Reading identities: a case study of grade 8 learners' interactions in a reading club
- Scheckle, Eileen Margaret Agnes
- Authors: Scheckle, Eileen Margaret Agnes
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Group reading -- South Africa , Reading (Middle school) -- South Africa , Literacy programs -- South Africa , Identity (Psychology) in adolescence , Identity (Psychology) in adolescence -- South Africa , Discourse analysis -- Social aspects , Critical realism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1329 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017766
- Description: This study offers an account of reading clubs as a literacy intervention in a grade 8 English class at a former ‘Coloured’ high school in South Africa. Using Margaret Archer’s social realist methodology, it examines different practices of ‘reading’ used by learners in talking and writing about text. Archer’s analytical dualism and morphogenetic model provided an explanatory framework for this study. Analytical dualism allows for the separation of the parts (structural and cultural elements) from the people (the grade 8 learners) so as to analyse the interplay between structure and culture. The morphogenetic model recognises that antecedent structures predate this, and any study but that through the exercise of agency, morphogenesis, in the form of structural elaboration or morphostasis in the form of continuity, may occur. This study used a New Literacies perspective based on an ideological model of literacy which recognises many different literacies, in addition to dominant school literacies. Learners’ talk about books as well as personal journal writing provided an insight into what cultural mechanisms and powers children bring to the reading of novels. Understandings of discourses as well as of Gee’s (1990; 2008) construct of Discourse provided a framework for examining learners’ identities and shifts as readers. The data in this study, which is presented through a series of vignettes, found that grade 8 learners use many different experiences and draw on different discourses when making sense of texts. Through the separation of the structural and cultural components, this research could explore how reading clubs as structures enabled learners to access different discourses from the domain of culture. Through the process and engagement in the reading clubs, following Gee (2000b), learners were attributed affinity, discoursal and institutional identities as readers. It was found, in the course of the study, that providing a safe space, scaffolding, multiple opportunities to practice and a variety of reading material, helped learners to access and appropriate dominant literacies. In addition, learners need a repertoire of literacy practices to draw from as successful reading needs flexibility and adaptability. Reading and writing inform each other and through gradual induction into literary writing, learners began to appropriate and approximate dominant literacy practices. Following others who have contributed to the field of New Literacy Studies (Heath, 1983; Street, 1984; Gee 1990; Prinsloo & Breier, 1996), this study would suggest that literacies of traditionally underserved communities should not be considered in deficit terms. Instead these need to be understood as resources for negotiating meaning making and as tools or mechanisms to access dominant discourse practices. In addition the resilience and competition from Discourses of popular culture need to be recognised and developed as tools to access school literacies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Scheckle, Eileen Margaret Agnes
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Group reading -- South Africa , Reading (Middle school) -- South Africa , Literacy programs -- South Africa , Identity (Psychology) in adolescence , Identity (Psychology) in adolescence -- South Africa , Discourse analysis -- Social aspects , Critical realism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1329 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017766
- Description: This study offers an account of reading clubs as a literacy intervention in a grade 8 English class at a former ‘Coloured’ high school in South Africa. Using Margaret Archer’s social realist methodology, it examines different practices of ‘reading’ used by learners in talking and writing about text. Archer’s analytical dualism and morphogenetic model provided an explanatory framework for this study. Analytical dualism allows for the separation of the parts (structural and cultural elements) from the people (the grade 8 learners) so as to analyse the interplay between structure and culture. The morphogenetic model recognises that antecedent structures predate this, and any study but that through the exercise of agency, morphogenesis, in the form of structural elaboration or morphostasis in the form of continuity, may occur. This study used a New Literacies perspective based on an ideological model of literacy which recognises many different literacies, in addition to dominant school literacies. Learners’ talk about books as well as personal journal writing provided an insight into what cultural mechanisms and powers children bring to the reading of novels. Understandings of discourses as well as of Gee’s (1990; 2008) construct of Discourse provided a framework for examining learners’ identities and shifts as readers. The data in this study, which is presented through a series of vignettes, found that grade 8 learners use many different experiences and draw on different discourses when making sense of texts. Through the separation of the structural and cultural components, this research could explore how reading clubs as structures enabled learners to access different discourses from the domain of culture. Through the process and engagement in the reading clubs, following Gee (2000b), learners were attributed affinity, discoursal and institutional identities as readers. It was found, in the course of the study, that providing a safe space, scaffolding, multiple opportunities to practice and a variety of reading material, helped learners to access and appropriate dominant literacies. In addition, learners need a repertoire of literacy practices to draw from as successful reading needs flexibility and adaptability. Reading and writing inform each other and through gradual induction into literary writing, learners began to appropriate and approximate dominant literacy practices. Following others who have contributed to the field of New Literacy Studies (Heath, 1983; Street, 1984; Gee 1990; Prinsloo & Breier, 1996), this study would suggest that literacies of traditionally underserved communities should not be considered in deficit terms. Instead these need to be understood as resources for negotiating meaning making and as tools or mechanisms to access dominant discourse practices. In addition the resilience and competition from Discourses of popular culture need to be recognised and developed as tools to access school literacies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Performance management of health professionals : an evaluation research study of health services in the subdistrict of Buffalo City in the Provincial Department of Health in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Booi, Mlungisi Wellington
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: South Africa -- Department of Health , Batho Pele (Program) , Public health personnel -- South Africa -- Buffalo City , Employees -- Rating of -- South Africa -- Buffalo City , Public health -- South Africa -- Buffalo City -- Evaluation , Customer services -- South Africa -- Buffalo City -- Evaluation , Employees -- Training of -- South Africa -- Buffalo City , Employee-management relations in government -- South Africa -- Buffalo City
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:859 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020017
- Description: Integrative Summary In 1997 the Minister of Public Service and Administration of South Africa, Zola Skweyiya, introduced the White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery(Department of Public Service and Administration(DPSA,1997: 1). It was premised on what was called Batho Pele (DPSA, 1997: 9), giving effect to Section 197 of the Constitution, Act 108 of 1996 as amended. A linkage to performance management can be found from the assertion made in the White Paper that in future the Batho Pele would form the basis of any assessment of the performance of individual staff and that would contribute to improving the delivery of service (DPSA, 1997:16). Another factor that contributed to the utilisation of a performance management system was the recommendation put forward by the Public Service Commission of South Africa( PSC,2004: 16),that called for public institutions to adopt a clear, comprehensive performance management and evaluation framework for the delivery of public service. That was expected to turn around the ailing public institutions whose record of serving the public with pride and dignity was on the decline. The research aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of the performance management system in creating and resolving role conflict with health professionals employed by the Buffalo City sub-district. The research goal was divided into three objectives, namely: evaluation of the effectiveness of the performance management system as a managerial tool for health managers to manage their subordinates including both professional and support staff, evaluation of the effectiveness of the performance system from the perspective of the health professional as a subordinate and to analyze the functioning and effectiveness of the system in creating and resolving role conflict between professional conduct and organisational requirements. The respondents noted that the implementation of the system was not matched with appointment at managerial level with officials having relevant managerial capacity. Further to that resources at the coal face of service delivery continued to deteriorate and became very scarce and there is no documented proof that has been found of an effort made to check the compatibility of the system to health professionals. The literature identified negative effects that have emanated from the implementation of the performance management system. The study was conducted by interviewing health professionals from the entry level to the management level within the Buffalo City sub-district from three mini hospitals or Health Care Centres. The respondents indicated that there are positives that have been achieved by the implementation of the system, such as the skills gap identification as well as specific targets contained in annual performance contracts. These targets help motivate health professional to focus on that particular direction of activities. Unfortunately it has been clearly documented that the performance management system has also contributed to the development of role conflict in a number of professionals. It has been documented that the system has not been crafted with a health professional in mind and, as such, appears to favour quantity rather than quality of health services as advocated by the codes of practice of different health professionals. There are a number of recommendations that were put forward by the respondents to try to salvage the system and in mitigation of the identified negative factors. For the improvement of the system, the Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Health has to firstly customise the annual contracts to contain only the fundamental information. Secondly need to improve the transparency pertaining to financial pressures facing the Health Department. Thirdly the provision of essential enablers, need to be prioritised. Fourthly there is a need to upgrade the system to incorporate 360 degree feedback. Further research recommendations include a bigger sample incorporating different research methods and to also incorporate searches for measures that can be implemented to improve the system to be more relevant to health professionals. This document is organised and presented in three sections. The first section is the evaluation report with a review of literature, research methodology, findings, discussion and conclusion. The second section is where an indepth literature review is located and the last section details the research methodology.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Booi, Mlungisi Wellington
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: South Africa -- Department of Health , Batho Pele (Program) , Public health personnel -- South Africa -- Buffalo City , Employees -- Rating of -- South Africa -- Buffalo City , Public health -- South Africa -- Buffalo City -- Evaluation , Customer services -- South Africa -- Buffalo City -- Evaluation , Employees -- Training of -- South Africa -- Buffalo City , Employee-management relations in government -- South Africa -- Buffalo City
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:859 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020017
