Volatility spillovers and determinants of contagion: a case of BRICS equity and foreign exchange markets
- Authors: Nyopa, Tšepiso
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MCOM
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/164590 , vital:41146
- Description: Thesis (MSc)--Rhodes University, Faculty of Commerce, Economics and Economic History, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Nyopa, Tšepiso
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MCOM
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/164590 , vital:41146
- Description: Thesis (MSc)--Rhodes University, Faculty of Commerce, Economics and Economic History, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Orchid mycorrhizal and endophytic fungal diversity of three cooccurring terrestrial orchids in the large African genus Disa (Orchidaceae)
- Authors: Le Du, Bridgitte M
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/163363 , vital:41033
- Description: Thesis (MA)--Rhodes University, Faculty of Humanities, English Language and Linguistics, 2020.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Le Du, Bridgitte M
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/163363 , vital:41033
- Description: Thesis (MA)--Rhodes University, Faculty of Humanities, English Language and Linguistics, 2020.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Long Waves of Strikes in South Africa: 1886–2019
- Authors: Cottle, Eddie
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Strikes and lockouts South Africa , Long waves (Economics) South Africa , Business cycles South Africa , Industrial mobilization South Africa , Collective bargaining South Africa , Institutionalisation , Labor unions South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/163228 , vital:41020 , doi:10.21504/10962/163228
- Description: Thesis (PhD)--Rhodes University, Faculty of Humanities, Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), 2020.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Cottle, Eddie
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Strikes and lockouts South Africa , Long waves (Economics) South Africa , Business cycles South Africa , Industrial mobilization South Africa , Collective bargaining South Africa , Institutionalisation , Labor unions South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/163228 , vital:41020 , doi:10.21504/10962/163228
- Description: Thesis (PhD)--Rhodes University, Faculty of Humanities, Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), 2020.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Comparative analysis of the known Hop1b and the novel Hop1a isoforms of the Hop gene
- Authors: Makhubu, Portia
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/164311 , vital:41108 , doi:10.21504/10962/164311
- Description: Thesis (PhD)--Rhodes University, Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Makhubu, Portia
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/164311 , vital:41108 , doi:10.21504/10962/164311
- Description: Thesis (PhD)--Rhodes University, Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Alternative approach to controlling citrus black spot disease
- Authors: Thabede, Jahman Thabo
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: To be added
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178569 , vital:42951
- Description: Access restricted until April 2022. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
- Authors: Thabede, Jahman Thabo
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: To be added
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178569 , vital:42951
- Description: Access restricted until April 2022. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
The Dragon in the News : how Malawian journalists perceive the political influence of China on news reporting in Malawi
- Authors: Nyirongo, Mwaona
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Journalists -- Malawi , Journalism -- Malawi , Journalism -- Political aspects -- Malawi , Journalism -- Objectivity -- Malawi , China -- Foreign economic relations -- Malawi , Malawi -- Economic conditions , Malawi -- Politics and government
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177907 , vital:42889
- Description: The arrival of China in Malawi has been characterised by a growing sense of uncertainty where academics and social commentators at large have expressed concern over the intentions of the super power in the country. There are fears that China would like to extend its influence to Malawi as part of a broader push, to have greater influence in global politics and economics. That push is in part exercised through the media. The thesis examined the perception of Malawian journalists on how news media reports on Chinese activities in Malawi. It used content analysis to understand how the mediascape had changed from 2001 – 2007 when China had not established diplomatic relations with Malawi, and January 2008 – 2020 when China had established diplomatic relations. The thesis examined these shifts in journalistic representations of China in Malawi and developed prompts and probes from which journalist interviews were conducted. From the content analysis, it appears there is a remarkable change in the way China has been covered from 2001 – 2020. From 2001 – 2007, Malawian media, especially The Daily Times, was very harsh on China, uncritically reproducing Western representations of China as an aggressive country with no respect for human rights and dignity. This changed after January 2008 when the media leaned towards tolerance and acknowledgement of Chinese activities. Through interviews, journalists have indicated that the Chinese government offers opportunities, such as scholarships, fellowships, and exchange visits to journalists, making it difficult for them to bite the finger that is feeding them. This ‘soft power’ is backed up by the repressive power of the Malawi government, which uses intimidation to force journalists to report in their favour, thereby helping create a positive picture for China in Malawi. Journalists report that the significant shifts in journalistic representations of China have been mirrored by changes in the conceptualisation of journalistic roles in Malawi’s mediascape. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalsim and Media Studies, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
- Authors: Nyirongo, Mwaona
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Journalists -- Malawi , Journalism -- Malawi , Journalism -- Political aspects -- Malawi , Journalism -- Objectivity -- Malawi , China -- Foreign economic relations -- Malawi , Malawi -- Economic conditions , Malawi -- Politics and government
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177907 , vital:42889
- Description: The arrival of China in Malawi has been characterised by a growing sense of uncertainty where academics and social commentators at large have expressed concern over the intentions of the super power in the country. There are fears that China would like to extend its influence to Malawi as part of a broader push, to have greater influence in global politics and economics. That push is in part exercised through the media. The thesis examined the perception of Malawian journalists on how news media reports on Chinese activities in Malawi. It used content analysis to understand how the mediascape had changed from 2001 – 2007 when China had not established diplomatic relations with Malawi, and January 2008 – 2020 when China had established diplomatic relations. The thesis examined these shifts in journalistic representations of China in Malawi and developed prompts and probes from which journalist interviews were conducted. From the content analysis, it appears there is a remarkable change in the way China has been covered from 2001 – 2020. From 2001 – 2007, Malawian media, especially The Daily Times, was very harsh on China, uncritically reproducing Western representations of China as an aggressive country with no respect for human rights and dignity. This changed after January 2008 when the media leaned towards tolerance and acknowledgement of Chinese activities. Through interviews, journalists have indicated that the Chinese government offers opportunities, such as scholarships, fellowships, and exchange visits to journalists, making it difficult for them to bite the finger that is feeding them. This ‘soft power’ is backed up by the repressive power of the Malawi government, which uses intimidation to force journalists to report in their favour, thereby helping create a positive picture for China in Malawi. Journalists report that the significant shifts in journalistic representations of China have been mirrored by changes in the conceptualisation of journalistic roles in Malawi’s mediascape. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalsim and Media Studies, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
An analysis of employee retention : a study of selected local municipalities in the Sarah Baartman District Municipality
- Authors: Maholo, Lisa
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Employee retention -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Labor turnover -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal officials and employees -- Job satisfaction , Career development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Personnel management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal officials and employees -- Salaries, etc. -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Affiliation (Psychology)
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177349 , vital:42813
- Description: The success of municipalities largely depends on the quality (skills, knowledge and experience) of individuals employed at those institutions. As key role players in the delivery of services, municipalities struggle to retain a high calibre of employees who essentially form the backbone of the public sector due to their skills, knowledge and experiences. There is a need for municipalities to create and foster an environment that encourages existing employees to remain employed. This study adopted an interpretivist research paradigm, given the study’s primary aim of gaining an in-depth understanding of employee retention as experienced by employees in the selected municipalities, together with the key influencing factors of employee retention. The qualitative research approach used a case study methodology within the Sarah Baartman District Municipality, with two category B3 and B4 municipalities selected for the study. The retention factors framework for existing employees by Munsamy and Bosch-Venter (2009) was used as the supporting theoretical structure. Respondents were selected through purposive sampling, and 16 in-depth semi-structured interviews were used to collect qualitative data. Through various content analysis techniques employed, this study identified seven employee retention factors (affiliation, career, work content, direct financial factors, external forces, work–life balance and indirect financial factors) with their associated themes. Affiliation, career and work content were identified as the three key factors which influence employee retention. Management style (relationship and interaction between employees and manager), organisational commitment and work environment were the main themes giving meaning to the affiliation factor. Training, personal growth and advancement emerged as themes related to the career factor. The work content factor was defined in terms of meaningfulness, challenges and autonomy themes. Direct and indirect financial factors, external forces, and work–life balance also emerged as factors that play a role in the retention of employees within a municipal context. Base salary and incentives were the associated themes underlying the direct financial factor. However, base salary has short-term effects on retention. Political climate and organisational reputation, municipal category and organisational structure were interrelated external forces. Flexible work arrangements, access to family, and childcare facilities give meaning to the work–life balance, while the only indirect financial factor to arise was benefits. Although some of the retention factors are clearly more influential than others, key employees attach most importance to a combination of employee retention factors that cater to their holistic needs and desires and generational differences. Therefore, the recommendations need to be implemented simultaneously. Having managers who engage employees in decisions-making and offer guidance and support, together with work environments where the physical and behavioural aspects are attended to, encourages employees to feel valued and appreciated. Municipalities should effectively communicate their mandate of ensuring adequate service delivery, which will allow employees to align their personal values to municipal objectives. Offering on-the-job training, access to career developmental programmes, evaluating job characteristics to include challenging and stimulating work and additional incentives as financial support will foster a conducive working environment for employees. Overall, municipalities face unique challenges depending on a variety of external elements such as political influence and climate. They operate in a challenging environment where they are also accountable to the community. Ultimately, municipalities must create and develop ways to acknowledge, develop and retain key employees in order to adequately deliver services. , Thesis (MCom) -- Faculty of Commerce, Management, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
- Authors: Maholo, Lisa
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Employee retention -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Labor turnover -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal officials and employees -- Job satisfaction , Career development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Personnel management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal officials and employees -- Salaries, etc. -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Affiliation (Psychology)
