A compliance framework for IT governance adoption and use by state-owned entities in South Africa
- Authors: Nxozi, Monelo
- Date: 2023-03-31
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/419244 , vital:71628
- Description: Embargoed. Possible release date in early 2025. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Commerce, Information Systems, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-31
- Authors: Nxozi, Monelo
- Date: 2023-03-31
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/419244 , vital:71628
- Description: Embargoed. Possible release date in early 2025. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Commerce, Information Systems, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-31
The distribution and perceptions of invasive alien plants in small towns in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa
- Authors: Seboko, Tshepiso Collen
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/${Handle} , vital:65669
- Description: Invasive alien plants (IAP) of different life forms have major effects on biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, economies, and livelihoods worldwide. There is evidence that IAP are rapidly increasing around the world, and the negative impacts associated with them are expected to worsen due to continuing land transformation, climate change, and urbanisation. Yet, information on the distribution, abundance, knowledge, and perceptions of IAP is limited, especially in small towns. Most previous research has largely focused on rural settings and larger cities, thus hindering the effective control and management of IAP in smaller urban settings. It is therefore important to assess the distribution of IAP to provide useful information to guide clearing and mitigation efforts to reduce the impacts and proliferation of IAP in smaller urban settings. Consequently, the aim of the study was to determine the distribution, composition, abundance, and perceptions of woody IAP in small towns in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa and assess how and why they may differ within and between towns. To achieve this aim, a drive by road survey was undertaken across all suburbs and land use types in 12 small towns located in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The 12 randomly selected small towns were, Adelaide, Alexandria, Barkley East, Bedford, Burgersdorp, Cathcart, Kirkwood, Middelburg, Paterson, Somerset East, St. Francis Bay and Willowmore. All woody IAP visible from the surveyed roads were counted across all suburbs and land use types within each town. A total of 38 427 woody IAP were enumerated, with 56 species across different land use types and suburbs in all towns. Affluent suburbs accounted for 58% of the IAP enumerated, while the Reconstructed Development Programme (RDP) suburbs accounted for only 5%. In terms of the land use type, most of the IAP were encountered in the residential areas (54%), as compared to, road verges (32%) and public urban green spaces (PUGS) (14%). Of the 12 towns, Middleburg had the highest number of woody IAP, with 5 573 individuals, while Paterson had the lowest number with 947. The most common IAP species across all towns was Melia azedarach with 4 384 individuals, followed by Pinus elliotti (4 051), and Jacaranda mimosifolia (3 640). Spathodea campanulata, Ardisia crenata, and Parkinsonia aculeata had the lowest number of individuals with only two individuals each across all towns. This study also assessed the knowledge, perceptions, and willingness of urban residents to control IAP in their home yards using household surveys. A total of 240 household surveys were administered in the 12 towns. The results showed that more than half of the respondents (59%) had no knowledge of IAP, while 14% had neutral knowledge and only 2% had high knowledge. Forty percent of the respondents agreed that IAP pose a problem to the environment whilst 11% did not think IAP posed a problem to the environment, and 49% stated that they do not know. Most of the respondents (91%) perceived IAP positively, and stated that they benefit from the IAP, with the most mentioned benefit being shade (50%). Almost two-thirds of the respondents (65%) were willing to report on the IAP in their yards to the relevant authorities that deal with the control and management of IAP. Over half (56%) of the respondents were willing to have the IAP removed from their gardens, with the most stated reason for removal was because the IAP caused damage to property (13%). Respondents thought that the local government (35%) or district government (30%) should be responsible for the control and management of IAP. Overall, the study showed that IAP species were most common in residential land use type and affluent suburbs. These findings can assist the relevant authorities that deal with IAP, regarding which plant species, suburbs, and land use types to prioritise regarding awareness and investment for control and management. This will also help explore alternative indigenous species that can be used as replacements that may offer the same benefits derived from IAP by urban residents. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Environmental Science, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Seboko, Tshepiso Collen
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/${Handle} , vital:65669
- Description: Invasive alien plants (IAP) of different life forms have major effects on biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, economies, and livelihoods worldwide. There is evidence that IAP are rapidly increasing around the world, and the negative impacts associated with them are expected to worsen due to continuing land transformation, climate change, and urbanisation. Yet, information on the distribution, abundance, knowledge, and perceptions of IAP is limited, especially in small towns. Most previous research has largely focused on rural settings and larger cities, thus hindering the effective control and management of IAP in smaller urban settings. It is therefore important to assess the distribution of IAP to provide useful information to guide clearing and mitigation efforts to reduce the impacts and proliferation of IAP in smaller urban settings. Consequently, the aim of the study was to determine the distribution, composition, abundance, and perceptions of woody IAP in small towns in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa and assess how and why they may differ within and between towns. To achieve this aim, a drive by road survey was undertaken across all suburbs and land use types in 12 small towns located in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The 12 randomly selected small towns were, Adelaide, Alexandria, Barkley East, Bedford, Burgersdorp, Cathcart, Kirkwood, Middelburg, Paterson, Somerset East, St. Francis Bay and Willowmore. All woody IAP visible from the surveyed roads were counted across all suburbs and land use types within each town. A total of 38 427 woody IAP were enumerated, with 56 species across different land use types and suburbs in all towns. Affluent suburbs accounted for 58% of the IAP enumerated, while the Reconstructed Development Programme (RDP) suburbs accounted for only 5%. In terms of the land use type, most of the IAP were encountered in the residential areas (54%), as compared to, road verges (32%) and public urban green spaces (PUGS) (14%). Of the 12 towns, Middleburg had the highest number of woody IAP, with 5 573 individuals, while Paterson had the lowest number with 947. The most common IAP species across all towns was Melia azedarach with 4 384 individuals, followed by Pinus elliotti (4 051), and Jacaranda mimosifolia (3 640). Spathodea campanulata, Ardisia crenata, and Parkinsonia aculeata had the lowest number of individuals with only two individuals each across all towns. This study also assessed the knowledge, perceptions, and willingness of urban residents to control IAP in their home yards using household surveys. A total of 240 household surveys were administered in the 12 towns. The results showed that more than half of the respondents (59%) had no knowledge of IAP, while 14% had neutral knowledge and only 2% had high knowledge. Forty percent of the respondents agreed that IAP pose a problem to the environment whilst 11% did not think IAP posed a problem to the environment, and 49% stated that they do not know. Most of the respondents (91%) perceived IAP positively, and stated that they benefit from the IAP, with the most mentioned benefit being shade (50%). Almost two-thirds of the respondents (65%) were willing to report on the IAP in their yards to the relevant authorities that deal with the control and management of IAP. Over half (56%) of the respondents were willing to have the IAP removed from their gardens, with the most stated reason for removal was because the IAP caused damage to property (13%). Respondents thought that the local government (35%) or district government (30%) should be responsible for the control and management of IAP. Overall, the study showed that IAP species were most common in residential land use type and affluent suburbs. These findings can assist the relevant authorities that deal with IAP, regarding which plant species, suburbs, and land use types to prioritise regarding awareness and investment for control and management. This will also help explore alternative indigenous species that can be used as replacements that may offer the same benefits derived from IAP by urban residents. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Environmental Science, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
Instrument building as a tool for the revitalisation and revaluing of traditional music transmission: An investigation in Tshandama and Mbahe in Venda, South Africa
- Authors: Makhanza, Joseph
- Date: 2023-03-31
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/419525 , vital:71651
