive sink or ecological trap. These compensatory processes will continue to counter population management actions as long as recruitment from unmanaged areas persists. This hypothesis provides a conceptual framework for future research directions in understanding jackal persistence and management (i.e. specifically focussing on controlling dispersal) of jackal populations.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Emergent governance practices in the University of Malawi following reform implementation from 1997 to 2013
- Authors: Nampota, Tarsizius
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Education, Higher -- Malawi , Universities and colleges -- Malawi , University of Malawi , Educational change -- Malawi
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1330 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019933
- Description: Higher education reform is an international phenomenon and one that greatly impacts on the form and function of Universities in society. I set out in this study to investigate the University of Malawi’s (UNIMA) experiences with governance reforms after observing that no comprehensive study of this process had been undertaken following the implementation of these reforms from 1997. I used Bhaskar’s Critical Realist Theory as my main theoretical framework because my intention was to understand the mechanisms from which such reforms emerged: the emergent governance practices and properties enabling or constraining governance reforms in UNIMA. I employed Archer’s Social Realist Theory in my research design and interpretation of the results, which entailed that I focus on issues of structure, culture and agency in UNIMA governance. I have established that the governance context in UNIMA in 1995 at the time the reforms were being considered was one that promoted the continuation of the status quo because the Malawi Government’s vested interest then was to exercise great control over UNIMA at system, institutional and disciplinary level of governance due to the political imperatives of the time in Malawi. However, this situation was frustrating to many in the University as it greatly impeded academic freedom. Furthermore, in 1995 the University relied heavily on Government’s financial structures. When these were subjected to structural reforms under the influence of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in the early nineties the impact seriously undermined the University’s revenue base and threatened to challenge further the realization of the University’s objectives. This prompted changes in the administrative and academic governance structures and culture intended to improve utilisation of the available limited resources as well as to broaden the University’s revenue base. The governance reform measures that were introduced were mainly influenced by New Public Management (NPM) ideologies. Most of the reforms intended to transform the administrative structures and culture were successfully implemented. The study revealed that this was enabled by the interests of those operating at disciplinary levels who were frustrated by the previous constraining governance context and who viewed such reforms as bringing about the self-governance they lacked. However, the majority of the reforms that were mainly targeted at academic restructuring were resisted because they were construed as contradictory to the interests of those in the academy particularly those concerned with matters of academic freedom. The study further revealed that the academic reforms were constrained by a lack of agency for change management and weak leadership at the top senior level of the University. In addition, there have been delays in amending the UNIMA Act, which should have catalysed some of the reforms, a scenario that has perpetuated many aspects of the institutional level of governance. Consequently, compared to the situation before the reforms were introduced, governance in UNIMA at the time of reporting manifested two scenarios: (a) an elaboration in governance practices at systems level where Government machinery exercises control and at enterprise (college) level where faculties and academic departments operate promoting cultural morphogenesis, or changes at the level of ideas, beliefs and values, which in turn is exerting pressure on governance practices at institutional level; and (b) morphostasis, or lack of change, at institutional levels of the governance exacerbated by the lack of amendment of the UNIMA Act and weak leadership. The findings have also led to uncertainty regarding the unitary nature of the University. There are fears that once the UNIMA Act is amended the four colleges forming UNIMA might break away to become separate universities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Nampota, Tarsizius
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Education, Higher -- Malawi , Universities and colleges -- Malawi , University of Malawi , Educational change -- Malawi
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1330 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019933
- Description: Higher education reform is an international phenomenon and one that greatly impacts on the form and function of Universities in society. I set out in this study to investigate the University of Malawi’s (UNIMA) experiences with governance reforms after observing that no comprehensive study of this process had been undertaken following the implementation of these reforms from 1997. I used Bhaskar’s Critical Realist Theory as my main theoretical framework because my intention was to understand the mechanisms from which such reforms emerged: the emergent governance practices and properties enabling or constraining governance reforms in UNIMA. I employed Archer’s Social Realist Theory in my research design and interpretation of the results, which entailed that I focus on issues of structure, culture and agency in UNIMA governance. I have established that the governance context in UNIMA in 1995 at the time the reforms were being considered was one that promoted the continuation of the status quo because the Malawi Government’s vested interest then was to exercise great control over UNIMA at system, institutional and disciplinary level of governance due to the political imperatives of the time in Malawi. However, this situation was frustrating to many in the University as it greatly impeded academic freedom. Furthermore, in 1995 the University relied heavily on Government’s financial structures. When these were subjected to structural reforms under the influence of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in the early nineties the impact seriously undermined the University’s revenue base and threatened to challenge further the realization of the University’s objectives. This prompted changes in the administrative and academic governance structures and culture intended to improve utilisation of the available limited resources as well as to broaden the University’s revenue base. The governance reform measures that were introduced were mainly influenced by New Public Management (NPM) ideologies. Most of the reforms intended to transform the administrative structures and culture were successfully implemented. The study revealed that this was enabled by the interests of those operating at disciplinary levels who were frustrated by the previous constraining governance context and who viewed such reforms as bringing about the self-governance they lacked. However, the majority of the reforms that were mainly targeted at academic restructuring were resisted because they were construed as contradictory to the interests of those in the academy particularly those concerned with matters of academic freedom. The study further revealed that the academic reforms were constrained by a lack of agency for change management and weak leadership at the top senior level of the University. In addition, there have been delays in amending the UNIMA Act, which should have catalysed some of the reforms, a scenario that has perpetuated many aspects of the institutional level of governance. Consequently, compared to the situation before the reforms were introduced, governance in UNIMA at the time of reporting manifested two scenarios: (a) an elaboration in governance practices at systems level where Government machinery exercises control and at enterprise (college) level where faculties and academic departments operate promoting cultural morphogenesis, or changes at the level of ideas, beliefs and values, which in turn is exerting pressure on governance practices at institutional level; and (b) morphostasis, or lack of change, at institutional levels of the governance exacerbated by the lack of amendment of the UNIMA Act and weak leadership. The findings have also led to uncertainty regarding the unitary nature of the University. There are fears that once the UNIMA Act is amended the four colleges forming UNIMA might break away to become separate universities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Environmental management in military activities of the South African National Defence Force
- Authors: Magagula, Hezekiel Bheki
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: South Africa -- South African Defence Force Military bases -- Environmental aspects Hazardous waste site remediation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/5927 , vital:29430
- Description: This thesis presents research findings on current environmental management practices used by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). Two case studies are presented; the first is the Grahamstown Military Installation (6 South African Infantry Battalion) and the second the South African Army Combat Training Centre (42 Brigade). A combination of three sampling techniques, namely, the stratified, purposive and link-tracing (snowball) samplings were employed and structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with key SANDF officials were used as primary data. In addition, secondary data sources in the form of inter alia the first and second editions of the Environmental Management Plan for Defence (2001 & 2008 respectively); the development and implementation of environmental education and training in the military: a joint United States-Republic of South Africa Environmental Working Group Project (2003); Overarching Strategic Statement for 2011; Integrated Environmental Management Information Series: Linking Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Management Systems (2004); The Department of Defence Strategic Plan (2010): Republic of South Africa and the South African Defence Review (2012) were studied. In addition, field observations were also carried out within the two military installations training areas between July, 2011 and November, 2013. Primary data on the conditions of training areas, waste removal after training exercises, pollution prevention measures, and rehabilitation efforts to restore degraded training ranges were collected. Furthermore, composite surface sediment samples and water samples were collected for analysis. A total of fifty-six surface sediments and thirty water samples were analysed for the concentrations of heavy metals using the ICP-MS. These attitudes and perceptions are predominantly positive. Statistical analysis (ANOVA) did not reveal any significant differences in responses, especially, between military ranks. However, sporadic significant differences were found in five of the statements in the questionnaire from respondents with different service periods. Furthermore, the emphasis placed on environmental protection within defence force activities worldwide has compelled the South African Department of Defence and Military Veterans (DoDMV) to regulate the management of the environment within its properties. Yet, these efforts have faced numerous challenges ranging from financial to human resource deficiencies. It was found that environmental management practices and programmes at different military installations vary significantly. Consequently, six environmental management programmes were identified at South African Army Combat Training Centre, while only one environmental management programme was identified at Grahamstown Military Installation. This programme is a collaborative effort between the SANDF/DoDMV and the Department of Water Affairs and Sanitation to eradicate invasive alien plant species. In the light of the analysis of official documents and interviews with respondents, it was established that the DoDMV does not have a budget for environmental management services and environmental management is yet to be incorporated into formal military training programmes. There is a severe shortage of environmentally qualified and knowledgeable personnel within the SANDF. Subsequently, all these drawbacks lead to the failure of the implementation of the Defence Force’s Environmental Management System (EMS) and inadequate management of the environment at military installations of the SANDF. Consequently, these challenges have severely compromised the commitment of the SANDF to honour its environmental management obligations. Such deficiencies tend to undermine the sustainable utilisation of the national assets entrusted to the Defence Force. Therefore, this thesis argues that environmental management programmes for the SANDF are based on a very weak foundation. This thesis proposes an ideal model for the successful implementation of the EMS and management of the environment at SANDF military installations. The analysis of water and soil samples led to the identification and quantification of heavy mental pollutants. The concentrations of heavy metals in water samples were varying between <0.01 to <0.05mg/l, but generally constant. Thus, no significant or meaningful statistical results were obtained. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to analyse the concentrations of heavy metals obtained in the sediment samples.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Magagula, Hezekiel Bheki
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: South Africa -- South African Defence Force Military bases -- Environmental aspects Hazardous waste site remediation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/5927 , vital:29430
- Description: This thesis presents research findings on current environmental management practices used by the South African National Defence Force (SANDF). Two case studies are presented; the first is the Grahamstown Military Installation (6 South African Infantry Battalion) and the second the South African Army Combat Training Centre (42 Brigade). A combination of three sampling techniques, namely, the stratified, purposive and link-tracing (snowball) samplings were employed and structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with key SANDF officials were used as primary data. In addition, secondary data sources in the form of inter alia the first and second editions of the Environmental Management Plan for Defence (2001 & 2008 respectively); the development and implementation of environmental education and training in the military: a joint United States-Republic of South Africa Environmental Working Group Project (2003); Overarching Strategic Statement for 2011; Integrated Environmental Management Information Series: Linking Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Management Systems (2004); The Department of Defence Strategic Plan (2010): Republic of South Africa and the South African Defence Review (2012) were studied. In addition, field observations were also carried out within the two military installations training areas between July, 2011 and November, 2013. Primary data on the conditions of training areas, waste removal after training exercises, pollution prevention measures, and rehabilitation efforts to restore degraded training ranges were collected. Furthermore, composite surface sediment samples and water samples were collected for analysis. A total of fifty-six surface sediments and thirty water samples were analysed for the concentrations of heavy metals using the ICP-MS. These attitudes and perceptions are predominantly positive. Statistical analysis (ANOVA) did not reveal any significant differences in responses, especially, between military ranks. However, sporadic significant differences were found in five of the statements in the questionnaire from respondents with different service periods. Furthermore, the emphasis placed on environmental protection within defence force activities worldwide has compelled the South African Department of Defence and Military Veterans (DoDMV) to regulate the management of the environment within its properties. Yet, these efforts have faced numerous challenges ranging from financial to human resource deficiencies. It was found that environmental management practices and programmes at different military installations vary significantly. Consequently, six environmental management programmes were identified at South African Army Combat Training Centre, while only one environmental management programme was identified at Grahamstown Military Installation. This programme is a collaborative effort between the SANDF/DoDMV and the Department of Water Affairs and Sanitation to eradicate invasive alien plant species. In the light of the analysis of official documents and interviews with respondents, it was established that the DoDMV does not have a budget for environmental management services and environmental management is yet to be incorporated into formal military training programmes. There is a severe shortage of environmentally qualified and knowledgeable personnel within the SANDF. Subsequently, all these drawbacks lead to the failure of the implementation of the Defence Force’s Environmental Management System (EMS) and inadequate management of the environment at military installations of the SANDF. Consequently, these challenges have severely compromised the commitment of the SANDF to honour its environmental management obligations. Such deficiencies tend to undermine the sustainable utilisation of the national assets entrusted to the Defence Force. Therefore, this thesis argues that environmental management programmes for the SANDF are based on a very weak foundation. This thesis proposes an ideal model for the successful implementation of the EMS and management of the environment at SANDF military installations. The analysis of water and soil samples led to the identification and quantification of heavy mental pollutants. The concentrations of heavy metals in water samples were varying between <0.01 to <0.05mg/l, but generally constant. Thus, no significant or meaningful statistical results were obtained. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to analyse the concentrations of heavy metals obtained in the sediment samples.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Epistemological access in a science foundation course: a social realist perspective