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177349 , vital:42813
- Description: The success of municipalities largely depends on the quality (skills, knowledge and experience) of individuals employed at those institutions. As key role players in the delivery of services, municipalities struggle to retain a high calibre of employees who essentially form the backbone of the public sector due to their skills, knowledge and experiences. There is a need for municipalities to create and foster an environment that encourages existing employees to remain employed. This study adopted an interpretivist research paradigm, given the study’s primary aim of gaining an in-depth understanding of employee retention as experienced by employees in the selected municipalities, together with the key influencing factors of employee retention. The qualitative research approach used a case study methodology within the Sarah Baartman District Municipality, with two category B3 and B4 municipalities selected for the study. The retention factors framework for existing employees by Munsamy and Bosch-Venter (2009) was used as the supporting theoretical structure. Respondents were selected through purposive sampling, and 16 in-depth semi-structured interviews were used to collect qualitative data. Through various content analysis techniques employed, this study identified seven employee retention factors (affiliation, career, work content, direct financial factors, external forces, work–life balance and indirect financial factors) with their associated themes. Affiliation, career and work content were identified as the three key factors which influence employee retention. Management style (relationship and interaction between employees and manager), organisational commitment and work environment were the main themes giving meaning to the affiliation factor. Training, personal growth and advancement emerged as themes related to the career factor. The work content factor was defined in terms of meaningfulness, challenges and autonomy themes. Direct and indirect financial factors, external forces, and work–life balance also emerged as factors that play a role in the retention of employees within a municipal context. Base salary and incentives were the associated themes underlying the direct financial factor. However, base salary has short-term effects on retention. Political climate and organisational reputation, municipal category and organisational structure were interrelated external forces. Flexible work arrangements, access to family, and childcare facilities give meaning to the work–life balance, while the only indirect financial factor to arise was benefits. Although some of the retention factors are clearly more influential than others, key employees attach most importance to a combination of employee retention factors that cater to their holistic needs and desires and generational differences. Therefore, the recommendations need to be implemented simultaneously. Having managers who engage employees in decisions-making and offer guidance and support, together with work environments where the physical and behavioural aspects are attended to, encourages employees to feel valued and appreciated. Municipalities should effectively communicate their mandate of ensuring adequate service delivery, which will allow employees to align their personal values to municipal objectives. Offering on-the-job training, access to career developmental programmes, evaluating job characteristics to include challenging and stimulating work and additional incentives as financial support will foster a conducive working environment for employees. Overall, municipalities face unique challenges depending on a variety of external elements such as political influence and climate. They operate in a challenging environment where they are also accountable to the community. Ultimately, municipalities must create and develop ways to acknowledge, develop and retain key employees in order to adequately deliver services. , Thesis (MCom) -- Faculty of Commerce, Management, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
Perceptions of the role of Lantana camara on human well-being and rural livelihoods in Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, South Africa
- Authors: Mhlongo, Edward Swazi
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Lantana camara -- South Africa -- Vhembe District Municipality , Introduced organisms -- South Africa -- Vhembe District Municipality , Biological invasions -- South Africa -- Vhembe District Municipality , Plant invasions -- South Africa -- Vhembe District Municipality , Lantana camara -- Control -- South Africa -- Vhembe District Municipality , South Africa -- Rural conditions , Ethnoscience -- South Africa -- Vhembe District Municipality
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177952 , vital:42893
- Description: In the past, social aspects on biological invasions were less documented, this hindered the development of sound and effective management of Invasive Alien Species (IAS). However, there has been a shift in trends with more studies on biological invasions integrating local knowledge together with ecological studies to develop effective management interventions. Invasive Alien Species are widespread throughout Southern Africa and are usually prevalent in the rural areas. Limpopo province consists of large rural areas where people depend on natural resources, wild and exotic species for their livelihoods. Lantana camara is one of the major invaders that is problematic worldwide having detrimental impacts on biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and economies. This study assessed the perceptions of the role of L. camara on the well-being and rural livelihoods of local communities in the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve using household surveys. A total of 300 surveys were administered in six villages. The study further used a two-pronged approach to examine invasion extent and management options. The two-pronged approach included (i) detailed vegetation surveys in 50 household yards within each village, and (ii) focus group to solicit local knowledge of invasion extent and managing L. camara by the rural communities. The results of the study showed that almost all the respondents knew L. camara and could describe it. Most of the respondents were of the view that L. camara had no negative impacts on their livelihoods. Other respondents stated costs associated with L. camara were more than benefits and wanted a reduction in L. camara densities in the area. Most respondents wanted more government intervention to help in managing L. camara, this is because of the perceived future impacts of L. camara. Vegetation survey results showed no significant difference in L. camara abundances and plant heights among the six study villages. The average number of L. camara counted per household yard in all villages was (2.41 ± 0.20) plants, with average plant basal diameter of (0.94 ± 0.02 cm). There were significant differences in canopy width of L. camara among the six study villages. Plant basal diameter was high in Tshakhuma (1.05 ± 0.04 m) and Duthuni (1.00 ± 0.04 m) villages, and low in Ha Mutsha village (0.82 ± 0.03 m). Lantana camara canopy width at household level across all villages averaged 1.34 ± 0.03 m. Canopy cover was high in Tshakhuma village (1.70 ± 0.09 m) and low at Ha Mutsha village (1.03 ± 0.03 m). In all six village focus group discussions, it was noted that mechanical clearing of L. camara was the most used method, but they reported minimum help from the government particularly Working for Water (WfW). The study concludes that L. camara has no substantial adverse impacts to most of the respondents. The study further noted that L. camara is dominant in most household yards ii and that management is taking place however current control options are not enough on their own. Suggestions for further research are to explore more alternative indigenous species present or easily accessible to the community members which may offer the same benefits as IAS. Furthermore, additional research at local level is required for implementing management techniques best suited for the area. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Environmental Science, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
- Authors: Mhlongo, Edward Swazi
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Lantana camara -- South Africa -- Vhembe District Municipality , Introduced organisms -- South Africa -- Vhembe District Municipality , Biological invasions -- South Africa -- Vhembe District Municipality , Plant invasions -- South Africa -- Vhembe District Municipality , Lantana camara -- Control -- South Africa -- Vhembe District Municipality , South Africa -- Rural conditions , Ethnoscience -- South Africa -- Vhembe District Municipality
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177952 , vital:42893
- Description: In the past, social aspects on biological invasions were less documented, this hindered the development of sound and effective management of Invasive Alien Species (IAS). However, there has been a shift in trends with more studies on biological invasions integrating local knowledge together with ecological studies to develop effective management interventions. Invasive Alien Species are widespread throughout Southern Africa and are usually prevalent in the rural areas. Limpopo province consists of large rural areas where people depend on natural resources, wild and exotic species for their livelihoods. Lantana camara is one of the major invaders that is problematic worldwide having detrimental impacts on biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and economies. This study assessed the perceptions of the role of L. camara on the well-being and rural livelihoods of local communities in the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve using household surveys. A total of 300 surveys were administered in six villages. The study further used a two-pronged approach to examine invasion extent and management options. The two-pronged approach included (i) detailed vegetation surveys in 50 household yards within each village, and (ii) focus group to solicit local knowledge of invasion extent and managing L. camara by the rural communities. The results of the study showed that almost all the respondents knew L. camara and could describe it. Most of the respondents were of the view that L. camara had no negative impacts on their livelihoods. Other respondents stated costs associated with L. camara were more than benefits and wanted a reduction in L. camara densities in the area. Most respondents wanted more government intervention to help in managing L. camara, this is because of the perceived future impacts of L. camara. Vegetation survey results showed no significant difference in L. camara abundances and plant heights among the six study villages. The average number of L. camara counted per household yard in all villages was (2.41 ± 0.20) plants, with average plant basal diameter of (0.94 ± 0.02 cm). There were significant differences in canopy width of L. camara among the six study villages. Plant basal diameter was high in Tshakhuma (1.05 ± 0.04 m) and Duthuni (1.00 ± 0.04 m) villages, and low in Ha Mutsha village (0.82 ± 0.03 m). Lantana camara canopy width at household level across all villages averaged 1.34 ± 0.03 m. Canopy cover was high in Tshakhuma village (1.70 ± 0.09 m) and low at Ha Mutsha village (1.03 ± 0.03 m). In all six village focus group discussions, it was noted that mechanical clearing of L. camara was the most used method, but they reported minimum help from the government particularly Working for Water (WfW). The study concludes that L. camara has no substantial adverse impacts to most of the respondents. The study further noted that L. camara is dominant in most household yards ii and that management is taking place however current control options are not enough on their own. Suggestions for further research are to explore more alternative indigenous species present or easily accessible to the community members which may offer the same benefits as IAS. Furthermore, additional research at local level is required for implementing management techniques best suited for the area. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Environmental Science, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
Evaluation of water quality, selected metals and endocrine-disrupting compounds in the rivers and municipal wastewaters of Eastern Cape province, South Africa
- Authors: Farounbi, Adebayo Ibikunle
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: To be added
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177327 , vital:42810
- Description: Thesis embargoed. Release date April 2022. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Institute of Water Research, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
- Authors: Farounbi, Adebayo Ibikunle
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: To be added
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177327 , vital:42810
- Description: Thesis embargoed. Release date April 2022. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Institute of Water Research, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
Bioinformatic analysis of Aminoacyl tRNA Synthetases as potential antimalarial drug targets
- Authors: Nyamai, Dorothy Wavinya
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/164579 , vital:41142 , doi:10.21504/10962/164579
- Description: Thesis (PhD)--Rhodes University, Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Nyamai, Dorothy Wavinya
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/164579 , vital:41142 , doi:10.21504/10962/164579
- Description: Thesis (PhD)--Rhodes University, Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Larval fish dynamics within the coastal nearshore of the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Sotshongaye, Oko