- Description: This study stems from my experiences as a child who grew up playing herd boys’ musical instruments from Venda, such as the tshipotoliyo (ocarina), and tshitiringo (flute). Importantly it also builds on my time working at the International Library of African Music (ILAM,) where the aforementioned instruments, as well as the dende (musical bow) and tshizambi (Vhavenda and Vatsonga mouth bow), are displayed in transparent glass cubicles with a note, “Do not touch, they are fragile”. This phrase is painfully apt because, as a musician, I have observed a decline in the availability and performance of these musical instruments. The truth is that, other than at ILAM, these instruments are hardly in circulation, let alone being performed. This fact ignited my interest in relearning some of the musical instruments I used to play and make while herding cows in Giyani. In the context of trends such as modernisation, rural–urban migration, and globalisation, I document my experiences as a musical-instrument maker, teacher, and performer in revitalising dende, tshipotoliyo, tshitiringo, and tshizambi through classroom practice, using Rhodes music students, instrument-making workshops, performances, and community collaborations as inspiration. I propose the development of crafting skills as a medium for revitalising and sustaining these musical instruments which serve as important identity markers of the Vhavenda people. , Thesis (MMus) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-31
- Authors: Makhanza, Joseph
- Date: 2023-03-31
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/419525 , vital:71651
- Description: This study stems from my experiences as a child who grew up playing herd boys’ musical instruments from Venda, such as the tshipotoliyo (ocarina), and tshitiringo (flute). Importantly it also builds on my time working at the International Library of African Music (ILAM,) where the aforementioned instruments, as well as the dende (musical bow) and tshizambi (Vhavenda and Vatsonga mouth bow), are displayed in transparent glass cubicles with a note, “Do not touch, they are fragile”. This phrase is painfully apt because, as a musician, I have observed a decline in the availability and performance of these musical instruments. The truth is that, other than at ILAM, these instruments are hardly in circulation, let alone being performed. This fact ignited my interest in relearning some of the musical instruments I used to play and make while herding cows in Giyani. In the context of trends such as modernisation, rural–urban migration, and globalisation, I document my experiences as a musical-instrument maker, teacher, and performer in revitalising dende, tshipotoliyo, tshitiringo, and tshizambi through classroom practice, using Rhodes music students, instrument-making workshops, performances, and community collaborations as inspiration. I propose the development of crafting skills as a medium for revitalising and sustaining these musical instruments which serve as important identity markers of the Vhavenda people. , Thesis (MMus) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-31
The implementation of a mobile application to decrease occupational sitting through goal setting and social comparison
- Authors: Tsaoane, Moipone Lipalesa
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365544 , vital:65758
- Description: Background: Feedback proves to be a valuable tool in behaviour change as it is said to increase compliance and improve the effectiveness of interventions. Interventions that focus on decreasing sedentary behaviour as an independent factor from physical activity are necessary, especially for office workers who spend most of their day seated. There is insufficient knowledge regarding the effectiveness of feedback as a tool to decrease sedentary behaviour. This project implemented a tool that can be used to determine this. To take advantage of the cost-effectiveness and scalability of digital technologies, a mobile application was selected as the mode of delivery. Method: The application was designed as an intervention, using the Theoretical Domains Framework. It was then implemented into a fully functioning application through an agile development process, using Xam- arin.Forms framework. Due to challenges with this framework, a second application was developed using the React Native framework. Pilot studies were used for testing, with the final one consisting of Rhodes University employees. Results: The Xamarin.Forms application proved to be unfeasible; some users experienced fatal errors and crashes. The React Native application worked as desired and produced accurate and consistent step count readings, proving feasible from a functionality standpoint. The agile methodology enabled the developer to focus on implementing and testing one component at a time, which made the development process more manageable. Conclusion: Future work must conduct empirical studies to determine if feedback is an effective tool compared to a control group and which type of feedback (between goal-setting and social comparison) is most effective. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Computer Science, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Tsaoane, Moipone Lipalesa
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365544 , vital:65758
- Description: Background: Feedback proves to be a valuable tool in behaviour change as it is said to increase compliance and improve the effectiveness of interventions. Interventions that focus on decreasing sedentary behaviour as an independent factor from physical activity are necessary, especially for office workers who spend most of their day seated. There is insufficient knowledge regarding the effectiveness of feedback as a tool to decrease sedentary behaviour. This project implemented a tool that can be used to determine this. To take advantage of the cost-effectiveness and scalability of digital technologies, a mobile application was selected as the mode of delivery. Method: The application was designed as an intervention, using the Theoretical Domains Framework. It was then implemented into a fully functioning application through an agile development process, using Xam- arin.Forms framework. Due to challenges with this framework, a second application was developed using the React Native framework. Pilot studies were used for testing, with the final one consisting of Rhodes University employees. Results: The Xamarin.Forms application proved to be unfeasible; some users experienced fatal errors and crashes. The React Native application worked as desired and produced accurate and consistent step count readings, proving feasible from a functionality standpoint. The agile methodology enabled the developer to focus on implementing and testing one component at a time, which made the development process more manageable. Conclusion: Future work must conduct empirical studies to determine if feedback is an effective tool compared to a control group and which type of feedback (between goal-setting and social comparison) is most effective. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Computer Science, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
Exploring integration for the topic of stoichiometry in South African natural sciences and physical sciences school curricula
- Authors: Mgolozeli, Kwanele
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/405330 , vital:70162
- Description: Many developing countries, including South Africa, have identified the provision and implementation of strong science curricula as central to their developmental needs. Stoichiometry is a fundamental chemistry topic because the concepts involved form the basis of later topics such as chemical equilibrium, rates of reactions, redox reactions, and acid-base reactions. School students consistently demonstrate lack of understanding of stoichiometry-related concepts and skills such as the particulate nature of matter and related mathematical problem-solving. The poor performance of high school students in central science topics such as stoichiometry is problematic for their further study of chemistry and for the country meeting its need for science graduates. Successive examiner reports pointed to the lack of integration of stoichiometry concepts across the grades being the main problem. However, no study could be found which explores how stoichiometry is integrated in the South African Natural Sciences and Physical Sciences curriculum across the grades. This provided the rationale for the current study. The case study reported in this thesis thus aimed to explore integration of stoichiometry concepts in South African Natural Sciences and Physical Sciences school curricula. It involved document analysis as the method of collecting data. The research adopted the social realist paradigm, with its realist ontology and relativist epistemology. Legitimation Code Theory provided the theoretical framing. Chemistry concepts that are foundational to the understanding of stoichiometry according to literature, were chosen as root concepts for the concept mapping undertaken to identify types of integration. The concept maps revealed four stoichiometry integration themes: integration of stoichiometry concepts with symbols, integration of stoichiometry concepts with explanations, integration with applications in a chemistry context, and integration with an everyday context. These themes provided integration categories. A semantic gravity translation device was then developed for characterising the types of integration in terms of the degree of contextualisation. The results of this study show that stoichiometry integration of weaker semantic gravity is legitimated more strongly over other semantic gravity codes in the Natural Sciences and Physical Sciences curricula across all grade levels. While this has advantages in terms of knowledge-building potential, the consequence is that the integration occurs at very abstract levels that are far removed from learners’ everyday lives. The practical implication for curriculum developers involves increasing the instances of integration of stoichiometry concepts at stronger levels of semantic gravity, for a more even semantic gravity range of integration types. Natural Sciences and Physical Sciences teachers also need to source and include real-life examples for explanations and applications of stoichiometry concepts when teaching, in light of current curriculum documents focusing more on abstract forms of integration. Methodologically, this study contributes to the increased utility of semantic gravity through its exploration of integration in relation to knowledge-building potential of curriculum for hierarchical knowledge structures such as chemistry. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Mgolozeli, Kwanele
