The prevalence of insufficient iodine intake in pregnancy in Africa: Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis
- Charles Bitamazire Businge, Benjamin Longo-Mbenza, Andre Pascal Kengne
- Authors: Charles Bitamazire Businge , Benjamin Longo-Mbenza , Andre Pascal Kengne
- Date: 22-8-2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/3387 , vital:43338 , https://systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13643-019-1092-7#citeas
- Description: Background: Insufficient iodine intake in pregnancy is associated with many adverse pregnancy outcomes. About 90% of African countries are at risk of iodine deficiency due to poor soils and dietary goitrogens. Pregnancy predisposes to insufficient iodine nutrition secondary to increased physiological demand and increased renal loss. Iodine deficiency is re-emerging in countries thought to be replete with pregnant women being the most affected. This review seeks to identify the degree of iodine nutrition in pregnancy on the entire African continent before and after the implementation of national iodization programmes. Methods: A systematic search of published literature will be conducted for observational studies that directly determined the prevalence of insufficient iodine intake among pregnant women in Africa. Electronic databases and grey literature will be searched for baseline data before the implementation of population-based iodine supplementation and for follow-up data up to December 2018. Screening of identified articles and data extraction will be conducted independently by two investigators. Risk of bias and methodological quality of the included studies will be assessed using a risk of bias tool. Appropriate meta-analytic techniques will be used to pool prevalence estimates from studies with similar features, overall and by major characteristics including the region of the study, time period (before and after implementation of iodization programmes), sample size and age. Heterogeneity of the estimates across studies will be quantified and publication bias investigated. This protocol is reported according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 guidelines. Discussion This review will help ascertain the impact of national iodization programmes on the iodine nutrition status in pregnancy in Africa and advise policy on the necessity for monitoring and mitigating iodine deficiency in pregnancy in Africa. This review is part of a thesis that will be submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, for the award of a PhD in Medicine whose protocol has been granted ethics approval (UCT HREC 135/2018). In addition, the results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 22-8-2019
- Authors: Charles Bitamazire Businge , Benjamin Longo-Mbenza , Andre Pascal Kengne
- Date: 22-8-2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/3387 , vital:43338 , https://systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13643-019-1092-7#citeas
- Description: Background: Insufficient iodine intake in pregnancy is associated with many adverse pregnancy outcomes. About 90% of African countries are at risk of iodine deficiency due to poor soils and dietary goitrogens. Pregnancy predisposes to insufficient iodine nutrition secondary to increased physiological demand and increased renal loss. Iodine deficiency is re-emerging in countries thought to be replete with pregnant women being the most affected. This review seeks to identify the degree of iodine nutrition in pregnancy on the entire African continent before and after the implementation of national iodization programmes. Methods: A systematic search of published literature will be conducted for observational studies that directly determined the prevalence of insufficient iodine intake among pregnant women in Africa. Electronic databases and grey literature will be searched for baseline data before the implementation of population-based iodine supplementation and for follow-up data up to December 2018. Screening of identified articles and data extraction will be conducted independently by two investigators. Risk of bias and methodological quality of the included studies will be assessed using a risk of bias tool. Appropriate meta-analytic techniques will be used to pool prevalence estimates from studies with similar features, overall and by major characteristics including the region of the study, time period (before and after implementation of iodization programmes), sample size and age. Heterogeneity of the estimates across studies will be quantified and publication bias investigated. This protocol is reported according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 guidelines. Discussion This review will help ascertain the impact of national iodization programmes on the iodine nutrition status in pregnancy in Africa and advise policy on the necessity for monitoring and mitigating iodine deficiency in pregnancy in Africa. This review is part of a thesis that will be submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, for the award of a PhD in Medicine whose protocol has been granted ethics approval (UCT HREC 135/2018). In addition, the results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 22-8-2019
The stories African lawyers could tell when analysing legal issues: Lessons for social sciences teachers
- Authors: Zongwe, Dunia P
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: Africa storytelling
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/6229 , vital:45341 , https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v77i2.6828