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Fishes -- Larvae -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Fishes -- Larvae -- Development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Fishes -- Larvae -- Ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Coastal ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Fishes -- Larvae -- Dispersal -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/176977 , vital:42776
- Description: The coastal nearshore is important for the early development of fishes as it is used for spawning and/or as a nursery. One of the central concerns in coastal ecology is understanding the role of the nearshore for larvae, ultimately providing key knowledge on population dynamics and hence helping in making decisions pertaining to conservation and resource management. The aim of this study was to investigate the alongshore and cross-shore distribution of larval fishes and the links to the physio-chemical conditions (including prevailing winds) and hydrodynamics in the region of Algoa Bay, situated on the south east coast in the warm temperate region of South Africa. Fish larvae were sampled at nine sites for the first component of the study (January 2016 –March 2017) and at four sites for the second component (November 2019), near the surface and bottom (15-50 m) of the water column as well as at two different distances from shore (~400 m/~3 km) using a set of bongo plankton nets towed behind a boat. Environmental data were simultaneously collected using and acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) and conductivity, temperature, depth (CTD) profiler. Larval fish abundance generally decreased with increasing distance from the shore, however, this varied in space and time, with some larval species recorded in high abundances offshore. Close inshore the larvae of coastal fish species producing benthic eggs (CBE) including the Blenniidae and Gobiesocidae mostly dominated, while offshore the larvae of coastal fish species producing pelagic eggs (CPE) i.e. Sparidae and Cynoglossidae, as well as pelagic fish species producing pelagic eggs (PPE) i.e. Clupeidae and Engraulidae mostly dominated. Vertical distribution of larvae differed according to taxon, with the Callionymidae (CPE), Cynoglossidae and Gobiesocidae occurring at high densities at the bottom of the water column, while the Blenniidae dominated near the surface. Fluorescence, temperature and salinity varied with depth (surface/bottom), being particularly high at the surface; currents moved faster at the surface than the bottom of the water column. Increased abundances of larval fishes were evident after upwelling events (associated with easterly winds) in the Bay, while during downwelling (associated with westerly winds), low densities were generally recorded, except for the sites situated near headlands/capes where there were higher densities of fish larvae during downwelling events. Overall, the results of this study suggest that spawning mode of the adults, oceanography and environmental conditions coupled with what is known of the behaviour of fish larvae, were important in shaping the larval fish community of the Algoa Bay region. These results highlight the importance of incorporating multiple biological (developmental stage, reproductive mode, species) and physical (currents, fluorescence, wind-driven up/down-welling) factors when addressing the mechanims of transport of larval fish in the coastal nearshore. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Department of Zoology and Entomology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
- Authors: Sotshongaye, Oko
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Fishes -- Larvae -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Fishes -- Larvae -- Development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Fishes -- Larvae -- Ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Coastal ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Fishes -- Larvae -- Dispersal -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/176977 , vital:42776
- Description: The coastal nearshore is important for the early development of fishes as it is used for spawning and/or as a nursery. One of the central concerns in coastal ecology is understanding the role of the nearshore for larvae, ultimately providing key knowledge on population dynamics and hence helping in making decisions pertaining to conservation and resource management. The aim of this study was to investigate the alongshore and cross-shore distribution of larval fishes and the links to the physio-chemical conditions (including prevailing winds) and hydrodynamics in the region of Algoa Bay, situated on the south east coast in the warm temperate region of South Africa. Fish larvae were sampled at nine sites for the first component of the study (January 2016 –March 2017) and at four sites for the second component (November 2019), near the surface and bottom (15-50 m) of the water column as well as at two different distances from shore (~400 m/~3 km) using a set of bongo plankton nets towed behind a boat. Environmental data were simultaneously collected using and acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) and conductivity, temperature, depth (CTD) profiler. Larval fish abundance generally decreased with increasing distance from the shore, however, this varied in space and time, with some larval species recorded in high abundances offshore. Close inshore the larvae of coastal fish species producing benthic eggs (CBE) including the Blenniidae and Gobiesocidae mostly dominated, while offshore the larvae of coastal fish species producing pelagic eggs (CPE) i.e. Sparidae and Cynoglossidae, as well as pelagic fish species producing pelagic eggs (PPE) i.e. Clupeidae and Engraulidae mostly dominated. Vertical distribution of larvae differed according to taxon, with the Callionymidae (CPE), Cynoglossidae and Gobiesocidae occurring at high densities at the bottom of the water column, while the Blenniidae dominated near the surface. Fluorescence, temperature and salinity varied with depth (surface/bottom), being particularly high at the surface; currents moved faster at the surface than the bottom of the water column. Increased abundances of larval fishes were evident after upwelling events (associated with easterly winds) in the Bay, while during downwelling (associated with westerly winds), low densities were generally recorded, except for the sites situated near headlands/capes where there were higher densities of fish larvae during downwelling events. Overall, the results of this study suggest that spawning mode of the adults, oceanography and environmental conditions coupled with what is known of the behaviour of fish larvae, were important in shaping the larval fish community of the Algoa Bay region. These results highlight the importance of incorporating multiple biological (developmental stage, reproductive mode, species) and physical (currents, fluorescence, wind-driven up/down-welling) factors when addressing the mechanims of transport of larval fish in the coastal nearshore. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Department of Zoology and Entomology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
& salt the earth behind you
- Authors: Naidoo, Prenesa
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- South Africa , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , South African poetry (English) -- 21st century , Short stories, South African (English) -- 21st century , Diaries -- Authorship , Korean fiction -- 21st century -- History and criticism , Short stories, Argentine -- 21st century -- History and criticism , Arabic fiction -- Palestine 21st century -- History and criticism , Argentine fiction -- 21st century -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178212 , vital:42921
- Description: My thesis is a collection of prose pieces in the form of short stories, flash fiction and prose poetry drawing on memory and lived experiences to explore the trauma of death, grief and displacement, solace and the paroxysms of home. As a young woman from an Indian South Africa community, Hindu superstitions and folktales are my second skin, and shape both my worldview and my writing. I am inspired by Lidia Yuknavitch’s observation that, “all artists see things that are not there”, and by Dambudzo Marechera’s belief that, “Beneath reality, there is always fantasy: the writer’s task is to reveal it, to open it out, to feel it, to experience it.” In my stories about trauma and grief, I often distort the line between seen and unseen worlds, where, for example, hauntings are taken seriously as lived experiences. I have also been influenced by Han Kang’s The White Book, Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s Sabrina & Corina, and Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street. Read together, Kang’s stand-alone short stories form part of a greater collective ‘memory’ or ‘life’; Fajardo-Anstine’s collection illustrates how to write about a specific female Latina community while still telling individual stories; and Cisneros’ fragments of memories tell the story of a person’s life in narratives which are as long or short as they need to be. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
- Authors: Naidoo, Prenesa
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) -- South Africa , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , South African poetry (English) -- 21st century , Short stories, South African (English) -- 21st century , Diaries -- Authorship , Korean fiction -- 21st century -- History and criticism , Short stories, Argentine -- 21st century -- History and criticism , Arabic fiction -- Palestine 21st century -- History and criticism , Argentine fiction -- 21st century -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178212 , vital:42921
- Description: My thesis is a collection of prose pieces in the form of short stories, flash fiction and prose poetry drawing on memory and lived experiences to explore the trauma of death, grief and displacement, solace and the paroxysms of home. As a young woman from an Indian South Africa community, Hindu superstitions and folktales are my second skin, and shape both my worldview and my writing. I am inspired by Lidia Yuknavitch’s observation that, “all artists see things that are not there”, and by Dambudzo Marechera’s belief that, “Beneath reality, there is always fantasy: the writer’s task is to reveal it, to open it out, to feel it, to experience it.” In my stories about trauma and grief, I often distort the line between seen and unseen worlds, where, for example, hauntings are taken seriously as lived experiences. I have also been influenced by Han Kang’s The White Book, Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s Sabrina & Corina, and Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street. Read together, Kang’s stand-alone short stories form part of a greater collective ‘memory’ or ‘life’; Fajardo-Anstine’s collection illustrates how to write about a specific female Latina community while still telling individual stories; and Cisneros’ fragments of memories tell the story of a person’s life in narratives which are as long or short as they need to be. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
Exploring Social Learning within the Context of Community-Based Farming : Implications for Farmers’ Agency and Capabilities
- Authors: Dirwai, Crispen
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Crops and climate -- Zimbabwe -- Mutasa District , Livestock -- Climatic factors -- Zimbabwe -- Mutasa District , Social learning -- Zimbabwe -- Mutasa District , Community-supported agriculture -- Zimbabwe -- Mutasa District , Environmental education -- Zimbabwe -- Mutasa District , Climatic changes -- Social aspects -- Zimbabwe -- Mutasa District , Critical realism
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/174526 , vital:42485 , https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/174526