- Description: Integrative Summary In 1997 the Minister of Public Service and Administration of South Africa, Zola Skweyiya, introduced the White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery(Department of Public Service and Administration(DPSA,1997: 1). It was premised on what was called Batho Pele (DPSA, 1997: 9), giving effect to Section 197 of the Constitution, Act 108 of 1996 as amended. A linkage to performance management can be found from the assertion made in the White Paper that in future the Batho Pele would form the basis of any assessment of the performance of individual staff and that would contribute to improving the delivery of service (DPSA, 1997:16). Another factor that contributed to the utilisation of a performance management system was the recommendation put forward by the Public Service Commission of South Africa( PSC,2004: 16),that called for public institutions to adopt a clear, comprehensive performance management and evaluation framework for the delivery of public service. That was expected to turn around the ailing public institutions whose record of serving the public with pride and dignity was on the decline. The research aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of the performance management system in creating and resolving role conflict with health professionals employed by the Buffalo City sub-district. The research goal was divided into three objectives, namely: evaluation of the effectiveness of the performance management system as a managerial tool for health managers to manage their subordinates including both professional and support staff, evaluation of the effectiveness of the performance system from the perspective of the health professional as a subordinate and to analyze the functioning and effectiveness of the system in creating and resolving role conflict between professional conduct and organisational requirements. The respondents noted that the implementation of the system was not matched with appointment at managerial level with officials having relevant managerial capacity. Further to that resources at the coal face of service delivery continued to deteriorate and became very scarce and there is no documented proof that has been found of an effort made to check the compatibility of the system to health professionals. The literature identified negative effects that have emanated from the implementation of the performance management system. The study was conducted by interviewing health professionals from the entry level to the management level within the Buffalo City sub-district from three mini hospitals or Health Care Centres. The respondents indicated that there are positives that have been achieved by the implementation of the system, such as the skills gap identification as well as specific targets contained in annual performance contracts. These targets help motivate health professional to focus on that particular direction of activities. Unfortunately it has been clearly documented that the performance management system has also contributed to the development of role conflict in a number of professionals. It has been documented that the system has not been crafted with a health professional in mind and, as such, appears to favour quantity rather than quality of health services as advocated by the codes of practice of different health professionals. There are a number of recommendations that were put forward by the respondents to try to salvage the system and in mitigation of the identified negative factors. For the improvement of the system, the Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Health has to firstly customise the annual contracts to contain only the fundamental information. Secondly need to improve the transparency pertaining to financial pressures facing the Health Department. Thirdly the provision of essential enablers, need to be prioritised. Fourthly there is a need to upgrade the system to incorporate 360 degree feedback. Further research recommendations include a bigger sample incorporating different research methods and to also incorporate searches for measures that can be implemented to improve the system to be more relevant to health professionals. This document is organised and presented in three sections. The first section is the evaluation report with a review of literature, research methodology, findings, discussion and conclusion. The second section is where an indepth literature review is located and the last section details the research methodology.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
What limits an invasive biotic and abiotic effects on the distribution of the invasive mussel mytilus galloprovincialis on the South African coastline
- Authors: Hall, Madison
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Perna , Mytilus galloprovincialis , Mussels -- South Africa , Introduced organisms -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5927 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017805
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Hall, Madison
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Perna , Mytilus galloprovincialis , Mussels -- South Africa , Introduced organisms -- Environmental aspects -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5927 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017805
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Teacher leadership : a study in a township high school
- Authors: Kumalo, Elizabeth Nomso
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Educational leadership -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Teacher participation in administration -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Teacher effectiveness -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:2038 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017349
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Kumalo, Elizabeth Nomso
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Educational leadership -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Teacher participation in administration -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Teacher effectiveness -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:2038 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017349
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Metallophthalocyanine-gold nanoparticle conjugates for photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy
- Mthethwa, Thandekile Phakamisiwe
- Authors: Mthethwa, Thandekile Phakamisiwe
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Nanochemistry , Phthalocyanines , Photochemistry
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4543 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017923
- Description: This thesis presents the synthesis of neutral and cationic metallophthalocyanines and their gold nanoparticles conjugates. The spectroscopic characterization of these compounds is presented herein. The studies presented in this work shows that the conjugation of gold nanoparticles influenced both photophysical and photochemical properties. Gold nanoparticles were found to enhance the singlet oxygen quantum yield while lowering the fluorescence quantum yields. This work also looks at the effect of anisotropic gold nanoparticles such as nanorods and bipyramids on the photophysical behaviour of the metallophthalocyanines. The effect of the size of the gold nanorods was investigated herein. The results show that photophysical and photochemical properties can be influenced by both size and shape of the nanoparticles. Physical characterization about the loading of nanoparticles was also looked into. Parameters such as the surface area, the number of surface atoms, the number of atoms as well as the number of nanoparticles loaded on the surface of the phthalocyanines were studied. The self-assembled monolayers formed by phthalocyanines on gold surfaces were studied using the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The gold nanoparticles synthesized herein include both organic and water soluble, different capping agents (citrate, tetraammonium bromide (TAOBr) and cetrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The concentration of the gold nanoparticles was measured on the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and their size and shape were obtained from the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images. A cationic aluminium phthalocyanine and its conjugates were used for photoinactivation of bacteria and fungi. The results show significant reduction and higher activity in the presence of gold nanoparticles, especially nanorods. A small chapter in this work presents an attempted work on the binding of metallothionein protein with protophorphyrin (IX). The pH and concentration dependent binding studies were investigated
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Mthethwa, Thandekile Phakamisiwe
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Nanochemistry , Phthalocyanines , Photochemistry
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4543 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017923
- Description: This thesis presents the synthesis of neutral and cationic metallophthalocyanines and their gold nanoparticles conjugates. The spectroscopic characterization of these compounds is presented herein. The studies presented in this work shows that the conjugation of gold nanoparticles influenced both photophysical and photochemical properties. Gold nanoparticles were found to enhance the singlet oxygen quantum yield while lowering the fluorescence quantum yields. This work also looks at the effect of anisotropic gold nanoparticles such as nanorods and bipyramids on the photophysical behaviour of the metallophthalocyanines. The effect of the size of the gold nanorods was investigated herein. The results show that photophysical and photochemical properties can be influenced by both size and shape of the nanoparticles. Physical characterization about the loading of nanoparticles was also looked into. Parameters such as the surface area, the number of surface atoms, the number of atoms as well as the number of nanoparticles loaded on the surface of the phthalocyanines were studied. The self-assembled monolayers formed by phthalocyanines on gold surfaces were studied using the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The gold nanoparticles synthesized herein include both organic and water soluble, different capping agents (citrate, tetraammonium bromide (TAOBr) and cetrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The concentration of the gold nanoparticles was measured on the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and their size and shape were obtained from the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images. A cationic aluminium phthalocyanine and its conjugates were used for photoinactivation of bacteria and fungi. The results show significant reduction and higher activity in the presence of gold nanoparticles, especially nanorods. A small chapter in this work presents an attempted work on the binding of metallothionein protein with protophorphyrin (IX). The pH and concentration dependent binding studies were investigated
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
The transition of Rhodes University graduates into the South African labour market : a case study of the 2010 cohort
- Authors: Ntikinca, Kanyiso Lungani
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Rhodes University -- Graduate students , Labor market -- South Africa , College graduates -- Employment -- South Africa , Labor supply -- Research -- South Africa , Market segmentation -- South Africa , Employability -- South Africa , Race discrimination -- South Africa , Sex discrimination -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3395 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018198