- Authors: Ellery, Karen
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1335 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021309
- Description: This dissertation examines how educational practices of a multidisciplinary, integrated science foundation course, Introduction to Science Concepts and Methods (ISCM), at Rhodes University in South Africa, enable and/or constrain epistemological access to a range of mainstream science disciplines. Students in the ISCM course are mainly African, working-class, first-generation higher education learners whose home language is seldom English. This study is motivated firstly by poor success of working-class African students in higher education in South Africa in general and in the sciences in particular, and secondly by the need for closely theorised, empirical work to guide necessary transformational change that will contribute to equity and, thus, to greater social justice. Since I teach in ISCM and coordinate the programme in which it is located, I also have a personal and professional interest in improving my own practice. Conceptually the study draws on Morrow’s (2007, 2009) and various literacy theorists interpretations of the concept of epistemological access, which in this study is about becoming and being a participant in an academic practice by virtue of learning both the knowledge as well as the norms, values and beliefs that constitute the practice. Theoretically and analytically the study draws on Maton’s (2014a) Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) and on various aspects of Bernstein’s (2000) code theory work. Codes are the organising principles or ‘rules of the game’ of practices and code theory is premised on the idea that power and control in education systems manifest themselves through the structural and interactional aspects of educational practices, and therefore have the capacity to include or exclude. Analysing educational practices using code theory enables characterisation of the practices, highlights their underpinning principles, and allows for their effects to be considered. This layered approach to analysis indicates that a critical realist depth ontology serves as an underlabourer to code theory. The desired ‘effect’ of educational practices in this study, is students gaining epistemological access to science, or science disciplines, in higher education. The overall approach is a single, in-depth, qualitative case study with a primary focus on what is legitimated in ISCM educational practices (curriculum, pedagogy, assessment) and how students respond to these practices. A lesser focus is how ex-ISCM students are responding to educational practices in the first-year, first-semester Cell Biology, Chemistry, Earth Sciences and Physics mainstream courses, and whether they are attaining epistemological access. To examine educational practices in ISCM and mainstream courses data from document analysis, interviews, observations and critical reflections are analysed through developing external languages of description. The two LCT code dimensions of Specialisation (what or who specialises a practice) and Semantics (how meaning relates to context and empirical referents) are used to examine curriculum, Bernstein’s (2000) framing of the regulative and instructional discourses are drawn on in considering pedagogy, and an adapted cognitive process level model assists in analysing assessment practices. To examine student responses to educational practices Bernstein’s (ibid.) concept of acquisition of recognition and realisation rules is used. Since ISCM serves the dual purpose of developing scientific conceptual knowledge, as well as supporting student learning in an academic context, a complex picture of practices and underpinning codes emerges. Based on epistemological concerns of developing students as scientists, ISCM legitimates an epistemic-context knowledge code and a rhizomatic/worldly curriculum code. If students produce the legitimated epistemic-context scientific ‘text’, they have attained epistemic access. Based on axiological concerns of the learning context, ISCM also legitimates a learning-context knower code. By producing the legitimate learning-context ‘text’ of an autonomous, self-regulated science learner, students demonstrate they have attained learning-context access. Both forms of access are key for student success, and combined they constitute epistemological access. The findings of the study indicate that framing and legitimation of educational practices in ISCM, by most accounts, should be promoting epistemological access. When epistemological access is not attained in ISCM it is suggested this is likely due to both a code clash at the learning-context level and competing code demands between epistemic-context and learning-context concerns. Poor access in mainstream courses appears to be exacerbated by both a narrow-based knowledge code and little or no support for a learning-context knower code. The study concludes by outlining a two-tiered conceptual model of epistemological access in the sciences based on the mutually integrative components of epistemic- and learning-context access. Because of inequitable outcomes in science mainstream courses at Rhodes University based on race and/or class I argue for far-reaching transformative pedagogies throughout the faculty, and in the broader South African science higher education sector, that address and accommodate issues of diversity and difference. This should include, amongst other things, a weakening of epistemic relations to create space for a strengthening of learning-context social relations. This is not a suggestion to move away from a science knowledge code, which I argue is based on powerful knowledge to which all students must gain access, but instead a shift in emphasis to better support previously educationally disenfranchised students and to understand in a more rigorous manner what epistemological access means to them as individuals. In light of the recent disruptive and angry student calls for decolonisation of the curriculum, this is an urgent imperative.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Ellery, Karen
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1335 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021309
- Description: This dissertation examines how educational practices of a multidisciplinary, integrated science foundation course, Introduction to Science Concepts and Methods (ISCM), at Rhodes University in South Africa, enable and/or constrain epistemological access to a range of mainstream science disciplines. Students in the ISCM course are mainly African, working-class, first-generation higher education learners whose home language is seldom English. This study is motivated firstly by poor success of working-class African students in higher education in South Africa in general and in the sciences in particular, and secondly by the need for closely theorised, empirical work to guide necessary transformational change that will contribute to equity and, thus, to greater social justice. Since I teach in ISCM and coordinate the programme in which it is located, I also have a personal and professional interest in improving my own practice. Conceptually the study draws on Morrow’s (2007, 2009) and various literacy theorists interpretations of the concept of epistemological access, which in this study is about becoming and being a participant in an academic practice by virtue of learning both the knowledge as well as the norms, values and beliefs that constitute the practice. Theoretically and analytically the study draws on Maton’s (2014a) Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) and on various aspects of Bernstein’s (2000) code theory work. Codes are the organising principles or ‘rules of the game’ of practices and code theory is premised on the idea that power and control in education systems manifest themselves through the structural and interactional aspects of educational practices, and therefore have the capacity to include or exclude. Analysing educational practices using code theory enables characterisation of the practices, highlights their underpinning principles, and allows for their effects to be considered. This layered approach to analysis indicates that a critical realist depth ontology serves as an underlabourer to code theory. The desired ‘effect’ of educational practices in this study, is students gaining epistemological access to science, or science disciplines, in higher education. The overall approach is a single, in-depth, qualitative case study with a primary focus on what is legitimated in ISCM educational practices (curriculum, pedagogy, assessment) and how students respond to these practices. A lesser focus is how ex-ISCM students are responding to educational practices in the first-year, first-semester Cell Biology, Chemistry, Earth Sciences and Physics mainstream courses, and whether they are attaining epistemological access. To examine educational practices in ISCM and mainstream courses data from document analysis, interviews, observations and critical reflections are analysed through developing external languages of description. The two LCT code dimensions of Specialisation (what or who specialises a practice) and Semantics (how meaning relates to context and empirical referents) are used to examine curriculum, Bernstein’s (2000) framing of the regulative and instructional discourses are drawn on in considering pedagogy, and an adapted cognitive process level model assists in analysing assessment practices. To examine student responses to educational practices Bernstein’s (ibid.) concept of acquisition of recognition and realisation rules is used. Since ISCM serves the dual purpose of developing scientific conceptual knowledge, as well as supporting student learning in an academic context, a complex picture of practices and underpinning codes emerges. Based on epistemological concerns of developing students as scientists, ISCM legitimates an epistemic-context knowledge code and a rhizomatic/worldly curriculum code. If students produce the legitimated epistemic-context scientific ‘text’, they have attained epistemic access. Based on axiological concerns of the learning context, ISCM also legitimates a learning-context knower code. By producing the legitimate learning-context ‘text’ of an autonomous, self-regulated science learner, students demonstrate they have attained learning-context access. Both forms of access are key for student success, and combined they constitute epistemological access. The findings of the study indicate that framing and legitimation of educational practices in ISCM, by most accounts, should be promoting epistemological access. When epistemological access is not attained in ISCM it is suggested this is likely due to both a code clash at the learning-context level and competing code demands between epistemic-context and learning-context concerns. Poor access in mainstream courses appears to be exacerbated by both a narrow-based knowledge code and little or no support for a learning-context knower code. The study concludes by outlining a two-tiered conceptual model of epistemological access in the sciences based on the mutually integrative components of epistemic- and learning-context access. Because of inequitable outcomes in science mainstream courses at Rhodes University based on race and/or class I argue for far-reaching transformative pedagogies throughout the faculty, and in the broader South African science higher education sector, that address and accommodate issues of diversity and difference. This should include, amongst other things, a weakening of epistemic relations to create space for a strengthening of learning-context social relations. This is not a suggestion to move away from a science knowledge code, which I argue is based on powerful knowledge to which all students must gain access, but instead a shift in emphasis to better support previously educationally disenfranchised students and to understand in a more rigorous manner what epistemological access means to them as individuals. In light of the recent disruptive and angry student calls for decolonisation of the curriculum, this is an urgent imperative.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Evaluation of Fungcoal as a bioprocess technology for self-cladding of waste coal dumps
- Authors: Sekhohola, Lerato M
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Coal mine waste , Fungi -- Biotechnology , Coal -- Biodegradation , Bermuda grass -- Biotechnology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:5959 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019992
- Description: Low-grade coal, a poor source of energy, has long been regarded as waste material by the coal mining industry. Biological degradation of this coal material by ligninolytic fungal strains presents a viable strategy towards eliminating this unusable fossil fuel. To this end, a novel and patented bioprocess termed Fungcoal was developed. Fungcoal is a biological process utilised in the in situ treatment of waste coal and is based on the mutualistic relationship between the fungus Neosartorya fischeri and the graminaceous species Cynodon dactylon. The process facilitates the rapid conversion of waste coal into soil-like material that stimulates establishment of vegetation for eventual coal dump rehabilitation. While a number of in vitro studies have identified various fungal strains as efficient coal degraders, the mechanisms involved in the Fungcoal-stimulated degradation process have not been fully elucidated. Furthermore, implementation of Fungcoal at both pilot and commercial scale has not been achieved. Thus the objective of this work was to investigate Fungcoal as a bioprocess via examining the role of coal degrading fungi (CDF) and grasses as biocatalysts in coal biodegradation and for the self-cladding of waste coal dumps. Initially, waste coal degradation by N. fischeri, strain ECCN 84, was investigated, specifically focusing on the mechanisms underpinning the process. In vitro studies showed the addition of waste coal induced active fungal colonisation resulting in increased fungal biomass. Increased extracellular laccase (LAC) activity, occuring concomitantly with an increase in hyphal peroxisome proliferation, was also observed in the coal supplied fungal cultures. Analysis of the colonised waste coal revealed a time dependent reduction in the percentage weight of elemental carbon coupled with an increase in elemental oxygen. The results supported metabolism and degradation of waste coal by N. fischeri strain ECCN 84 and involvement of fungal extracellular laccase. The contribution of C. dactylon, a C4 grass species to in situ biodegradation of waste coal in the presence of coal degrading and mycorrhizal fungi (MF) was also investigated. Enhanced degradation of the waste coal into a humic soil-like material was observed within the rhizosphere. Analysis of the resultant substrate revealed an increased concentration of highly oxidised humic-like substances (HS). Fungi remained viable in the rhizosphere up to 47 weeks post-inoculation and cultivation of C. dactylon, indicating the resultant humic substance-rich rhizosphere provided an environment conducive for microbial proliferation and activity. Furthermore, humic substance enrichment of waste coal substrates supported germination and seedling emergence of several agronomic species including Zea mays (corn), Phaseolus vulgaris (bean), Pisum sativum (pea), and Spinacia oleracea (spinach). Use of various cladding materials to support coal biodegradation, by fungus-grass mutualism and rehabilitation of waste dumps was evaluated at commercial scale. While substantial physico-chemical changes were not evident in the absence of cladding or where waste coal was used as cladding material, successful establishment of grass cover and diversity was achieved within three hydrological cycles on dumps cladded with weathered coal. Work presented in this thesis successfully demonstrates the degradation of waste coal by N. fischeri. The biodegradation process included enhanced extracellular LAC activity coupled with increased 3 waste coal oxidation. Increased HS concentration of waste coal substrate supported germination and early seedling establishment of several agronomic species. At commercial scale a co-substrate in the form of carbon-rich weathered coal was essential to support fungus-grass mutualism and Fungcoal-induced rehabilitation. These findings support the developed Fungcoal concept and the underpinning rationale that the phyto-biodegradation of waste coal indeed depends on the mutualistic interactions between grass root exudates and the ligninolytic and mycorrhizal fungi. Taken together, these findings provide practical evidence of the contribution of fungi and grasses as mutualists in the biodegradation of waste coal and sustainable rehabilitation of waste coal dumps
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Sekhohola, Lerato M
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Coal mine waste , Fungi -- Biotechnology , Coal -- Biodegradation , Bermuda grass -- Biotechnology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:5959 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019992