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/405330 , vital:70162
- Description: Many developing countries, including South Africa, have identified the provision and implementation of strong science curricula as central to their developmental needs. Stoichiometry is a fundamental chemistry topic because the concepts involved form the basis of later topics such as chemical equilibrium, rates of reactions, redox reactions, and acid-base reactions. School students consistently demonstrate lack of understanding of stoichiometry-related concepts and skills such as the particulate nature of matter and related mathematical problem-solving. The poor performance of high school students in central science topics such as stoichiometry is problematic for their further study of chemistry and for the country meeting its need for science graduates. Successive examiner reports pointed to the lack of integration of stoichiometry concepts across the grades being the main problem. However, no study could be found which explores how stoichiometry is integrated in the South African Natural Sciences and Physical Sciences curriculum across the grades. This provided the rationale for the current study. The case study reported in this thesis thus aimed to explore integration of stoichiometry concepts in South African Natural Sciences and Physical Sciences school curricula. It involved document analysis as the method of collecting data. The research adopted the social realist paradigm, with its realist ontology and relativist epistemology. Legitimation Code Theory provided the theoretical framing. Chemistry concepts that are foundational to the understanding of stoichiometry according to literature, were chosen as root concepts for the concept mapping undertaken to identify types of integration. The concept maps revealed four stoichiometry integration themes: integration of stoichiometry concepts with symbols, integration of stoichiometry concepts with explanations, integration with applications in a chemistry context, and integration with an everyday context. These themes provided integration categories. A semantic gravity translation device was then developed for characterising the types of integration in terms of the degree of contextualisation. The results of this study show that stoichiometry integration of weaker semantic gravity is legitimated more strongly over other semantic gravity codes in the Natural Sciences and Physical Sciences curricula across all grade levels. While this has advantages in terms of knowledge-building potential, the consequence is that the integration occurs at very abstract levels that are far removed from learners’ everyday lives. The practical implication for curriculum developers involves increasing the instances of integration of stoichiometry concepts at stronger levels of semantic gravity, for a more even semantic gravity range of integration types. Natural Sciences and Physical Sciences teachers also need to source and include real-life examples for explanations and applications of stoichiometry concepts when teaching, in light of current curriculum documents focusing more on abstract forms of integration. Methodologically, this study contributes to the increased utility of semantic gravity through its exploration of integration in relation to knowledge-building potential of curriculum for hierarchical knowledge structures such as chemistry. , Thesis (MEd) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
Mechanistic analysis of two cytotoxic thiazolidinones as novel inhibitors of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
- Authors: Vukea, Nyeleti
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365734 , vital:65780
- Description: Thesis embargoes. Expected release date early 2025. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Vukea, Nyeleti
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365734 , vital:65780
- Description: Thesis embargoes. Expected release date early 2025. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
Optimization of an intranasal levodopa nanocrystalline formulation for delivery to the brain
- Authors: Kakono, Chiedza
- Date: 2023-03-29
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/420709 , vital:71771
- Description: Thesis embargoed. Probable release date in 2025. , Thesis (MSc (Pharm)) -- Faculty of Pharmacy, Pharmacy, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-29
- Authors: Kakono, Chiedza
- Date: 2023-03-29
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/420709 , vital:71771
- Description: Thesis embargoed. Probable release date in 2025. , Thesis (MSc (Pharm)) -- Faculty of Pharmacy, Pharmacy, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-29
Synthesis and evaluation of the medicinal potential of novel 4-hydroxycoumarin derivatives
- Authors: Manyeruke, Meloddy Hlatini
- Date: 2022-04-08
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/164458 , vital:41120 , doi:10.21504/10962/164458
- Description: This research has focused on the synthesis and biological evaluation of a broad range of compounds characterised by the presence of the pharmacologically significant 4-hydroxycoumalin scaffold. The compounds were designed to contain additional pharmachophoric centres to enhance bioactivity and generate lead compounds with dualaction potential. The use of 4-hydroxycoumarin as the primary synthon enabled access to various series of 4-hydroxycoumarin conjugates, the reactive 3-position on the 4-hydroxycoumarin moiety being exploited for regioselective construction of the targeted compounds in several steps. Some of the reactants required in the construction of these compounds were specially synthesised and included propargyloxy benzaldehydes, benzyloxy benzaldehydes and 2,3-dihydroxysuccino-dihydride. Overall, eight different families of novel compounds were accessed, comprising conjugates of 4-hydroxycoumarin with bisethylidenesuccinohyrazide, trifluoroacetamide, amino, benzyloxyphenyl-iminoethyl, benzylidenehyrazinyl-thiazoyl, benzylidenehydrazonoethyl, propargyloxybenzylidenehydrazonoethyl and phenylacryloyl moieties using protocols that required minimal work-up and purification. The eighty novel compounds synthesised in the study were fully characterised using HMRS and advanced NMR techniques. Cytotoxicity, HIV-1 IN and PR inhibitory, and antitrypanosomal, antimalarial and anti-Mtb assays were conducted on the synthesised coumarin derivatives. Several compounds exhibited activity against HIV-1 IN, the most potent being a bis-ethylidenesuccinohyrazide with an IC50 value of 3.5 μM. Various compounds exhibited anti-malarial activity (% pLDH viability in the range 62-77%), anti-trypanosomal activity (the most potent with an IC50 = 0.9 μM against T.b. brucei) and a measure of anti-Mtb activity. Apart from two chalconyl derivatives, none of the synthesised compounds exhibited significant cytotoxicity. Conflicting results were obtained from the in silico docking studies; in some cases supporting the observed in vitro assay data while, in others, exhibiting no correlation. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Chemistry, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-08
- Authors: Manyeruke, Meloddy Hlatini
- Date: 2022-04-08
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/164458 , vital:41120 , doi:10.21504/10962/164458
- Description: This research has focused on the synthesis and biological evaluation of a broad range of compounds characterised by the presence of the pharmacologically significant 4-hydroxycoumalin scaffold. The compounds were designed to contain additional pharmachophoric centres to enhance bioactivity and generate lead compounds with dualaction potential. The use of 4-hydroxycoumarin as the primary synthon enabled access to various series of 4-hydroxycoumarin conjugates, the reactive 3-position on the 4-hydroxycoumarin moiety being exploited for regioselective construction of the targeted compounds in several steps. Some of the reactants required in the construction of these compounds were specially synthesised and included propargyloxy benzaldehydes, benzyloxy benzaldehydes and 2,3-dihydroxysuccino-dihydride. Overall, eight different families of novel compounds were accessed, comprising conjugates of 4-hydroxycoumarin with bisethylidenesuccinohyrazide, trifluoroacetamide, amino, benzyloxyphenyl-iminoethyl, benzylidenehyrazinyl-thiazoyl, benzylidenehydrazonoethyl, propargyloxybenzylidenehydrazonoethyl and phenylacryloyl moieties using protocols that required minimal work-up and purification. The eighty novel compounds synthesised in the study were fully characterised using HMRS and advanced NMR techniques. Cytotoxicity, HIV-1 IN and PR inhibitory, and antitrypanosomal, antimalarial and anti-Mtb assays were conducted on the synthesised coumarin derivatives. Several compounds exhibited activity against HIV-1 IN, the most potent being a bis-ethylidenesuccinohyrazide with an IC50 value of 3.5 μM. Various compounds exhibited anti-malarial activity (% pLDH viability in the range 62-77%), anti-trypanosomal activity (the most potent with an IC50 = 0.9 μM against T.b. brucei) and a measure of anti-Mtb activity. Apart from two chalconyl derivatives, none of the synthesised compounds exhibited significant cytotoxicity. Conflicting results were obtained from the in silico docking studies; in some cases supporting the observed in vitro assay data while, in others, exhibiting no correlation. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Chemistry, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-08