- Description: Recent studies have shown that graduates from historically White universities (HWUs) experience better labour market outcomes than graduates from historically Black universities (HBUs). This is a result of the legacy of apartheid which promoted racial inequality in all spheres of South African society, more especially in higher education and the labour market. Post-1994, government dedicated large amounts for the restructuring of the higher education sector of South Africa in order to level out the playing field. However, graduates from HWUs still experience better labour market success than graduates from HBUs. That said, there is limited information about the labour market outcomes and experiences of graduates from a former White university (especially graduates from Rhodes University). Therefore, the central aim of this dissertation is to show that graduates from a historically White university (Rhodes University) experience varying and unequal outcomes in the South African labour market on account of (among other factors) their chosen fields of study, race and sex. This study is informed by the heterodox labour market approach, which is partly inspired by the critical realist account of the labour market. As a result, this theoretical framework allowed the researcher to use the Labour Market Segmentation (LMS) theory as a tool to inform this analysis. The study has adopted a quantitative survey design and has incorporated some of the key methodological lessons learned from the collection of international graduate tracer studies. The findings from this study indicated that ‘field of study’ is a strong determiner of the outcomes of Rhodes graduates in the labour market. This was visible in the persistence of a skills bias towards commerce and science graduates. Evidently, even when we controlled for race and sex, graduates from the commerce and science faculties experience better labour market outcomes than humanities graduates. This is a result of a skills biased South African economy, which has a higher demand for certain skills over others. However, the findings from this study also show evidence of pre-labour market discrimination and inequality (based on race and sex) in the supply-side institutions such as the family, schooling and university. The findings also show continuities and discontinuities of labour market discrimination (based on race and sex) in the outcomes of Rhodes graduates in the South African labour market. More importantly, this dissertation indicates that Rhodes graduates experience varying outcomes in the labour market as a result of (among other factors) their chosen fields of study, race and sex.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Ntikinca, Kanyiso Lungani
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Rhodes University -- Graduate students , Labor market -- South Africa , College graduates -- Employment -- South Africa , Labor supply -- Research -- South Africa , Market segmentation -- South Africa , Employability -- South Africa , Race discrimination -- South Africa , Sex discrimination -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3395 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018198
- Description: Recent studies have shown that graduates from historically White universities (HWUs) experience better labour market outcomes than graduates from historically Black universities (HBUs). This is a result of the legacy of apartheid which promoted racial inequality in all spheres of South African society, more especially in higher education and the labour market. Post-1994, government dedicated large amounts for the restructuring of the higher education sector of South Africa in order to level out the playing field. However, graduates from HWUs still experience better labour market success than graduates from HBUs. That said, there is limited information about the labour market outcomes and experiences of graduates from a former White university (especially graduates from Rhodes University). Therefore, the central aim of this dissertation is to show that graduates from a historically White university (Rhodes University) experience varying and unequal outcomes in the South African labour market on account of (among other factors) their chosen fields of study, race and sex. This study is informed by the heterodox labour market approach, which is partly inspired by the critical realist account of the labour market. As a result, this theoretical framework allowed the researcher to use the Labour Market Segmentation (LMS) theory as a tool to inform this analysis. The study has adopted a quantitative survey design and has incorporated some of the key methodological lessons learned from the collection of international graduate tracer studies. The findings from this study indicated that ‘field of study’ is a strong determiner of the outcomes of Rhodes graduates in the labour market. This was visible in the persistence of a skills bias towards commerce and science graduates. Evidently, even when we controlled for race and sex, graduates from the commerce and science faculties experience better labour market outcomes than humanities graduates. This is a result of a skills biased South African economy, which has a higher demand for certain skills over others. However, the findings from this study also show evidence of pre-labour market discrimination and inequality (based on race and sex) in the supply-side institutions such as the family, schooling and university. The findings also show continuities and discontinuities of labour market discrimination (based on race and sex) in the outcomes of Rhodes graduates in the South African labour market. More importantly, this dissertation indicates that Rhodes graduates experience varying outcomes in the labour market as a result of (among other factors) their chosen fields of study, race and sex.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
The effect of extracellular Hsp90β and TGF-β1 on colon cancer biology
- Authors: Perks, Tamarin
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/55896 , vital:26753
- Description: The TGF-β signaling pathway is known to be one of the most commonly mutated pathways in human cancers, while Hsp90 is a bone fide drug target that is involved in regulating the conformation and activity of many oncoproteins. The role of intracellular Hsp90 in cancer has thus far been established and there is a growing link between extracellular Hsp90 and cancer metastasis, as well as the role of TGF-β in metastasis. This study aimed to analyse the interaction between Hsp90 (both intracellular and extracellular) and the TGF-β machinery in cancer cells, as well as to determine the effect of these proteins on cellular responses on the biology of cancer cells. This was achieved by studying the expression of Hsp90; TGF-βRII and TGF-β1 in cancer cell lines of various origins using flow cytometry, ELISA, and western blot analysis. The genetically paired SW480 and SW620 colon cancer cell lines, derived from a primary tumour and lymph node metastasis, respectively, were selected for further study due to differences in expression levels and activation of the TGF-β1 pathway. SW480 cells expressed double the level of TGF-βRII compared to SW620 cells, while SW620 expressed two times more extracellular TGF-β1 than SW480 cells. A direct interaction between TGF-β1 and Hsp90β was determined in vitro, and confirmed in vivo in SW620 cells. Growth, adhesion and migration were analysed in SW480 and SW620 cells. SW480 cells adhered significantly faster than SW620 cells, while SW620 cells had a greater rate of migration. Inhibiting the TGF-β pathway, specifically TGF-βRI, using SB 431542, as well as inhibiting Hsp90 with novobiocin, caused an increase in migration in SW480 cells. Only the addition of TGF-β1 in combination with Hsp90 as well as SB 431542 caused an increase in migration in SW620 cells. The canonical TGF-β1/TGF-βRI/TGF-βRII pathway may be constitutively active in SW620 cells and the inhibition of TGF-βRI may suggest an alternate pathway or receptor in both SW480 and SW620 cells.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Perks, Tamarin
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/55896 , vital:26753
- Description: The TGF-β signaling pathway is known to be one of the most commonly mutated pathways in human cancers, while Hsp90 is a bone fide drug target that is involved in regulating the conformation and activity of many oncoproteins. The role of intracellular Hsp90 in cancer has thus far been established and there is a growing link between extracellular Hsp90 and cancer metastasis, as well as the role of TGF-β in metastasis. This study aimed to analyse the interaction between Hsp90 (both intracellular and extracellular) and the TGF-β machinery in cancer cells, as well as to determine the effect of these proteins on cellular responses on the biology of cancer cells. This was achieved by studying the expression of Hsp90; TGF-βRII and TGF-β1 in cancer cell lines of various origins using flow cytometry, ELISA, and western blot analysis. The genetically paired SW480 and SW620 colon cancer cell lines, derived from a primary tumour and lymph node metastasis, respectively, were selected for further study due to differences in expression levels and activation of the TGF-β1 pathway. SW480 cells expressed double the level of TGF-βRII compared to SW620 cells, while SW620 expressed two times more extracellular TGF-β1 than SW480 cells. A direct interaction between TGF-β1 and Hsp90β was determined in vitro, and confirmed in vivo in SW620 cells. Growth, adhesion and migration were analysed in SW480 and SW620 cells. SW480 cells adhered significantly faster than SW620 cells, while SW620 cells had a greater rate of migration. Inhibiting the TGF-β pathway, specifically TGF-βRI, using SB 431542, as well as inhibiting Hsp90 with novobiocin, caused an increase in migration in SW480 cells. Only the addition of TGF-β1 in combination with Hsp90 as well as SB 431542 caused an increase in migration in SW620 cells. The canonical TGF-β1/TGF-βRI/TGF-βRII pathway may be constitutively active in SW620 cells and the inhibition of TGF-βRI may suggest an alternate pathway or receptor in both SW480 and SW620 cells.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Perceived breach and violation of the psychological contract in a collectivistic culture
- Van der Merwe, Sophie Wilhelmine
- Authors: Van der Merwe, Sophie Wilhelmine
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Collectivism , Employees -- Attitudes , Contracts -- Psychological aspects , Industrial relations , Breach of contract , Personnel management -- Psychological aspects , Organizational behavior , Psychology, Industrial
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:855 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017523
- Description: The significance of relationships on economic actions and employee behaviour makes it critical for employers to understand the dynamics of employment through mutual obligations (Rousseau, 1990; Guest, 2004b). The psychological contract affords a broad platform to study the employment relationship (Thomas et al., 2010), and is an important tool for organisational success (McDermott et al., 2013). The literature review contained in this study indicates the differences in contracting environments due to the prevailing cultural orientation. However, there is a dearth of research in collectivistic culture, to which this study will add. The literature also makes a distinction between perceptions of breach and violation. While perceptions of breach of the psychological contract is the perception that the employer has not met all obligations and promises, violation is the emotional and affective state following breach (Morrison & Robinson, 1997) and results in negative or deviant behaviours (Chiu & Peng, 2008). Both breach and violation perceptions negatively affect employee behaviours and attitudes in the workplace (Aggarwal & Bhargava, 2014). This research assumed a constructivist paradigm and builds understanding of the outcomes of breach and violation of the psychological contract on employees’ working life in a collectivistic environment. Primary data collection was by in-depth semi-structured, one on one interviews with five employees of a state-subsidised organisation in East London, making use of convenience sampling. Follow up interviews were conducted, resulting in 7ₑ/₄ hours of interviewing time. Cultural orientation was ascertained through the use of a questionnaire. The findings of this study confirmed that the type of psychological contract entered into influences the outcomes of perceptions of breach and violation. Both dimensions of collectivism, namely institutional and in-group, were practised in this environment, which also impacted on both the individual’s experience and outcomes for the organisation. The latter was influenced by commitment to organisational goals and supervisory or collegial relationships. Most notable of the results is the effect of expectations of transitional justice on experience of the psychological contract. Practical implications and recommendations for future research are made. This research is presented in three sections; firstly the research is presented in the format of an academic paper and includes a concise summary of literature and research method. The second section is an expanded literature review of the psychological contract and its influencing factors, as well as the outcomes of breach and violation. The last section describes and justifies in detail the design of the research and the research procedure followed. , Alternate name: Van der Merwe, Somine
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Van der Merwe, Sophie Wilhelmine
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Collectivism , Employees -- Attitudes , Contracts -- Psychological aspects , Industrial relations , Breach of contract , Personnel management -- Psychological aspects , Organizational behavior , Psychology, Industrial
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:855 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017523