- Description: Activists and academics have clamoured for the decolonisation of knowledge, including law. But, unfortunately hardly anyone has put forth strategies for how faculties should decolonise the law. A number of jurists have underscored the necessity to draw on customary laws and traditional values. Still, the #RhodesMustFall movement has, for the most part, been loud on the outcomes, but quiet on the methodologies. Joining the conversation on the decolonisation of epistemologies, this article contributes to the ongoing efforts to sanitise the law by proposing to revive African oral storytelling cultures as a way to analyse the questions of law facing society. To live up to this task, this article adopts decolonial theory and, through stylised examples, illustrates how lawyers and social scientists in Africa can utilise storytelling to contextualise, (de)construct, and comprehend those questions. This article assumes that lawyers can use African storytelling alongside the prevailing doctrinal method. That method, relaying the coloniality of law and captured by the acronym IRAC (issue(s), rules, application, and conclusion), trains students to approach conflict in society through a highly abstract and decontextualised problem-solving model. Lately, some (Western) social scientists have (re)discovered the practicality of storytelling in presenting analysis and research. However, in African oral traditions, stories worked differently from the manner in which those scientists employ them. African storytelling played a leading role, not only in conveying collective wisdom and social memory from one generation to the next, but also as a medium through which communities transmit the values that hold them together. Contribution: This article adds to the scholarship on storytelling and narratology by showing how educators can utilise stories to analyse legal questions. That rich scholarship in the humanities and the social sciences has so far not taken seriously the possibility of using stories to analyse research problems. Instead, scholars focus on storytelling mainly as a way of presenting science, not as an analytical tool. This article bridges that gap and demonstrates the analytical value of storytelling.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
- Authors: Zongwe, Dunia P
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: Africa storytelling
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/6229 , vital:45341 , https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v77i2.6828
- Description: Activists and academics have clamoured for the decolonisation of knowledge, including law. But, unfortunately hardly anyone has put forth strategies for how faculties should decolonise the law. A number of jurists have underscored the necessity to draw on customary laws and traditional values. Still, the #RhodesMustFall movement has, for the most part, been loud on the outcomes, but quiet on the methodologies. Joining the conversation on the decolonisation of epistemologies, this article contributes to the ongoing efforts to sanitise the law by proposing to revive African oral storytelling cultures as a way to analyse the questions of law facing society. To live up to this task, this article adopts decolonial theory and, through stylised examples, illustrates how lawyers and social scientists in Africa can utilise storytelling to contextualise, (de)construct, and comprehend those questions. This article assumes that lawyers can use African storytelling alongside the prevailing doctrinal method. That method, relaying the coloniality of law and captured by the acronym IRAC (issue(s), rules, application, and conclusion), trains students to approach conflict in society through a highly abstract and decontextualised problem-solving model. Lately, some (Western) social scientists have (re)discovered the practicality of storytelling in presenting analysis and research. However, in African oral traditions, stories worked differently from the manner in which those scientists employ them. African storytelling played a leading role, not only in conveying collective wisdom and social memory from one generation to the next, but also as a medium through which communities transmit the values that hold them together. Contribution: This article adds to the scholarship on storytelling and narratology by showing how educators can utilise stories to analyse legal questions. That rich scholarship in the humanities and the social sciences has so far not taken seriously the possibility of using stories to analyse research problems. Instead, scholars focus on storytelling mainly as a way of presenting science, not as an analytical tool. This article bridges that gap and demonstrates the analytical value of storytelling.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
Agents sans frontiers: cross-border aquatic weed biological control in the rivers of southern Mozambique
- Langa, Sílvia da Fátima, Hill, Martin P, Compton, Stephen G
- Authors: Langa, Sílvia da Fátima , Hill, Martin P , Compton, Stephen G
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148998 , vital:38794 , DOI: 10.2989/16085914.2020.1749551
- Description: Biological control is an effective ways of controlling aquatic plants, especially in South Africa. Release of biological control agents has been limited to Mozambique, where water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms-Laubach (Pontederiaceae)), water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes L. (Araceae)), red water ferns (Azolla spp. (Azollaceae)) and salvinia (Salvinia molesta DS Mitch. (Salviniaceae)) are significant weeds in the south of the country. In 2009, we assessed the status of these weeds in seven rivers across southern Mozambique and recorded whether any biocontrol agents were present.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Langa, Sílvia da Fátima , Hill, Martin P , Compton, Stephen G
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148998 , vital:38794 , DOI: 10.2989/16085914.2020.1749551
- Description: Biological control is an effective ways of controlling aquatic plants, especially in South Africa. Release of biological control agents has been limited to Mozambique, where water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms-Laubach (Pontederiaceae)), water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes L. (Araceae)), red water ferns (Azolla spp. (Azollaceae)) and salvinia (Salvinia molesta DS Mitch. (Salviniaceae)) are significant weeds in the south of the country. In 2009, we assessed the status of these weeds in seven rivers across southern Mozambique and recorded whether any biocontrol agents were present.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Designing and reporting pictogram research: problems, pitfalls and lessons learnt
- Authors: Dowse, Roslind