The meanings of the social media practices of African women engaged in multi-level marketing in Makhanda
- Authors: Tembani, Khuselwa Anda
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365588 , vital:65762
- Description: In their efforts for a place in the economy, many South African women have embraced opportunities in the informal sector such as selling products for big Multi-Level Marketers (MLMs), who generally operate on a pyramid structure of commissions. This qualitative study investigates the meanings African women engaged in MLMs in Makhanda make of such work and examines how they construct notions of progress and success through their social media practices. The study was conducted in the strictest lockdown period and pioneered a research method that used Zoom to facilitate screen sharing on mobile phones to create an online version of the scroll-back method for Facebook. As expected for women working in a society increasingly integrated in a global neoliberal order, many of the meanings the women construct are rooted in neoliberal discourses that celebrate hyper-individualism and competition. This firstly includes constructing success through personal stories of self-appreciation, through which these women embody the MLM’s brand, while simultaneously improving their position in the market as sellers. Secondly, the women invest considerable effort on social media in constructing MLM work as epitomising stability in the context of the growing precarity that characterises their everyday lives. However, other meanings draw on the local African context. Here the women make sense of the inequalities that characterise the MLM pyramid structures, by constructing top players in the upline as a symbolic vanguard trailblazing freedom from a racist past through showcasing paths out of poverty. More interestingly, success is constructed as both resulting from and serving collective ways of being rooted in the discourse of African humanism. Here success is recognised as emerging from dense place-based networks in the neighbourhood built on trust and obligation, now replicated on social media. In conclusion, the study speculates that the worlds of meaning facilitated by MLMs might provide ways for neoliberal and traditional discourses to find points of synergy, and so serve as entry points into a neoliberal order that interestingly nevertheless draws on communal cultures of obligation and patronage. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Journalism and Media Studies, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Tembani, Khuselwa Anda
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365588 , vital:65762
- Description: In their efforts for a place in the economy, many South African women have embraced opportunities in the informal sector such as selling products for big Multi-Level Marketers (MLMs), who generally operate on a pyramid structure of commissions. This qualitative study investigates the meanings African women engaged in MLMs in Makhanda make of such work and examines how they construct notions of progress and success through their social media practices. The study was conducted in the strictest lockdown period and pioneered a research method that used Zoom to facilitate screen sharing on mobile phones to create an online version of the scroll-back method for Facebook. As expected for women working in a society increasingly integrated in a global neoliberal order, many of the meanings the women construct are rooted in neoliberal discourses that celebrate hyper-individualism and competition. This firstly includes constructing success through personal stories of self-appreciation, through which these women embody the MLM’s brand, while simultaneously improving their position in the market as sellers. Secondly, the women invest considerable effort on social media in constructing MLM work as epitomising stability in the context of the growing precarity that characterises their everyday lives. However, other meanings draw on the local African context. Here the women make sense of the inequalities that characterise the MLM pyramid structures, by constructing top players in the upline as a symbolic vanguard trailblazing freedom from a racist past through showcasing paths out of poverty. More interestingly, success is constructed as both resulting from and serving collective ways of being rooted in the discourse of African humanism. Here success is recognised as emerging from dense place-based networks in the neighbourhood built on trust and obligation, now replicated on social media. In conclusion, the study speculates that the worlds of meaning facilitated by MLMs might provide ways for neoliberal and traditional discourses to find points of synergy, and so serve as entry points into a neoliberal order that interestingly nevertheless draws on communal cultures of obligation and patronage. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Journalism and Media Studies, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
The proprietary consequences of foreign marriages for the purposes of estate planning and succession in South Africa
- Authors: Thorne, Aimee Liza
- Date: 2023-03-29
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/420725 , vital:71773
- Description: This thesis is intended to provide clarity regarding the proprietary consequences of foreign marriages in the context of estate planning and succession in South Africa. It includes an exploration into the impact of specific legislation on foreign marriages, the implications of matrimonial property regimes on a deceased estate in South Africa, private international law principles affecting matrimonial property and succession claims, the scope of antenuptial contracts and postnuptial contracts as existing remedies for foreign remedies, and the harmonisation of succession and matrimonial property law in the European Union (EU). It furthermore suggests potential reforms for the overhaul of the lex domicilii matrimonii principle and associated issues arising therefrom. Various specific issues discussed include the waiver of accrual claims, maintenance claims by surviving spouses of a foreign marriage, choice-of-law rules for matrimonial property rights and succession rights, the registration of a domestic or foreign antenuptial contract for foreign marriages, the formal validity and proper law of antenuptial contracts, the operation of the immutability principle on a domestic and international level, and the common-law approach to the recognition of postnuptial contracts and spousal donations. , Thesis (LLM) -- Faculty of Law, Law, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-29
- Authors: Thorne, Aimee Liza
- Date: 2023-03-29
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/420725 , vital:71773
- Description: This thesis is intended to provide clarity regarding the proprietary consequences of foreign marriages in the context of estate planning and succession in South Africa. It includes an exploration into the impact of specific legislation on foreign marriages, the implications of matrimonial property regimes on a deceased estate in South Africa, private international law principles affecting matrimonial property and succession claims, the scope of antenuptial contracts and postnuptial contracts as existing remedies for foreign remedies, and the harmonisation of succession and matrimonial property law in the European Union (EU). It furthermore suggests potential reforms for the overhaul of the lex domicilii matrimonii principle and associated issues arising therefrom. Various specific issues discussed include the waiver of accrual claims, maintenance claims by surviving spouses of a foreign marriage, choice-of-law rules for matrimonial property rights and succession rights, the registration of a domestic or foreign antenuptial contract for foreign marriages, the formal validity and proper law of antenuptial contracts, the operation of the immutability principle on a domestic and international level, and the common-law approach to the recognition of postnuptial contracts and spousal donations. , Thesis (LLM) -- Faculty of Law, Law, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-29
Fire disaster management in South Africa: modelling and data analysis at national and local level of government
- Authors: Madondo, Rennifer
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/419577 , vital:71656
- Description: Embargoed. Possible release in 2026 pending publication. , Thesis (MSC Pharm) -- Faculty of Pharmacy, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-10-13
- Authors: Madondo, Rennifer
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/419577 , vital:71656
- Description: Embargoed. Possible release in 2026 pending publication. , Thesis (MSC Pharm) -- Faculty of Pharmacy, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-10-13
The effectiveness and feasibility of online prolonged exposure therapy for post-traumatic stress among university students
- Authors: Slabbert, Maryna
- Date: 2023-03-30
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/408885 , vital:70534