- Description: This thesis, ‘Exploring social learning within the context of community-based farming: Implications for farmers’ agency and capabilities’, provided an opportunity to investigate how community-based farmers engaged a social learning process in adjusting their practices to the observed climate change and variability risks and vulnerabilities. The social learning and pedagogic trajectory towards climate change adaptation, involved a multi-sectoral approach in a community of practice that was inclusive of extension service, developmental agencies, a university, climate change activists, a primary school, a university, the agro-industrial community, the urban open market and the local standards association. Social learning, in this community of practice, took place during field days, field tours, focus groups and observations in a multi-case study approach. The main research question addressed in this thesis was ‘How can and does social learning facilitate or constrain the conversion of resources into functionings and new adaptation capabilities of communal farmers in Muchena village in the face of increasing climate change and associated climate variability related socio-ecological risks and vulnerabilities?’ In order to address this main research question and its corresponding sub-questions, two main categories of climate change adaptive agricultural practices, crop and non-crop, were studied in the context of social learning and collective and individual capabilities and agency. The research ontology and epistemology were grounded in critical realism, with the epistemic work in the multiple case study being drawing on a constructivist approach where eleven Farmers’ Case Stories [FCS] from crop and non-crop community-based farmers were purposively followed throughout this thesis journey, while the ontological dynamics were pursued through critical realist depth ontological enquiry. The theoretical framework for this thesis encompassed Bhaskar’s (1998; 2016) dialectical critical realist MELD schema, which underlabours conversion factors from Sen’s (1993; 2005) capabilities theory mobilised via the six sequential moments of the pedagogic practice of social learning as articulated by Wals (2007). This gave the theoretical framework a multi-dimensional facet. In this multi-dimensional theoretical framework, the ontologically influential generative mechanisms identified at 1M, were droughts, food insecurity, economic poverty, poor farming methods, floods, pests, socio-political stress, socio-cultural and intergenerational knowledge transfer, government policies and market forces. Effort was made to absent these ills at 2E, through knowledge co-creation within the communities of practice, through individual and collective reflexivity and was guided by the six sequential moments of Wals’ (2007) social learning pedagogic trajectory and by the three capabilities conversion factors; personal, environmental and social. At 3L’s totalities (laminated) and false totalities and compromises, the community-based farmers came to realise, appreciate and utilised the benefits of individual and collective agency as knowledge generation. In the theoretical framework, the social learning process was a product of collective and individual agency, a product of co-creation, co-sharing and co-monitoring and mentoring of each other’s work in a non-linear process towards transformation at 4D. The thesis identified the following capability sets and their corresponding functionings: education with the new achieved functionings of knowledge on market oriented economy with more functionings such as apiary, dendrology, aqua-culture and horticultural practices, partnerships including contract farming and company registration; health as a capability set had the new functionings of improved people’s and soil’s health from organic and conservation production practices; nutrition as a capability set with new functionings of organic and conservation farming as well as, through testing of products and soils to ascertain nutritional parameters, nutritional functionings. These identified capability sets as valued beings and doings all attempted to absent climate change induced droughts, food insecurity and economic poverty through the social learning process. The new achieved functionings of knowledge on related market oriented economy, were used for food security as farmers were able to buy maize, the staple food, which has been constrained by climate change induced droughts and pests. The new capability sets and achieved functionings in alternatives to maize crop farming could be viewed in this thesis as a positive emancipatory cyclic movement in the community-based farmers from non-being to agency [1M to 4D]. The thesis found that for the social learning process to be transformative, the community-based farmers had to reflect as individuals and collectively as a community from T1 [social learning layer 1] to T00 [social learning as multi-layered and infinite]. Learning starts from T1 by engaging the ontological and epistemological question ‘what?’ and the pedagogical question, ‘how?’, in order to understand existing ills and how best to absent them. Tensions existed as the community still take maize meal as their staple food and yet maize production is less resilient to droughts in the absence of water harvesting for irrigation. Despite realising the nutritional value of small grains, the research findings claimed that small grains were difficult to process into a mealie-meal and so, could not replace maize as a staple food. Theoretical contributions from this thesis entailed both epistemological and ontological implications as the community-based farmers started to question positivism as the only benchmark for organic standards by sending what they self-perceived as ‘organic’ products and soils, for verification from observed laboratory tests. This might have indicated a recognised shift in the epistemology of the poor community-based farmer, who are widely viewed in literature, as non-being and subsistence, towards an organised transformative market oriented practice. In this regard, transformative social learning catalysed by the thesis, contributed towards an organic practice characterised by absenting synthetic fertilisers and certain heavy elements from the soils and from the products, thereby adapting and mitigating to global climate change at a micro-scale. The study, though small scale, might be viewed as having global policy implications. For SGD:2 FCS 1, VS absented hunger by transforming from zero tonnage in 2012 to an estimated harvest of four tonnes in 2017. For SDG:3, FCS 3, LN produced close to a tonne of organic peas that passed through laboratory testing for nutritional parameters and testing against heavy metals during the 2018 and 2019 farming season. SDG: 1 could be assessed and reflected through improved livelihoods from income raised under market gardening as shown in FCS 3, LN; FCS, 4 SM2; FCS 5 SS and FCS 6 JM2. Also from SDG 1, were alternatives to maize crop farming and climate change adaptation market oriented apiary practiced by FCS 7, LM2 & FCS 8, LM3 and market oriented dendrology from FCS, 10, VC & FCS 11, JC. FCS 10, VC, managed to register a small company while FCS 11, JC managed to get contracts from reputable tobacco companies in the country and he also managed to access bank loans to purchase a small truck to absent the transport ills that constrained the youths who finally moved out of the achieved functioning of dendrology. FCS, 3, LN and the group of youths valued sending their products and soils for laboratory tests, an indicator of the quality of education that they attained through Social learning process’ communities of practice engagement. By supplying part of their products as raw materials to an agro-industry, the newly achieved functioning of market oriented agriculture from FCS 3, LN and FCS 4, SM2 could be viewed as a move towards SDG: 9. In terms of SDG: 12, the farming practices studied in this thesis were deemed environmentally friendly, green and so were adaptations to climate change which could be read along with SDG: 13. The thesis findings thus could be viewed as those that could open up some ways of assessing and providing practical implementation pathways for some of the sustainable development goals as well as providing a platform to interrogate other ways of understanding critical realism’s underlying generative mechanisms as enablers and constrainers to shaping social learning and people’s measurable functionings in the context of education for sustainable development and the global action programme (GAP) and its immanent successor, the ESD Agenda 2030 framework. The research is therefore well poised to inform this agenda. The study concludes that in order to enhance community-based farmers’ social learning and agency towards climate change adaptation, extension service, the standards association institution, agro-industry, the university as well as the media, might need to engage pro-actively with the farmers’ capabilities and agency. The thesis also attempted to inform the university institution’s community engagement, thereby giving practical meaning to the whole institution approaches to ESD as promoted in the UNESCO ESD Global Action Programme, and the emerging ESD 2030 Agenda. The thesis therefore has potential to inform pedagogic practices at the formal, non-formal and the informal learning sectors. The thesis concludes that the social learning process, when coupled with critical realism and the capabilities theories, could facilitate the conversion of resources into new adaptive functionings. The social learning process is transformative, reflexive and recursive, but might have to start from 1M to 4D and from T1 to T00. Moreover, the thesis concludes that poverty remained one of the major disablers of the farmers’ capabilities and agency in this thesis. , Thesis (PhD)--Rhodes University, Faculty of Education, Education, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
- Authors: Dirwai, Crispen
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Crops and climate -- Zimbabwe -- Mutasa District , Livestock -- Climatic factors -- Zimbabwe -- Mutasa District , Social learning -- Zimbabwe -- Mutasa District , Community-supported agriculture -- Zimbabwe -- Mutasa District , Environmental education -- Zimbabwe -- Mutasa District , Climatic changes -- Social aspects -- Zimbabwe -- Mutasa District , Critical realism
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/174526 , vital:42485 , https://doi.org/10.21504/10962/174526
- Description: This thesis, ‘Exploring social learning within the context of community-based farming: Implications for farmers’ agency and capabilities’, provided an opportunity to investigate how community-based farmers engaged a social learning process in adjusting their practices to the observed climate change and variability risks and vulnerabilities. The social learning and pedagogic trajectory towards climate change adaptation, involved a multi-sectoral approach in a community of practice that was inclusive of extension service, developmental agencies, a university, climate change activists, a primary school, a university, the agro-industrial community, the urban open market and the local standards association. Social learning, in this community of practice, took place during field days, field tours, focus groups and observations in a multi-case study approach. The main research question addressed in this thesis was ‘How can and does social learning facilitate or constrain the conversion of resources into functionings and new adaptation capabilities of communal farmers in Muchena village in the face of increasing climate change and associated climate variability related socio-ecological risks and vulnerabilities?’ In order to address this main research question and its corresponding sub-questions, two main categories of climate change adaptive agricultural practices, crop and non-crop, were studied in the context of social learning and collective and individual capabilities and agency. The research ontology and epistemology were grounded in critical realism, with the epistemic work in the multiple case study being drawing on a constructivist approach where eleven Farmers’ Case Stories [FCS] from crop and non-crop community-based farmers were purposively followed throughout this thesis journey, while the ontological dynamics were pursued through critical realist depth ontological enquiry. The theoretical framework for this thesis encompassed Bhaskar’s (1998; 2016) dialectical critical realist MELD schema, which underlabours conversion factors from Sen’s (1993; 2005) capabilities theory mobilised via the six sequential moments of the pedagogic practice of social learning as articulated by Wals (2007). This gave the theoretical framework a multi-dimensional facet. In this multi-dimensional theoretical framework, the ontologically influential generative mechanisms identified at 1M, were droughts, food insecurity, economic poverty, poor farming methods, floods, pests, socio-political stress, socio-cultural and intergenerational knowledge transfer, government policies and market forces. Effort was made to absent these ills at 2E, through knowledge co-creation within the communities of practice, through individual and collective reflexivity and was guided by the six sequential moments of Wals’ (2007) social learning pedagogic trajectory and by the three capabilities conversion factors; personal, environmental and social. At 3L’s totalities (laminated) and false totalities and compromises, the community-based farmers came to realise, appreciate and utilised the benefits of individual and collective agency as knowledge generation. In the theoretical framework, the social learning process was a product of collective and individual agency, a product of co-creation, co-sharing and co-monitoring and mentoring of each other’s work in a non-linear process towards transformation at 4D. The thesis identified the following capability sets and their corresponding functionings: education with the new achieved functionings of knowledge on market oriented economy with more functionings such as apiary, dendrology, aqua-culture and horticultural practices, partnerships including contract farming and company registration; health as a capability set had the new functionings of improved people’s and soil’s health from organic and conservation production practices; nutrition as a capability set with new functionings of organic and conservation farming as well as, through testing of products and soils to ascertain nutritional parameters, nutritional functionings. These identified capability sets as valued beings and doings all attempted to absent climate change induced droughts, food insecurity and economic poverty through the social learning process. The new achieved functionings of knowledge on related market oriented economy, were used for food security as farmers were able to buy maize, the staple food, which has been constrained by climate change induced droughts and pests. The new capability sets and achieved functionings in alternatives to maize crop farming could be viewed in this thesis as a positive emancipatory cyclic movement in the community-based farmers from non-being to agency [1M to 4D]. The thesis found that for the social learning process to be transformative, the community-based farmers had to reflect as individuals and collectively as a community from T1 [social learning layer 1] to T00 [social learning as multi-layered and infinite]. Learning starts from T1 by engaging the ontological and epistemological question ‘what?’ and the pedagogical question, ‘how?’, in order to understand existing ills and how best to absent them. Tensions existed as the community still take maize meal as their staple food and yet maize production is less resilient to droughts in the absence of water harvesting for irrigation. Despite realising the nutritional value of small grains, the research findings claimed that small grains were difficult to process into a mealie-meal and so, could not replace maize as a staple food. Theoretical