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/157083 , vital:40085 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2020.08.013
- Description: Research describing the design, evaluation or use of pictograms for various health-related applications is receiving increasing attention in the literature. However, recent reviews of this body of literature have commented adversely on the overall quality of the research, highlighting problems with the pictogram design process, as well as calling for improvement in both the methodology and reporting of all aspects of designing, developing, modifying, evaluating and applying pictograms in practice. The heterogeneity in study design, as well as in the interventions and outcomes measured, prevents overall conclusions being drawn about the effectiveness of pictograms on comprehension and medicine-taking behaviour such as adherence and self-care. The reporting of such research should provide adequate detail to enable reproducibility and replicability of the research. This article offers guidance in designing and reporting pictogram-based research, highlighting areas that are often problematic or inadequately addressed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Dowse, Roslind
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/157083 , vital:40085 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2020.08.013
- Description: Research describing the design, evaluation or use of pictograms for various health-related applications is receiving increasing attention in the literature. However, recent reviews of this body of literature have commented adversely on the overall quality of the research, highlighting problems with the pictogram design process, as well as calling for improvement in both the methodology and reporting of all aspects of designing, developing, modifying, evaluating and applying pictograms in practice. The heterogeneity in study design, as well as in the interventions and outcomes measured, prevents overall conclusions being drawn about the effectiveness of pictograms on comprehension and medicine-taking behaviour such as adherence and self-care. The reporting of such research should provide adequate detail to enable reproducibility and replicability of the research. This article offers guidance in designing and reporting pictogram-based research, highlighting areas that are often problematic or inadequately addressed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Effects of an eight-week lumbar stabilization exercise programme on selected variables of patients with chronic low back pain:
- Abass, Ademola O, Alli, Abiola R, Olagbegi, Oladapo M, Christie, Candice J, Bolarinde, Olufemi S
- Authors: Abass, Ademola O , Alli, Abiola R , Olagbegi, Oladapo M , Christie, Candice J , Bolarinde, Olufemi S
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/150307 , vital:38966 , DOI: https://doi.org/10.3329/bjms.v19i3.45864
- Description: Lumbar stabilisation exercise has been shown to reduce pain and disability in patients with low back pain but information on its potential benefits in term of back muscle endurance is scarce. This study was aimed at investigating the effects of augmenting conventional physiotherapy with lumbar stabilization exercises on selected variables of patients with non-specific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Abass, Ademola O , Alli, Abiola R , Olagbegi, Oladapo M , Christie, Candice J , Bolarinde, Olufemi S
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/150307 , vital:38966 , DOI: https://doi.org/10.3329/bjms.v19i3.45864
- Description: Lumbar stabilisation exercise has been shown to reduce pain and disability in patients with low back pain but information on its potential benefits in term of back muscle endurance is scarce. This study was aimed at investigating the effects of augmenting conventional physiotherapy with lumbar stabilization exercises on selected variables of patients with non-specific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Implantation, orientation and validation of a commercially produced heart-rate logger for use in a perciform teleost fish:
- Muller, Cuen, Childs, Amber-Robyn, Duncan, Murray I, Skeeles, Michael R, James, Nicola C, Van der Walt, Kerry-Ann, Winkler, Alexander C, Potts, Warren M
- Authors: Muller, Cuen , Childs, Amber-Robyn , Duncan, Murray I , Skeeles, Michael R , James, Nicola C , Van der Walt, Kerry-Ann , Winkler, Alexander C , Potts, Warren M
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148494 , vital:38744 , doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1093/conphys/coaa035
- Description: Quantifying how the heart rate of ectothermic organisms responds to environmental conditions (e.g. water temperature) is important information to quantify their sensitivity to environmental change. Heart rate studies have typically been conducted in lab environments where fish are confined. However, commercially available implantable heart rate biologgers provide the opportunity to study free-swimming fish. Our study aimed to determine the applicability of an implantable device, typically used on fusiform-shaped fish (e.g. salmonids), for a perciform fish where morphology and anatomy prevent ventral incisions normally used on fusiform-shaped fish.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Muller, Cuen , Childs, Amber-Robyn , Duncan, Murray I , Skeeles, Michael R , James, Nicola C , Van der Walt, Kerry-Ann , Winkler, Alexander C , Potts, Warren M
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148494 , vital:38744 , doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1093/conphys/coaa035
- Description: Quantifying how the heart rate of ectothermic organisms responds to environmental conditions (e.g. water temperature) is important information to quantify their sensitivity to environmental change. Heart rate studies have typically been conducted in lab environments where fish are confined. However, commercially available implantable heart rate biologgers provide the opportunity to study free-swimming fish. Our study aimed to determine the applicability of an implantable device, typically used on fusiform-shaped fish (e.g. salmonids), for a perciform fish where morphology and anatomy prevent ventral incisions normally used on fusiform-shaped fish.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Natural hair chronicles of black female vloggers: influences on their psychological well-being