- Description: Research has found that 70.6% of university students reported exposure to several traumatic events (Hoffman, 2002). Considering the high prevalence of trauma exposure among South African university students, many are at risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Iribarren, Prolo, Naegos & Chiappelli, 2005). Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE) is regarded as a first-line trauma therapy for PTSD (Foa, Hembree, Rothbaum, & Rauch, 2019). During the Covid-19 pandemic, public health guidelines for physical distancing reduced access to face-to-face mental health care. In response to this, many health care providers adapted to pandemic constraints by meeting their clients online, through Zoom, for example (Wells et al., 2020). Considering the prevalence of trauma exposure among university students, as well as the increased necessity of teletherapy, the study aimed to investigate the effectiveness and feasibility of online PE for PTSD among university students in a South African setting. The study employed Single-Case Experimental Design (SCED) as basis for its research design. Participants included a sample of Rhodes University students (n = 3) who were recruited through purposive sampling. Prior to the intervention, all three participants met the criteria for PTSD, and comorbid depression. Based on the measures used, two of the three participants did not meet the criteria for PTSD post-intervention. In terms of depression symptoms, one participant did not meet the criteria for depression post-intervention, and another participant showed a decrease in depression symptoms. Regarding the feasibility of online PE, all three participants reported the intervention to be feasible, acceptable, and appropriate. Overall, the study provides preliminary results to support the effectiveness and feasibility of online PE. It also gives insight into the value of intervention research and how it can ameliorate PTSD in a South African setting, as well as other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-30
- Authors: Slabbert, Maryna
- Date: 2023-03-30
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/408885 , vital:70534
- Description: Research has found that 70.6% of university students reported exposure to several traumatic events (Hoffman, 2002). Considering the high prevalence of trauma exposure among South African university students, many are at risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Iribarren, Prolo, Naegos & Chiappelli, 2005). Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE) is regarded as a first-line trauma therapy for PTSD (Foa, Hembree, Rothbaum, & Rauch, 2019). During the Covid-19 pandemic, public health guidelines for physical distancing reduced access to face-to-face mental health care. In response to this, many health care providers adapted to pandemic constraints by meeting their clients online, through Zoom, for example (Wells et al., 2020). Considering the prevalence of trauma exposure among university students, as well as the increased necessity of teletherapy, the study aimed to investigate the effectiveness and feasibility of online PE for PTSD among university students in a South African setting. The study employed Single-Case Experimental Design (SCED) as basis for its research design. Participants included a sample of Rhodes University students (n = 3) who were recruited through purposive sampling. Prior to the intervention, all three participants met the criteria for PTSD, and comorbid depression. Based on the measures used, two of the three participants did not meet the criteria for PTSD post-intervention. In terms of depression symptoms, one participant did not meet the criteria for depression post-intervention, and another participant showed a decrease in depression symptoms. Regarding the feasibility of online PE, all three participants reported the intervention to be feasible, acceptable, and appropriate. Overall, the study provides preliminary results to support the effectiveness and feasibility of online PE. It also gives insight into the value of intervention research and how it can ameliorate PTSD in a South African setting, as well as other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-30
The role of optimism bias in susceptibility to phishing attacks in a financial services organisation
- Authors: Owen, Morné
- Date: 2023-03-31
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/419257 , vital:71629 , DOI 10.21504/10962/419257
- Description: Researchers looking for ways to change the insecure behaviour that results in successful phishing have considered multiple possible reasons for such behaviour. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand the role of optimism bias (OB – defined as a cognitive bias), which characterises overly optimistic or unrealistic individuals, in order to ensure secure behaviour. Research is considered that has focused on issues such as personality traits, trust, attitude and information security awareness training (ISAT). We used a mixed methods design to investigate OB behaviour, building on a recontextualised version of the theory of planned behaviour to evaluate the influence that OB has on phishing susceptibility. To model the data, an analysis was performed on 226 survey responses (systematic random sampling method) from the employees of a financial services organisation using partial least squares (PLS) path modelling. To evaluate OB behaviour, we conducted an experiment consisting of three ISAT sessions and three simulated phishing attacks. After each phishing experiment, we conducted interviews to gain a better understanding of why people succumbed to the attacks. It was subsequently found that overly optimistic individuals are inclined to behave insecurely, while factors such as attitude and trust significantly influence the intention to behave securely. Our contribution to practice is to enhance the effectiveness of ISAT by identifying and addressing the OB weakness to deliver a more successful training outcome. Our contribution to theory enriches the Information Systems literature by evaluating the effect of a cognitive bias on phishing susceptibility and, through research, offering a contextual explanation of the resultant behaviour. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Commerce, Information Systems, 2023 , Navorsers op soek na ‘n antwoord om onveilige gedrag te verander wat lei na uitvissing het verskeie moontlike redes oorweeg vir sulke gedrag. Daarom is die doel van hierdie verhandeling om die rol van optimistiese vooroordeel (OB - gedefinieer as 'n kognitiewe vooroordeel) te verstaan, wat te optimistiese of onrealistiese individue kenmerk om veilige gedrag te verseker. Navorsing was oorweeg wat gefokus het op kwessies soos persoonlikheidseienskappe, vertroue, gesindheid en inligtingsekuriteitsbewustheidsopleiding (ISAT). Die navorser het gemengde metodes gebruik om OB-gedrag te ondersoek. Daar was voortgebou op 'n gerekontekstualiseerde weergawe van die theory of planned behaviour om die invloed wat OB op uitvissing-vatbaarheid het, te evalueer. Om die data te modelleer, is 'n analise gedoen waar 226 opname antwoorde verkry is van 'n finansiële dienste organisasie en is partial least squares (PLS) path modelling gebruik. Om OB-gedrag te evalueer, het ons 'n eksperiment uitgevoer wat bestaan uit drie ISAT-sessies en drie gesimuleerde uitvissing-aanvalle. Na elke uitvissing-eksperiment het ons onderhoude gevoer om 'n beter begrip te kry waarom mense aan die aanvalle geswig het. Te optimistiese individue is geneig om onveilig op te tree, terwyl faktore soos gesindheid en vertroue die voorneme om veilig op te tree, aansienlik beïnvloed het. Die studie se bydrae tot die praktyk is om die doeltreffendheid van ISAT te verbeter deur die OBswakheid te identifiseer en aan te spreek om 'n meer suksesvolle opleidingsuitkoms te lewer. Verder verryk die studie die Inligtingstelsels-literatuur deur die effek van 'n kognitiewe vooroordeel op uitvissing-vatbaarheid te evalueer en deur navorsing bied dit 'n kontekstuele verduideliking van die gevolglike gedrag.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-31
The role of optimism bias in susceptibility to phishing attacks in a financial services organisation
- Authors: Owen, Morné
- Date: 2023-03-31
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/419257 , vital:71629 , DOI 10.21504/10962/419257
- Description: Researchers looking for ways to change the insecure behaviour that results in successful phishing have considered multiple possible reasons for such behaviour. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand the role of optimism bias (OB – defined as a cognitive bias), which characterises overly optimistic or unrealistic individuals, in order to ensure secure behaviour. Research is considered that has focused on issues such as personality traits, trust, attitude and information security awareness training (ISAT). We used a mixed methods design to investigate OB behaviour, building on a recontextualised version of the theory of planned behaviour to evaluate the influence that OB has on phishing susceptibility. To model the data, an analysis was performed on 226 survey responses (systematic random sampling method) from the employees of a financial services organisation using partial least squares (PLS) path modelling. To evaluate OB behaviour, we conducted an experiment consisting of three ISAT sessions and three simulated phishing attacks. After each phishing experiment, we conducted interviews to gain a better understanding of why people succumbed to the attacks. It was subsequently found that overly optimistic individuals are inclined to behave insecurely, while factors such as attitude and trust significantly influence the intention to behave securely. Our contribution to practice is to enhance the effectiveness of ISAT by identifying and addressing the OB weakness to deliver a more successful training outcome. Our contribution to theory enriches the Information Systems literature by evaluating the effect of a cognitive bias on phishing susceptibility and, through research, offering a contextual explanation of the resultant behaviour. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Commerce, Information Systems, 2023 , Navorsers op soek na ‘n antwoord om onveilige gedrag te verander wat lei na uitvissing het verskeie moontlike redes oorweeg vir sulke gedrag. Daarom is die doel van hierdie verhandeling om die rol van optimistiese vooroordeel (OB - gedefinieer as 'n kognitiewe vooroordeel) te verstaan, wat te optimistiese of onrealistiese individue kenmerk om veilige gedrag te verseker. Navorsing was oorweeg wat gefokus het op kwessies soos persoonlikheidseienskappe, vertroue, gesindheid en inligtingsekuriteitsbewustheidsopleiding (ISAT). Die navorser het gemengde metodes gebruik om OB-gedrag te ondersoek. Daar was voortgebou op 'n gerekontekstualiseerde weergawe van die theory of planned behaviour om die invloed wat OB op uitvissing-vatbaarheid het, te evalueer. Om die data te modelleer, is 'n analise gedoen waar 226 opname antwoorde verkry is van 'n finansiële dienste organisasie en is partial least squares (PLS) path modelling gebruik. Om OB-gedrag te evalueer, het ons 'n eksperiment uitgevoer wat bestaan uit drie ISAT-sessies en drie gesimuleerde uitvissing-aanvalle. Na elke uitvissing-eksperiment het ons onderhoude gevoer om 'n beter begrip te kry waarom mense aan die aanvalle geswig het. Te optimistiese individue is geneig om onveilig op te tree, terwyl faktore soos gesindheid en vertroue die voorneme om veilig op te tree, aansienlik beïnvloed het. Die studie se bydrae tot die praktyk is om die doeltreffendheid van ISAT te verbeter deur die OBswakheid te identifiseer en aan te spreek om 'n meer suksesvolle opleidingsuitkoms te lewer. Verder verryk die studie die Inligtingstelsels-literatuur deur die effek van 'n kognitiewe vooroordeel op uitvissing-vatbaarheid te evalueer en deur navorsing bied dit 'n kontekstuele verduideliking van die gevolglike gedrag.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-31