- Description: Low-grade coal, a poor source of energy, has long been regarded as waste material by the coal mining industry. Biological degradation of this coal material by ligninolytic fungal strains presents a viable strategy towards eliminating this unusable fossil fuel. To this end, a novel and patented bioprocess termed Fungcoal was developed. Fungcoal is a biological process utilised in the in situ treatment of waste coal and is based on the mutualistic relationship between the fungus Neosartorya fischeri and the graminaceous species Cynodon dactylon. The process facilitates the rapid conversion of waste coal into soil-like material that stimulates establishment of vegetation for eventual coal dump rehabilitation. While a number of in vitro studies have identified various fungal strains as efficient coal degraders, the mechanisms involved in the Fungcoal-stimulated degradation process have not been fully elucidated. Furthermore, implementation of Fungcoal at both pilot and commercial scale has not been achieved. Thus the objective of this work was to investigate Fungcoal as a bioprocess via examining the role of coal degrading fungi (CDF) and grasses as biocatalysts in coal biodegradation and for the self-cladding of waste coal dumps. Initially, waste coal degradation by N. fischeri, strain ECCN 84, was investigated, specifically focusing on the mechanisms underpinning the process. In vitro studies showed the addition of waste coal induced active fungal colonisation resulting in increased fungal biomass. Increased extracellular laccase (LAC) activity, occuring concomitantly with an increase in hyphal peroxisome proliferation, was also observed in the coal supplied fungal cultures. Analysis of the colonised waste coal revealed a time dependent reduction in the percentage weight of elemental carbon coupled with an increase in elemental oxygen. The results supported metabolism and degradation of waste coal by N. fischeri strain ECCN 84 and involvement of fungal extracellular laccase. The contribution of C. dactylon, a C4 grass species to in situ biodegradation of waste coal in the presence of coal degrading and mycorrhizal fungi (MF) was also investigated. Enhanced degradation of the waste coal into a humic soil-like material was observed within the rhizosphere. Analysis of the resultant substrate revealed an increased concentration of highly oxidised humic-like substances (HS). Fungi remained viable in the rhizosphere up to 47 weeks post-inoculation and cultivation of C. dactylon, indicating the resultant humic substance-rich rhizosphere provided an environment conducive for microbial proliferation and activity. Furthermore, humic substance enrichment of waste coal substrates supported germination and seedling emergence of several agronomic species including Zea mays (corn), Phaseolus vulgaris (bean), Pisum sativum (pea), and Spinacia oleracea (spinach). Use of various cladding materials to support coal biodegradation, by fungus-grass mutualism and rehabilitation of waste dumps was evaluated at commercial scale. While substantial physico-chemical changes were not evident in the absence of cladding or where waste coal was used as cladding material, successful establishment of grass cover and diversity was achieved within three hydrological cycles on dumps cladded with weathered coal. Work presented in this thesis successfully demonstrates the degradation of waste coal by N. fischeri. The biodegradation process included enhanced extracellular LAC activity coupled with increased 3 waste coal oxidation. Increased HS concentration of waste coal substrate supported germination and early seedling establishment of several agronomic species. At commercial scale a co-substrate in the form of carbon-rich weathered coal was essential to support fungus-grass mutualism and Fungcoal-induced rehabilitation. These findings support the developed Fungcoal concept and the underpinning rationale that the phyto-biodegradation of waste coal indeed depends on the mutualistic interactions between grass root exudates and the ligninolytic and mycorrhizal fungi. Taken together, these findings provide practical evidence of the contribution of fungi and grasses as mutualists in the biodegradation of waste coal and sustainable rehabilitation of waste coal dumps
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Evaluation of the implementation of local economic development policy for poverty alleviation at selected municipalities in the province of eastern cape (2012-2014)
- Authors: Sidumo, Andile Morrison
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Economic development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Poverty -- Government policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/7708 , vital:30708
- Description: This thesis evaluated the implementation of local economic development policy for poverty alleviation at selected municipalities in the Province of the Eastern Cape. Poverty is a global challenge of sustainable development that faces communities at international, national, provincial and local sphere of government however, the focus was at selected municipalities in the Province of Eastern Cape. It is the responsibility of municipal authorities to satisfy the basic needs and promote the general welfare of communities at specific geographic areas in the Province which is vastly rural depending on agriculture and partly on the industrial development. Local economic development is a tool or method to alleviate poverty.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Sidumo, Andile Morrison
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Economic development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Sustainable development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Poverty -- Government policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/7708 , vital:30708
- Description: This thesis evaluated the implementation of local economic development policy for poverty alleviation at selected municipalities in the Province of the Eastern Cape. Poverty is a global challenge of sustainable development that faces communities at international, national, provincial and local sphere of government however, the focus was at selected municipalities in the Province of Eastern Cape. It is the responsibility of municipal authorities to satisfy the basic needs and promote the general welfare of communities at specific geographic areas in the Province which is vastly rural depending on agriculture and partly on the industrial development. Local economic development is a tool or method to alleviate poverty.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Evaluation of the medicinal potentials of Bulbine Abyssinica A. rich in the management of diabetes mellitus in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Kibiti, Cromwell Mwiti
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Medicinal plants -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Diabetes -- Alternative treatment -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/3077 , vital:28252
- Description: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic physiological carbohydrate metabolic disorder with significant impact on the economy, quality of life and life expectancy in South Africa. Herbal medicine has become the alternative therapy in the management of this disease. However, their safety and effectiveness have not been investigated. To address this, one of the plants used in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, Bulbine abyssinica A. Rich (Asphodelaceae), was evaluated. Bulbine abyssinica is one of the species used in the management of diabetes mellitus. This plant was mentioned during an ethnobotanical survey conducted in Nkonkobe municipality of the Eastern Cape Province. Though a decoction prepared from the whole plant is used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus, the mechanism of action and its safety has not been elucidated. Thus, this research work was designed to contribute to the understanding of the possible mechanism of action of B. abyssinica as an antidiabetic medicinal plant and its toxic potentials to the users. The aqueous extract exhibited remarkable inhibitory activity onα-amylase (estimated inhibitory concentration (IC)50 value of 3.28 μg/ml), while the acetone extract exhibited weak inhibitory activity. The acetone extract exhibited notable α-glucosidase inhibitory activity (IC50 value of 4.27 μg/ml) while aqueous extract had significantly weak activity. The Lineweaver-Burk double reciprocal plots revealed that the aqueous extract exerts noncompetitive inhibition on the α-amylase activity while the acetone extract exerts a near competitive inhibitory pattern on the α-glucosidase activity. The extracts from the plant possessed high free radical scavenging activities, with acetone extract exhibiting the highest activities in all assay models used except with ferric reducing power and nitric oxide (NO) scavenging ability. The aqueous extract exhibited the highest ferric reducing power and nitric oxide radical mopping strength while the essential oil exhibited the highest scavenging activities with 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and relatively high ferric reducing power and nitric oxide scavenging ability. The acetone extract and the essential oil of this species exhibited higher albumin denaturation inhibition than the aqueous extract while the latter showed the greatest membrane lysis protection. The essential oil, acetone and aqueous extracts from this plant significantly inhibited the growth of Shigelle flexneri, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis. Klebsiella pneumonia, Proteus vulgaris and Streptococcus pyogens growth were inhibited by acetone and aqueous extracts. The essential oil also showed inhibitory activity against Proteus vulgaris. However, the extracts were active against the growth of only three fungi species. The essential oil showed significant inhibitory activity against Trichophyton rubrum. The aqueous extract inhibited the growth of Microsporum gypseum while the acetone extract was active against Microsporum canis, and Microsporum gypseum. The carbohydrate, crude fibre, moisture, ash, crude protein and crude fat of approximately 74.8 percent, 8.9 percent, 8.8 percent, 8 percent, 7.7 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively, were detected in this plant. The species is characterized by moderate levels of oxalates, phytic acids, Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Vitamin E. Potassium and calcium were present in highest levels, while magnesium, iron, sodium, aluminium and phosphorus were moderately present. Manganese, zinc and copper where in low amounts. These vitamins and mineral elements were within their recommended daily allowance (RDA) in humans. The investigation also revealed appreciable amounts of total phenols, flavonoids, flavanols, proanthocyanidins and alkaloids in both acetone and aqueous extracts while saponins and tannins were in trace amounts. The essential oil was characterized by large quantities of terpenes (91.9 percent) and small fraction of esters (8.01 percent).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Kibiti, Cromwell Mwiti
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Medicinal plants -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Diabetes -- Alternative treatment -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/3077 , vital:28252
- Description: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic physiological carbohydrate metabolic disorder with significant impact on the economy, quality of life and life expectancy in South Africa. Herbal medicine has become the alternative therapy in the management of this disease. However, their safety and effectiveness have not been investigated. To address this, one of the plants used in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, Bulbine abyssinica A. Rich (Asphodelaceae), was evaluated. Bulbine abyssinica is one of the species used in the management of diabetes mellitus. This plant was mentioned during an ethnobotanical survey conducted in Nkonkobe municipality of the Eastern Cape Province. Though a decoction prepared from the whole plant is used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus, the mechanism of action and its safety has not been elucidated. Thus, this research work was designed to contribute to the understanding of the possible mechanism of action of B. abyssinica as an antidiabetic medicinal plant and its toxic potentials to the users. The aqueous extract exhibited remarkable inhibitory activity onα-amylase (estimated inhibitory concentration (IC)50 value of 3.28 μg/ml), while the acetone extract exhibited weak inhibitory activity. The acetone extract exhibited notable α-glucosidase inhibitory activity (IC50 value of 4.27 μg/ml) while aqueous extract had significantly weak activity. The Lineweaver-Burk double reciprocal plots revealed that the aqueous extract exerts noncompetitive inhibition on the α-amylase activity while the acetone extract exerts a near competitive inhibitory pattern on the α-glucosidase activity. The extracts from the plant possessed high free radical scavenging activities, with acetone extract exhibiting the highest activities in all assay models used except with ferric reducing power and nitric oxide (NO) scavenging ability. The aqueous extract exhibited the highest ferric reducing power and nitric oxide radical mopping strength while the essential oil exhibited the highest scavenging activities with 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and relatively high ferric reducing power and nitric oxide scavenging ability. The acetone extract and the essential oil of this species exhibited higher albumin denaturation inhibition than the aqueous extract while the latter showed the greatest membrane lysis protection. The essential oil, acetone and aqueous extracts from this plant significantly inhibited the growth of Shigelle flexneri, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis. Klebsiella pneumonia, Proteus vulgaris and Streptococcus pyogens growth were inhibited by acetone and aqueous extracts. The essential oil also showed inhibitory activity against Proteus vulgaris. However, the extracts were active against the growth of only three fungi species. The essential oil showed significant inhibitory activity against Trichophyton rubrum. The aqueous extract inhibited the growth of Microsporum gypseum while the acetone extract was active against Microsporum canis, and Microsporum gypseum. The carbohydrate, crude fibre, moisture, ash, crude protein and crude fat of approximately 74.8 percent, 8.9 percent, 8.8 percent, 8 percent, 7.7 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively, were detected in this plant. The species is characterized by moderate levels of oxalates, phytic acids, Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Vitamin E. Potassium and calcium were present in highest levels, while magnesium, iron, sodium, aluminium and phosphorus were moderately present. Manganese, zinc and copper where in low amounts. These vitamins and mineral elements were within their recommended daily allowance (RDA) in humans. The investigation also revealed appreciable amounts of total phenols, flavonoids, flavanols, proanthocyanidins and alkaloids in both acetone and aqueous extracts while saponins and tannins were in trace amounts. The essential oil was characterized by large quantities of terpenes (91.9 percent) and small fraction of esters (8.01 percent).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Examining the influence of non-governmental organizations upon the long term outcomes of the involuntary community resettlement processes: with special reference to the Kariba case, Zambia
- Authors: Sitambuli, Emma
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2125 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021263
- Description: Researchers have clearly demonstrated that Development‐Induced Displacement and Resettlement (DIDR) usually risks impoverishing people and that annually, millions are displaced as a result. Although the impacts and consequences of resettlement are known, over the next couple of decades, development projects will continue to be needed to meet the different demands of growing economies and populations, of especially developing countries, making relocation sometimes unavoidable. Hence, over the years, many scholars have developed conceptual frameworks to understand and explain the impoverishment risks inherent in the resettlement phenomenon; and how those can be anticipated so as to be positively counteracted through strategic interactions and the implementation of development activities. Generally, the majority of those development activities to improve resettlement outcomes have often been planned, funded, and executed by the government, albeit with mixed levels of success, yet the possibilities of other development institutions such as Non‐Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have not been fully understood. However, a great deal of what is known about NGOs relates to their work in advocacy and activism to pressure governments to, for example, change relocation plans or raise awareness on the negative impacts of development projects on people and environment. Therefore, this thesis examines the influence of NGOs upon the on‐going outcomes of the involuntary community resettlement processes. The empirical basis is ethnographic research, which integrated several resettlement conceptual frameworks and theories about NGOs to collect and analyse data. Fieldwork was carried out in four villages of Simamba i.e. Malata, Kafwakuduli, Nangoba and Hamukonde. Simamba is one of the riverine Gwembe chiefdoms resettled following the construction of the Kariba dam on the Zambezi River bordering Zambia and Zimbabwe. The ethnographic research for this thesis was conducted from 2013 to 2015. In this thesis, I demonstrate that spatial factors influenced the resettlement trajectory using evidence from Simamba’s pre and post resettlement situation. I conclude by arguing that sustained contributions of the NGO type of development can positively influence the long‐term outcomes of involuntary community resettlement processes, and that problems that occurred were largely related to the management of the community development activities by the NGO under study. Therefore, this thesis is relevant to resettlement and development studies in general.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Sitambuli, Emma
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2125 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021263
- Description: Researchers have clearly demonstrated that Development‐Induced Displacement and Resettlement (DIDR) usually risks impoverishing people and that annually, millions are displaced as a result. Although the impacts and consequences of resettlement are known, over the next couple of decades, development projects will continue to be needed to meet the different demands of growing economies and populations, of especially developing countries, making relocation sometimes unavoidable. Hence, over the years, many scholars have developed conceptual frameworks to understand and explain the impoverishment risks inherent in the resettlement phenomenon; and how those can be anticipated so as to be positively counteracted through strategic interactions and the implementation of development activities. Generally, the majority of those development activities to improve resettlement outcomes have often been planned, funded, and executed by the government, albeit with mixed levels of success, yet the possibilities of other development institutions such as Non‐Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have not been fully understood. However, a great deal of what is known about NGOs relates to their work in advocacy and activism to pressure governments to, for example, change relocation plans or raise awareness on the negative impacts of development projects on people and environment. Therefore, this thesis examines the influence of NGOs upon the on‐going outcomes of the involuntary community resettlement processes. The empirical basis is ethnographic research, which integrated several resettlement conceptual frameworks and theories about NGOs to collect and analyse data. Fieldwork was carried out in four villages of Simamba i.e. Malata, Kafwakuduli, Nangoba and Hamukonde. Simamba is one of the riverine Gwembe chiefdoms resettled following the construction of the Kariba dam on the Zambezi River bordering Zambia and Zimbabwe. The ethnographic research for this thesis was conducted from 2013 to 2015. In this thesis, I demonstrate that spatial factors influenced the resettlement trajectory using evidence from Simamba’s pre and post resettlement situation. I conclude by arguing that sustained contributions of the NGO type of development can positively influence the long‐term outcomes of involuntary community resettlement processes, and that problems that occurred were largely related to the management of the community development activities by the NGO under study. Therefore, this thesis is relevant to resettlement and development studies in general.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Examining the nature and extent to which learners with special educational needs are included in regular schools: the case of four primary schools in Cape Town, South Africa