- Jacobs, Liezille, Kelemi, Anelisa
- Authors: Jacobs, Liezille , Kelemi, Anelisa
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/158354 , vital:40177 , https://doi.org/10.1080/14330237.2020.1796046
- Description: This study explored how hair texture chronicles in a post-colonial country is influenced by psychological well-being and a sense of self in women. Our informants were 10 female, black, South African YouTube vloggers, with Afro-textured, frizzy, natural hair. The participants completed qualitative descriptions of their hair chronicles with vlogging. Thematic analysis of the data yielded the following themes: (i) untangling the politics of hair, identity, and race through transitioning hair stories; (ii) hair chronicles for psychological well-being; and (iii) empowerment from wearing natural hair.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Jacobs, Liezille , Kelemi, Anelisa
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/158354 , vital:40177 , https://doi.org/10.1080/14330237.2020.1796046
- Description: This study explored how hair texture chronicles in a post-colonial country is influenced by psychological well-being and a sense of self in women. Our informants were 10 female, black, South African YouTube vloggers, with Afro-textured, frizzy, natural hair. The participants completed qualitative descriptions of their hair chronicles with vlogging. Thematic analysis of the data yielded the following themes: (i) untangling the politics of hair, identity, and race through transitioning hair stories; (ii) hair chronicles for psychological well-being; and (iii) empowerment from wearing natural hair.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Optically stimulated luminescence and spectral emission features of radioluminescence and thermoluminescence of natural kunzite:
- Alatishe, M A, Ogundare, F O, Folley, Damilola E, Chithambo, Makaiko L, Chikwembani, S
- Authors: Alatishe, M A , Ogundare, F O , Folley, Damilola E , Chithambo, Makaiko L , Chikwembani, S
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/160478 , vital:40449 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radmeas.2020.106457
- Description: Features of luminescence optically stimulated from natural kunzite using 470 nm blue light are reported. Preparatory measurements of its X-ray excited radioluminescence and thermoluminescence show that the sample has two main bands centered at 360 nm and 600 nm. The optically stimulated luminescence discussed in this report was monitored in the UV region and is presumed to be the same 360 nm emission that appears in the radioluminescence and thermoluminescence spectra. The glow curve shows at least three peaks at 74, 202, 432 oC for heating at 1 oC and the third one is a composite of two. Only the first two peaks are deduced to contribute most of the optically stimulated luminescence.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Alatishe, M A , Ogundare, F O , Folley, Damilola E , Chithambo, Makaiko L , Chikwembani, S
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/160478 , vital:40449 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radmeas.2020.106457
- Description: Features of luminescence optically stimulated from natural kunzite using 470 nm blue light are reported. Preparatory measurements of its X-ray excited radioluminescence and thermoluminescence show that the sample has two main bands centered at 360 nm and 600 nm. The optically stimulated luminescence discussed in this report was monitored in the UV region and is presumed to be the same 360 nm emission that appears in the radioluminescence and thermoluminescence spectra. The glow curve shows at least three peaks at 74, 202, 432 oC for heating at 1 oC and the third one is a composite of two. Only the first two peaks are deduced to contribute most of the optically stimulated luminescence.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Post-release monitoring in classical biological control of weeds: higher trophic levels modify competitive interactions between invasive macrophytes
- Schaffner, Urs, Hill, Martin P, Dudley, Tom, D’Antonio, Carla
- Authors: Schaffner, Urs , Hill, Martin P , Dudley, Tom , D’Antonio, Carla
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/150200 , vital:38949 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2020.02.008
- Description: While various aspects of classical biological control (CBC) of weeds, including non-target risk assessment, have been continuously improved in the past few decades, post-release monitoring remains neglected and underfunded. Detailed assessments of the population, community and ecosystem outcomes of CBC introductions, including reasons for success/failure and absence or evidence of non-target effects are generally lacking or fragmentary. Here we review recent advances in understanding the demography of biological control agents released into a novel environment, their impact on the target weed and on non-target species, and the consequences for the resident plant and animal communities and ecosystem functioning, including the restoration of ecosystem services. We argue that post-release monitoring of CBC programs offers unique but largely underutilized opportunities to improve our understanding of CBC outcomes and to inform management and decision-makers on when and how CBC should be integrated with other management options to enhance ecosystem restoration.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Schaffner, Urs , Hill, Martin P , Dudley, Tom , D’Antonio, Carla
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/150200 , vital:38949 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cois.2020.02.008