contributions from this thesis entailed both epistemological and ontological implications as the community-based farmers started to question positivism as the only benchmark for organic standards by sending what they self-perceived as ‘organic’ products and soils, for verification from observed laboratory tests. This might have indicated a recognised shift in the epistemology of the poor community-based farmer, who are widely viewed in literature, as non-being and subsistence, towards an organised transformative market oriented practice. In this regard, transformative social learning catalysed by the thesis, contributed towards an organic practice characterised by absenting synthetic fertilisers and certain heavy elements from the soils and from the products, thereby adapting and mitigating to global climate change at a micro-scale. The study, though small scale, might be viewed as having global policy implications. For SGD:2 FCS 1, VS absented hunger by transforming from zero tonnage in 2012 to an estimated harvest of four tonnes in 2017. For SDG:3, FCS 3, LN produced close to a tonne of organic peas that passed through laboratory testing for nutritional parameters and testing against heavy metals during the 2018 and 2019 farming season. SDG: 1 could be assessed and reflected through improved livelihoods from income raised under market gardening as shown in FCS 3, LN; FCS, 4 SM2; FCS 5 SS and FCS 6 JM2. Also from SDG 1, were alternatives to maize crop farming and climate change adaptation market oriented apiary practiced by FCS 7, LM2 & FCS 8, LM3 and market oriented dendrology from FCS, 10, VC & FCS 11, JC. FCS 10, VC, managed to register a small company while FCS 11, JC managed to get contracts from reputable tobacco companies in the country and he also managed to access bank loans to purchase a small truck to absent the transport ills that constrained the youths who finally moved out of the achieved functioning of dendrology. FCS, 3, LN and the group of youths valued sending their products and soils for laboratory tests, an indicator of the quality of education that they attained through Social learning process’ communities of practice engagement. By supplying part of their products as raw materials to an agro-industry, the newly achieved functioning of market oriented agriculture from FCS 3, LN and FCS 4, SM2 could be viewed as a move towards SDG: 9. In terms of SDG: 12, the farming practices studied in this thesis were deemed environmentally friendly, green and so were adaptations to climate change which could be read along with SDG: 13. The thesis findings thus could be viewed as those that could open up some ways of assessing and providing practical implementation pathways for some of the sustainable development goals as well as providing a platform to interrogate other ways of understanding critical realism’s underlying generative mechanisms as enablers and constrainers to shaping social learning and people’s measurable functionings in the context of education for sustainable development and the global action programme (GAP) and its immanent successor, the ESD Agenda 2030 framework. The research is therefore well poised to inform this agenda. The study concludes that in order to enhance community-based farmers’ social learning and agency towards climate change adaptation, extension service, the standards association institution, agro-industry, the university as well as the media, might need to engage pro-actively with the farmers’ capabilities and agency. The thesis also attempted to inform the university institution’s community engagement, thereby giving practical meaning to the whole institution approaches to ESD as promoted in the UNESCO ESD Global Action Programme, and the emerging ESD 2030 Agenda. The thesis therefore has potential to inform pedagogic practices at the formal, non-formal and the informal learning sectors. The thesis concludes that the social learning process, when coupled with critical realism and the capabilities theories, could facilitate the conversion of resources into new adaptive functionings. The social learning process is transformative, reflexive and recursive, but might have to start from 1M to 4D and from T1 to T00. Moreover, the thesis concludes that poverty remained one of the major disablers of the farmers’ capabilities and agency in this thesis. , Thesis (PhD)--Rhodes University, Faculty of Education, Education, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
A double-edged sword : the minimum wage and agrarian labour in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, 2003–2014
- Authors: Naidoo, Lalitha
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Minimum wage -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agricultural laborers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa , Agricultural wages -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agricultural laborers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Social conditions , Agricultural laborers -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agricultural laws and legislation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Work environment -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Economics -- Sociological aspects , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177111 , vital:42791 , 10.21504/10962/177115
- Description: Statutory wage setting and the extension of labour laws to the South African agrarian labour market are path-breaking events that altered the unilateral power which agrarian employers had, under apartheid, to set low wages and harsh employment conditions. Yet, economic sociologists have shown little interest in the agrarian minimum wage in South Africa. Consequently, little to no sociological perspectives are available on the way in which statutory wages shape the setting of actual agrarian wages, employment conditions, labour relations and working and living conditions. At the same time, economic sociology’s neglect of agrarian minimum wages perpetuates the dominance of economics in minimum wage research, as well as the narrow cost-benefit analysis, and firm and employer-centric focus, deployed by both opponents of minimum wages in the neoclassical economics camp and supporters in the heterodox economics camp. The firm-centric focus also applies to the few labour relations scholars who focus on minimum wages. As a result, a wide body of empirical information is available and concentrated in the Global North, on low-waged, urban-based firms’ employment and labour relations strategies with the occasioning of minimum wage laws, with scant to non-existing information on rural-based workers’ experiences in the Global South, at least in the case of South Africa. This thesis addresses the lacuna in existing research, specifically by concentrating on agrarian workers’ narratives of the outcomes of minimum wages on actual wages and conditions, and experiences at the site of production and in the sphere of expanded social reproduction. The conceptual framework of the thesis is rooted in a critical realist meta-theory which directs inquiry towards the search for underlying causes of events with a sensitivity to the interaction of structure and agency, so as to develop explanations of events, which in turn encourage emancipatory thought and praxis. Within this framework, a political economy perspective of the agrarian minimum wage is charted, founded on an inter-disciplinary approach that incorporates economic sociology perspectives, which view markets as socio-political constructs, alongside a Marxist analysis of wages and the distinction between the value of labour and the value of labour power. Also relevant are segmentation labour market models where the focus is on segmentation in labour supply, demand and regulation, and institutional economics that highlights labour’s weak bargaining power in low-waged labour markets. Based on this analytical perspective, the South African agrarian minimum wage is seen as a necessary intervention stemming from post-apartheid uneven neoliberal restructuring processes, to address extremely low agrarian wages that pose threats to the ongoing generation of agrarian labour power. Low agrarian wages are located in unequal power relations in the workplace and are embedded in the totality of the low-waged agrarian labour market, composed of particular features in the supply-side of the labour market (the sphere of social reproduction of labour), the demand-side of the labour market (the site of production), and the forces of regulation (the labour relations regime). The thesis explores new ways of conceptualising minimum wages in the South African context, placing emphasis on the local agrarian labour market, and it highlights the agency of agrarian labour by revealing their struggles, working life and living conditions. In so doing, the research expands inquiry beyond economic “impact” at the level of the firm/employer to examine: (a) workers’ employment trends before and after the minimum wage was introduced, (b) the extent of changes in working and living conditions and labour relations, (c) the scope for workers in animating changes and their struggles and challenges, and (d) shifts in actual wages in relation to prescribed wage rates. Focussing on the aforementioned aspects represents an attempt in this thesis to build on themes, raised in heterodox economics studies, of minimum wages and their relationship to the social devaluation of low-waged work, inequalities in bargaining power, and justice. Based on a stratified sample of workers that included, among other variables, sex, geographical area and agricultural sub-sectors, original data was collected through 52 in-depth interviews, two focus group interviews (comprised of 10 workers), and 501 surveyed workers. The research did not find widespread job losses when minimum wages were introduced, as per neoclassical economics’ predictions. Nor did it find transitions from low- to high-road approaches in employment strategies and labour relations, as claimed by certain heterodox economists. Instead, the findings at the sites of production corroborate the uneven, mixed and contradictory findings of applied heterodox minimum wage studies on employment strategies, labour relations and wage settings. In this light, it is concluded that the agrarian minimum wage had layered outcomes for workers based on key findings, which include: (a) the minimum wage became the maximum wage as actual wages increased and clustered at the prescribed wage rate; (b) a level of gender wage parity close to the level of the prevailing prescribed minimum wage was found, but an overall gendered pattern to low-waged employment surfaced and manifested differently at sub-sector and enterprise levels; (c) though no changes were found in the way work was organised and how workers executed their tasks alongside no fundamental changes in the social relations of production, statutory minimum wages and limitations on working hours did reduce the hours of work and the existence of unpaid overtime work in certain sub-sectors such as livestock and dairy workplaces, through worker and employer initiatives (yet, at the same time, work intensification in compressed working hours appeared in the sample in other worksites, for example citrus workplaces); (d) authoritarian labour relations existed in varying depths and forms, based on sub-sector and enterprise characteristics, which shaped the propensity and scope for worker action; and (e) the layered outcomes of the agrarian minimum wage were felt at the site of social reproduction, where it brought a measure of relief for sampled workers; however, it was chronically inadequate to allow workers to meet their subsistence needs comprehensively. The research findings also highlight sub-sectoral complexities in changing employment and labour relations strategies from low- to high-road approaches in the agrarian sector. The layered outcomes of minimum wages for agrarian workers stems from the combined and uneven amalgamation of pre-existing and new conditions and relations consequent to neoliberalising processes in the agrarian political economy as well as the low minimum wage-setting. The thesis thus argues that the mixed outcomes reflect the layered character of the minimum wage as a conversion factor, which in turn equates to a layered notion of justice. This is because, on the one hand, the minimum wage ameliorates the plight of agrarian labour but, on the other hand, and given the bulwark of authoritarianism, pre-existing conditions and neoliberalising processes, the collective vulnerabilities in the agrarian labour market have expanded and may be intensifying. The agrarian minimum wage acts as a double-edged sword in contexts of mixed and layered outcomes for agrarian labour. A layered perspective of the conversion factor of a minimum wage exposes the possibilities and limitations of statutory wages as a conversion factor, based on context, and identifies the limits and possibilities for worker mobilisation and action. In the case of this research, the agrarian minimum wage deals in limited fashion with the value of labour power because of the initial and subsequent low settings; the minimum wage does not deal with class exploitation and the value of labour, although it sets the frame for instigating basic labour standards. The implications of a layered conversion potential of low minimum wage-settings are profound for conceptualising, theorising and researching the link between statutory wages and justice, with respect to the value of labour power and the value of labour. Future research on the minimum wage based on a Marxist reading of wages and located in real labour markets, strengthens heterodox approaches by deepening theories on the relationship between statutory wages, justice and production. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Department of Sociology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
- Authors: Naidoo, Lalitha