- Description: The significance of relationships on economic actions and employee behaviour makes it critical for employers to understand the dynamics of employment through mutual obligations (Rousseau, 1990; Guest, 2004b). The psychological contract affords a broad platform to study the employment relationship (Thomas et al., 2010), and is an important tool for organisational success (McDermott et al., 2013). The literature review contained in this study indicates the differences in contracting environments due to the prevailing cultural orientation. However, there is a dearth of research in collectivistic culture, to which this study will add. The literature also makes a distinction between perceptions of breach and violation. While perceptions of breach of the psychological contract is the perception that the employer has not met all obligations and promises, violation is the emotional and affective state following breach (Morrison & Robinson, 1997) and results in negative or deviant behaviours (Chiu & Peng, 2008). Both breach and violation perceptions negatively affect employee behaviours and attitudes in the workplace (Aggarwal & Bhargava, 2014). This research assumed a constructivist paradigm and builds understanding of the outcomes of breach and violation of the psychological contract on employees’ working life in a collectivistic environment. Primary data collection was by in-depth semi-structured, one on one interviews with five employees of a state-subsidised organisation in East London, making use of convenience sampling. Follow up interviews were conducted, resulting in 7ₑ/₄ hours of interviewing time. Cultural orientation was ascertained through the use of a questionnaire. The findings of this study confirmed that the type of psychological contract entered into influences the outcomes of perceptions of breach and violation. Both dimensions of collectivism, namely institutional and in-group, were practised in this environment, which also impacted on both the individual’s experience and outcomes for the organisation. The latter was influenced by commitment to organisational goals and supervisory or collegial relationships. Most notable of the results is the effect of expectations of transitional justice on experience of the psychological contract. Practical implications and recommendations for future research are made. This research is presented in three sections; firstly the research is presented in the format of an academic paper and includes a concise summary of literature and research method. The second section is an expanded literature review of the psychological contract and its influencing factors, as well as the outcomes of breach and violation. The last section describes and justifies in detail the design of the research and the research procedure followed. , Alternate name: Van der Merwe, Somine
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
A sociological analysis of the production, marketing and distribution of contemporary popular music by Zambian musicians
- Authors: Kazadi, Kanyabu Solomon
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Popular music -- Zambia , Musicians -- Zambia , Sound recording industry -- Zambia , Popular music -- Production and direction -- Zambia , Popular music -- Marketing , Intellectual property -- Zambia , Copyright -- Royalties -- Zambia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3404 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018933
- Description: The purpose of this research was to gather information about the production, marketing and distribution of Zambian contemporary music by Zambian musicians. Very little information has been documented about the development of the Zambian music industry, particularly from the perspective of those within the industry. As a result this study attempted to add to this knowledge. To achieve this Pierre Bourdieu’s theoretical concepts of ‘fields’ and ‘habitus’ were used to gain an understanding of what affects the creation of art forms such as music as well as the structures and underlying processes within the music industry. The concept of ‘fields’ usefully framed an explanation of the struggles and connections within the various fields in the industry and a view of the Zambian music industry in relation to the international industry. To gather the data necessary for this research a qualitative approach was utilised involving semistructured in-depth questionnaires from twenty-three interviewees. These interviewees were selected from various sectors of the music industry in an attempt to gain a holistic perspective of the industry in the 21st century. There were four subgroups: the artists (singers, rappers and instrumentalists), managers, radio DJs, and a miscellaneous group made up of the remaining participants, a Sounds Arcade manager, a music journalist, the National Arts Council Chairperson, a Zambia Music Copyright Protection Society (ZAMCOPS) administrator, and the then President of the Zambia Association of Musicians (ZAM). With the limited exposure to formal musical, instrumental and production training, musicians, instrumentalists, managers and studio production personnel interviewed had had to learn their craft on-the-job. This limited knowledge appears to add to the hindrance of the development of careers and the industry, particularly in terms of how to register and distribute music correctly to earn royalties and protect their intellectual property against piracy. From an institutional level piracy is being addressed more forcefully with the introduction of holograms and the tightening of policies and structures to do with the music industry.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Kazadi, Kanyabu Solomon
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Popular music -- Zambia , Musicians -- Zambia , Sound recording industry -- Zambia , Popular music -- Production and direction -- Zambia , Popular music -- Marketing , Intellectual property -- Zambia , Copyright -- Royalties -- Zambia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3404 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018933
- Description: The purpose of this research was to gather information about the production, marketing and distribution of Zambian contemporary music by Zambian musicians. Very little information has been documented about the development of the Zambian music industry, particularly from the perspective of those within the industry. As a result this study attempted to add to this knowledge. To achieve this Pierre Bourdieu’s theoretical concepts of ‘fields’ and ‘habitus’ were used to gain an understanding of what affects the creation of art forms such as music as well as the structures and underlying processes within the music industry. The concept of ‘fields’ usefully framed an explanation of the struggles and connections within the various fields in the industry and a view of the Zambian music industry in relation to the international industry. To gather the data necessary for this research a qualitative approach was utilised involving semistructured in-depth questionnaires from twenty-three interviewees. These interviewees were selected from various sectors of the music industry in an attempt to gain a holistic perspective of the industry in the 21st century. There were four subgroups: the artists (singers, rappers and instrumentalists), managers, radio DJs, and a miscellaneous group made up of the remaining participants, a Sounds Arcade manager, a music journalist, the National Arts Council Chairperson, a Zambia Music Copyright Protection Society (ZAMCOPS) administrator, and the then President of the Zambia Association of Musicians (ZAM). With the limited exposure to formal musical, instrumental and production training, musicians, instrumentalists, managers and studio production personnel interviewed had had to learn their craft on-the-job. This limited knowledge appears to add to the hindrance of the development of careers and the industry, particularly in terms of how to register and distribute music correctly to earn royalties and protect their intellectual property against piracy. From an institutional level piracy is being addressed more forcefully with the introduction of holograms and the tightening of policies and structures to do with the music industry.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Social-ecological resilience for well-being : a critical realist case study of Boksburg Lake, South Africa
- Authors: Fox, Helen Elizabeth
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Boksburg Lake and Wetland project , Reservoirs -- South Africa -- Boksburg , Water -- Pollution -- South Africa -- Boksburg , Human ecology -- South Africa -- Boksburg , Social learning -- South Africa -- Boksburg , Critical realism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:6048 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017872
- Description: This thesis is based on a case study of the degraded Boksburg Lake social-ecological system and an environmental education initiative that aimed to support its transformation. This initiative aimed to involve local people in reclaiming the lake’s social and ecological value, through a process of collectively reimagining possibilities, shaping identities, gaining knowledge and developing local human agency. The focus was on social learning processes in schools and churches to explore opportunities for co-engaged reflexivity that might produce transformation. Schools and Christian churches, two institutions that reflect modern, western socialecological worldviews also have the potential to bring about change. Critical Realism was chosen as my philosophical framework as it provided the tools to explore deeper mechanisms beyond empirical reality, both influencing the degrading trajectory as well as providing possibilities for transformation. It also legitimised case study research as a means to understand more generalised processes characterising modern social-ecological systems. The choice of Critical Realism informed the scope of my primary research question: What generative mechanisms constrain and enable the development of social-ecological resilience for well-being, in the modern social-ecological system of Boksburg Lake? The following three goals were formulated to address this primary question. Goal 1: Based on a multitheoretical perspective of social-ecological literature, develop conceptual tools that have explanatory power to probe generative mechanisms operating in the Boksburg Lake social-ecological system. Goal 2: Identify generative mechanisms driving the current degradation of the Boksburg Lake social-ecological system. Goal 3: Identify learning mechanisms that support transformation for greater social-ecological resilience of the Boksburg Lake social-ecological system. By addressing the primary question and research goals I aimed to gain insights into modern global socialecological systems, the mechanisms that drive high social-ecological risk and the requirements for and possibilities of global systemic change. Drawing on a broad reading of social-ecological literature from different vantage points, tools with explanatory power were developed to probe for generative mechanisms in the Boksburg Lake social-ecological system (goal 1). The human capacity for symbolic representation is identified as an emergent property of coevolving human-ecological systems. These symbolic representations become expressed in culture and worldviews, and influence patterns of identifying, types of knowledge and forms of agency. The nature of these will determine the degree that cultural systems are embedded within ecological reality and the extent of cultural-ecological coupling. A cultural system closely coupled with ecological realities is likely to value ecological systems and manage them for their health, while less coupled cultural-ecological systems are likely to lead to the opposite. Because of their integrated nature, the extent of ecological health and value will affect the decline or sustainability of cultural-ecological systems. There are numerous examples of the learning that can take place when cultural-ecological systems are facing decline. This learning can enhance or reduce biophyllic instincts that become encoded in patterns of identifying, types of knowledge and forms of agency. This in turn affects the strength of cultural-ecological coupling and the extent that human societies co-evolve with ecological systems. , Normalising ideologies is a concept coined in the thesis to refer to symbolic representations of reality that have become integral to a social fabric and determine meaning, while maintaining the domination of the powerful. These ideologies determine patterns of identifying, knowledge and agency and are recognised as having a fundamental influence on the resilience of social-ecological systems. Four normalising ideologies are identified that promote apparent human progress at the expense of ecological integrity and social equality and thus alienation with each other and the ecological world. These are human-ecological dualism, anthropocentrism, nature is mechanised and nature is to be controlled. There are also a number of ideologies promoting connectedness with the ecological world that, if they became normalised, would support greater social-ecological resilience for well-being. Generative mechanisms driving the current degradation of the Boksburg Lake socialecological system were identified (goal 2). Drawing on critical methodology, the main method adopted was document analysis of the Boksburg Advertiser archives, Boksburg’s