- Description: While various aspects of classical biological control (CBC) of weeds, including non-target risk assessment, have been continuously improved in the past few decades, post-release monitoring remains neglected and underfunded. Detailed assessments of the population, community and ecosystem outcomes of CBC introductions, including reasons for success/failure and absence or evidence of non-target effects are generally lacking or fragmentary. Here we review recent advances in understanding the demography of biological control agents released into a novel environment, their impact on the target weed and on non-target species, and the consequences for the resident plant and animal communities and ecosystem functioning, including the restoration of ecosystem services. We argue that post-release monitoring of CBC programs offers unique but largely underutilized opportunities to improve our understanding of CBC outcomes and to inform management and decision-makers on when and how CBC should be integrated with other management options to enhance ecosystem restoration.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Preliminary study on the potential use of Fly Ash as a Ventilated Improved Pit Latrine Additive:
- Collings, Dylan, Tandlich, Roman, Dube, Cyril S, Madikizela, Phindile, Ngqwala, Nosiphiwe P, Ahmed, Mustaque
- Authors: Collings, Dylan , Tandlich, Roman , Dube, Cyril S , Madikizela, Phindile , Ngqwala, Nosiphiwe P , Ahmed, Mustaque
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/160334 , vital:40436 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.5276/JSWTM/2019.395
- Description: This study describes the results of a series of laboratory experiments on aimed at developing of a protocol for the use of fly ash as a pit additive in the ventilated improved pit latrines (VIPs) in South Africa. Model VIP vaults were prepared in the laboratory and filled with synthetic faecal sludge; and dosed with fly ash in amounts ranging from 5 to 20 % (w/w).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Collings, Dylan , Tandlich, Roman , Dube, Cyril S , Madikizela, Phindile , Ngqwala, Nosiphiwe P , Ahmed, Mustaque
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/160334 , vital:40436 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.5276/JSWTM/2019.395
- Description: This study describes the results of a series of laboratory experiments on aimed at developing of a protocol for the use of fly ash as a pit additive in the ventilated improved pit latrines (VIPs) in South Africa. Model VIP vaults were prepared in the laboratory and filled with synthetic faecal sludge; and dosed with fly ash in amounts ranging from 5 to 20 % (w/w).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Small scale habitat effects on anthropogenic litter material and sources in a coastal lagoon system:
- Velez, Nadja, Nicastro, Katy R, McQuaid, Christopher D, Zardi, Gerardi I
- Authors: Velez, Nadja , Nicastro, Katy R , McQuaid, Christopher D , Zardi, Gerardi I
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/160489 , vital:40450 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111689
- Description: Anthropogenic litter is ubiquitous throughout marine ecosystems, but its abundance and distribution are driven by complex interactions of distinct environmental factors and thus can be extremely heterogeneous. Here we compare the extent of anthropogenic litter pollution at a sheltered lagoon habitat and nearby open coast sites. Monthly surveys over a period of five months showed that both the types and sources of litter always differed significantly between lagoon and open coast sites.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Small scale habitat effects on anthropogenic litter material and sources in a coastal lagoon system:
- Authors: Velez, Nadja , Nicastro, Katy R , McQuaid, Christopher D , Zardi, Gerardi I
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/160489 , vital:40450 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111689
- Description: Anthropogenic litter is ubiquitous throughout marine ecosystems, but its abundance and distribution are driven by complex interactions of distinct environmental factors and thus can be extremely heterogeneous. Here we compare the extent of anthropogenic litter pollution at a sheltered lagoon habitat and nearby open coast sites. Monthly surveys over a period of five months showed that both the types and sources of litter always differed significantly between lagoon and open coast sites.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Social media and citizen mobilisation in the biometric voter registration (BVR) process in Zimbabwe:
- Authors: Mwonzora, Gift
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178953 , vital:40104 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02589001.2020.1746753
- Description: Considerable research has, in recent years, focused on the utility of social media platforms in political campaigns in both developed and developing countries, but there has not been significant analysis of social media use in voter registration campaigns. In seeking to address this lacuna in the literature, this article examines the use and efficacy of social media networking sites (SNS), namely Facebook and Twitter, in mobilising, informing and educating citizens to participate in a new system of biometric voter registration implemented in Zimbabwe. The article draws on a qualitative research methodology. The article contends that social media use amplified political knowledge of the Zimbabwean electorate ahead of the 2018 national election as exemplified in the upsurge of voter registrants under the biometric voter registration system.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Social media and citizen mobilisation in the biometric voter registration (BVR) process in Zimbabwe:
- Authors: Mwonzora, Gift
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178953 , vital:40104 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02589001.2020.1746753
- Description: Considerable research has, in recent years, focused on the utility of social media platforms in political campaigns in both developed and developing countries, but there has not been significant analysis of social media use in voter registration campaigns. In seeking to address this lacuna in the literature, this article examines the use and efficacy of social media networking sites (SNS), namely Facebook and Twitter, in mobilising, informing and educating citizens to participate in a new system of biometric voter registration implemented in Zimbabwe. The article draws on a qualitative research methodology. The article contends that social media use amplified political knowledge of the Zimbabwean electorate ahead of the 2018 national election as exemplified in the upsurge of voter registrants under the biometric voter registration system.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Synthesis of pH sensitive dual capped CdTe QDs: their optical properties and structural morphology