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Minimum wage -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agricultural laborers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa , Agricultural wages -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agricultural laborers -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Social conditions , Agricultural laborers -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Agricultural laws and legislation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Work environment -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Economics -- Sociological aspects , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177111 , vital:42791 , 10.21504/10962/177115
- Description: Statutory wage setting and the extension of labour laws to the South African agrarian labour market are path-breaking events that altered the unilateral power which agrarian employers had, under apartheid, to set low wages and harsh employment conditions. Yet, economic sociologists have shown little interest in the agrarian minimum wage in South Africa. Consequently, little to no sociological perspectives are available on the way in which statutory wages shape the setting of actual agrarian wages, employment conditions, labour relations and working and living conditions. At the same time, economic sociology’s neglect of agrarian minimum wages perpetuates the dominance of economics in minimum wage research, as well as the narrow cost-benefit analysis, and firm and employer-centric focus, deployed by both opponents of minimum wages in the neoclassical economics camp and supporters in the heterodox economics camp. The firm-centric focus also applies to the few labour relations scholars who focus on minimum wages. As a result, a wide body of empirical information is available and concentrated in the Global North, on low-waged, urban-based firms’ employment and labour relations strategies with the occasioning of minimum wage laws, with scant to non-existing information on rural-based workers’ experiences in the Global South, at least in the case of South Africa. This thesis addresses the lacuna in existing research, specifically by concentrating on agrarian workers’ narratives of the outcomes of minimum wages on actual wages and conditions, and experiences at the site of production and in the sphere of expanded social reproduction. The conceptual framework of the thesis is rooted in a critical realist meta-theory which directs inquiry towards the search for underlying causes of events with a sensitivity to the interaction of structure and agency, so as to develop explanations of events, which in turn encourage emancipatory thought and praxis. Within this framework, a political economy perspective of the agrarian minimum wage is charted, founded on an inter-disciplinary approach that incorporates economic sociology perspectives, which view markets as socio-political constructs, alongside a Marxist analysis of wages and the distinction between the value of labour and the value of labour power. Also relevant are segmentation labour market models where the focus is on segmentation in labour supply, demand and regulation, and institutional economics that highlights labour’s weak bargaining power in low-waged labour markets. Based on this analytical perspective, the South African agrarian minimum wage is seen as a necessary intervention stemming from post-apartheid uneven neoliberal restructuring processes, to address extremely low agrarian wages that pose threats to the ongoing generation of agrarian labour power. Low agrarian wages are located in unequal power relations in the workplace and are embedded in the totality of the low-waged agrarian labour market, composed of particular features in the supply-side of the labour market (the sphere of social reproduction of labour), the demand-side of the labour market (the site of production), and the forces of regulation (the labour relations regime). The thesis explores new ways of conceptualising minimum wages in the South African context, placing emphasis on the local agrarian labour market, and it highlights the agency of agrarian labour by revealing their struggles, working life and living conditions. In so doing, the research expands inquiry beyond economic “impact” at the level of the firm/employer to examine: (a) workers’ employment trends before and after the minimum wage was introduced, (b) the extent of changes in working and living conditions and labour relations, (c) the scope for workers in animating changes and their struggles and challenges, and (d) shifts in actual wages in relation to prescribed wage rates. Focussing on the aforementioned aspects represents an attempt in this thesis to build on themes, raised in heterodox economics studies, of minimum wages and their relationship to the social devaluation of low-waged work, inequalities in bargaining power, and justice. Based on a stratified sample of workers that included, among other variables, sex, geographical area and agricultural sub-sectors, original data was collected through 52 in-depth interviews, two focus group interviews (comprised of 10 workers), and 501 surveyed workers. The research did not find widespread job losses when minimum wages were introduced, as per neoclassical economics’ predictions. Nor did it find transitions from low- to high-road approaches in employment strategies and labour relations, as claimed by certain heterodox economists. Instead, the findings at the sites of production corroborate the uneven, mixed and contradictory findings of applied heterodox minimum wage studies on employment strategies, labour relations and wage settings. In this light, it is concluded that the agrarian minimum wage had layered outcomes for workers based on key findings, which include: (a) the minimum wage became the maximum wage as actual wages increased and clustered at the prescribed wage rate; (b) a level of gender wage parity close to the level of the prevailing prescribed minimum wage was found, but an overall gendered pattern to low-waged employment surfaced and manifested differently at sub-sector and enterprise levels; (c) though no changes were found in the way work was organised and how workers executed their tasks alongside no fundamental changes in the social relations of production, statutory minimum wages and limitations on working hours did reduce the hours of work and the existence of unpaid overtime work in certain sub-sectors such as livestock and dairy workplaces, through worker and employer initiatives (yet, at the same time, work intensification in compressed working hours appeared in the sample in other worksites, for example citrus workplaces); (d) authoritarian labour relations existed in varying depths and forms, based on sub-sector and enterprise characteristics, which shaped the propensity and scope for worker action; and (e) the layered outcomes of the agrarian minimum wage were felt at the site of social reproduction, where it brought a measure of relief for sampled workers; however, it was chronically inadequate to allow workers to meet their subsistence needs comprehensively. The research findings also highlight sub-sectoral complexities in changing employment and labour relations strategies from low- to high-road approaches in the agrarian sector. The layered outcomes of minimum wages for agrarian workers stems from the combined and uneven amalgamation of pre-existing and new conditions and relations consequent to neoliberalising processes in the agrarian political economy as well as the low minimum wage-setting. The thesis thus argues that the mixed outcomes reflect the layered character of the minimum wage as a conversion factor, which in turn equates to a layered notion of justice. This is because, on the one hand, the minimum wage ameliorates the plight of agrarian labour but, on the other hand, and given the bulwark of authoritarianism, pre-existing conditions and neoliberalising processes, the collective vulnerabilities in the agrarian labour market have expanded and may be intensifying. The agrarian minimum wage acts as a double-edged sword in contexts of mixed and layered outcomes for agrarian labour. A layered perspective of the conversion factor of a minimum wage exposes the possibilities and limitations of statutory wages as a conversion factor, based on context, and identifies the limits and possibilities for worker mobilisation and action. In the case of this research, the agrarian minimum wage deals in limited fashion with the value of labour power because of the initial and subsequent low settings; the minimum wage does not deal with class exploitation and the value of labour, although it sets the frame for instigating basic labour standards. The implications of a layered conversion potential of low minimum wage-settings are profound for conceptualising, theorising and researching the link between statutory wages and justice, with respect to the value of labour power and the value of labour. Future research on the minimum wage based on a Marxist reading of wages and located in real labour markets, strengthens heterodox approaches by deepening theories on the relationship between statutory wages, justice and production. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Department of Sociology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
Customer perceptions on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and its possible influence on Revenue Management (RM) at a selected water board in South Africa
- Authors: Manyonganise, Joshua Anesu
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Customer relations -- Management , Revenue management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Water-supply -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Amatola Water (Utility) , South Africa. National Water Act, 1998
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177214 , vital:42800
- Description: The primary activity of water boards is to provide water services (bulk portable, and bulk wastewater) to other water services institutions within its respective service areas. They may perform other activities under conditions set out in the Water Services Act of 1997. Water boards’ revenues come from the municipalities they deliver services to. Not all municipalities have been paying for the services delivered to them, which led to the aim of this study being to gauge the perceptions of Water Board X and Water Board X’s customers of selected Customer Relationship Management (CRM) factors (service quality, customer involvement, customer value, information technology, and management commitment) that may possibly influence Revenue Management (RM). This could possibly assist Water Board X in the future to improve its revenue and debt collection. This thesis employed an interpretivist qualitative research methodology to explore its research aims and objectives. Open-ended semi-structured interviews were conducted with thirteen participants from Water Board X and four municipalities which Water Board X provides services. The data collected from the interviews were analysed manually through thematic analysis. The outcome of the interviews noted that an organisation that delivered high levels of service quality to its customers, could possibly improve its RM as the customers are of the opinion that their needs and requirements have been met and would be willing to pay for the services rendered. It was furthermore found that an organisation that involves its customers could possibly improve its RM as the organisation constantly communicates with its customers during, for example, the different stages of a project to ensure that the organisation does not deliver a project that does not meet the customers’ requirements at the end of the project life cycle. In addition the use of information technology played a pivotal in an organisation as the use of information technology assisted to develop effective methods in customer relationship management such as, data management, improving communication within the organisation, and with the customers, and the decision making. Furthermore, this study suggested the importance for an organisation to add value to the services that they deliver and for an organisation’s management to be committed to ensure that their customers’ expectations and requirements are met. The findings of the study suggest that CRM factors (service quality, customer involvement, customer value, information technology, and management commitment) could influence RM, and it is suggested that Water Board X adopts CRM strategies accordingly to improve its RM. Some of these strategies include adopting a coherent and sustainable revenue strategy through the use of appropriate tariff structures that are simple, equitable, affordable, financially sustainable, and transparent for all; showing commitment by prioritising water loss management and by properly auditing water supplies and water treatment revenue while increasing efficiency in supply and revenue recovery as this allowed Water Board X to better serve its customers, improve its financial standing, and allocate funding for water infrastructure upgrades and to adopt technologies that are on the market as these technologies can detect leakages, manage payments, control water flow and transmit data. , Thesis (MCom) -- Faculty of Commerce, Department of Management, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
- Authors: Manyonganise, Joshua Anesu
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Customer relations -- Management , Revenue management -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal government -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Municipal services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Water-supply -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Amatola Water (Utility) , South Africa. National Water Act, 1998
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177214 , vital:42800