local newspaper. Four generative mechanisms are recognised as most influential. Two of these have been named hegemonic symbolic systems. The primary symbolic system consists of the four normalising ideologies, mentioned above, that promote human progress at the expense of ecological health. The secondary, more explicit symbolic system, built on this, consists of the following normative ideologies: economic growth is imperative, unrestrained development is promoted, competition is the necessary means and consumerism is the good life. These two symbolic systems have had causal influence on the systematic erosion of ecological processes and biological diversity that has occurred in Boksburg, with the consequent undermining of social-ecological resilience for well-being. The third mechanism that constrains resilience is the power dynamics that have shaped Boksburg’s economic history and social-ecological system. This has resulted in a society built on inequality and injustice with all its associated social and environmental ills, expressed as externalities. The fourth mechanism resides in Boksburg’s political and municipal dynamics. These structures are not designed to tackle complex social-ecological problems and they hold considerable agential power, yet seem dysfunctional at present. Learning mechanisms that support transformation for greater social-ecological resilience of the Boksburg Lake social-ecological system were identified (goal 3). By adopting the role of a reflexive practitioner, supported by action research, case study and interpretivist methodologies, data on the empirical manifestations of the environmental educational initiative were collected. Methods included semistructured interviews, focus groups, document analysis and participant observation. Findings indicate that schools and churches are important institutions that can positively influence patterns of identifying, knowledge about and agency for Boksburg Lake and can thus play a role in transforming hegemonic normalising ideologies. Important learning mechanisms identified included: Learning reflexively together within communities of practice that provide opportunities for active rather than passive learning; involving the youth as they are a group of people with notable enthusiasm, vision, energy and motivation; learning through information acquisition, investigation, action and deliberation; learning about abstract concepts and theoretical knowledge but embedding this in local realities; and learning that provides reference markers for how things can be different.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Fox, Helen Elizabeth
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Boksburg Lake and Wetland project , Reservoirs -- South Africa -- Boksburg , Water -- Pollution -- South Africa -- Boksburg , Human ecology -- South Africa -- Boksburg , Social learning -- South Africa -- Boksburg , Critical realism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:6048 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017872
- Description: This thesis is based on a case study of the degraded Boksburg Lake social-ecological system and an environmental education initiative that aimed to support its transformation. This initiative aimed to involve local people in reclaiming the lake’s social and ecological value, through a process of collectively reimagining possibilities, shaping identities, gaining knowledge and developing local human agency. The focus was on social learning processes in schools and churches to explore opportunities for co-engaged reflexivity that might produce transformation. Schools and Christian churches, two institutions that reflect modern, western socialecological worldviews also have the potential to bring about change. Critical Realism was chosen as my philosophical framework as it provided the tools to explore deeper mechanisms beyond empirical reality, both influencing the degrading trajectory as well as providing possibilities for transformation. It also legitimised case study research as a means to understand more generalised processes characterising modern social-ecological systems. The choice of Critical Realism informed the scope of my primary research question: What generative mechanisms constrain and enable the development of social-ecological resilience for well-being, in the modern social-ecological system of Boksburg Lake? The following three goals were formulated to address this primary question. Goal 1: Based on a multitheoretical perspective of social-ecological literature, develop conceptual tools that have explanatory power to probe generative mechanisms operating in the Boksburg Lake social-ecological system. Goal 2: Identify generative mechanisms driving the current degradation of the Boksburg Lake social-ecological system. Goal 3: Identify learning mechanisms that support transformation for greater social-ecological resilience of the Boksburg Lake social-ecological system. By addressing the primary question and research goals I aimed to gain insights into modern global socialecological systems, the mechanisms that drive high social-ecological risk and the requirements for and possibilities of global systemic change. Drawing on a broad reading of social-ecological literature from different vantage points, tools with explanatory power were developed to probe for generative mechanisms in the Boksburg Lake social-ecological system (goal 1). The human capacity for symbolic representation is identified as an emergent property of coevolving human-ecological systems. These symbolic representations become expressed in culture and worldviews, and influence patterns of identifying, types of knowledge and forms of agency. The nature of these will determine the degree that cultural systems are embedded within ecological reality and the extent of cultural-ecological coupling. A cultural system closely coupled with ecological realities is likely to value ecological systems and manage them for their health, while less coupled cultural-ecological systems are likely to lead to the opposite. Because of their integrated nature, the extent of ecological health and value will affect the decline or sustainability of cultural-ecological systems. There are numerous examples of the learning that can take place when cultural-ecological systems are facing decline. This learning can enhance or reduce biophyllic instincts that become encoded in patterns of identifying, types of knowledge and forms of agency. This in turn affects the strength of cultural-ecological coupling and the extent that human societies co-evolve with ecological systems. , Normalising ideologies is a concept coined in the thesis to refer to symbolic representations of reality that have become integral to a social fabric and determine meaning, while maintaining the domination of the powerful. These ideologies determine patterns of identifying, knowledge and agency and are recognised as having a fundamental influence on the resilience of social-ecological systems. Four normalising ideologies are identified that promote apparent human progress at the expense of ecological integrity and social equality and thus alienation with each other and the ecological world. These are human-ecological dualism, anthropocentrism, nature is mechanised and nature is to be controlled. There are also a number of ideologies promoting connectedness with the ecological world that, if they became normalised, would support greater social-ecological resilience for well-being. Generative mechanisms driving the current degradation of the Boksburg Lake socialecological system were identified (goal 2). Drawing on critical methodology, the main method adopted was document analysis of the Boksburg Advertiser archives, Boksburg’s local newspaper. Four generative mechanisms are recognised as most influential. Two of these have been named hegemonic symbolic systems. The primary symbolic system consists of the four normalising ideologies, mentioned above, that promote human progress at the expense of ecological health. The secondary, more explicit symbolic system, built on this, consists of the following normative ideologies: economic growth is imperative, unrestrained development is promoted, competition is the necessary means and consumerism is the good life. These two symbolic systems have had causal influence on the systematic erosion of ecological processes and biological diversity that has occurred in Boksburg, with the consequent undermining of social-ecological resilience for well-being. The third mechanism that constrains resilience is the power dynamics that have shaped Boksburg’s economic history and social-ecological system. This has resulted in a society built on inequality and injustice with all its associated social and environmental ills, expressed as externalities. The fourth mechanism resides in Boksburg’s political and municipal dynamics. These structures are not designed to tackle complex social-ecological problems and they hold considerable agential power, yet seem dysfunctional at present. Learning mechanisms that support transformation for greater social-ecological resilience of the Boksburg Lake social-ecological system were identified (goal 3). By adopting the role of a reflexive practitioner, supported by action research, case study and interpretivist methodologies, data on the empirical manifestations of the environmental educational initiative were collected. Methods included semistructured interviews, focus groups, document analysis and participant observation. Findings indicate that schools and churches are important institutions that can positively influence patterns of identifying, knowledge about and agency for Boksburg Lake and can thus play a role in transforming hegemonic normalising ideologies. Important learning mechanisms identified included: Learning reflexively together within communities of practice that provide opportunities for active rather than passive learning; involving the youth as they are a group of people with notable enthusiasm, vision, energy and motivation; learning through information acquisition, investigation, action and deliberation; learning about abstract concepts and theoretical knowledge but embedding this in local realities; and learning that provides reference markers for how things can be different.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
The development of amine-based extractants for separation of base metals in a sulfate medium
- Authors: Magwa, Nomampondo Penelope
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Extraction (Chemistry) , Sulfates , Ligands , Benzimidazoles , Infrared spectroscopy , Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy , Metal ions , Metals
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4559 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020010
- Description: Tridentate benzimidazole-based ligands, bis((1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)methyl)sulfide (BNSN) and bis((1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)methyl)amine (BNNN), along with dinonylnaphthalene sulfonic acid (DNNSA) as a synergist, were investigated as potential selective extractants for Ni2+ from base metals in a solvent extraction system using 2-octanol/Shellsol 2325 (8:2) as diluent and modifier. However, extraction studies show a lack of pH-metric separation of the later 3d metal ions with bis((1-octylbenzimidazol-2-yl)methyl)sulfide (BONSN) and bis((1- decylbenzimidazol-2-yl)methyl)amine (BDNNN) as extractants, but extractions occurred in the low pH range with an opportunity for back extraction. This investigation suggested that tridentate ligands (at least those of the nature investigated here) are not feasible extractants for separation of base metal ions due to their lack of stereochemical “tailor-making.”
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Magwa, Nomampondo Penelope
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Extraction (Chemistry) , Sulfates , Ligands , Benzimidazoles , Infrared spectroscopy , Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy , Metal ions , Metals
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4559 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020010
- Description: Tridentate benzimidazole-based ligands, bis((1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)methyl)sulfide (BNSN) and bis((1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)methyl)amine (BNNN), along with dinonylnaphthalene sulfonic acid (DNNSA) as a synergist, were investigated as potential selective extractants for Ni2+ from base metals in a solvent extraction system using 2-octanol/Shellsol 2325 (8:2) as diluent and modifier. However, extraction studies show a lack of pH-metric separation of the later 3d metal ions with bis((1-octylbenzimidazol-2-yl)methyl)sulfide (BONSN) and bis((1- decylbenzimidazol-2-yl)methyl)amine (BDNNN) as extractants, but extractions occurred in the low pH range with an opportunity for back extraction. This investigation suggested that tridentate ligands (at least those of the nature investigated here) are not feasible extractants for separation of base metal ions due to their lack of stereochemical “tailor-making.”