- Authors: Shadaya, Girlie
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Special education -- South Africa -- Cape Town Inclusive education -- South Africa -- Cape Town Children with disabilities -- Education -- South Africa -- Cape Town
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/2336 , vital:27754
- Description: The study is premised on the assumptions that learners with special educational needs are not fully included in regular schools and that perceptions of teachers influence their behaviour toward and acceptance of learners with special educational needs in regular classes. In light of this, the aim of the current study was to examine the nature and extent to which learners with special educational needs are included in regular schools with the ultimate aim of assisting learners with special educational needs to be fully catered for by schools and teachers. The researcher opted for the mixed method approach which is embedded in the post positivist research paradigm. The mixed method approach makes use of quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection, presentation and analysis. Data were generated from a sample of 60 teachers and 4 principals from 4 regular primary schools mainly through questionnaires. Data were also generated from interviews, observation and documents. These data from interviews, observation and documents were used to buttress results from the questionnaires. The findings of this present study showed that many schools are now moving towards inclusivity. There is a relative prevalence of learners with disability in schools. The study also established that the inclusion of learners with special educational needs in regular schools was faced with a number of problems. There were inadequate professionally-trained teachers in schools. Shortage of classrooms, large class sizes, equipment and materials affected the quality of access to education for learners with special educational needs. Although there was significant support at school level, it emerged that there was inadequate quality in-service training programmes for teachers conducted by district officials. Overall, the findings of the study have confirmed the assumptions of the study. For learners with special educational needs to be fully included in regular schools, the study would recommend that the government improve the quality of teachers through in-service training programmes. Moreover, schools must be adequately resourced and government should commit itself to the alleviation of large class sizes. The study further revealed that, gaps still exist in the inclusion of learners with special educational needs between the intended and the actual practice. The study, therefore, recommends that research be conducted with the possibility of establishing strategies for the inclusion of learners with special educational needs in regular schools. This might improve the actual practice of including learners with special educational needs in regular schools. In turn, learners with special educational needs can be said to have equal access to education.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Shadaya, Girlie
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Special education -- South Africa -- Cape Town Inclusive education -- South Africa -- Cape Town Children with disabilities -- Education -- South Africa -- Cape Town
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/2336 , vital:27754
- Description: The study is premised on the assumptions that learners with special educational needs are not fully included in regular schools and that perceptions of teachers influence their behaviour toward and acceptance of learners with special educational needs in regular classes. In light of this, the aim of the current study was to examine the nature and extent to which learners with special educational needs are included in regular schools with the ultimate aim of assisting learners with special educational needs to be fully catered for by schools and teachers. The researcher opted for the mixed method approach which is embedded in the post positivist research paradigm. The mixed method approach makes use of quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection, presentation and analysis. Data were generated from a sample of 60 teachers and 4 principals from 4 regular primary schools mainly through questionnaires. Data were also generated from interviews, observation and documents. These data from interviews, observation and documents were used to buttress results from the questionnaires. The findings of this present study showed that many schools are now moving towards inclusivity. There is a relative prevalence of learners with disability in schools. The study also established that the inclusion of learners with special educational needs in regular schools was faced with a number of problems. There were inadequate professionally-trained teachers in schools. Shortage of classrooms, large class sizes, equipment and materials affected the quality of access to education for learners with special educational needs. Although there was significant support at school level, it emerged that there was inadequate quality in-service training programmes for teachers conducted by district officials. Overall, the findings of the study have confirmed the assumptions of the study. For learners with special educational needs to be fully included in regular schools, the study would recommend that the government improve the quality of teachers through in-service training programmes. Moreover, schools must be adequately resourced and government should commit itself to the alleviation of large class sizes. The study further revealed that, gaps still exist in the inclusion of learners with special educational needs between the intended and the actual practice. The study, therefore, recommends that research be conducted with the possibility of establishing strategies for the inclusion of learners with special educational needs in regular schools. This might improve the actual practice of including learners with special educational needs in regular schools. In turn, learners with special educational needs can be said to have equal access to education.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Exploring functionings and conversion factors in biodiversity teacher professional learning communities
- Tshiningayamwe, Sirkka Alina Nambashun
- Authors: Tshiningayamwe, Sirkka Alina Nambashun
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2080 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021313
- Description: The study explores the conversion factors, functionings (valued beings and doings), agency and structures in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) for Life Sciences teachers’ biodiversity knowledge. The teachers’ valued beings and doings as well as conversion factors associated with these beings and doings were discussed within the conceptual framework of the capability approach using three PLCs in South Africa. Two PLCs were in the Eastern Cape Province (Grahamstown and Idutywa district), and one PLC was in the Western Cape (Cape Town) province. The PLCs involved in this study were course initiated and were positioned in the Fundisa for Change national teacher education programme. Fundisa for Change is a partnership programme that aims to enhance transformative environmental learning through teacher education. To illuminate constrained capabilities and how and to what extent the Life Sciences teachers’ empirical actions are related to these, the concepts of the capability approach were underlaboured with critical realism’s causal view of human action. A critical realist theory of causation was useful in explaining how the teachers’ valued beings and doings, conversion factors and capability sets can be partly accounted for via an understanding of underlying mechanisms that are generative of events and empirical experience. The study used a qualitative case study research methodology. Interviews, questionnaires, observations (of PLC activities), document reviews (of teachers’ portfolios of evidence, Fundisa for Change implementation plan, evaluation forms and resources materials, and policy documents) and reflection tools were used to collect data. Using the critical realism modes of inference (induction, abduction and retroduction), the data was analysed in two phases. Phase one analysis was primarily inductive and used thick descriptions (mainly in the form of quotes) to present and discuss the teachers’ valued beings and doings and associated conversion factors in the PLCs. This phase of analysis was abductive. The study reported four main functionings valued by teachers: subject content knowledge, teaching practices, assessment practices, and use of teaching and learning support materials. These valued functionings were discussed in light of the beings and doings in the PLCs and the underlying mechanisms related to teachers’ biodiversity teaching. Conversion factors that were associated with the teachers’ valued beings and doings in the PLCs were discussed in line with capability approach’s environmental, social and personal conversion factors. The study found that most of the conversion factors within the PLCs and the Fundisa for Change professional development programme (good facilitation, collaborative learning space, site where PLC activities happened, individual teachers’ capabilities, teaching and learning support materials and policy documents) were enablers to the teachers’ capabilities for biodiversity teaching, and thus enhanced teachers’ knowledge for biodiversity teaching. The study further found that teachers realised some of their achieved functionings in their actual teaching of biodiversity content in the Life Sciences curriculum, and that factors such as lack of resources, large class sizes, learners’ abilities and lack of interest among some teachers were amongst the factors that constrained teachers’ realisation of their achieved functionings in the PLCs. The study therefore revealed that if professional development programmes take account of underlying mechanisms and respond to teachers’ capabilities i.e. their valued functionings for biodiversity teaching in the Life Sciences curriculum, the professional development programmes can be an important conversion factor that enables the expansion of teachers’ capabilities (especially their biodiversity knowledge, pedagogical and assessment practice but also other capabilities) in ways that have the potential to reshape teachers’ classroom practices related to the teaching of biodiversity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Tshiningayamwe, Sirkka Alina Nambashun
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2080 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021313
- Description: The study explores the conversion factors, functionings (valued beings and doings), agency and structures in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) for Life Sciences teachers’ biodiversity knowledge. The teachers’ valued beings and doings as well as conversion factors associated with these beings and doings were discussed within the conceptual framework of the capability approach using three PLCs in South Africa. Two PLCs were in the Eastern Cape Province (Grahamstown and Idutywa district), and one PLC was in the Western Cape (Cape Town) province. The PLCs involved in this study were course initiated and were positioned in the Fundisa for Change national teacher education programme. Fundisa for Change is a partnership programme that aims to enhance transformative environmental learning through teacher education. To illuminate constrained capabilities and how and to what extent the Life Sciences teachers’ empirical actions are related to these, the concepts of the capability approach were underlaboured with critical realism’s causal view of human action. A critical realist theory of causation was useful in explaining how the teachers’ valued beings and doings, conversion factors and capability sets can be partly accounted for via an understanding of underlying mechanisms that are generative of events and empirical experience. The study used a qualitative case study research methodology. Interviews, questionnaires, observations (of PLC activities), document reviews (of teachers’ portfolios of evidence, Fundisa for Change implementation plan, evaluation forms and resources materials, and policy documents) and reflection tools were used to collect data. Using the critical realism modes of inference (induction, abduction and retroduction), the data was analysed in two phases. Phase one analysis was primarily inductive and used thick descriptions (mainly in the form of quotes) to present and discuss the teachers’ valued beings and doings and associated conversion factors in the PLCs. This phase of analysis was abductive. The study reported four main functionings valued by teachers: subject content knowledge, teaching practices, assessment practices, and use of teaching and learning support materials. These valued functionings were discussed in light of the beings and doings in the PLCs and the underlying mechanisms related to teachers’ biodiversity teaching. Conversion factors that were associated with the teachers’ valued beings and doings in the PLCs were discussed in line with capability approach’s environmental, social and personal conversion factors. The study found that most of the conversion factors within the PLCs and the Fundisa for Change professional development programme (good facilitation, collaborative learning space, site where PLC activities happened, individual teachers’ capabilities, teaching and learning support materials and policy documents) were enablers to the teachers’ capabilities for biodiversity teaching, and thus enhanced teachers’ knowledge for biodiversity teaching. The study further found that teachers realised some of their achieved functionings in their actual teaching of biodiversity content in the Life Sciences curriculum, and that factors such as lack of resources, large class sizes, learners’ abilities and lack of interest among some teachers were amongst the factors that constrained teachers’ realisation of their achieved functionings in the PLCs. The study therefore revealed that if professional development programmes take account of underlying mechanisms and respond to teachers’ capabilities i.e. their valued functionings for biodiversity teaching in the Life Sciences curriculum, the professional development programmes can be an important conversion factor that enables the expansion of teachers’ capabilities (especially their biodiversity knowledge, pedagogical and assessment practice but also other capabilities) in ways that have the potential to reshape teachers’ classroom practices related to the teaching of biodiversity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Facebook, youth and political action: a comparative study of Zimbabwe and South Africa
- Authors: Mare, Admire
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3553 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021259
- Description: This comparative multi-sited study examines how, why and when politically engaged youths in distinctive national and social movement contexts use Facebook to facilitate political activism. As part of the research objectives, this study is concerned with investigating how and why youth activists in Zimbabwe and South Africa use the popular corporate social network site for political purposes. The study explores the discursive interactions and micro-politics of participation which plays out on selected Facebook groups and pages. It also examines the extent to which the selected Facebook pages and groups can be considered as alternative spaces for political activism. It also documents and analyses the various kinds of political discourses (described here as digital hidden transcripts) which are circulated by Zimbabwean and South African youth activists on Facebook fan pages and groups. Methodologically, this study adopts a predominantly qualitative research design although it also draws on quantitative data in terms of levels of interaction on Facebook groups and pages. Consequently, this study engages in data triangulation which allows me to make sense of how and why politically engaged youths from a range of six social movements in Zimbabwe and South Africa use Facebook for political action. In terms of data collection techniques, the study deploys social media ethnography (online participant observation), qualitative content analysis and in-depth interviews. Theoretically, this study jettisons the Habermasian theory of public sphere in favour of Fraser’s (1990) concept of the subaltern counter-publics, Scott’s (1985) metaphor of hidden transcripts and some insightful views on popular culture gleaned from African studies. Melding these ideas into a synthesised theoretical frame, this study argues that Facebook fan pages and groups can be conceptualised as parallel discursive arenas where marginalised groups (including politically active youths) have a political life outside the dominant mediated public sphere often in ways that are generally viewed as “irrational” and “non-political” in mainstream Western literature. This study also proposes ways of enriching Fraser’s concept of subaltern counter-publics by incorporating elements from Scott’s metaphor of hidden transcripts in order to analyse the various kinds of political discourses which are circulated on social media. The findings demonstrate that youth activists in Zimbabwe and South Africa are using Facebook to engage in traditional and alternative forms of political participation. Findings show that Facebook in both political contexts is deployed for transmitting and accessing civic and political information, as a conduit for online donations and fundraising, for contacting political decision makers, as a venue of political activism, as an advertising platform for social and political events and as a platform for everyday political talk. It demonstrates that the broader political context shapes and constraints the localised appropriations of Facebook for political purposes in ways that deconstructs some of the postulations of the cyber-optimist and pessimist approaches. The study also found that youth activists in Zimbabwe and South Africa used Facebook in their own unique ways as shaped and dictated by the broader political and mediated opportunity structures. It argues that youth’s engagement with social media platforms for political purposes should be understood in their own terms without necessarily imposing inflexible boundaries on what counts as political participation. Although Facebook like other social media platforms foster avenues for cognitive engagement, discursive participation and political mobilisation, these political practices are not immune to the influences of offline processes. Youth activists in all the six case organisations used Facebook as a complementary and supplementary space for political processes rather than as a standalone platform. The study also argues that compared to South Africa, the political uses of Facebook in Zimbabwe are largely influenced by practices of state surveillance. It also found that whilst youth activists in South Africa are deploying Facebook to supplement traditional methods of political activism, their counterparts in Zimbabwe are using the same technology to circumvent the restricted political and media environment. The findings also indicate that youth activists in both countries are using Facebook as a change agent tool within the broader media ecology which is characterised by the increasing interpenetration of older and newer media platforms. In terms of micro-politics of participation and discursive interactions, this study found that Facebook pages and groups should viewed as a “sites of power” where corporate forces and platform specific code coalesce together fostering “algorithmic” gatekeeping practices and the favouring of paid for content over non-paid for user-generated-content which ultimately affects activists’ visibility and reach within the online media ecology. These gatekeeping practices therefore further complicate claims by cyber-optimists that social media platforms are the sine qua non spaces for symmetrical and democratic participation. This study argues that “subtle forms of control” characterise the much glorified participatory cultures on Facebook in ways that defy optimistic accounts of the role of new media in political change.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Mare, Admire