- Description: The primary activity of water boards is to provide water services (bulk portable, and bulk wastewater) to other water services institutions within its respective service areas. They may perform other activities under conditions set out in the Water Services Act of 1997. Water boards’ revenues come from the municipalities they deliver services to. Not all municipalities have been paying for the services delivered to them, which led to the aim of this study being to gauge the perceptions of Water Board X and Water Board X’s customers of selected Customer Relationship Management (CRM) factors (service quality, customer involvement, customer value, information technology, and management commitment) that may possibly influence Revenue Management (RM). This could possibly assist Water Board X in the future to improve its revenue and debt collection. This thesis employed an interpretivist qualitative research methodology to explore its research aims and objectives. Open-ended semi-structured interviews were conducted with thirteen participants from Water Board X and four municipalities which Water Board X provides services. The data collected from the interviews were analysed manually through thematic analysis. The outcome of the interviews noted that an organisation that delivered high levels of service quality to its customers, could possibly improve its RM as the customers are of the opinion that their needs and requirements have been met and would be willing to pay for the services rendered. It was furthermore found that an organisation that involves its customers could possibly improve its RM as the organisation constantly communicates with its customers during, for example, the different stages of a project to ensure that the organisation does not deliver a project that does not meet the customers’ requirements at the end of the project life cycle. In addition the use of information technology played a pivotal in an organisation as the use of information technology assisted to develop effective methods in customer relationship management such as, data management, improving communication within the organisation, and with the customers, and the decision making. Furthermore, this study suggested the importance for an organisation to add value to the services that they deliver and for an organisation’s management to be committed to ensure that their customers’ expectations and requirements are met. The findings of the study suggest that CRM factors (service quality, customer involvement, customer value, information technology, and management commitment) could influence RM, and it is suggested that Water Board X adopts CRM strategies accordingly to improve its RM. Some of these strategies include adopting a coherent and sustainable revenue strategy through the use of appropriate tariff structures that are simple, equitable, affordable, financially sustainable, and transparent for all; showing commitment by prioritising water loss management and by properly auditing water supplies and water treatment revenue while increasing efficiency in supply and revenue recovery as this allowed Water Board X to better serve its customers, improve its financial standing, and allocate funding for water infrastructure upgrades and to adopt technologies that are on the market as these technologies can detect leakages, manage payments, control water flow and transmit data. , Thesis (MCom) -- Faculty of Commerce, Department of Management, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
Mapping the pyrroloiminoquinone diversity produced by latrunculid sponges using tandem mass spectrometry-driven molecular networking
- Authors: Kalinski, Jarmo-Charles
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: To be added
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178468 , vital:42942
- Description: Access restricted until April 2023. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Chemistry, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
- Authors: Kalinski, Jarmo-Charles
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: To be added
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178468 , vital:42942
- Description: Access restricted until April 2023. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Chemistry, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
Design of Immunobiosensors for Detection of Tumor-Associated Anti-P53 Autoantibodies: Method Development
- Authors: Adeniyi, Omotayo Kayode
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/162988 , vital:41002 , 10.21504/10962/162988
- Description: Introduction -- Experimental -- Label-Free Impedimetric Sensing of Anti-P53ab... -- Fluorescent detection of Anti-P53ab -- Peroxidase-like activity of Fe3O4@SiNP-APTES-Au@Pd... -- Colorimetric detection of Anti-P53ab , Thesis (PhD)--Rhodes University, Science Faculty, Department of Chemistry, 2020. , Detection and profiling of circulating tumor-associated autoantibodies (TAAbs) are useful for screening and early-stage diagnosis of asymptomatic lung cancer. Immunobiosensor technologies aimed to accomplish the highly sensitive, rapid and low-cost detection of TAAbs can improve the early-stage detection of lung cancer. Immunobiosensors for the detection of anti-P53-tumour associated autoantibodies have been developed in this work. The design of sensing interfaces with immobilized P53 protein (P53ag) as a sensing element layer on a solid interface was investigated. Several methods of detecting anti-P53-antibodies (anti-P53ab) were investigated. These methods are label-free detection using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and two label techniques. The label-free electrochemical techniques utilize gold electrode pre-modified with a conducting layer of electrochemically grafted phenylethylamine for covalent immobilization of P53ag. The limit of anti-P53ab detection with the label-free EIS was 103.0 pg.ml-1. The labeled technique developed utilizes fluorescent, and peroxidase-like nanomaterial labeled antibody as a detection probe. For the fluorescence detection, fluorescent silica nanoparticles were synthesized by overloading FITC into the silica matrix and conjugated to detection antibody (anti-IgG). The detection of the anti-P53ab was based on the dissolution of the silica nanoparticles to release the loaded dye as a signal amplification strategy. The fluorescence detection was carried out on a microplate, and magnetic bead modified P53-antigen platforms and limit of detection (LoD) were 42.0 fg.ml-1 and 3.3 fg.ml-1 for anti-P53ab; respectively. Fe3O4@SiNP-APTES-Au@Pd hybrid nanoparticles were synthesized, and their peroxidase-like activity and colorimetric detection were evaluated. The Fe3O4@SiNP-APTES-Au@Pd exhibited comparable activity to HRP. The Fe3O4@SiNP-APTES-Au@Pd was conjugated to protein-G-anti-IgG for the detection of anti-P53ab on a microplate and cellulose paper platforms. The LoD was 20.0 fg.ml-1 and 63.0 fg.ml-1 for the microplate and cellulose paper platform; respectively. The potential application of the designed immunobiosensor was evaluated in simulated serum samples. The developed sensors showed higher detection sensitivity, stability and had a lower detection limit for anti-P53ab when compared with the ELISA based detection. The results have provided alternative and effective quantification approaches to ELISA and a promising future for multiplexed detection of tumor-associated autoantibodies. The developed methodologies in this thesis could be applied for the detection of other autoantibodies in other cancer types and auto-immune diseases.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Adeniyi, Omotayo Kayode
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/162988 , vital:41002 , 10.21504/10962/162988
- Description: Introduction -- Experimental -- Label-Free Impedimetric Sensing of Anti-P53ab... -- Fluorescent detection of Anti-P53ab -- Peroxidase-like activity of Fe3O4@SiNP-APTES-Au@Pd... -- Colorimetric detection of Anti-P53ab , Thesis (PhD)--Rhodes University, Science Faculty, Department of Chemistry, 2020. , Detection and profiling of circulating tumor-associated autoantibodies (TAAbs) are useful for screening and early-stage diagnosis of asymptomatic lung cancer. Immunobiosensor technologies aimed to accomplish the highly sensitive, rapid and low-cost detection of TAAbs can improve the early-stage detection of lung cancer. Immunobiosensors for the detection of anti-P53-tumour associated autoantibodies have been developed in this work. The design of sensing interfaces with immobilized P53 protein (P53ag) as a sensing element layer on a solid interface was investigated. Several methods of detecting anti-P53-antibodies (anti-P53ab) were investigated. These methods are label-free detection using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and two label techniques. The label-free electrochemical techniques utilize gold electrode pre-modified with a conducting layer of electrochemically grafted phenylethylamine for covalent immobilization of P53ag. The limit of anti-P53ab detection with the label-free EIS was 103.0 pg.ml-1. The labeled technique developed utilizes fluorescent, and peroxidase-like nanomaterial labeled antibody as a detection probe. For the fluorescence detection, fluorescent silica nanoparticles were synthesized by overloading FITC into the silica matrix and conjugated to detection antibody (anti-IgG). The detection of the anti-P53ab was based on the dissolution of the silica nanoparticles to release the loaded dye as a signal amplification strategy. The fluorescence detection was carried out on a microplate, and magnetic bead modified P53-antigen platforms and limit of detection (LoD) were 42.0 fg.ml-1 and 3.3 fg.ml-1 for anti-P53ab; respectively. Fe3O4@SiNP-APTES-Au@Pd hybrid nanoparticles were synthesized, and their peroxidase-like activity and colorimetric detection were evaluated. The Fe3O4@SiNP-APTES-Au@Pd exhibited comparable activity to HRP. The Fe3O4@SiNP-APTES-Au@Pd was conjugated to protein-G-anti-IgG for the detection of anti-P53ab on a microplate and cellulose paper platforms. The LoD was 20.0 fg.ml-1 and 63.0 fg.ml-1 for the microplate and cellulose paper platform; respectively. The potential application of the designed immunobiosensor was evaluated in simulated serum samples. The developed sensors showed higher detection sensitivity, stability and had a lower detection limit for anti-P53ab when compared with the ELISA based detection. The results have provided alternative and effective quantification approaches to ELISA and a promising future for multiplexed detection of tumor-associated autoantibodies. The developed methodologies in this thesis could be applied for the detection of other autoantibodies in other cancer types and auto-immune diseases.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Molecular and morphological approaches reveal hidden diversity in the genus hippopotamyrus pappenheim, 1906 (teleostei: mormyridae) in southern Africa
- Authors: Mutizwa, Tadiwa, Isaac
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/164546 , vital:41128
- Description: Thesis (MSc)--Rhodes University, Faculty of Science, Department of Icthyology and Fisheries Science, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Mutizwa, Tadiwa, Isaac
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/164546 , vital:41128
- Description: Thesis (MSc)--Rhodes University, Faculty of Science, Department of Icthyology and Fisheries Science, 2020
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Investigating the factors that influence use of ICTs for citizen engagement in Malawi
- Authors: Sibande, Rachel Chavula
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Information technology -- Malawi , Political participation -- Malawi , Mobile apps -- Malawi , UTAUT , Mzinda
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177019 , vital:42782 , 10.21504/10962/177019
- Description: Literature has suggested that Malawians are keen to participate. Malawian’s willingness to participate is evident as the country has recorded high voter turnouts during the elections in recent decades. However, literature also suggests that there is minimal citizen engagement in between elections. Elsewhere, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been used to enhance citizen engagement, but ICT led citizen engagement is still an emerging field and yet to be explored as an area of research particularly in Malawi. We thus sought to explore if the use of ICTs could improve citizen engagement with councils, councilors, and utility companies that provide water and electricity in Malawi. We developed and deployed an ICT platform called Mzinda which means My location in Malawi’s populous Chichewa language. The platform provided various channels for citizens and duty bearers to engage via SMS, USSD, web and a mobile application. We sought to understand the factors that influence citizen’s behavior intention to use an ICT platform to engage. We applied the modified UTAUT model by including Attitude and Self Efficacy social constructs that have among others been cited as limitations of the UTAUT model. We conducted factor loadings of six social constructs of the modified UTAUT model to validate content and reexamine the model in the context of citizen engagement using ICTs in Malawi. We found that, Attitude and Self Efficacy were not significant determinants of the Behaviour Intention for citizens to use the ICT platform. However, 75% of the Behaviour Intention was influenced by Perfomance Expectancy and Effort Expectancy as moderated by age and gender. Empirical evidence showed that responsiveness and actionability of councils and councillors had improved. We also learned that citizens believed that service delivery had improved and that they had more influence over councils, councillors, and the utility companies because of using the ICT platform. We conclude by noting that improvements in service delivery; enhanced responsiveness and actionability of councils, councillors and the utility companies were not necessarily as a result of the ICT platform alone; but a combination of ICTs and non-technology mechanisms of engaging the stakeholders through community campaigns, radio programs, print media engagement, community meetings and debates among others. It is evident that ICTs are not the panacea of all citizen engagement problems. This research can be useful to researchers and practitioners in the technology and citizen engagement domains. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Department of Computer Science, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