Exploration of remote work and wellbeing of academics in a South African tertiary institution
- Authors: Chikutu, Michelle
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/405963 , vital:70223
- Description: Thesis embargoed. To be released in 2024. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Chikutu, Michelle
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/405963 , vital:70223
- Description: Thesis embargoed. To be released in 2024. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
The depositional history and evaluation of two late quaternary, diamondiferous pocket beaches, south-western Namibia
- Authors: Milad, Micael George
- Date: 2004-03
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/420934 , vital:71795
- Description: The two Late Quaternary, diamondiferous pocket beach deposits studied here are situated along a 10 km stretch of the storm-dominated, Atlantic coastline of the Sperrgebiet, south-western Namibia. The pocket beaches are approximately 130 km north of the Orange River mouth, which is widely accepted as a long-lived point source for diamonds sourced from the interior of southern Africa. A total of fourteen pocket beach deposits were recently evaluated in this area, but only two of these, namely Site 2 (to the south) and Site 3 (to the north), are considered here. The main diamondbearing horizons are beach gravels, which occur within, and form part of, the pocket beach sequences. The beach gravels are mostly blanketed by sand overburden, meaning that exposures available for study were limited, and much reliance was placed on borehole logging and observations of evaluation sample tailings. The main aims are to unravel the depositional history of the pocket beach sequences, identify the controls on diamond mineralisation in the beach gravels, and critically examine two different methods of estimating average diamond size for the deposits. In pursuit of these aims, sedimentological characteristics of the unconsolidated pocket beach deposits were recorded using small diameter drill holes, hydraulic grab bulk samples, trench exposures and surface outcrops. The surface geology, geomorphology and modern wave patterns were mapped using high-resolution, Airborne Laser Survey imagery coupled with extensive field checking. Three-dimensional geological modeling software was used to gain insight into the subsurface morphology of the deposits. Fossil shell samples were used to aid interpretation of ancient depositional environments and to date parts of the pocket beach sequences. Variations in diamond concentration and the size of diamonds were recorded using bulk samples, some of which were taken from a trench, but most of which were excavated using a hydraulic grab tool called the GB50. Finally, by using diamond size data from Site 3, sample data from diamondiferous beach gravels to the south of the study area and sample campaign simulations, two alternative methods of evaluating average diamond size in marine gravel deposits were appraised.The pocket beach sequences occur within north-south trending valleys of a major deflation basin and are separated from one another by rocky headlands. The ridge-and-valley topography of the deflation basin has resulted from differential erosion of Late Proterozoic basement rock units, alternating layers of which differ greatly in their resistance to the long-lived, local denudationalprocesses. On the basis of the stratigraphic information collected from the unconsolidated pocket beach valley fills, interpreted within the context of global, Late Pleistocene sea level records, the following depositional history is deduced : a) Deposition of sheetflood gravels by ephemeral streams, activated during a regressive phase. b) Transgression, culminating in the deposition of a gravel beach, representing a sea level highstand of +4 metres above mean sea level (mamsl) at between 120 000 and 130 000 BP. c)A regressive phase, resulting in deflation of former valley fills to the bedrock valley floor and accompanied by re-activation of ephemeral stream activity to form sheetflood deposits; this represents a protracted period of subaerial exposure of the +4 m gravel beach deposit. d) Deposition of a great volume of sediment in the valleys during the latter stages of the transgression from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The sequence generated during this phase, which started at ca. 9 000 BP, contains : i) pan/coastal sabkha sediments, ii) shallow, sheltered bay sediments, iii) back-barrier lagoonal sediments, iv) a gravel beach deposit representing a sea level stillstand at -5 mamsl, laid down between 7 600 and 5 600 BP, v) another gravel beach deposit representing the well-known Middle Holocene sea level highstand at +2 to +3 mamsl, laid down at ca. 5 000 BP, and which terminated the transgression from the LGM. e) A minor regression to the current sea level, accompanied by progradation of the shoreline to its current position. This progradational marine unit consists almost entirely of sand and grit, reflecting the lack of gravel supply to this part of the coastline in the most recent past. f) Deposition of modern coastal dunes, which cap the pocket beach sequence and are the youngest sediments in the study area. Using trench and hydraulic grab evaluation sample results, in combination with analysis of wave patterns and field observations, the following local controls on the density distribution (ie. concentration) and size distribution of diamonds in the gravel beach deposits (+4, -5 and +2 to +3 mamsl stands) are recognised: a) Gravel beach depositional processes, which are responsible for clast sorting on the beach, have influenced the density and size distribution of diamonds. The infill zone, or beach toe, favours maximum diamond concentration while diamond size decreases from the imbricate zone (intertidal) to the infill zone (subtidal). b) Wave energy is identified as the dominant local control on diamond size distribution, but has also influenced diamond concentration to a limited degree. Larger diamonds are intimately associated with coarser beach gravels, both of which are a reflection of increased wave energy. Higher concentrations of diamonds are sometimes associated with zones of coarser gravel and therefore greater wave energy. c) The time of deposition of the host gravel beach is seen to be the dominant controlling factor with respect to diamond concentration. This is seen as evidence of significant temporal variation in the availability of diamonds in the littoral evironment. A significant reduction (20%) in average diamond size from Site 2 to Site 3, over a distance of only 6 km, is evident. The following were identified as reasons for this reduction in diamond size : a) Longshore sorting processes, of which the long-lived northerly littoral drift is a key part, are known to have played a role in the diminution of diamond size northwards from the Orange River mouth point source. However, it is believed that this can only partly account for the observed 20% reduction in diamond size. b) Input of sediment and smaller diamonds at Site 3, reworked out of an older, Eocene-aged marine succession in the hinterland, is recognised as a possible additional reason for the large reduction in diamond size from Site 2 to Site 3. It is also speculated that the large size of the pocket beach at Site 3, relative to Site 2, may have resulted in lower average wave energy at Site 3, with consequent reduced average diamond size. Diamond size in the beach gravels of Site 3, as well as in beach gravels elsewhere in the Sperrgebiet, is seen to be lognormally-distributed within geologically homogeneous zones. In theory, lognormal mean estimators represent the best method of estimating average diamond size in such cases, whereas the arithmetic mean estimator has the tendency to overestimate when large outlier values occur. Lognormal mean estimators have the added benefit of providing for the calculation of confidence limits, which are becoming increasingly more important as financial lending institutions insist on better quantification of the risk involved in resource estimates. Sample campaign simulations demonstrate, for the kinds of diamond size-frequency distributions typical of beach gravel deposits at Site 3, that there is no significant improvement in the accuracy of average diamond size estimates when lognormal mean estimators are used instead of the arithmetic mean estimator. This is because the variance (a ) of the diamond populations is low, and large outlier values are extremely unlikely to occur. However, simulation of a diamond population with high variance, drawn from a sample of beach gravels near the Orange River mouth, shows that lognormal estimators produce significantly more accurate results when a is large. Since individual diamond weights were not recorded during evaluation sampling of Site 3, numerical solution of lognormal estimators is not possible, and these would need to be solved using a less accurate graphical method. It is therefore recommended that individual diamond weights are recorded in future sampling campaigns, allowing for the use of lognormal mean estimators, and the calculation of confidence limits for average diamond size estimates. , Thesis (MSc) -- Science, Geology, 2004