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3553 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021259
- Description: This comparative multi-sited study examines how, why and when politically engaged youths in distinctive national and social movement contexts use Facebook to facilitate political activism. As part of the research objectives, this study is concerned with investigating how and why youth activists in Zimbabwe and South Africa use the popular corporate social network site for political purposes. The study explores the discursive interactions and micro-politics of participation which plays out on selected Facebook groups and pages. It also examines the extent to which the selected Facebook pages and groups can be considered as alternative spaces for political activism. It also documents and analyses the various kinds of political discourses (described here as digital hidden transcripts) which are circulated by Zimbabwean and South African youth activists on Facebook fan pages and groups. Methodologically, this study adopts a predominantly qualitative research design although it also draws on quantitative data in terms of levels of interaction on Facebook groups and pages. Consequently, this study engages in data triangulation which allows me to make sense of how and why politically engaged youths from a range of six social movements in Zimbabwe and South Africa use Facebook for political action. In terms of data collection techniques, the study deploys social media ethnography (online participant observation), qualitative content analysis and in-depth interviews. Theoretically, this study jettisons the Habermasian theory of public sphere in favour of Fraser’s (1990) concept of the subaltern counter-publics, Scott’s (1985) metaphor of hidden transcripts and some insightful views on popular culture gleaned from African studies. Melding these ideas into a synthesised theoretical frame, this study argues that Facebook fan pages and groups can be conceptualised as parallel discursive arenas where marginalised groups (including politically active youths) have a political life outside the dominant mediated public sphere often in ways that are generally viewed as “irrational” and “non-political” in mainstream Western literature. This study also proposes ways of enriching Fraser’s concept of subaltern counter-publics by incorporating elements from Scott’s metaphor of hidden transcripts in order to analyse the various kinds of political discourses which are circulated on social media. The findings demonstrate that youth activists in Zimbabwe and South Africa are using Facebook to engage in traditional and alternative forms of political participation. Findings show that Facebook in both political contexts is deployed for transmitting and accessing civic and political information, as a conduit for online donations and fundraising, for contacting political decision makers, as a venue of political activism, as an advertising platform for social and political events and as a platform for everyday political talk. It demonstrates that the broader political context shapes and constraints the localised appropriations of Facebook for political purposes in ways that deconstructs some of the postulations of the cyber-optimist and pessimist approaches. The study also found that youth activists in Zimbabwe and South Africa used Facebook in their own unique ways as shaped and dictated by the broader political and mediated opportunity structures. It argues that youth’s engagement with social media platforms for political purposes should be understood in their own terms without necessarily imposing inflexible boundaries on what counts as political participation. Although Facebook like other social media platforms foster avenues for cognitive engagement, discursive participation and political mobilisation, these political practices are not immune to the influences of offline processes. Youth activists in all the six case organisations used Facebook as a complementary and supplementary space for political processes rather than as a standalone platform. The study also argues that compared to South Africa, the political uses of Facebook in Zimbabwe are largely influenced by practices of state surveillance. It also found that whilst youth activists in South Africa are deploying Facebook to supplement traditional methods of political activism, their counterparts in Zimbabwe are using the same technology to circumvent the restricted political and media environment. The findings also indicate that youth activists in both countries are using Facebook as a change agent tool within the broader media ecology which is characterised by the increasing interpenetration of older and newer media platforms. In terms of micro-politics of participation and discursive interactions, this study found that Facebook pages and groups should viewed as a “sites of power” where corporate forces and platform specific code coalesce together fostering “algorithmic” gatekeeping practices and the favouring of paid for content over non-paid for user-generated-content which ultimately affects activists’ visibility and reach within the online media ecology. These gatekeeping practices therefore further complicate claims by cyber-optimists that social media platforms are the sine qua non spaces for symmetrical and democratic participation. This study argues that “subtle forms of control” characterise the much glorified participatory cultures on Facebook in ways that defy optimistic accounts of the role of new media in political change.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Factors influencing wetland distribution and structure, including ecosystem function of ephemeral wetlands, in Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM), South Africa
- Melly, Brigitte Leigh, Gama, Phumelele T
- Authors: Melly, Brigitte Leigh , Gama, Phumelele T
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Wetland management -- South Africa Wetland ecology -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/11721 , vital:26960
- Description: The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) is a semi-arid area along the southern coastline of South Africa (SA). Until recently, there was no systematic approach to research on wetland systems in the NMBM. The systematic identification of wetlands was made more difficult by the relatively large number of small, ephemeral systems that can be difficult to delineate. This has meant that fundamental knowledge on wetland distribution, structure and function has been limited and, consequently, management and conservation strategies have been based on knowledge on systems from other regions of the country. Environmental processes occur at different spatial and temporal scales. These processes have an effect on the abiotic factors and biotic structure of wetlands, resulting in inherently complex systems. The location of the NMBM provides a good study area to research some of these environmental and biological attributes at different spatial scales, due to the variability in the underlying geology, geomorphology, vegetation types and the spatial and temporal variability in rainfall, within a relatively small area of 1951 km2. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the factors influencing wetland distribution, structure and ecosystem functioning within the NMBM. The first Research Objective of work presented here was to identify wetlands using visual interpretation of aerial photographs. A total of 1712 wetlands were identified within the NMBM using aerial photographs, covering an area of 17.88 km2 (Chapter 5). The majority of these wetlands were depressions, seeps and wetland flats. Valley bottom wetlands (channelled and unchannelled) and floodplain wetlands were also identified. A range of wetland sizes was recorded, with 86% of the wetlands being less than 1 ha in size and the largest natural wetland being a floodplain wetland of 57 ha, located south of the Swartkops River. The identified wetlands were used to create a wetland occurrence model using logistic regression (LR) techniques (Chapter 5), in accordance with Objective 2 of the study. An accuracy of 66% was obtained, which was considered acceptable for a semi-arid climate with a relatively high degree of spatial and temporal rainfall variability. The model also highlighted several key environmental variables that are associated with wetland occurrence and distribution at various spatial scales. Some of the important variables included precipitation, evapotranspiration, temperature, flow accumulation and groundwater occurrence. Wetland distribution patterns were described in Chapter 6. Spatial statistics were used to identify whether wetlands are clustered and, therefore, form mosaics within the surrounding landscape (Objective 3). Systems were found to be highly clustered, with 43% of wetlands located within 200 m of another system. Clustering and wetland presence was especially prominent in the southern portion of the Municipality, which is also associated with a higher mean annual precipitation. Smaller wetlands were also significantly more clustered than larger systems (Average Nearest Neighbour statistic, p-value < 0.0001). Average distances also significantly varied according to HGM type, with depressions being the most geographically isolated wetland type compared to the other HGM types. Overall, distances between wetlands indicated good proximal connectivity. Potentially vulnerable areas associated with wetland systems were identified successfully using landscape variables, in accordance with Objective 4. These variables were: land cover, slope gradient, flow accumulation, APAN evaporation, mean annual precipitation (MAP) and annual heat units. The existing Critical Biodiversity Network was also used in connection with these variables to further identify potentially vulnerable areas. The abiotic and biotic characteristics were decribed for three hydrogeomorphic (HGM) types at a total of 46 wetland sites (Chapter 7), as per Objective 5. Depressions, seeps and wetland flats were sampled across the different geological, vegetation and rainfall zones within the NMBM. The wetland sites were delineated up to Level 6 of the Classification System used in SA, and the various abiotic and biotic characteristics of these systems were defined. A total of 307 plant, 144 aquatic macroinvertebrate and 10 tadpole species were identified. Of these species, over 90 species were Eastern Cape and SA endemic species, as well as three threatened species on the IUCN Red List. Multivariate analyses (including Bray-Curtis similarity resemblance analyses, distance-based redundancy analyses, SIMPER analyses and BIOENV analysis in Primer), together with environmental data, were used to define community structure at an HGM level, in accordance with Objective 5. The importance of the spatial scale of the environmental data used to define plant and macroinvertebrate community structure was described in Chapter 7, to address Objective 6. The results showed that both broad-scale and site-level characteristics were important in distinguishing community structure within the HGM types that superseded general location, the sample timing or the stage of inundation. These results also indicated that a combination of both landscape and site-level data are important in defining the community structure in the various HGM types. Some of the important environmental variables that explained some of species assemblages were similar to those in the wetland occurrence model (Chapter 5), with some additional hydrological and soil physico-chemical parameters (e.g. soil electrical conductivity, soil pH, and surface and subsurface water nutrients). These significant variables indicate the complex, multi-scalar role of environmental attributes on wetland distribution, structure and function.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Melly, Brigitte Leigh , Gama, Phumelele T
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Wetland management -- South Africa Wetland ecology -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/11721 , vital:26960
- Description: The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) is a semi-arid area along the southern coastline of South Africa (SA). Until recently, there was no systematic approach to research on wetland systems in the NMBM. The systematic identification of wetlands was made more difficult by the relatively large number of small, ephemeral systems that can be difficult to delineate. This has meant that fundamental knowledge on wetland distribution, structure and function has been limited and, consequently, management and conservation strategies have been based on knowledge on systems from other regions of the country. Environmental processes occur at different spatial and temporal scales. These processes have an effect on the abiotic factors and biotic structure of wetlands, resulting in inherently complex systems. The location of the NMBM provides a good study area to research some of these environmental and biological attributes at different spatial scales, due to the variability in the underlying geology, geomorphology, vegetation types and the spatial and temporal variability in rainfall, within a relatively small area of 1951 km2. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the factors influencing wetland distribution, structure and ecosystem functioning within the NMBM. The first Research Objective of work presented here was to identify wetlands using visual interpretation of aerial photographs. A total of 1712 wetlands were identified within the NMBM using aerial photographs, covering an area of 17.88 km2 (Chapter 5). The majority of these wetlands were depressions, seeps and wetland flats. Valley bottom wetlands (channelled and unchannelled) and floodplain wetlands were also identified. A range of wetland sizes was recorded, with 86% of the wetlands being less than 1 ha in size and the largest natural wetland being a floodplain wetland of 57 ha, located south of the Swartkops River. The identified wetlands were used to create a wetland occurrence model using logistic regression (LR) techniques (Chapter 5), in accordance with Objective 2 of the study. An accuracy of 66% was obtained, which was considered acceptable for a semi-arid climate with a relatively high degree of spatial and temporal rainfall variability. The model also highlighted several key environmental variables that are associated with wetland occurrence and distribution at various spatial scales. Some of the important variables included precipitation, evapotranspiration, temperature, flow accumulation and groundwater occurrence. Wetland distribution patterns were described in Chapter 6. Spatial statistics were used to identify whether wetlands are clustered and, therefore, form mosaics within the surrounding landscape (Objective 3). Systems were found to be highly clustered, with 43% of wetlands located within 200 m of another system. Clustering and wetland presence was especially prominent in the southern portion of the Municipality, which is also associated with a higher mean annual precipitation. Smaller wetlands were also significantly more clustered than larger systems (Average Nearest Neighbour statistic, p-value < 0.0001). Average distances also significantly varied according to HGM type, with depressions being the most geographically isolated wetland type compared to the other HGM types. Overall, distances between wetlands indicated good proximal connectivity. Potentially vulnerable areas associated with wetland systems were identified successfully using landscape variables, in accordance with Objective 4. These variables were: land cover, slope gradient, flow accumulation, APAN evaporation, mean annual precipitation (MAP) and annual heat units. The existing Critical Biodiversity Network was also used in connection with these variables to further identify potentially vulnerable areas. The abiotic and biotic characteristics were decribed for three hydrogeomorphic (HGM) types at a total of 46 wetland sites (Chapter 7), as per Objective 5. Depressions, seeps and wetland flats were sampled across the different geological, vegetation and rainfall zones within the NMBM. The wetland sites were delineated up to Level 6 of the Classification System used in SA, and the various abiotic and biotic characteristics of these systems were defined. A total of 307 plant, 144 aquatic macroinvertebrate and 10 tadpole species were identified. Of these species, over 90 species were Eastern Cape and SA endemic species, as well as three threatened species on the IUCN Red List. Multivariate analyses (including Bray-Curtis similarity resemblance analyses, distance-based redundancy analyses, SIMPER analyses and BIOENV analysis in Primer), together with environmental data, were used to define community structure at an HGM level, in accordance with Objective 5. The importance of the spatial scale of the environmental data used to define plant and macroinvertebrate community structure was described in Chapter 7, to address Objective 6. The results showed that both broad-scale and site-level characteristics were important in distinguishing community structure within the HGM types that superseded general location, the sample timing or the stage of inundation. These results also indicated that a combination of both landscape and site-level data are important in defining the community structure in the various HGM types. Some of the important environmental variables that explained some of species assemblages were similar to those in the wetland occurrence model (Chapter 5), with some additional hydrological and soil physico-chemical parameters (e.g. soil electrical conductivity, soil pH, and surface and subsurface water nutrients). These significant variables indicate the complex, multi-scalar role of environmental attributes on wetland distribution, structure and function.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Farm to abattoir conditions and their subsequent effects on behavioural and physiological changes and the quality of beef from extensively-reared Nguni and non-descript steers