- Authors: Sibande, Rachel Chavula
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Information technology -- Malawi , Political participation -- Malawi , Mobile apps -- Malawi , UTAUT , Mzinda
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177019 , vital:42782 , 10.21504/10962/177019
- Description: Literature has suggested that Malawians are keen to participate. Malawian’s willingness to participate is evident as the country has recorded high voter turnouts during the elections in recent decades. However, literature also suggests that there is minimal citizen engagement in between elections. Elsewhere, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been used to enhance citizen engagement, but ICT led citizen engagement is still an emerging field and yet to be explored as an area of research particularly in Malawi. We thus sought to explore if the use of ICTs could improve citizen engagement with councils, councilors, and utility companies that provide water and electricity in Malawi. We developed and deployed an ICT platform called Mzinda which means My location in Malawi’s populous Chichewa language. The platform provided various channels for citizens and duty bearers to engage via SMS, USSD, web and a mobile application. We sought to understand the factors that influence citizen’s behavior intention to use an ICT platform to engage. We applied the modified UTAUT model by including Attitude and Self Efficacy social constructs that have among others been cited as limitations of the UTAUT model. We conducted factor loadings of six social constructs of the modified UTAUT model to validate content and reexamine the model in the context of citizen engagement using ICTs in Malawi. We found that, Attitude and Self Efficacy were not significant determinants of the Behaviour Intention for citizens to use the ICT platform. However, 75% of the Behaviour Intention was influenced by Perfomance Expectancy and Effort Expectancy as moderated by age and gender. Empirical evidence showed that responsiveness and actionability of councils and councillors had improved. We also learned that citizens believed that service delivery had improved and that they had more influence over councils, councillors, and the utility companies because of using the ICT platform. We conclude by noting that improvements in service delivery; enhanced responsiveness and actionability of councils, councillors and the utility companies were not necessarily as a result of the ICT platform alone; but a combination of ICTs and non-technology mechanisms of engaging the stakeholders through community campaigns, radio programs, print media engagement, community meetings and debates among others. It is evident that ICTs are not the panacea of all citizen engagement problems. This research can be useful to researchers and practitioners in the technology and citizen engagement domains. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Department of Computer Science, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
The physical activity levels and preferences of South African breast cancer survivors : a pilot study
- Authors: Campbell, Belinda Claire
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Breast -- Cancer , Cancer -- Patients -- South Africa , Cancer -- Patients -- Rehabilitation , Exercise -- Health aspects , Godin leisure-time activity questionnaire (GLTPAQ) , International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177748 , vital:42855
- Description: Introduction: Breast cancer is currently the most commonly diagnosed cancer in South African women. Physical activity has proven to have preventative, treatment and management benefits for breast cancer and other cancers and exercise has been found as both viable and safe during cancer treatment and recovery. However, there is limited research on breast cancer and the levels and preferences of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in a South African context. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify levels of physical activity and sedentary behaviour of South African breast cancer survivors and to investigate the physical activity advice and participation preferences of these participants. Methods: A cross-sectional research design was implemented to identify the physical activity, sedentary behaviour levels and exercise preferences of 48 South African breast cancer survivors (age range 45 years). An online survey comprising demographic and anthropometric questions, the Godin leisure-time activity questionnaire (GLTPAQ), the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and an exercise preference questionnaire was presented to participating breast cancer survivors in order to i) identify the levels of physical activity and sedentary behaviour engaged in, ii) obtain demographic and anthropometric information and iii) identify exercise preferences. A linear mixed model regression was used to examine potential associations between demographic and anthropometric variables and physical activity levels. Chi-squared and Pearson’s Product-Moment correlation tests were used to identify relationships between categorical and numerical variables. A correlation matrix was generated to further explore any correlations. Statistical significance for all measures was set at p<0.05. Results: The mean age of the group was 49 ± 9.87 years. The most common time since diagnosis was <5 years ago and the most common stage of breast cancer was stage I. The mean BMI was 27.87 ± 5.53kg/m2. The most common treatment combination was surgery with either chemotherapy or radiation. According to the leisure score index (LSI) the majority of the group (56%) was active and according to IPAQ data 60% were meeting physical activity guidelines. The highest physical activity levels were seen in the average weekly minutes of moderate-intensity activity, and there was a strong, non-significant positive correlation (p>0.05, R2 = 0.95) between moderate-intensity physical activity and total physical activity levels. High levels of weekly sedentary behaviour and sitting time (302.60 ± 169.96 minutes) were reported. A weak, non-significant, positive correlation was found between total sedentary time and BMI (p>0.05, R2 = 0.1). A weak, non-significant, negative correlation was found between age and sedentary time (p>0.05, R2 = 0.002). More participants below 50 years were insufficiently active compared to above the age of 50 years. 1.7 to 2.6 years since diagnosis saw the greatest number of insufficiently active survivors and the category over 2.6 years since diagnosis saw the most active survivors. Most breast cancer survivors (71.10% & 82.05%) indicated being interested in and feeling capable of participating in an exercise programme (p>0.05, R2 = 0.72). The favoured preference for receiving physical activity advice was face-to-face with an exercise specialist at a cancer centre before treatment. Participation preferences included starting a programme immediately after treatment, in a home-based setting with one or two other people, where walking and a moderate exercise intensity were the preferred exercise type and level of intensity. Data collection occurred both immediately prior to (42% of participants) and during (56% of participants) the South African Covid-19 lockdown, so the results should be seen in light of this context. Conclusion: The current study is one of the first to explore physical activity rates and preferences of South African breast cancer survivors. As a group and individually these survivors were meeting public physical activity guidelines and engaging in the recommended weekly minutes. The high sitting time coupled with the high overweight and obesity levels highlight the need for positive behavioural changes including improved levels of physical activity and reduced sedentary behaviour. These changes need involvement from the numerous levels of society that affect health. Broad physical activity guidelines need to be developed not only to improve physical activity levels in breast cancer survivors but to work as a preventative measure by facilitating physical activity promotion in the general population. The findings of this study demonstrate that this group of South African breast cancer survivors is open to physical activity advice, to programmes and to improving physical activity levels. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Human Kinetics and Ergonomics, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
- Authors: Campbell, Belinda Claire
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Breast -- Cancer , Cancer -- Patients -- South Africa , Cancer -- Patients -- Rehabilitation , Exercise -- Health aspects , Godin leisure-time activity questionnaire (GLTPAQ) , International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177748 , vital:42855
- Description: Introduction: Breast cancer is currently the most commonly diagnosed cancer in South African women. Physical activity has proven to have preventative, treatment and management benefits for breast cancer and other cancers and exercise has been found as both viable and safe during cancer treatment and recovery. However, there is limited research on breast cancer and the levels and preferences of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in a South African context. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify levels of physical activity and sedentary behaviour of South African breast cancer survivors and to investigate the physical activity advice and participation preferences of these participants. Methods: A cross-sectional research design was implemented to identify the physical activity, sedentary behaviour levels and exercise preferences of 48 South African breast cancer survivors (age range 45 years). An online survey comprising demographic and anthropometric questions, the Godin leisure-time activity questionnaire (GLTPAQ), the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and an exercise preference questionnaire was presented to participating breast cancer survivors in order to i) identify the levels of physical activity and sedentary behaviour engaged in, ii) obtain demographic and anthropometric information and iii) identify exercise preferences. A linear mixed model regression was used to examine potential associations between demographic and anthropometric variables and physical activity levels. Chi-squared and Pearson’s Product-Moment correlation tests were used to identify relationships between categorical and numerical variables. A correlation matrix was generated to further explore any correlations. Statistical significance for all measures was set at p<0.05. Results: The mean age of the group was 49 ± 9.87 years. The most common time since diagnosis was <5 years ago and the most common stage of breast cancer was stage I. The mean BMI was 27.87 ± 5.53kg/m2. The most common treatment combination was surgery with either chemotherapy or radiation. According to the leisure score index (LSI) the majority of the group (56%) was active and according to IPAQ data 60% were meeting physical activity guidelines. The highest physical activity levels were seen in the average weekly minutes of moderate-intensity activity, and there was a strong, non-significant positive correlation (p>0.05, R2 = 0.95) between moderate-intensity physical activity and total physical activity levels. High levels of weekly sedentary behaviour and sitting time (302.60 ± 169.96 minutes) were reported. A weak, non-significant, positive correlation was found between total sedentary time and BMI (p>0.05, R2 = 0.1). A weak, non-significant, negative correlation was found between age and sedentary time (p>0.05, R2 = 0.002). More participants below 50 years were insufficiently active compared to above the age of 50 years. 1.7 to 2.6 years since diagnosis saw the greatest number of insufficiently active survivors and the category over 2.6 years since diagnosis saw the most active survivors. Most breast cancer survivors (71.10% & 82.05%) indicated being interested in and feeling capable of participating in an exercise programme (p>0.05, R2 = 0.72). The favoured preference for receiving physical activity advice was face-to-face with an exercise specialist at a cancer centre before treatment. Participation preferences included starting a programme immediately after treatment, in a home-based setting with one or two other people, where walking and a moderate exercise intensity were the preferred exercise type and level of intensity. Data collection occurred both immediately prior to (42% of participants) and during (56% of participants) the South African Covid-19 lockdown, so the results should be seen in light of this context. Conclusion: The current study is one of the first to explore physical activity rates and preferences of South African breast cancer survivors. As a group and individually these survivors were meeting public physical activity guidelines and engaging in the recommended weekly minutes. The high sitting time coupled with the high overweight and obesity levels highlight the need for positive behavioural changes including improved levels of physical activity and reduced sedentary behaviour. These changes need involvement from the numerous levels of society that affect health. Broad physical activity guidelines need to be developed not only to improve physical activity levels in breast cancer survivors but to work as a preventative measure by facilitating physical activity promotion in the general population. The findings of this study demonstrate that this group of South African breast cancer survivors is open to physical activity advice, to programmes and to improving physical activity levels. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Human Kinetics and Ergonomics, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2021-04