- Daramola, Olamide A, Noundou, Xavier S, Nkanga, Christian I, Tseki, Potlaki F, Krause, Rui W M
- Authors: Daramola, Olamide A , Noundou, Xavier S , Nkanga, Christian I , Tseki, Potlaki F , Krause, Rui W M
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/156364 , vital:39983 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-020-02526-x
- Description: We herein report five different types of thiol dual capped cadmium tellurite quantum dots (CdTe QDs) namely glutathionemercapto-propanoic acid (QD 1), glutathione-thiolglycolic acid (QD 2), L-cysteine-mercapto-propanoic acid (QD 3), L-cysteinethiol-glycolic acid (QD 4) and mercapto-propanoic acid-thiol-glycolic (QD 5). Dual-capped CdTe QDs were prepared using a one pot synthetic method. Cadmium acetate and sodium tellurite were respectively used as cadmium and tellurium precursors. Photo-physical properties of the synthesized QDs were examined using UV-Vis and photoluminescence spectroscopy while structural characterization was performed by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Daramola, Olamide A , Noundou, Xavier S , Nkanga, Christian I , Tseki, Potlaki F , Krause, Rui W M
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/156364 , vital:39983 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-020-02526-x
- Description: We herein report five different types of thiol dual capped cadmium tellurite quantum dots (CdTe QDs) namely glutathionemercapto-propanoic acid (QD 1), glutathione-thiolglycolic acid (QD 2), L-cysteine-mercapto-propanoic acid (QD 3), L-cysteinethiol-glycolic acid (QD 4) and mercapto-propanoic acid-thiol-glycolic (QD 5). Dual-capped CdTe QDs were prepared using a one pot synthetic method. Cadmium acetate and sodium tellurite were respectively used as cadmium and tellurium precursors. Photo-physical properties of the synthesized QDs were examined using UV-Vis and photoluminescence spectroscopy while structural characterization was performed by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
The Northern Cross fast radio burst project–I: overview and pilot observations at 408 MHz
- Locatelli, Nicola T, Bernardi, Gianni, Bianchi, Germano, Chiello, Riccardo C, Magro, Alessio, Naldi, Giovanni, Pilia, Maura, Pupillo, Giuseppe, Ridolfi, Alessandro, Setti, Giancarlo, Vazza, Franco
- Authors: Locatelli, Nicola T , Bernardi, Gianni , Bianchi, Germano , Chiello, Riccardo C , Magro, Alessio , Naldi, Giovanni , Pilia, Maura , Pupillo, Giuseppe , Ridolfi, Alessandro , Setti, Giancarlo , Vazza, Franco
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148791 , vital:38774 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1093/mnras/staa813
- Description: Fast radio bursts (FRBs) remain one of the most enigmatic astrophysical sources. Observations have significantly progressed over the last few years, due to the capabilities of new radio telescopes and the refurbishment of existing ones. Here, we describe the upgrade of the Northern Cross radio telescope, operating in the 400–416 MHz frequency band, with the ultimate goal of turning the array into a dedicated instrument to survey the sky for FRBs.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Locatelli, Nicola T , Bernardi, Gianni , Bianchi, Germano , Chiello, Riccardo C , Magro, Alessio , Naldi, Giovanni , Pilia, Maura , Pupillo, Giuseppe , Ridolfi, Alessandro , Setti, Giancarlo , Vazza, Franco
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148791 , vital:38774 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1093/mnras/staa813
- Description: Fast radio bursts (FRBs) remain one of the most enigmatic astrophysical sources. Observations have significantly progressed over the last few years, due to the capabilities of new radio telescopes and the refurbishment of existing ones. Here, we describe the upgrade of the Northern Cross radio telescope, operating in the 400–416 MHz frequency band, with the ultimate goal of turning the array into a dedicated instrument to survey the sky for FRBs.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT–I: science objectives and first results
- Johnston, Simon, Karastergiou, A, Keith, M J, Song, X, Weltevrede, P, Abbate, F, Bailes, M, Buchner, S, Camilo, F, Geyer, M, Hugo, B, Jameson, A, Kramer, M, Parthasarathy, A, Reardon, D J, Ridolfi A, Serylak, M, Shannon, R M, Spiewak, R, Van Straten, W, Venkatraman Krishnan, V, Jankowski, F, Meyers, B W, Oswald , L, Posselt, B, Sobey, C, Szary, A, Van Leeuwen, J
- Authors: Johnston, Simon , Karastergiou, A , Keith, M J , Song, X , Weltevrede, P , Abbate, F , Bailes, M , Buchner, S , Camilo, F , Geyer, M , Hugo, B , Jameson, A , Kramer, M , Parthasarathy, A , Reardon, D J , Ridolfi A , Serylak, M , Shannon, R M , Spiewak, R , Van Straten, W , Venkatraman Krishnan, V , Jankowski, F , Meyers, B W , Oswald , L , Posselt, B , Sobey, C , Szary, A , Van Leeuwen, J
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148814 , vital:38776 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1093/mnras/staa516
- Description: We report here on initial results from the Thousand-Pulsar-Array (TPA) programme, part of the Large Survey Project ‘MeerTime’ on the MeerKAT telescope. The interferometer is used in the tied-array mode in the band from 856 to 1712 MHz, and the wide band coupled with the large collecting area and low receiver temperature make it an excellent telescope for the study of radio pulsars. The TPA is a 5 year project, which aims at to observing (a) more than 1000 pulsars to obtain high-fidelity pulse profiles, (b) some 500 of these pulsars over multiple epochs, and (c) long sequences of single-pulse trains from several hundred pulsars.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Johnston, Simon , Karastergiou, A , Keith, M J , Song, X , Weltevrede, P , Abbate, F , Bailes, M , Buchner, S , Camilo, F , Geyer, M , Hugo, B , Jameson, A , Kramer, M , Parthasarathy, A , Reardon, D J , Ridolfi A , Serylak, M , Shannon, R M , Spiewak, R , Van Straten, W , Venkatraman Krishnan, V , Jankowski, F , Meyers, B W , Oswald , L , Posselt, B , Sobey, C , Szary, A , Van Leeuwen, J