- Authors: Njisane, Yonela Zifikile
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Nguni cattle Beef cattle breeds Beef -- Quality -- South Africa , Slaughtering and slaughter-houses -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/3143 , vital:28324
- Description: The main objective of the study was to determine the effect of farm to abattoir environmental conditions and their subsequent effects on behavioural and physiological responses, as well as the quality of meat from Nguni (NG) and non-descript (ND) beef steers reared extensively on natural pastures. The forty 16 – 19 months old steers (20 ND and 20 NG) used in the current study were grouped together, medically treated, allowed three weeks acclimatizing period and were used in this trial over a four-month period. The weather and periodical variations influence on time budgets and body weights of these steers were determined. Furthermore, the effects of on-farm successive handling on behavioural scores and physiological responses of the same steers were determined. Later in the trial, some pre-slaughter effects on response-behaviour, bleed-out times and selected blood physiological responses were determined. Finally, the effect of genotype, muscle type, lairage duration, slaughter order and stress responsiveness on pH24, temperature, colour (L*, a*, b*, C, HA), thawing (TL) and cooking (CL) losses and Warner Bratzler Shear Force (WBSF) of the meat harvested from the same steers were determined. The daily time budgets of steers in natural pastures changed with temperature, humidity, observation week and time of the day. The grazing behaviour was observed throughout the observation days (> 37 percent); though it was reduced (26.9±2.64 percent) on days with higher temperatures and low humidity. Higher proportions of drinking (1.5±1.04 percent) and standing (20.8±4.63 percent) behaviours prolonged in such weather conditions, which were mostly during midday. The avoidance-related behaviour of the steers during handling varies, with the steers showing more avoidance and aggression in other weeks than some. These variations could however be traced back to the events of that particular day/time of handling. Only Weighing Box (WBS) and stepping (SS) scores differed (P<0.05) with genotype; with more calm NG steers (> 40 percent) and not kicking than the ND steers that were more vocal (20–60 percent) and kicking (> 5 percent). In addition, the weekly behavioural responses were reflected (P<0.05) in the measured cortisol, glucose and lactate. However, regardless of the prominent negative behaviour seen over time, the levels of the measured blood constituents continued to drop. Furthermore, steers of different genotypes displayed similar (P>0.05) response to the identical pre-slaughter conditions they were exposed to. However, steers that were Transport Group 1 (TG1) showed more avoidance (63.2 percent) pre-slaughter than those in TG2 (23.9 percent). Furthermore, all the steers that were in slaughter Group 2 (SG2) showed less avoidance behaviour than those in other groups. Vocalization was observed only for ND steers (5 percent), in TG1 and SG2. Some connections between the observed pre-slaughter activities and some behavioural and physiological changes of these steers were established; with TG1 and SG1 steers showing higher cortisol (140±14.50 and 175.9±17.24 nmol/L, respectively) and lactate (12.4±0.83 and 13.5±1.12 mmolL) levels than the other groups. Lastly, the muscle type, genotype, lairage duration, slaughter order and stress responsiveness have an effect on some meat quality characteristics of the two genotypes; with the L. dorsi muscle having highest WBSF (38.0±1.35N) than the Superficial pectoral muscle (Brisket muscle) (30.7±1.35N). Additionally, steers lairaged for a shorter time produced a L. dorsi with higher WBSF (41.6±2.34N) and a Brisket with lower TL (2.7±0.24 percent). It can therefore be concluded that the conditions and activities at the farm, during transportation, lairaging and slaughter at the abattoir have an influence on some behavioural and physiological changes and the quality of beef harvested from the Nguni and non-descript steers that were extensively-reared in natural pastures. However, the relationship patterns between these different conditions are not clear.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Njisane, Yonela Zifikile
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Nguni cattle Beef cattle breeds Beef -- Quality -- South Africa , Slaughtering and slaughter-houses -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/3143 , vital:28324
- Description: The main objective of the study was to determine the effect of farm to abattoir environmental conditions and their subsequent effects on behavioural and physiological responses, as well as the quality of meat from Nguni (NG) and non-descript (ND) beef steers reared extensively on natural pastures. The forty 16 – 19 months old steers (20 ND and 20 NG) used in the current study were grouped together, medically treated, allowed three weeks acclimatizing period and were used in this trial over a four-month period. The weather and periodical variations influence on time budgets and body weights of these steers were determined. Furthermore, the effects of on-farm successive handling on behavioural scores and physiological responses of the same steers were determined. Later in the trial, some pre-slaughter effects on response-behaviour, bleed-out times and selected blood physiological responses were determined. Finally, the effect of genotype, muscle type, lairage duration, slaughter order and stress responsiveness on pH24, temperature, colour (L*, a*, b*, C, HA), thawing (TL) and cooking (CL) losses and Warner Bratzler Shear Force (WBSF) of the meat harvested from the same steers were determined. The daily time budgets of steers in natural pastures changed with temperature, humidity, observation week and time of the day. The grazing behaviour was observed throughout the observation days (> 37 percent); though it was reduced (26.9±2.64 percent) on days with higher temperatures and low humidity. Higher proportions of drinking (1.5±1.04 percent) and standing (20.8±4.63 percent) behaviours prolonged in such weather conditions, which were mostly during midday. The avoidance-related behaviour of the steers during handling varies, with the steers showing more avoidance and aggression in other weeks than some. These variations could however be traced back to the events of that particular day/time of handling. Only Weighing Box (WBS) and stepping (SS) scores differed (P<0.05) with genotype; with more calm NG steers (> 40 percent) and not kicking than the ND steers that were more vocal (20–60 percent) and kicking (> 5 percent). In addition, the weekly behavioural responses were reflected (P<0.05) in the measured cortisol, glucose and lactate. However, regardless of the prominent negative behaviour seen over time, the levels of the measured blood constituents continued to drop. Furthermore, steers of different genotypes displayed similar (P>0.05) response to the identical pre-slaughter conditions they were exposed to. However, steers that were Transport Group 1 (TG1) showed more avoidance (63.2 percent) pre-slaughter than those in TG2 (23.9 percent). Furthermore, all the steers that were in slaughter Group 2 (SG2) showed less avoidance behaviour than those in other groups. Vocalization was observed only for ND steers (5 percent), in TG1 and SG2. Some connections between the observed pre-slaughter activities and some behavioural and physiological changes of these steers were established; with TG1 and SG1 steers showing higher cortisol (140±14.50 and 175.9±17.24 nmol/L, respectively) and lactate (12.4±0.83 and 13.5±1.12 mmolL) levels than the other groups. Lastly, the muscle type, genotype, lairage duration, slaughter order and stress responsiveness have an effect on some meat quality characteristics of the two genotypes; with the L. dorsi muscle having highest WBSF (38.0±1.35N) than the Superficial pectoral muscle (Brisket muscle) (30.7±1.35N). Additionally, steers lairaged for a shorter time produced a L. dorsi with higher WBSF (41.6±2.34N) and a Brisket with lower TL (2.7±0.24 percent). It can therefore be concluded that the conditions and activities at the farm, during transportation, lairaging and slaughter at the abattoir have an influence on some behavioural and physiological changes and the quality of beef harvested from the Nguni and non-descript steers that were extensively-reared in natural pastures. However, the relationship patterns between these different conditions are not clear.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Field evaluation of the use of select entomopathogenic fungal isolates as microbial control agents of the soil-dwelling life stages of a key South African citrus pest, Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)
- Authors: Coombes, Candice Anne
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/507 , vital:19965
- Description: The control of false codling moth (FCM), Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick, 1912) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), in citrus orchards is strongly reliant on the use of integrated pest management as key export markets impose stringent chemical restrictions on exported fruit and have a strict no entry policy towards this phytosanitary pest. Most current, registered control methods target the above-ground life stages of FCM, not the soil-dwelling life stages. As such, entomopathogenic fungi which are ubiquitous, percutaneously infective soil-borne microbes that have been used successfully as control agents worldwide, present ideal candidates as additional control agents. Following an initial identification of 62 fungal entomopathogens isolated from soil collected from citrus orchards in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, further laboratory research has highlighted three isolates as having the greatest control potential against FCM subterranean life stages: Metarhizium anisopliae G 11 3 L6 (Ma1), M. anisopliae FCM Ar 23 B3 (Ma2) and Beauveria bassiana G Ar 17 B3 (Bb1). These isolates are capable of causing above 80% laboratory-induced mycosis of FCM fifth instars. Whether this level of efficacy was obtainable under sub-optimal and fluctuating field conditions was unknown. Thus, this thesis aimed to address the following issues with regards to the three most laboratory-virulent fungal isolates: field efficacy, field persistence, optimal application rate, application timing, environmental dependency, compatibility with fungicides and the use of different wetting agents to promote field efficacy. Following fungal application to one hectare treatment blocks in the field, FCM infestation within fruit was reduced by 28.3% to 81.7%. Isolate Bb1 performed best under moderate to high soil moisture whilst Ma2 was more effective under low soil moisture conditions. All isolates, with the exception of Ma2 at one site, were recorded in the soil five months post-application. None of the wetting agents tested were found to be highly toxic to fungal germination and similar physical suspension characteristics were observed. Fungicide toxicity varied amongst isolates and test conditions. However, only Dithane (a.i. mancozeb) was considered incompatible with isolate Ma2. The implication of these results and the way forward is discussed. This study is the first report of the field efficacy of three laboratory-virulent fungal isolates applied to the soil of conventional citrus orchards against FCM soil-dwelling life stages. As such, it provides a foundation on which future research can build to ensure the development and commercialisation of a cost-effective and consistently reliable product.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Coombes, Candice Anne
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/507 , vital:19965
- Description: The control of false codling moth (FCM), Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick, 1912) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), in citrus orchards is strongly reliant on the use of integrated pest management as key export markets impose stringent chemical restrictions on exported fruit and have a strict no entry policy towards this phytosanitary pest. Most current, registered control methods target the above-ground life stages of FCM, not the soil-dwelling life stages. As such, entomopathogenic fungi which are ubiquitous, percutaneously infective soil-borne microbes that have been used successfully as control agents worldwide, present ideal candidates as additional control agents. Following an initial identification of 62 fungal entomopathogens isolated from soil collected from citrus orchards in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, further laboratory research has highlighted three isolates as having the greatest control potential against FCM subterranean life stages: Metarhizium anisopliae G 11 3 L6 (Ma1), M. anisopliae FCM Ar 23 B3 (Ma2) and Beauveria bassiana G Ar 17 B3 (Bb1). These isolates are capable of causing above 80% laboratory-induced mycosis of FCM fifth instars. Whether this level of efficacy was obtainable under sub-optimal and fluctuating field conditions was unknown. Thus, this thesis aimed to address the following issues with regards to the three most laboratory-virulent fungal isolates: field efficacy, field persistence, optimal application rate, application timing, environmental dependency, compatibility with fungicides and the use of different wetting agents to promote field efficacy. Following fungal application to one hectare treatment blocks in the field, FCM infestation within fruit was reduced by 28.3% to 81.7%. Isolate Bb1 performed best under moderate to high soil moisture whilst Ma2 was more effective under low soil moisture conditions. All isolates, with the exception of Ma2 at one site, were recorded in the soil five months post-application. None of the wetting agents tested were found to be highly toxic to fungal germination and similar physical suspension characteristics were observed. Fungicide toxicity varied amongst isolates and test conditions. However, only Dithane (a.i. mancozeb) was considered incompatible with isolate Ma2. The implication of these results and the way forward is discussed. This study is the first report of the field efficacy of three laboratory-virulent fungal isolates applied to the soil of conventional citrus orchards against FCM soil-dwelling life stages. As such, it provides a foundation on which future research can build to ensure the development and commercialisation of a cost-effective and consistently reliable product.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Financial characteristics of the nonprofit organisation: theory and evidence for the assessment of the financial condition of South African public universities
- Authors: Bunting, Mark Bevan
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:923 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021298 , http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3392-554X
- Description: In this thesis, an analytical framework is developed for the assessment of the financial condition of South African public universities. Foundational constructs of nonprofit economics are applied in the consideration of financial theories of nonprofit organisations in general, and public universities in particular. From this review, a number of hypotheses are developed. Each of these specifies a positive or negative association between a university's financial condition and a particular dimension of its assets, liabilities, equity, revenues, expenses and surplus. From the nonprofit financial analysis literature, ratios and indicators relevant to these hypotheses are selected. Audited data from the annual financial statements of the universities for the seven year period 2007 to 2013 are substantially transformed in mitigation of failures in accounting, auditing and accountability. The adjusted accounting numbers are used to calculate the financial indicators applicable to each university. Exploratory factor analysis is implemented to categorise and organise this large indicator set on the basis of identified associations with a smaller number of factors. It is found that the financial condition of South African public universities is defined by two broad financial characteristics, capital and revenue. Assessment of the capital dimension is informed by a focus on institutional equity, with particular emphasis on expendable equity and its proportionate relationships with surplus, total capital, and total expenses. The revenue dimension is appropriately evaluated in the context of a comparative and interactive consideration of the three main components of South African public university revenue, as well as the proportionate relationship between non-staff operating expenses and total expenses. The framework displays considerable levels of stability and consistency over the seven year review period, and its constructs are, in addition, robust to the application of multiple alternative confirmatory tests involving financial data that are independent of the factor solutions. The financial condition assessment framework developed in this thesis offers a contribution to a broader discourse in nonprofit finance and accounting, with a focus on public university finances.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Bunting, Mark Bevan