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Pro-active visualization of cyber security on a National Level : a South African case study
- Authors: Swart, Ignatius Petrus
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Internet -- Security measures -- South Africa , Computer security -- Government policy -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4718 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017940
- Description: The need for increased national cyber security situational awareness is evident from the growing number of published national cyber security strategies. Governments are progressively seen as responsible for cyber security, but at the same time increasingly constrained by legal, privacy and resource considerations. Infrastructure and services that form part of the national cyber domain are often not under the control of government, necessitating the need for information sharing between governments and commercial partners. While sharing of security information is necessary, it typically requires considerable time to be implemented effectively. In an effort to decrease the time and effort required for cyber security situational awareness, this study considered commercially available data sources relating to a national cyber domain. Open source information is typically used by attackers to gather information with great success. An understanding of the data provided by these sources can also afford decision makers the opportunity to set priorities more effectively. Through the use of an adapted Joint Directors of Laboratories (JDL) fusion model, an experimental system was implemented that visualized the potential that open source intelligence could have on cyber situational awareness. Datasets used in the validation of the model contained information obtained from eight different data sources over a two year period with a focus on the South African .co.za sub domain. Over a million infrastructure devices were examined in this study along with information pertaining to a potential 88 million vulnerabilities on these devices. During the examination of data sources, a severe lack of information regarding the human aspect in cyber security was identified that led to the creation of a novel Personally Identifiable Information detection sensor (PII). The resultant two million records pertaining to PII in the South African domain were incorporated into the data fusion experiment for processing. The results of this processing are discussed in the three case studies. The results offered in this study aim to highlight how data fusion and effective visualization can serve to move national cyber security from a primarily reactive undertaking to a more pro-active model.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Swart, Ignatius Petrus
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Internet -- Security measures -- South Africa , Computer security -- Government policy -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4718 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017940
- Description: The need for increased national cyber security situational awareness is evident from the growing number of published national cyber security strategies. Governments are progressively seen as responsible for cyber security, but at the same time increasingly constrained by legal, privacy and resource considerations. Infrastructure and services that form part of the national cyber domain are often not under the control of government, necessitating the need for information sharing between governments and commercial partners. While sharing of security information is necessary, it typically requires considerable time to be implemented effectively. In an effort to decrease the time and effort required for cyber security situational awareness, this study considered commercially available data sources relating to a national cyber domain. Open source information is typically used by attackers to gather information with great success. An understanding of the data provided by these sources can also afford decision makers the opportunity to set priorities more effectively. Through the use of an adapted Joint Directors of Laboratories (JDL) fusion model, an experimental system was implemented that visualized the potential that open source intelligence could have on cyber situational awareness. Datasets used in the validation of the model contained information obtained from eight different data sources over a two year period with a focus on the South African .co.za sub domain. Over a million infrastructure devices were examined in this study along with information pertaining to a potential 88 million vulnerabilities on these devices. During the examination of data sources, a severe lack of information regarding the human aspect in cyber security was identified that led to the creation of a novel Personally Identifiable Information detection sensor (PII). The resultant two million records pertaining to PII in the South African domain were incorporated into the data fusion experiment for processing. The results of this processing are discussed in the three case studies. The results offered in this study aim to highlight how data fusion and effective visualization can serve to move national cyber security from a primarily reactive undertaking to a more pro-active model.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Language policy and practice in Eastern Cape courtrooms with reference to interpretation in selected cases
- Authors: Mpahlwa, Matthew Xola
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Translating and interpreting , Translating and interpreting -- Errors , Court interpreting and translating -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Translators -- Training of -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3656 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018658
- Description: This study seeks to find what problems and process of interpreting are experienced by professional interpreters in the criminal justice system in South Africa. This study commences with an outlook of the origins and development of types of interpretation and then proceeds with critical review of scholarly literature dealing with interpretation in multilingual courtroom. This study explores the flawed language policy and its impracticality for the Eastern Cape courtrooms. This study undertakes a critical analysis of the current legislation (Bills & Acts).This study explores the extent to which the court automatic review proceedings act as a gatekeeper in ensuring against prejudice that can result in the non-use and use of indigenous languages in the trial courtroom within the Eastern Cape jurisdiction. Furthermore this study focuses on cases taken for review based on mis-understanding, mis-communication and wrongful interpretation that result in irregularities that appear on court records. This study also investigates the primary barriers for the use of African languages as languages of record in the courtroom. An eclectic sociolinguistic approach which encompasses the ethnography of speaking, and discourse analysis (observation in the courtroom) is used as a methodology in this study. Furthermore, the analysis of case-law forms part of the methodology alongside court observation.This study saw court actors from different spheres of the legal profession give their personal views and encounters with regards the art and the state of court interpreting in the province of the Eastern Cape.This state of affairs may have disastrous and far-reaching effects in that incorrect and/or imperfect translation may relate to the very facts that are crucial for the determination of the case. At the end recommendations are given on how to remedy the current state of affairs.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Mpahlwa, Matthew Xola
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Translating and interpreting , Translating and interpreting -- Errors , Court interpreting and translating -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Translators -- Training of -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3656 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018658
- Description: This study seeks to find what problems and process of interpreting are experienced by professional interpreters in the criminal justice system in South Africa. This study commences with an outlook of the origins and development of types of interpretation and then proceeds with critical review of scholarly literature dealing with interpretation in multilingual courtroom. This study explores the flawed language policy and its impracticality for the Eastern Cape courtrooms. This study undertakes a critical analysis of the current legislation (Bills & Acts).This study explores the extent to which the court automatic review proceedings act as a gatekeeper in ensuring against prejudice that can result in the non-use and use of indigenous languages in the trial courtroom within the Eastern Cape jurisdiction. Furthermore this study focuses on cases taken for review based on mis-understanding, mis-communication and wrongful interpretation that result in irregularities that appear on court records. This study also investigates the primary barriers for the use of African languages as languages of record in the courtroom. An eclectic sociolinguistic approach which encompasses the ethnography of speaking, and discourse analysis (observation in the courtroom) is used as a methodology in this study. Furthermore, the analysis of case-law forms part of the methodology alongside court observation.This study saw court actors from different spheres of the legal profession give their personal views and encounters with regards the art and the state of court interpreting in the province of the Eastern Cape.This state of affairs may have disastrous and far-reaching effects in that incorrect and/or imperfect translation may relate to the very facts that are crucial for the determination of the case. At the end recommendations are given on how to remedy the current state of affairs.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
An investigation into the feasibility of incorporating ketoconazole into solid lipid microparticles
- Authors: Jhundoo, Henusha Devi
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MPharm
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/54701 , vital:26601
- Description: One of the major challenges of the oral administration of ketoconazole (KTZ), an inhibitor of sterol 14α demethylase, used in the management of systemic and topical mycoses in immuno-compromised and paediatric patients is the lack of availability of liquid dosage forms. In order to overcome this challenge, extemporaneous preparations have been manufactured by care-givers and health care providers by crushing or breaking solid oral dosage forms of KTZ and mixing with a vehicle to produce a liquid dosage form that can be swallowed by patients. However, the use of extemporaneous preparations may lead to under or over-dosing if the care-givers are not guided accordingly. Furthermore, the dearth of information on the stability of these KTZ-containing extemporaneous preparations may lead to ineffective antifungal therapy and complicate the problems of resistance as it is difficult to estimate the shelf-lives of these extemporaneous products under varying storage conditions due to the susceptibility of KTZ to chemical degradation. Therefore, there is a need for formulation scientists to develop novel drug delivery systems that avoid the need for extemporaneous preparations, possess well-established limits of stability and minimize the risks of systemic adverse effects to facilitate KTZ therapy. The use of solid lipid microparticles (SLM) as potential carriers for the oral administration of KTZ was investigated since solid lipid carriers are known to exhibit the advantages of traditional colloidal carriers. The research undertaken in these studies aimed to investigate the feasibility of developing and manufacturing solid lipid microparticles (SLM), using a simple micro-emulsion technique, as a carrier for KTZ. Prior to pre-formulation, formulation development and optimization studies of KTZ-loaded SLM, it was necessary to develop and validate an analytical method for the in vitro quantitation and characterization of KTZ in aqueous dispersions of SLM during development and assessment studies. An accurate, precise, specific and sensitive reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method coupled with UV detection at 206 nm was developed, optimized and validated for the analysis of KTZ in formulations. Formulation development studies were preceded by solubility studies of KTZ in different lipids. Labrafil® M2130 CS was found to exhibit the best solubilising potential for KTZ. Pre-formulation studies were also designed to determine the polymorphic behavior and the crystallinity of KTZ and Labrafil® M2130 CS that was used for subsequent manufacture of the solid lipid carriers. DSC and FTIR studies revealed that there were no changes in the crystallinity of KTZ or Labrafil® M2130 CS following exposure to a temperature of 60°C for 1 hour. In addition the potential for physicochemical interaction of KTZ with the lipid Labrafil® M2130 CS was investigated using DSC and FTIR and the results revealed that KTZ was molecularly dispersed in Labrafil® M2130 CS and that it is unlikely that KTZ would interact with the lipid. It was therefore established that KTZ and Labrafil® M2130 CS were thermo-stable at a temperature of 60°C and thus a micro-emulsion technique could be used to manufacture the KTZ-loaded SLM. Drug-free and KTZ-loaded SLM were prepared using a modified micro-emulsion technique that required the use of an Ultra-Turrax® homogenizer set at 24 000 rpm for 5 minutes followed by the use of the Erweka GmbH homogenizer. SLM were characterized in terms of particle size (PS), zeta potential (ZP), shape and surface morphology using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In addition drug loading capacity (DLC) and encapsulation efficiency (EE) of SLM for KTZ were assessed using RP-HPLC. Formulation development and optimization studies of KTZ-loaded SLM were initially aimed at selecting an emulsifying system that was able to stabilize the SLM in an aqueous dispersion. Successful formulations were selected based on their ability to remain physically stable on the day of manufacture. Pluronic® F68 used in combination with Lutrol® E40, Soluphor® P, Soluplus® produced unstable dispersions on the day of manufacture and these combinations were not investigated further. However, the formulation of a stable KTZ-loaded SLM dispersion was accomplished by use of a combination of Pluronic® F68, Tween 80 and sodium cholate as the surfactant system. Increasing amounts of Labrafil® M2130 CS resulted in the production of particles with low DLC and EE, a large PS and a relatively unchanged ZP. An optimum concentration of 10% w/v Labrafil® M2130 CS was selected to manufacture the KTZ-loaded SLM. Studies to determine the influence of KTZ loading on the quality of SLM revealed that concentrations of KTZ > 5% w/v led to a reduction in DLC and EE and an increase in PS with minimal impact on the ZP. Stability studies conducted at 25°C/65% RH and 40°C/75% RH for up to 30 days following manufacture revealed that batch SLM 15 manufactured using 10% w/v Labrafil® M2130 CS, 5% w/v KTZ and a combination of 4% w/v Pluronic® F-68, 2% w/v Tween 80 and 1% w/v sodium cholate produced the most stable dosage form when stored at 25°C/65% RH for up to 30 days. However, storage at 40°C/75% RH resulted in instability of the formulation. An aqueous dispersion of KTZ-loaded SLM has been developed and assessed and may offer an alternative to extemporaneous preparations used for KTZ therapy in paediatric and immuno-compromised patients.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Jhundoo, Henusha Devi