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004-03
- Authors: Milad, Micael George
- Date: 2004-03
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/420934 , vital:71795
- Description: The two Late Quaternary, diamondiferous pocket beach deposits studied here are situated along a 10 km stretch of the storm-dominated, Atlantic coastline of the Sperrgebiet, south-western Namibia. The pocket beaches are approximately 130 km north of the Orange River mouth, which is widely accepted as a long-lived point source for diamonds sourced from the interior of southern Africa. A total of fourteen pocket beach deposits were recently evaluated in this area, but only two of these, namely Site 2 (to the south) and Site 3 (to the north), are considered here. The main diamondbearing horizons are beach gravels, which occur within, and form part of, the pocket beach sequences. The beach gravels are mostly blanketed by sand overburden, meaning that exposures available for study were limited, and much reliance was placed on borehole logging and observations of evaluation sample tailings. The main aims are to unravel the depositional history of the pocket beach sequences, identify the controls on diamond mineralisation in the beach gravels, and critically examine two different methods of estimating average diamond size for the deposits. In pursuit of these aims, sedimentological characteristics of the unconsolidated pocket beach deposits were recorded using small diameter drill holes, hydraulic grab bulk samples, trench exposures and surface outcrops. The surface geology, geomorphology and modern wave patterns were mapped using high-resolution, Airborne Laser Survey imagery coupled with extensive field checking. Three-dimensional geological modeling software was used to gain insight into the subsurface morphology of the deposits. Fossil shell samples were used to aid interpretation of ancient depositional environments and to date parts of the pocket beach sequences. Variations in diamond concentration and the size of diamonds were recorded using bulk samples, some of which were taken from a trench, but most of which were excavated using a hydraulic grab tool called the GB50. Finally, by using diamond size data from Site 3, sample data from diamondiferous beach gravels to the south of the study area and sample campaign simulations, two alternative methods of evaluating average diamond size in marine gravel deposits were appraised.The pocket beach sequences occur within north-south trending valleys of a major deflation basin and are separated from one another by rocky headlands. The ridge-and-valley topography of the deflation basin has resulted from differential erosion of Late Proterozoic basement rock units, alternating layers of which differ greatly in their resistance to the long-lived, local denudationalprocesses. On the basis of the stratigraphic information collected from the unconsolidated pocket beach valley fills, interpreted within the context of global, Late Pleistocene sea level records, the following depositional history is deduced : a) Deposition of sheetflood gravels by ephemeral streams, activated during a regressive phase. b) Transgression, culminating in the deposition of a gravel beach, representing a sea level highstand of +4 metres above mean sea level (mamsl) at between 120 000 and 130 000 BP. c)A regressive phase, resulting in deflation of former valley fills to the bedrock valley floor and accompanied by re-activation of ephemeral stream activity to form sheetflood deposits; this represents a protracted period of subaerial exposure of the +4 m gravel beach deposit. d) Deposition of a great volume of sediment in the valleys during the latter stages of the transgression from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The sequence generated during this phase, which started at ca. 9 000 BP, contains : i) pan/coastal sabkha sediments, ii) shallow, sheltered bay sediments, iii) back-barrier lagoonal sediments, iv) a gravel beach deposit representing a sea level stillstand at -5 mamsl, laid down between 7 600 and 5 600 BP, v) another gravel beach deposit representing the well-known Middle Holocene sea level highstand at +2 to +3 mamsl, laid down at ca. 5 000 BP, and which terminated the transgression from the LGM. e) A minor regression to the current sea level, accompanied by progradation of the shoreline to its current position. This progradational marine unit consists almost entirely of sand and grit, reflecting the lack of gravel supply to this part of the coastline in the most recent past. f) Deposition of modern coastal dunes, which cap the pocket beach sequence and are the youngest sediments in the study area. Using trench and hydraulic grab evaluation sample results, in combination with analysis of wave patterns and field observations, the following local controls on the density distribution (ie. concentration) and size distribution of diamonds in the gravel beach deposits (+4, -5 and +2 to +3 mamsl stands) are recognised: a) Gravel beach depositional processes, which are responsible for clast sorting on the beach, have influenced the density and size distribution of diamonds. The infill zone, or beach toe, favours maximum diamond concentration while diamond size decreases from the imbricate zone (intertidal) to the infill zone (subtidal). b) Wave energy is identified as the dominant local control on diamond size distribution, but has also influenced diamond concentration to a limited degree. Larger diamonds are intimately associated with coarser beach gravels, both of which are a reflection of increased wave energy. Higher concentrations of diamonds are sometimes associated with zones of coarser gravel and therefore greater wave energy. c) The time of deposition of the host gravel beach is seen to be the dominant controlling factor with respect to diamond concentration. This is seen as evidence of significant temporal variation in the availability of diamonds in the littoral evironment. A significant reduction (20%) in average diamond size from Site 2 to Site 3, over a distance of only 6 km, is evident. The following were identified as reasons for this reduction in diamond size : a) Longshore sorting processes, of which the long-lived northerly littoral drift is a key part, are known to have played a role in the diminution of diamond size northwards from the Orange River mouth point source. However, it is believed that this can only partly account for the observed 20% reduction in diamond size. b) Input of sediment and smaller diamonds at Site 3, reworked out of an older, Eocene-aged marine succession in the hinterland, is recognised as a possible additional reason for the large reduction in diamond size from Site 2 to Site 3. It is also speculated that the large size of the pocket beach at Site 3, relative to Site 2, may have resulted in lower average wave energy at Site 3, with consequent reduced average diamond size. Diamond size in the beach gravels of Site 3, as well as in beach gravels elsewhere in the Sperrgebiet, is seen to be lognormally-distributed within geologically homogeneous zones. In theory, lognormal mean estimators represent the best method of estimating average diamond size in such cases, whereas the arithmetic mean estimator has the tendency to overestimate when large outlier values occur. Lognormal mean estimators have the added benefit of providing for the calculation of confidence limits, which are becoming increasingly more important as financial lending institutions insist on better quantification of the risk involved in resource estimates. Sample campaign simulations demonstrate, for the kinds of diamond size-frequency distributions typical of beach gravel deposits at Site 3, that there is no significant improvement in the accuracy of average diamond size estimates when lognormal mean estimators are used instead of the arithmetic mean estimator. This is because the variance (a ) of the diamond populations is low, and large outlier values are extremely unlikely to occur. However, simulation of a diamond population with high variance, drawn from a sample of beach gravels near the Orange River mouth, shows that lognormal estimators produce significantly more accurate results when a is large. Since individual diamond weights were not recorded during evaluation sampling of Site 3, numerical solution of lognormal estimators is not possible, and these would need to be solved using a less accurate graphical method. It is therefore recommended that individual diamond weights are recorded in future sampling campaigns, allowing for the use of lognormal mean estimators, and the calculation of confidence limits for average diamond size estimates. , Thesis (MSc) -- Science, Geology, 2004
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004-03
Prosecution of forced marriage by international courts and tribunals in light of the principle of legality
- Okeyo, Julian Rebecca Atieno
- Authors: Okeyo, Julian Rebecca Atieno
- Date: 2023-03-29
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/420720 , vital:71772
- Description: Thesis embargoed. Probable release date in 2024. , Thesis (LLM) -- Faculty of Law, Law, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-29
- Authors: Okeyo, Julian Rebecca Atieno
- Date: 2023-03-29
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/420720 , vital:71772
- Description: Thesis embargoed. Probable release date in 2024. , Thesis (LLM) -- Faculty of Law, Law, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-29
Patterns of inclusion and exclusion among trans women in South Africa: a critical narrative inquiry
- Authors: Shabalala, Siyanda Buyile
- Date: 2023-03-30
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/408874 , vital:70533