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:923 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021298 , http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3392-554X
- Description: In this thesis, an analytical framework is developed for the assessment of the financial condition of South African public universities. Foundational constructs of nonprofit economics are applied in the consideration of financial theories of nonprofit organisations in general, and public universities in particular. From this review, a number of hypotheses are developed. Each of these specifies a positive or negative association between a university's financial condition and a particular dimension of its assets, liabilities, equity, revenues, expenses and surplus. From the nonprofit financial analysis literature, ratios and indicators relevant to these hypotheses are selected. Audited data from the annual financial statements of the universities for the seven year period 2007 to 2013 are substantially transformed in mitigation of failures in accounting, auditing and accountability. The adjusted accounting numbers are used to calculate the financial indicators applicable to each university. Exploratory factor analysis is implemented to categorise and organise this large indicator set on the basis of identified associations with a smaller number of factors. It is found that the financial condition of South African public universities is defined by two broad financial characteristics, capital and revenue. Assessment of the capital dimension is informed by a focus on institutional equity, with particular emphasis on expendable equity and its proportionate relationships with surplus, total capital, and total expenses. The revenue dimension is appropriately evaluated in the context of a comparative and interactive consideration of the three main components of South African public university revenue, as well as the proportionate relationship between non-staff operating expenses and total expenses. The framework displays considerable levels of stability and consistency over the seven year review period, and its constructs are, in addition, robust to the application of multiple alternative confirmatory tests involving financial data that are independent of the factor solutions. The financial condition assessment framework developed in this thesis offers a contribution to a broader discourse in nonprofit finance and accounting, with a focus on public university finances.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Gold nanoparticle–based colorimetric probes for dopamine detection
- Authors: Ngomane, Nokuthula
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4565 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021261
- Description: Colorimetric probes have become important tools in analysis and biomedical technology. This thesis reports on the development of such probes for the detection of dopamine (DA). Liquid and different solid state probes were developed utilizing un–functionalized gold nanoparticles (UF–AuNPs). The liquid state probe is based on the growth and aggregation of the UF–AuNPs in the presence of DA. Upon addition of the UF–AuNPs to various concentrations of DA, the shape, size and colour change results in spectral shifts from lower to higher wavelengths. The analyte can be easily monitored by the naked eye from 5.0 nM DA with a calculated limit of detection of 2.5 nM (3σ) under optimal pH. Ascorbic acid (AA) has a potential to interfere with DA detection in solution since it is often present in biological fluids, but in this case the interference was limited to solutions where its concentration was beyond 200 times greater than that of DA. Since most of the previously reported colorimetric probes, especially those for DA are solution based, the main focus of the thesis was in the development of a solid state based colorimetric probe in the form of nanofibre mats. To overcome the interference challenges experienced in the solution studies (the interference by high concentrations of AA), the suitability of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for the selective detection of DA was investigated. The results showed that the MIPs produced did not play a significant role in enhancing the selectivity towards DA. A probe composed of just the UF–AuNPs and Nylon–6 (UF–AuNPs + N6) was also developed. The UF–AuNPs were synthesized following an in situ reduction method. The probe was only selective to DA and insensitive to other catecholamines at physiological pH. Thus, the probe did not require any addition functionalities to achieve selectivity and sensitive to DA. The liquid state probe and the composite UF–AuNPs + N6 nanofibre probe were successfully applied to a whole blood sample and showed good selectivity towards DA. The simple, sensitive and selective probe could be an excellent alternative for on–site and immediate detection of DA without the use of instrumentation. For quantification of DA using the solid state probe, open–source software imageJ was used to assist in the analysis of the nanofibre colours. It was observed that the intensity of the colour increased with the increase in concentration of DA in a linear fashion. The use of imageJ can also be a great alternative where the colour changes are not so clear or for visually impaired people. The solid state probe developed can detect DA qualitatively and quantitatively. The work also forms a good foundation for development of such probes for other analyte.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Ngomane, Nokuthula
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4565 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1021261
- Description: Colorimetric probes have become important tools in analysis and biomedical technology. This thesis reports on the development of such probes for the detection of dopamine (DA). Liquid and different solid state probes were developed utilizing un–functionalized gold nanoparticles (UF–AuNPs). The liquid state probe is based on the growth and aggregation of the UF–AuNPs in the presence of DA. Upon addition of the UF–AuNPs to various concentrations of DA, the shape, size and colour change results in spectral shifts from lower to higher wavelengths. The analyte can be easily monitored by the naked eye from 5.0 nM DA with a calculated limit of detection of 2.5 nM (3σ) under optimal pH. Ascorbic acid (AA) has a potential to interfere with DA detection in solution since it is often present in biological fluids, but in this case the interference was limited to solutions where its concentration was beyond 200 times greater than that of DA. Since most of the previously reported colorimetric probes, especially those for DA are solution based, the main focus of the thesis was in the development of a solid state based colorimetric probe in the form of nanofibre mats. To overcome the interference challenges experienced in the solution studies (the interference by high concentrations of AA), the suitability of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for the selective detection of DA was investigated. The results showed that the MIPs produced did not play a significant role in enhancing the selectivity towards DA. A probe composed of just the UF–AuNPs and Nylon–6 (UF–AuNPs + N6) was also developed. The UF–AuNPs were synthesized following an in situ reduction method. The probe was only selective to DA and insensitive to other catecholamines at physiological pH. Thus, the probe did not require any addition functionalities to achieve selectivity and sensitive to DA. The liquid state probe and the composite UF–AuNPs + N6 nanofibre probe were successfully applied to a whole blood sample and showed good selectivity towards DA. The simple, sensitive and selective probe could be an excellent alternative for on–site and immediate detection of DA without the use of instrumentation. For quantification of DA using the solid state probe, open–source software imageJ was used to assist in the analysis of the nanofibre colours. It was observed that the intensity of the colour increased with the increase in concentration of DA in a linear fashion. The use of imageJ can also be a great alternative where the colour changes are not so clear or for visually impaired people. The solid state probe developed can detect DA qualitatively and quantitatively. The work also forms a good foundation for development of such probes for other analyte.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
GPU Accelerated protocol analysis for large and long-term traffic traces
- Nottingham, Alastair Timothy
- Authors: Nottingham, Alastair Timothy
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/910 , vital:20002
- Description: This thesis describes the design and implementation of GPF+, a complete general packet classification system developed using Nvidia CUDA for Compute Capability 3.5+ GPUs. This system was developed with the aim of accelerating the analysis of arbitrary network protocols within network traffic traces using inexpensive, massively parallel commodity hardware. GPF+ and its supporting components are specifically intended to support the processing of large, long-term network packet traces such as those produced by network telescopes, which are currently difficult and time consuming to analyse. The GPF+ classifier is based on prior research in the field, which produced a prototype classifier called GPF, targeted at Compute Capability 1.3 GPUs. GPF+ greatly extends the GPF model, improving runtime flexibility and scalability, whilst maintaining high execution efficiency. GPF+ incorporates a compact, lightweight registerbased state machine that supports massively-parallel, multi-match filter predicate evaluation, as well as efficient arbitrary field extraction. GPF+ tracks packet composition during execution, and adjusts processing at runtime to avoid redundant memory transactions and unnecessary computation through warp-voting. GPF+ additionally incorporates a 128-bit in-thread cache, accelerated through register shuffling, to accelerate access to packet data in slow GPU global memory. GPF+ uses a high-level DSL to simplify protocol and filter creation, whilst better facilitating protocol reuse. The system is supported by a pipeline of multi-threaded high-performance host components, which communicate asynchronously through 0MQ messaging middleware to buffer, index, and dispatch packet data on the host system. The system was evaluated using high-end Kepler (Nvidia GTX Titan) and entry level Maxwell (Nvidia GTX 750) GPUs. The results of this evaluation showed high system performance, limited only by device side IO (600MBps) in all tests. GPF+ maintained high occupancy and device utilisation in all tests, without significant serialisation, and showed improved scaling to more complex filter sets. Results were used to visualise captures of up to 160 GB in seconds, and to extract and pre-filter captures small enough to be easily analysed in applications such as Wireshark.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Nottingham, Alastair Timothy
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/910 , vital:20002
- Description: This thesis describes the design and implementation of GPF+, a complete general packet classification system developed using Nvidia CUDA for Compute Capability 3.5+ GPUs. This system was developed with the aim of accelerating the analysis of arbitrary network protocols within network traffic traces using inexpensive, massively parallel commodity hardware. GPF+ and its supporting components are specifically intended to support the processing of large, long-term network packet traces such as those produced by network telescopes, which are currently difficult and time consuming to analyse. The GPF+ classifier is based on prior research in the field, which produced a prototype classifier called GPF, targeted at Compute Capability 1.3 GPUs. GPF+ greatly extends the GPF model, improving runtime flexibility and scalability, whilst maintaining high execution efficiency. GPF+ incorporates a compact, lightweight registerbased state machine that supports massively-parallel, multi-match filter predicate evaluation, as well as efficient arbitrary field extraction. GPF+ tracks packet composition during execution, and adjusts processing at runtime to avoid redundant memory transactions and unnecessary computation through warp-voting. GPF+ additionally incorporates a 128-bit in-thread cache, accelerated through register shuffling, to accelerate access to packet data in slow GPU global memory. GPF+ uses a high-level DSL to simplify protocol and filter creation, whilst better facilitating protocol reuse. The system is supported by a pipeline of multi-threaded high-performance host components, which communicate asynchronously through 0MQ messaging middleware to buffer, index, and dispatch packet data on the host system. The system was evaluated using high-end Kepler (Nvidia GTX Titan) and entry level Maxwell (Nvidia GTX 750) GPUs. The results of this evaluation showed high system performance, limited only by device side IO (600MBps) in all tests. GPF+ maintained high occupancy and device utilisation in all tests, without significant serialisation, and showed improved scaling to more complex filter sets. Results were used to visualise captures of up to 160 GB in seconds, and to extract and pre-filter captures small enough to be easily analysed in applications such as Wireshark.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Higher order modulation formats for high speed optical communication systems with digital signal processing aided receiver
- Chabata, Tichakunda Valentine
- Authors: Chabata, Tichakunda Valentine
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Optical communications , Modulation (Electronics) , Signal processing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/4775 , vital:20677
- Description: The drastic increase in the number of internet users and the general convergence of all other communication systems into an optical system have brought a sharp rise in demand for bandwidth and calls for high capacity transmission networks. Large unamplified transmission reach is another contributor in reducing deployment costs of an optical communication system. Spectrally efficient modulation formats are suggested as a solution to overcome the problems associated with limited channels and bandwidth of dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) optical communication systems. Higher order modulation formats which are considered to be spectrally efficient and can increase the transmission capacity by transmitting more information in the amplitude, phase, polarization or a combination of all was studied. Different detection technologies are to be implemented to suit a particular higher order modulation format. In this research multilevel modulation formats, different detection technologies and a digital signal processing aided receiver were studied in a practical optical transmission system. The work in this thesis started with the implementation of the traditional amplitude shift keying (ASK) modulation and a differential phase shift keying (DPSK) modulation systems as they form the basic building block in the design of higher order modulation formats. Results obtained from using virtual photonics instruments (VPI)simulation software, receiver sensitivity for 10Gbpsnon-return-to-zero (NRZ), amplitude phase shift keying (ASK) and DPSK signals were measured to be -22.7 dBm and -22.0 dBm respectively. Performance comparison for the two modulation formats were done over different transmission distances. ASK also known as On-Off keying (OOK) performed better for shorter lengths whereas DPSK performed better for longer lengths of up to90km.Experimental results on a 10 Gbps NRZ- ASK signal gave a receiver sensitivity of -21.1 dBm from digital signal processing (DSP) aided receiver against -19.8 dBm from the commercial bit error ratio tester (BERT) yielding a small difference of 1.3 dB hence validating the reliability and accuracy of the digital signal processing (DSP) assisted receiver. Traditional direct detection scheme and coherent detection scheme performances were evaluated again on a 10 Gbps NRZ ASK signal. Coherent detection that can achieve a large unamplified transmission reach and has a higher passive optical splitting ratio was first evaluated using the VPI simulation software. Simulation results gave a receiver sensitivity of -30.4 dBm forcoherent detection and -18.3 dBm for direct detection, yielding a gain in receiver sensitivity of 12.1 dB. The complex coherently detected signal, from the experimental setup gave a receiver sensitivity of -20.6 dBm with a gain in receiver sensitivity of 3.5 dBm with respect to direct detection. A multilevel pulse amplitude modulation (4-PAM) that doubles the data rate per channel from10 Gbps to 20 Gbps by transmitting more information in the amplitude of the carrier signal was implemented. This was achieved by modulating the optical amplitude with an electrical four level amplitude shift keyed (ASK) signal. A receiver consisting of a single photodiode, three decision circuits and a decoding logic circuit was used to receive and extract the original transmitted data. A DSP aided receiver was used to evaluate the link performance. A receiver sensitivity of -12.8 dBm is attained with a dispersion penalty of about 7.2 dB after transmission through 25 km of G.652 fibre.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Chabata, Tichakunda Valentine
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Optical communications , Modulation (Electronics) , Signal processing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/4775 , vital:20677