- Date: 2020
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148814 , vital:38776 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1093/mnras/staa516
- Description: We report here on initial results from the Thousand-Pulsar-Array (TPA) programme, part of the Large Survey Project ‘MeerTime’ on the MeerKAT telescope. The interferometer is used in the tied-array mode in the band from 856 to 1712 MHz, and the wide band coupled with the large collecting area and low receiver temperature make it an excellent telescope for the study of radio pulsars. The TPA is a 5 year project, which aims at to observing (a) more than 1000 pulsars to obtain high-fidelity pulse profiles, (b) some 500 of these pulsars over multiple epochs, and (c) long sequences of single-pulse trains from several hundred pulsars.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
A tree cannot make a forest: looking inward, reaching out in African Art Studies
- Authors: Fọlárànmí, Stephen
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/146090 , vital:38494 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1162/afar_a_00453
- Description: These proverbs from the Yorùbá of southwestern Nigeria and the Bemba of Zambia are a few examples that can be found in many Africa languages. While these proverbs are rich in philosophical sayings and muses, many are being forgotten because fewer and fewer people possess deep knowledge of languages, and in the arts, Africans tend to look to the Global North for theoretical frameworks to examine their art and other cultural properties. The title of this piece is therefore an identification with the potency of the proverbs because of the trends of collaboration that I have noticed in the last few years in African Art Studies. It could also be said to be a call to look into what could be shared within Global Souths in terms of an available knowledge base that could be used to forge ahead rather than subjecting thoughts and knowledge to the Global North.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Fọlárànmí, Stephen
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/146090 , vital:38494 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1162/afar_a_00453
- Description: These proverbs from the Yorùbá of southwestern Nigeria and the Bemba of Zambia are a few examples that can be found in many Africa languages. While these proverbs are rich in philosophical sayings and muses, many are being forgotten because fewer and fewer people possess deep knowledge of languages, and in the arts, Africans tend to look to the Global North for theoretical frameworks to examine their art and other cultural properties. The title of this piece is therefore an identification with the potency of the proverbs because of the trends of collaboration that I have noticed in the last few years in African Art Studies. It could also be said to be a call to look into what could be shared within Global Souths in terms of an available knowledge base that could be used to forge ahead rather than subjecting thoughts and knowledge to the Global North.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
An experimental test of the allotonic frequency hypothesis to isolate the effects of light pollution on bat prey selection:
- Bailey, Lauren A, Brigham, R Mark, Bohn, Shelby J, Boyles, Justin G, Smit, Ben
- Authors: Bailey, Lauren A , Brigham, R Mark , Bohn, Shelby J , Boyles, Justin G , Smit, Ben
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/158309 , vital:40171 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1007/s00442-019-04417-w
- Description: Artificial lights may be altering interactions between bats and moth prey. According to the allotonic frequency hypothesis (AFH), eared moths are generally unavailable as prey for syntonic bats (i.e., bats that use echolocation frequencies between 20 and 50 kHz within the hearing range of eared moths) due to the moths’ ability to detect syntonic bat echolocation. Syntonic bats therefore feed mainly on beetles, flies, true bugs, and non-eared moths. The AFH is expected to be violated around lights where eared moths are susceptible to exploitation by syntonic bats because moths’ evasive strategies become less effective. The hypothesis has been tested to date almost exclusively in areas with permanent lighting, where the effects of lights on bat diets are confounded with other aspects of human habitat alteration. We undertook diet analysis in areas with short-term, localized artificial lighting to isolate the effects of artificial lighting and determine if syntonic and allotonic bats (i.e., bats that use echolocation frequencies outside the hearing range of eared moths) consumed more moths under conditions of artificial lights than in natural darkness.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Bailey, Lauren A , Brigham, R Mark , Bohn, Shelby J , Boyles, Justin G , Smit, Ben
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/158309 , vital:40171 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1007/s00442-019-04417-w
- Description: Artificial lights may be altering interactions between bats and moth prey. According to the allotonic frequency hypothesis (AFH), eared moths are generally unavailable as prey for syntonic bats (i.e., bats that use echolocation frequencies between 20 and 50 kHz within the hearing range of eared moths) due to the moths’ ability to detect syntonic bat echolocation. Syntonic bats therefore feed mainly on beetles, flies, true bugs, and non-eared moths. The AFH is expected to be violated around lights where eared moths are susceptible to exploitation by syntonic bats because moths’ evasive strategies become less effective. The hypothesis has been tested to date almost exclusively in areas with permanent lighting, where the effects of lights on bat diets are confounded with other aspects of human habitat alteration. We undertook diet analysis in areas with short-term, localized artificial lighting to isolate the effects of artificial lighting and determine if syntonic and allotonic bats (i.e., bats that use echolocation frequencies outside the hearing range of eared moths) consumed more moths under conditions of artificial lights than in natural darkness.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Chinese engagement of Zimbabwe and the limits of elite agency:
- Chipaike, Ronald, Bischoff, Paul, 1954-
- Authors: Chipaike, Ronald , Bischoff, Paul, 1954-
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/161548 , vital:40637 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1177/0021909619848783
- Description: This article contends that Zimbabwe’s agency in its engagement with China has been limited and at best circumscribed. This owes to factors such as indifference by state authorities to cooperation with civil society actors in negotiating with Chinese actors, the desperation of the The Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front regime in the face of isolation by erstwhile partners as well as the opacity and secrecy that characterizes significant areas of the Zimbabwe–China relationship. The pressing need for critical institutions such as parliament to play independent oversight roles as well as the creation of space for civil society watchdog functions are highlighted as key enablers if Zimbabwean agency is to generate positive gains from the country’s engagement with China.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Chipaike, Ronald , Bischoff, Paul, 1954-
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/161548 , vital:40637 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1177/0021909619848783
- Description: This article contends that Zimbabwe’s agency in its engagement with China has been limited and at best circumscribed. This owes to factors such as indifference by state authorities to cooperation with civil society actors in negotiating with Chinese actors, the desperation of the The Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front regime in the face of isolation by erstwhile partners as well as the opacity and secrecy that characterizes significant areas of the Zimbabwe–China relationship. The pressing need for critical institutions such as parliament to play independent oversight roles as well as the creation of space for civil society watchdog functions are highlighted as key enablers if Zimbabwean agency is to generate positive gains from the country’s engagement with China.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Condition Report 3: Art History in Africa: debating localization,legitimization and new solidarities
- Simbao, Ruth K, Kouoh, Koyo, Nzewi, Ugochukwu-Smooth C, Sousa, Suzana, Koide, Emi
- Authors: Simbao, Ruth K , Kouoh, Koyo , Nzewi, Ugochukwu-Smooth C , Sousa, Suzana , Koide, Emi
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/146055 , vital:38491 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1162/afar_a_00456
- Description: Following on from the African Arts dialogue, “Zimbabwe Mobilizes: ICAC's Shift from Coup de Grăce to Cultural Coup” (Simbao et al. 2017) this dialogue considers another important event in the visual arts that recently took place on the African continent. Like the International Conference on African Cultures (ICAC) that was held in Harare in 2017, this event in Dakar contributes in important ways towards a shift of the center of gravity of the global academy, particularly the study of art history in and of Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Condition Report 3: Art History in Africa: debating localization,legitimization and new solidarities
- Authors: Simbao, Ruth K , Kouoh, Koyo , Nzewi, Ugochukwu-Smooth C , Sousa, Suzana , Koide, Emi
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/146055 , vital:38491 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1162/afar_a_00456
- Description: Following on from the African Arts dialogue, “Zimbabwe Mobilizes: ICAC's Shift from Coup de Grăce to Cultural Coup” (Simbao et al. 2017) this dialogue considers another important event in the visual arts that recently took place on the African continent. Like the International Conference on African Cultures (ICAC) that was held in Harare in 2017, this event in Dakar contributes in important ways towards a shift of the center of gravity of the global academy, particularly the study of art history in and of Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Humor, innovation, and competition in Jamaican music:
- Authors: Stanley Niaah, Sonjah
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/146398 , vital:38522 , ISBN 9781351266628
- Description: Book abstract. An essential part of human expression, humor plays a role in all forms of art, and humorous and comedic aspects have always been part of popular music. For the first time, The Routledge Companion to Popular Music and Humor draws together scholarship exploring how the element of humor interacts with the artistic and social aspects of the musical experience. Discussing humor in popular music across eras from Tin Pan Alley to the present, and examining the role of humor in different musical genres, case studies of artists, and media forms, this volume is a groundbreaking collection that provides a go-to reference for scholars in music, popular culture, and media studies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Stanley Niaah, Sonjah
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/146398 , vital:38522 , ISBN 9781351266628
- Description: Book abstract. An essential part of human expression, humor plays a role in all forms of art, and humorous and comedic aspects have always been part of popular music. For the first time, The Routledge Companion to Popular Music and Humor draws together scholarship exploring how the element of humor interacts with the artistic and social aspects of the musical experience. Discussing humor in popular music across eras from Tin Pan Alley to the present, and examining the role of humor in different musical genres, case studies of artists, and media forms, this volume is a groundbreaking collection that provides a go-to reference for scholars in music, popular culture, and media studies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019