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MPharm
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/54701 , vital:26601
- Description: One of the major challenges of the oral administration of ketoconazole (KTZ), an inhibitor of sterol 14α demethylase, used in the management of systemic and topical mycoses in immuno-compromised and paediatric patients is the lack of availability of liquid dosage forms. In order to overcome this challenge, extemporaneous preparations have been manufactured by care-givers and health care providers by crushing or breaking solid oral dosage forms of KTZ and mixing with a vehicle to produce a liquid dosage form that can be swallowed by patients. However, the use of extemporaneous preparations may lead to under or over-dosing if the care-givers are not guided accordingly. Furthermore, the dearth of information on the stability of these KTZ-containing extemporaneous preparations may lead to ineffective antifungal therapy and complicate the problems of resistance as it is difficult to estimate the shelf-lives of these extemporaneous products under varying storage conditions due to the susceptibility of KTZ to chemical degradation. Therefore, there is a need for formulation scientists to develop novel drug delivery systems that avoid the need for extemporaneous preparations, possess well-established limits of stability and minimize the risks of systemic adverse effects to facilitate KTZ therapy. The use of solid lipid microparticles (SLM) as potential carriers for the oral administration of KTZ was investigated since solid lipid carriers are known to exhibit the advantages of traditional colloidal carriers. The research undertaken in these studies aimed to investigate the feasibility of developing and manufacturing solid lipid microparticles (SLM), using a simple micro-emulsion technique, as a carrier for KTZ. Prior to pre-formulation, formulation development and optimization studies of KTZ-loaded SLM, it was necessary to develop and validate an analytical method for the in vitro quantitation and characterization of KTZ in aqueous dispersions of SLM during development and assessment studies. An accurate, precise, specific and sensitive reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic (RP-HPLC) method coupled with UV detection at 206 nm was developed, optimized and validated for the analysis of KTZ in formulations. Formulation development studies were preceded by solubility studies of KTZ in different lipids. Labrafil® M2130 CS was found to exhibit the best solubilising potential for KTZ. Pre-formulation studies were also designed to determine the polymorphic behavior and the crystallinity of KTZ and Labrafil® M2130 CS that was used for subsequent manufacture of the solid lipid carriers. DSC and FTIR studies revealed that there were no changes in the crystallinity of KTZ or Labrafil® M2130 CS following exposure to a temperature of 60°C for 1 hour. In addition the potential for physicochemical interaction of KTZ with the lipid Labrafil® M2130 CS was investigated using DSC and FTIR and the results revealed that KTZ was molecularly dispersed in Labrafil® M2130 CS and that it is unlikely that KTZ would interact with the lipid. It was therefore established that KTZ and Labrafil® M2130 CS were thermo-stable at a temperature of 60°C and thus a micro-emulsion technique could be used to manufacture the KTZ-loaded SLM. Drug-free and KTZ-loaded SLM were prepared using a modified micro-emulsion technique that required the use of an Ultra-Turrax® homogenizer set at 24 000 rpm for 5 minutes followed by the use of the Erweka GmbH homogenizer. SLM were characterized in terms of particle size (PS), zeta potential (ZP), shape and surface morphology using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In addition drug loading capacity (DLC) and encapsulation efficiency (EE) of SLM for KTZ were assessed using RP-HPLC. Formulation development and optimization studies of KTZ-loaded SLM were initially aimed at selecting an emulsifying system that was able to stabilize the SLM in an aqueous dispersion. Successful formulations were selected based on their ability to remain physically stable on the day of manufacture. Pluronic® F68 used in combination with Lutrol® E40, Soluphor® P, Soluplus® produced unstable dispersions on the day of manufacture and these combinations were not investigated further. However, the formulation of a stable KTZ-loaded SLM dispersion was accomplished by use of a combination of Pluronic® F68, Tween 80 and sodium cholate as the surfactant system. Increasing amounts of Labrafil® M2130 CS resulted in the production of particles with low DLC and EE, a large PS and a relatively unchanged ZP. An optimum concentration of 10% w/v Labrafil® M2130 CS was selected to manufacture the KTZ-loaded SLM. Studies to determine the influence of KTZ loading on the quality of SLM revealed that concentrations of KTZ > 5% w/v led to a reduction in DLC and EE and an increase in PS with minimal impact on the ZP. Stability studies conducted at 25°C/65% RH and 40°C/75% RH for up to 30 days following manufacture revealed that batch SLM 15 manufactured using 10% w/v Labrafil® M2130 CS, 5% w/v KTZ and a combination of 4% w/v Pluronic® F-68, 2% w/v Tween 80 and 1% w/v sodium cholate produced the most stable dosage form when stored at 25°C/65% RH for up to 30 days. However, storage at 40°C/75% RH resulted in instability of the formulation. An aqueous dispersion of KTZ-loaded SLM has been developed and assessed and may offer an alternative to extemporaneous preparations used for KTZ therapy in paediatric and immuno-compromised patients.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Public understanding of malaria in pregnancy : selected Dar es Salaam audiences' reception of the health education film Chumo
- Authors: Nkwera, Godfrey
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Chumo (Television program) , Malaria in pregnancy -- Tanzania -- Dar es Salaam , Health education -- Tanzania -- Dar es Salaam , Communication in medicine -- Tanzania -- Dar es Salaam , Sex role -- Tanzania -- Dar es Salaam , Health behavior -- Tanzania -- Dar es Salaam , Health behavior -- Sex differences -- Tanzania -- Dar es Salaam
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3544 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017785
- Description: This study examines the impact of a health education film, Chumo, in Dar es Salaam on knowledge about malaria in pregnancy. Specifically, the study examines the meanings that the selected audiences make after watching the film. Drawing on the tradition of ‘reception studies’, the data for this study was generated through focus group discussions. These discussions were preceded by thematic analysis of the film and its script. An analysis of the audiences’ responses reveals that Chumo, mostly, successfully conveyed new knowledge about malaria in pregnancy, and reinforced existing knowledge bases about the disease. The audiences were able to ‘decipher’ most of the preferred meanings (of the producers) with regard to the disease, particularly in relation to the transmission of the disease and its prevention in pregnant woman. For example, the analysis indicates that both women and men become more aware of the importance of attending antenatal care sessions at local clinics (hereafter ANC). An interesting finding is that men, mostly, expressed a reluctance to attend ANC with their wives because they fear having to undergo HIV/AIDS testing. Men also expressed the sentiment that attending ANC is a women’s responsibility. The discussion groups also raised issues about the use of insecticide-treated nets - some people believe that using them will affect their health because of the chemicals used to treat the nets. From the reception analysis, various other meanings and themes, relating to the choice of storylines and gender stereotypes used in the story, were raised in discussion. The study attempted to assess whether the storyline was advantageous in conveying the core educational messages, or if some elements of the storyline either ‘got in the way’ or reinforced gender roles in ways that may or may not be helpful in terms of combatting malaria in pregnancy. The study also found that Chumo stimulated interpersonal communication, which may trigger behaviour change. It can be demonstrated, at least for the participants in these focus groups, that the film motivated positive attitudes towards behaviour change, i.e. created at least some intention to change. However, interpersonal communication and attitude to change are not, of course, actual change of behaviour: these elements only indicate the possibility of behaviour change in the future. Further study needs to be undertaken to explore whether the actual change took place and whether the change is a result of the exposure to Chumo.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Nkwera, Godfrey
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Chumo (Television program) , Malaria in pregnancy -- Tanzania -- Dar es Salaam , Health education -- Tanzania -- Dar es Salaam , Communication in medicine -- Tanzania -- Dar es Salaam , Sex role -- Tanzania -- Dar es Salaam , Health behavior -- Tanzania -- Dar es Salaam , Health behavior -- Sex differences -- Tanzania -- Dar es Salaam
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3544 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017785
- Description: This study examines the impact of a health education film, Chumo, in Dar es Salaam on knowledge about malaria in pregnancy. Specifically, the study examines the meanings that the selected audiences make after watching the film. Drawing on the tradition of ‘reception studies’, the data for this study was generated through focus group discussions. These discussions were preceded by thematic analysis of the film and its script. An analysis of the audiences’ responses reveals that Chumo, mostly, successfully conveyed new knowledge about malaria in pregnancy, and reinforced existing knowledge bases about the disease. The audiences were able to ‘decipher’ most of the preferred meanings (of the producers) with regard to the disease, particularly in relation to the transmission of the disease and its prevention in pregnant woman. For example, the analysis indicates that both women and men become more aware of the importance of attending antenatal care sessions at local clinics (hereafter ANC). An interesting finding is that men, mostly, expressed a reluctance to attend ANC with their wives because they fear having to undergo HIV/AIDS testing. Men also expressed the sentiment that attending ANC is a women’s responsibility. The discussion groups also raised issues about the use of insecticide-treated nets - some people believe that using them will affect their health because of the chemicals used to treat the nets. From the reception analysis, various other meanings and themes, relating to the choice of storylines and gender stereotypes used in the story, were raised in discussion. The study attempted to assess whether the storyline was advantageous in conveying the core educational messages, or if some elements of the storyline either ‘got in the way’ or reinforced gender roles in ways that may or may not be helpful in terms of combatting malaria in pregnancy. The study also found that Chumo stimulated interpersonal communication, which may trigger behaviour change. It can be demonstrated, at least for the participants in these focus groups, that the film motivated positive attitudes towards behaviour change, i.e. created at least some intention to change. However, interpersonal communication and attitude to change are not, of course, actual change of behaviour: these elements only indicate the possibility of behaviour change in the future. Further study needs to be undertaken to explore whether the actual change took place and whether the change is a result of the exposure to Chumo.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Friend or foe? : Resolving the status of the submerged macrophyte Myriophyllum spicatum L. (Haloragaceae) in southern Africa
- Weyl, Philip Sebastian Richard
- Authors: Weyl, Philip Sebastian Richard
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Eurasian watermilfoil -- Africa, Southern , Eurasian watermilfoil -- Biological control
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:5933 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017811