- Description: The drastic increase in the number of internet users and the general convergence of all other communication systems into an optical system have brought a sharp rise in demand for bandwidth and calls for high capacity transmission networks. Large unamplified transmission reach is another contributor in reducing deployment costs of an optical communication system. Spectrally efficient modulation formats are suggested as a solution to overcome the problems associated with limited channels and bandwidth of dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) optical communication systems. Higher order modulation formats which are considered to be spectrally efficient and can increase the transmission capacity by transmitting more information in the amplitude, phase, polarization or a combination of all was studied. Different detection technologies are to be implemented to suit a particular higher order modulation format. In this research multilevel modulation formats, different detection technologies and a digital signal processing aided receiver were studied in a practical optical transmission system. The work in this thesis started with the implementation of the traditional amplitude shift keying (ASK) modulation and a differential phase shift keying (DPSK) modulation systems as they form the basic building block in the design of higher order modulation formats. Results obtained from using virtual photonics instruments (VPI)simulation software, receiver sensitivity for 10Gbpsnon-return-to-zero (NRZ), amplitude phase shift keying (ASK) and DPSK signals were measured to be -22.7 dBm and -22.0 dBm respectively. Performance comparison for the two modulation formats were done over different transmission distances. ASK also known as On-Off keying (OOK) performed better for shorter lengths whereas DPSK performed better for longer lengths of up to90km.Experimental results on a 10 Gbps NRZ- ASK signal gave a receiver sensitivity of -21.1 dBm from digital signal processing (DSP) aided receiver against -19.8 dBm from the commercial bit error ratio tester (BERT) yielding a small difference of 1.3 dB hence validating the reliability and accuracy of the digital signal processing (DSP) assisted receiver. Traditional direct detection scheme and coherent detection scheme performances were evaluated again on a 10 Gbps NRZ ASK signal. Coherent detection that can achieve a large unamplified transmission reach and has a higher passive optical splitting ratio was first evaluated using the VPI simulation software. Simulation results gave a receiver sensitivity of -30.4 dBm forcoherent detection and -18.3 dBm for direct detection, yielding a gain in receiver sensitivity of 12.1 dB. The complex coherently detected signal, from the experimental setup gave a receiver sensitivity of -20.6 dBm with a gain in receiver sensitivity of 3.5 dBm with respect to direct detection. A multilevel pulse amplitude modulation (4-PAM) that doubles the data rate per channel from10 Gbps to 20 Gbps by transmitting more information in the amplitude of the carrier signal was implemented. This was achieved by modulating the optical amplitude with an electrical four level amplitude shift keyed (ASK) signal. A receiver consisting of a single photodiode, three decision circuits and a decoding logic circuit was used to receive and extract the original transmitted data. A DSP aided receiver was used to evaluate the link performance. A receiver sensitivity of -12.8 dBm is attained with a dispersion penalty of about 7.2 dB after transmission through 25 km of G.652 fibre.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Impact of a holistic lifestyle management education programme on health and education outcomes of socioeconomically disadvantaged university students
- Authors: Morris-Paxton, Angela Ann
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: College students -- Mental health College students -- Health and hygiene Health promotion
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/11909 , vital:27003
- Description: Disorders of lifestyle are increasing globally; countries in transition are suffering the double burden of both contagious and chronic disorders. The utilization of health education to address these issues has had variable results, but the most successful have incorporated human contact. The aim of this study was to measure the quantitative and qualitative impact of a wellness promotion programme on university students. The objective was to provide a structured facilitated holistic wellness education programme to a sample of socioeconomically disadvantaged students in Higher Education in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Using a pragmatic mixed methodological approach to this critical evaluation, the impact on both wellness and academic progress was measured. Initial demographic data was gathered via a biographical questionnaire, pre- and post-intervention measurement of wellness, using the Wellness Questionnaire for Higher Education, as well as a semi-structured qualitative questionnaire and transcripts of academic results. Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS analysis software and qualitative data using the NVivo analysis package. The findings were that all students improved throughout the year in their overall wellness scores, in particular in areas such as avoiding excessive sun exposure and increasing the amount of physical exercise. This corresponded with an increase in the value that the participants attached to information on these aspects of wellness, which was attributed to the programme. Results revealed that there was a weak correlation between student wellness measured at the year-end and academic success overall, but a strong correlation between student wellness and academic success for the students that gained the highest marks. Analysis of the dimensions of wellness that correlated best with student success revealed that there was a particularly strong correlation between year-end career wellness and year-end academic success. In conclusion it was found that a positive and holistic salutogenic wellness education programme increased levels of student wellness overall, which translated into student academic success. The link between wellness and success was particularly strong in students that gained higher marks. Recommendations include that first-year higher education students receive a positive wellness education programme built into the curriculum of their first year of study and that the overall impact be monitored across a broader spectrum of students over the duration of their diploma or degree programme.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Morris-Paxton, Angela Ann
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: College students -- Mental health College students -- Health and hygiene Health promotion
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/11909 , vital:27003
- Description: Disorders of lifestyle are increasing globally; countries in transition are suffering the double burden of both contagious and chronic disorders. The utilization of health education to address these issues has had variable results, but the most successful have incorporated human contact. The aim of this study was to measure the quantitative and qualitative impact of a wellness promotion programme on university students. The objective was to provide a structured facilitated holistic wellness education programme to a sample of socioeconomically disadvantaged students in Higher Education in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Using a pragmatic mixed methodological approach to this critical evaluation, the impact on both wellness and academic progress was measured. Initial demographic data was gathered via a biographical questionnaire, pre- and post-intervention measurement of wellness, using the Wellness Questionnaire for Higher Education, as well as a semi-structured qualitative questionnaire and transcripts of academic results. Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS analysis software and qualitative data using the NVivo analysis package. The findings were that all students improved throughout the year in their overall wellness scores, in particular in areas such as avoiding excessive sun exposure and increasing the amount of physical exercise. This corresponded with an increase in the value that the participants attached to information on these aspects of wellness, which was attributed to the programme. Results revealed that there was a weak correlation between student wellness measured at the year-end and academic success overall, but a strong correlation between student wellness and academic success for the students that gained the highest marks. Analysis of the dimensions of wellness that correlated best with student success revealed that there was a particularly strong correlation between year-end career wellness and year-end academic success. In conclusion it was found that a positive and holistic salutogenic wellness education programme increased levels of student wellness overall, which translated into student academic success. The link between wellness and success was particularly strong in students that gained higher marks. Recommendations include that first-year higher education students receive a positive wellness education programme built into the curriculum of their first year of study and that the overall impact be monitored across a broader spectrum of students over the duration of their diploma or degree programme.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Implementation of gender equality policies to enhance female leadership in Zimbabwean universities : towards a comprehensive framework
- Chitsamatanga, Bellita Banda
- Authors: Chitsamatanga, Bellita Banda
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Sex differences in education Discrimination in education Women executives
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/13571 , vital:39680
- Description: This study critically examined the implementation of gender equality policies to enhance female leadership in Zimbabwean universities. Three theoretical frameworks were adopted for this study which were: The feminist critical policy analysis, top-down and bottom-up policy implementation theories. Within this study an interpretive paradigm which aligned with the qualitative approach and the case study design to better understand the phenomena were adopted. The study covered two state universities in Zimbabwe which were purposively selected. The participants who comprised Pro Vice Chancellors, Deputy Registrars Human Resources, Faculty Deans, Director of Gender Schools, Senior Administrative Registrars, Chairpersons of Departments and males and female academics were also purposively selected. Semi structured interviews, focus group discussion and document analysis were used as data collection instruments. Data were analysed using content analysis and the emerging results were organised into different themes reflective of the participant’s responses. The findings of the study presuppose that the state universities Zimbabwe were implementing gender sensitive organisational culture through open door policy and this promoted transformational leadership in both universities. The study revealed that both universities consulted internal and external gender experts and top-down and bottom-up consultations were made during policy formulation. It was discovered from the study that both universities had also utilised gender mainstreaming and affirmative action as strategies for promoting female leadership and gender equality. Despite teaching and learning, community engagement, research, recruitment and promotions which were used to promote the gender agenda, there were indications that these were being implemented in a haphazard manner. This adversely influenced active participation of females in decision making processes. The collected data also showed that both universities had enacted gender structures which were in line with international, regional and national gender policies and conventions and were being used to irradiate the importance of having gender parity in top positions. The findings of the study further illuminated that monitoring and evaluation of the gender equality policy and programs in place to advance females to leadership positions had not been done, leading to major impediments to achievement of gender balance. There also emerged a number of challenges which were uniform in both universities namely; lack of gender knowledge; commitment, lack of gender training and workshops, lack of consultation using bottom-up approach, gender budgeting and inadequate resources. Though the above mentioned were identified as encumbering features in both universities there was a substantiation of pockets of good practices. These were; implementation of gender equality policy, involvement of internal and external gender experts to policy formulation; promotion of shared power and authentic leadership through transparent selection of chairperson of departments; gender workshop and training; staff development programmes; enactment of gender structures, enhanced community engagement and liaison with NGOs to promote gender agenda at all levels. Regardless of the number of hurdles that indicate that universities continue to be fraught with challenges in promoting female leadership, the pockets of good practices are evidence that both universities are making positive strides through the implementation of gender equality policies to enhance female leadership. Therefore, to benchmark changes in universities, the study recommends that transformational leadership must permeate in all university structures to promote an organisational culture that is gender sensitive. There must be adequate resources, gender training and workshops; focal persons and points; commitment and political will, gender experts from governmental to ministerial levels and satellite gender structures. Monitoring and evaluation should be carried out in both universities and this should be guided by a framework so as to assist universities to tap into female empowerment and gender equality that will promote the interests of both genders, while retaining the quality and excellence in universities. Lastly, the findings of the study and the extant literature are indicative that enhancement of female leadership in universities is currently affected by a number of challenges. Therefore, as part of redress, the researcher recommends a comprehensive framework which illuminates pockets of good practices in implementing gender equality policies to enhance female leadership in universities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Chitsamatanga, Bellita Banda
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Sex differences in education Discrimination in education Women executives
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/13571 , vital:39680
- Description: This study critically examined the implementation of gender equality policies to enhance female leadership in Zimbabwean universities. Three theoretical frameworks were adopted for this study which were: The feminist critical policy analysis, top-down and bottom-up policy implementation theories. Within this study an interpretive paradigm which aligned with the qualitative approach and the case study design to better understand the phenomena were adopted. The study covered two state universities in Zimbabwe which were purposively selected. The participants who comprised Pro Vice Chancellors, Deputy Registrars Human Resources, Faculty Deans, Director of Gender Schools, Senior Administrative Registrars, Chairpersons of Departments and males and female academics were also purposively selected. Semi structured interviews, focus group discussion and document analysis were used as data collection instruments. Data were analysed using content analysis and the emerging results were organised into different themes reflective of the participant’s responses. The findings of the study presuppose that the state universities Zimbabwe were implementing gender sensitive organisational culture through open door policy and this promoted transformational leadership in both universities. The study revealed that both universities consulted internal and external gender experts and top-down and bottom-up consultations were made during policy formulation. It was discovered from the study that both universities had also utilised gender mainstreaming and affirmative action as strategies for promoting female leadership and gender equality. Despite teaching and learning, community engagement, research, recruitment and promotions which were used to promote the gender agenda, there were indications that these were being implemented in a haphazard manner. This adversely influenced active participation of females in decision making processes. The collected data also showed that both universities had enacted gender structures which were in line with international, regional and national gender policies and conventions and were being used to irradiate the importance of having gender parity in top positions. The findings of the study further illuminated that monitoring and evaluation of the gender equality policy and programs in place to advance females to leadership positions had not been done, leading to major impediments to achievement of gender balance. There also emerged a number of challenges which were uniform in both universities namely; lack of gender knowledge; commitment, lack of gender training and workshops, lack of consultation using bottom-up approach, gender budgeting and inadequate resources. Though the above mentioned were identified as encumbering features in both universities there was a substantiation of pockets of good practices. These were; implementation of gender equality policy, involvement of internal and external gender experts to policy formulation; promotion of shared power and authentic leadership through transparent selection of chairperson of departments; gender workshop and training; staff development programmes; enactment of gender structures, enhanced community engagement and liaison with NGOs to promote gender agenda at all levels. Regardless of the number of hurdles that indicate that universities continue to be fraught with challenges in promoting female leadership, the pockets of good practices are evidence that both universities are making positive strides through the implementation of gender equality policies to enhance female leadership. Therefore, to benchmark changes in universities, the study recommends that transformational leadership must permeate in all university structures to promote an organisational culture that is gender sensitive. There must be adequate resources, gender training and workshops; focal persons and points; commitment and political will, gender experts from governmental to ministerial levels and satellite gender structures. Monitoring and evaluation should be carried out in both universities and this should be guided by a framework so as to assist universities to tap into female empowerment and gender equality that will promote the interests of both genders, while retaining the quality and excellence in universities. Lastly, the findings of the study and the extant literature are indicative that enhancement of female leadership in universities is currently affected by a number of challenges. Therefore, as part of redress, the researcher recommends a comprehensive framework which illuminates pockets of good practices in implementing gender equality policies to enhance female leadership in universities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016