- Description: Trans women have for the most part remained grossly marginalised in gender development frameworks that have concerned themselves with resolving the historical disenfranchisement of women in patriarchal societies. Considering this continuing systemic erasure of trans subjectivity, this study has aimed to foreground transness, engaging trans women’s experiences of inclusion and exclusion to better understand the traditionally oppressive institutionality of gender in South Africa from a historically silenced trans standpoint. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with five trans women living in South Africa. Data was transcribed and analysed using narrative analysis. Mapping the structures, practices and norms that contribute to the marginalisation of trans women in South Africa, the study found that trans women face economic vulnerability driven by familial rejection along with structural discrimination in a gender-biased labour system. Furthermore, trans women were revealed to contend with institutional erasure and stigmatisation in sex-segregated healthcare structures as well as invisibilisation in cisnormative South African knowledge systems that underrepresent trans identities and their viewpoints of the world. Underlyingly, the societal exclusion of trans women emerged as centrally organised by a structure of genderism that rigidly assumes the binariness and fixedness of gender, principally in ways that restrict trans women's right to self-determine as women. Genderism was observed to collude with factors of race and class in a largely capitalist post-apartheid South African society, working concurrently and jointly to reinforce the social exclusion of trans women. However, often subtle narratives of trans social inclusion located marginalising cisgender power in South African democracy as contested terrain. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-30
- Authors: Shabalala, Siyanda Buyile
- Date: 2023-03-30
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/408874 , vital:70533
- Description: Trans women have for the most part remained grossly marginalised in gender development frameworks that have concerned themselves with resolving the historical disenfranchisement of women in patriarchal societies. Considering this continuing systemic erasure of trans subjectivity, this study has aimed to foreground transness, engaging trans women’s experiences of inclusion and exclusion to better understand the traditionally oppressive institutionality of gender in South Africa from a historically silenced trans standpoint. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with five trans women living in South Africa. Data was transcribed and analysed using narrative analysis. Mapping the structures, practices and norms that contribute to the marginalisation of trans women in South Africa, the study found that trans women face economic vulnerability driven by familial rejection along with structural discrimination in a gender-biased labour system. Furthermore, trans women were revealed to contend with institutional erasure and stigmatisation in sex-segregated healthcare structures as well as invisibilisation in cisnormative South African knowledge systems that underrepresent trans identities and their viewpoints of the world. Underlyingly, the societal exclusion of trans women emerged as centrally organised by a structure of genderism that rigidly assumes the binariness and fixedness of gender, principally in ways that restrict trans women's right to self-determine as women. Genderism was observed to collude with factors of race and class in a largely capitalist post-apartheid South African society, working concurrently and jointly to reinforce the social exclusion of trans women. However, often subtle narratives of trans social inclusion located marginalising cisgender power in South African democracy as contested terrain. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-30
An in-depth investigation of an early literacy intervention in Grade R in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
- Authors: Hodgskiss, Jennifer Adelé
- Date: 2023-03-29
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/366222 , vital:65844
- Description: Thesis embargoed. Expected release date early 2025. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-29
- Authors: Hodgskiss, Jennifer Adelé
- Date: 2023-03-29
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/366222 , vital:65844
- Description: Thesis embargoed. Expected release date early 2025. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-29
Academic distress & disordered eating in students
- Authors: Du Toit, Mae
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192626 , vital:45244
- Description: University students are at risk for reduced mental wellbeing, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, and among the most common problems experienced are academic distress and eating concerns. Through a stress-coping model lens, a link between academic distress and disordered eating in student populations appears possible but has not previously been explored. The present study examines this relationship in a South African undergraduate sample. Data were collected during the Covid-19 pandemic using a cross-sectional, correlational survey design and the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms (CCAPS). The results of a multiple regression analysis indicate that academic distress most strongly predicts eating concerns, followed by the demographic variables of female gender and black racial identification. This novel finding suggests that academic institutions should consider the broader academic environment as point of intervention for the prevention and treatment of disordered eating in students. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Du Toit, Mae
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192626 , vital:45244
- Description: University students are at risk for reduced mental wellbeing, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, and among the most common problems experienced are academic distress and eating concerns. Through a stress-coping model lens, a link between academic distress and disordered eating in student populations appears possible but has not previously been explored. The present study examines this relationship in a South African undergraduate sample. Data were collected during the Covid-19 pandemic using a cross-sectional, correlational survey design and the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms (CCAPS). The results of a multiple regression analysis indicate that academic distress most strongly predicts eating concerns, followed by the demographic variables of female gender and black racial identification. This novel finding suggests that academic institutions should consider the broader academic environment as point of intervention for the prevention and treatment of disordered eating in students. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
A discourse analysis of media representation of women political leaders in Uganda
- Authors: Kemirembe, Grace
- Date: 2023-03-30
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/408908 , vital:70536
- Description: This study is a qualitative desktop research project. The study employed a Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis to analyse and unpack the discursive ways in which female politicians are discussed and talked about in Ugandan online media. This study was a response to the realisation that online media portrayals of female politicians in Uganda remain largely unexplored. Additionally, the study discovered that the Daily Monitor and The Observer, the two newspapers that this thesis researched, often employ gender stereotypes and sexist coverage of female politicians in Uganda using personalisation, trivialisation and demonisation frames. The study illustrates that these misogynistic frames are intended to diminish women’s importance in the political sphere. Moreover, women who do not conform to the gender stereotypes are portrayed as social deviants. This work concludes that one of the challenges faced by women politicians in Uganda, and in Africa as a whole, is how to exploit online media’s productive capacity while, at the same time, resisting its use as an instrument that undermines them. Given the limited scope of the study using only two media organisations, future studies on media representation of female politicians could expand the range to include print and visual sources to provide generalisable results. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Political and International Studies, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-30
- Authors: Kemirembe, Grace
- Date: 2023-03-30
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/408908 , vital:70536
- Description: This study is a qualitative desktop research project. The study employed a Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis to analyse and unpack the discursive ways in which female politicians are discussed and talked about in Ugandan online media. This study was a response to the realisation that online media portrayals of female politicians in Uganda remain largely unexplored. Additionally, the study discovered that the Daily Monitor and The Observer, the two newspapers that this thesis researched, often employ gender stereotypes and sexist coverage of female politicians in Uganda using personalisation, trivialisation and demonisation frames. The study illustrates that these misogynistic frames are intended to diminish women’s importance in the political sphere. Moreover, women who do not conform to the gender stereotypes are portrayed as social deviants. This work concludes that one of the challenges faced by women politicians in Uganda, and in Africa as a whole, is how to exploit online media’s productive capacity while, at the same time, resisting its use as an instrument that undermines them. Given the limited scope of the study using only two media organisations, future studies on media representation of female politicians could expand the range to include print and visual sources to provide generalisable results. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Political and International Studies, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-30