- Description: Myriophyllum spicatum L. (Haloragaceae), a submerged macrophyte, has been recorded in southern Africa since 1829, but only considered problematic as recently as 2005. In light of this, water resource managers are looking to control M. spicatum in southern African water bodies where it is problematic. Amongst control options available in South Africa, biological control is potentially the most cost effective and sustainable option for M. spicatum. However, there is a debate over the status of this plant in southern Africa with several authors reporting it as a native component of the aquatic ecosystem, while others argue that it has been introduced from Europe or Asia. The aim of this thesis is to use a multifaceted approach to resolve the status of M. spicatum, by studying aspects of its history, distribution, mechanisms of its adaptations, biotic interactions and genetic relationships in southern Africa. By resolving the status of this plant as either native or exotic, appropriate management strategies can be initiated for its control in situations where it is considered a problem.A review of the evidence collected from this thesis does not provide convincing evidence for the anthropogenic introduction of M. spicatum into southern Africa, and it is probably native to the region. The disjunct distribution as well as regular local extinctions of populations is relatively common for species that are at the edge of their range. The populations in southern Africa could thus be relics from a much wider distribution in the past. The development of local adaptations in southern Africa provides evidence for this and suggests that the populations have been isolated for a substantial period of time and have had a long evolutionary history in the region. The lack of specialist herbivores should suggest that M. spicatum has been introduced, but the complete lack of herbivores, including generalists, may weaken that argument. The lack of herbivores could be a result of something inherent in the plant, irrespective of a lack of evolutionary history in the region. The genetic evidence suggests a European origin, but is characteristic of a population (southern Africa as a whole) that has been isolated for a considerable time. Despite the findings of this research, M. spicatum is considered problematic in southern Africa and warrants control in certain systems. Whether or not biological control should be a component of the management strategy is open to further debate. The benefits in a southern African context may outweigh the risks, based on the specificity of the biological control agent proposed. However, the perceived negative impacts of M. spicatum are likely to be a symptom of a more serious underlying cause, such as nutrient loading and changes in land use patterns. Therefore the control of this native species is a water resource management issue and not a biological control issue.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Weyl, Philip Sebastian Richard
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Eurasian watermilfoil -- Africa, Southern , Eurasian watermilfoil -- Biological control
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:5933 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017811
- Description: Myriophyllum spicatum L. (Haloragaceae), a submerged macrophyte, has been recorded in southern Africa since 1829, but only considered problematic as recently as 2005. In light of this, water resource managers are looking to control M. spicatum in southern African water bodies where it is problematic. Amongst control options available in South Africa, biological control is potentially the most cost effective and sustainable option for M. spicatum. However, there is a debate over the status of this plant in southern Africa with several authors reporting it as a native component of the aquatic ecosystem, while others argue that it has been introduced from Europe or Asia. The aim of this thesis is to use a multifaceted approach to resolve the status of M. spicatum, by studying aspects of its history, distribution, mechanisms of its adaptations, biotic interactions and genetic relationships in southern Africa. By resolving the status of this plant as either native or exotic, appropriate management strategies can be initiated for its control in situations where it is considered a problem.A review of the evidence collected from this thesis does not provide convincing evidence for the anthropogenic introduction of M. spicatum into southern Africa, and it is probably native to the region. The disjunct distribution as well as regular local extinctions of populations is relatively common for species that are at the edge of their range. The populations in southern Africa could thus be relics from a much wider distribution in the past. The development of local adaptations in southern Africa provides evidence for this and suggests that the populations have been isolated for a substantial period of time and have had a long evolutionary history in the region. The lack of specialist herbivores should suggest that M. spicatum has been introduced, but the complete lack of herbivores, including generalists, may weaken that argument. The lack of herbivores could be a result of something inherent in the plant, irrespective of a lack of evolutionary history in the region. The genetic evidence suggests a European origin, but is characteristic of a population (southern Africa as a whole) that has been isolated for a considerable time. Despite the findings of this research, M. spicatum is considered problematic in southern Africa and warrants control in certain systems. Whether or not biological control should be a component of the management strategy is open to further debate. The benefits in a southern African context may outweigh the risks, based on the specificity of the biological control agent proposed. However, the perceived negative impacts of M. spicatum are likely to be a symptom of a more serious underlying cause, such as nutrient loading and changes in land use patterns. Therefore the control of this native species is a water resource management issue and not a biological control issue.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
The impact of internal behavioural decision-making biases on South African collective investment scheme performance
- Authors: Muller, Stacey Leigh
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Decision making , Investment analysis , Efficient market theory , Consumer behavior , Behavioral assessment , Mutual funds
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:1209 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020308
- Description: Market efficiency, based on people acting rationally, has been the dominating finance theory for most of the 20th and 21st Century’s. This classical finance theory is based on assumptions that people are rational, they absorb all available information and maximise utility. This view is outdated; it has been shown that people are in fact irrational and that this could be the cause of anomalies in the market. Behavioural finance takes into account people, and their natural biases. Behavioural finance has integrated classical financial theories and psychological theories to illustrate the way in which irrational people can impact market efficiency. This research looks at the way collective investment scheme manager decision-making can impact market efficiency. Specifically the behavioural biases: overconfidence, over optimism, loss aversion and frame dependence and whether or not collective investment scheme performance is affected by these. This research was carried out using a questionnaire distributed directly to CIS managers and risk-adjusted returns were used in order to allow for comparative results. The results from the questionnaire show evidence that actively managing South African CIS managers do indeed suffer from overconfidence and loss aversion and they do not appear to suffer from frame dependence or over optimism in this research context. There was also evidence showing that managers who suffer from these biases also demonstrated lower investment returns. “The investor’s chief problem, and even his worst enemy, is likely to be himself.” - Benjamin Graham
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Muller, Stacey Leigh
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Decision making , Investment analysis , Efficient market theory , Consumer behavior , Behavioral assessment , Mutual funds
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:1209 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020308
- Description: Market efficiency, based on people acting rationally, has been the dominating finance theory for most of the 20th and 21st Century’s. This classical finance theory is based on assumptions that people are rational, they absorb all available information and maximise utility. This view is outdated; it has been shown that people are in fact irrational and that this could be the cause of anomalies in the market. Behavioural finance takes into account people, and their natural biases. Behavioural finance has integrated classical financial theories and psychological theories to illustrate the way in which irrational people can impact market efficiency. This research looks at the way collective investment scheme manager decision-making can impact market efficiency. Specifically the behavioural biases: overconfidence, over optimism, loss aversion and frame dependence and whether or not collective investment scheme performance is affected by these. This research was carried out using a questionnaire distributed directly to CIS managers and risk-adjusted returns were used in order to allow for comparative results. The results from the questionnaire show evidence that actively managing South African CIS managers do indeed suffer from overconfidence and loss aversion and they do not appear to suffer from frame dependence or over optimism in this research context. There was also evidence showing that managers who suffer from these biases also demonstrated lower investment returns. “The investor’s chief problem, and even his worst enemy, is likely to be himself.” - Benjamin Graham
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
An analysis of the certificate of the theory of accounting knowledge and knower structures : a case study of professional knowledge
- Authors: Mkhize, Thandeka Fortunate
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Accounting -- Study and teaching (Higher) , Dropout behavior, Prediction of , Knowledge, Theory of , Knowledge and learning , Critical realism , Education -- Philosophy , Educational sociology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2057 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019771
- Description: This research project explores issues around the poor throughput and high dropout rate in the Certificate of the Theory of Accounting (CTA) by focusing on Accounting knowledge as an object of study. The CTA was identified as a serious block in the steps that one needs to go through on the journey to becoming a Chartered Accountant. Having a clear understanding of Accounting knowledge can lead to finding ways that can make the subject more accessible to students from diverse backgrounds. This study contributes to understanding Accounting knowledge at the CTA level with the aim of clearly delineating its legitimate knowledge and knower structures. It answers the following two research questions: • What constitutes legitimate knowledge structures in the CTA? • What constitutes legitimate knower structures in the CTA? Academics from nine universities and representatives of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) participated in this study. Data was collected through interviews, observation and document analysis. Eighteen CTA lecturers and two members of the SAICA management team were interviewed. Three universities provided documents on their practices, which included learner guides, examination papers, suggested answers, lecture notes, tutorials and other curriculum documents for each of the four CTA subjects. SAICA provided the competency framework and examinable pronouncements. A conference that was jointly hosted by SAICA and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation was observed. This study used Critical Realism as its ontological underpinnings and Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) as its substantive theory. It used the Specialisation and Autonomy principles of LCT to analyse the data. Specialization establishes the ways agents and discourses within a field are constructed as special, different or unique and thus deserving of distinction and status (Maton, 2014). The principle of Autonomy is concerned with the extent to which the field is self-governing and can do things of its own free-will (Maton, 2004). The study found that the CTA has a hierarchical knowledge structure, which means that when new knowledge is created in Accounting it is integrated into existing knowledge, resulting in coherent and integrated knowledge. CTA also has a hierarchical curriculum structure. While horizontal curriculum structures evolve through the replacement of existing knowledge by new approaches and content, a hierarchical curriculum typically grows through integration and subsumption of new knowledge into pre-existing knowledge and it relies on the acquisition of knowledge developed in previous modules or levels of study.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Mkhize, Thandeka Fortunate
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Accounting -- Study and teaching (Higher) , Dropout behavior, Prediction of , Knowledge, Theory of , Knowledge and learning , Critical realism , Education -- Philosophy , Educational sociology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2057 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019771
- Description: This research project explores issues around the poor throughput and high dropout rate in the Certificate of the Theory of Accounting (CTA) by focusing on Accounting knowledge as an object of study. The CTA was identified as a serious block in the steps that one needs to go through on the journey to becoming a Chartered Accountant. Having a clear understanding of Accounting knowledge can lead to finding ways that can make the subject more accessible to students from diverse backgrounds. This study contributes to understanding Accounting knowledge at the CTA level with the aim of clearly delineating its legitimate knowledge and knower structures. It answers the following two research questions: • What constitutes legitimate knowledge structures in the CTA? • What constitutes legitimate knower structures in the CTA? Academics from nine universities and representatives of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) participated in this study. Data was collected through interviews, observation and document analysis. Eighteen CTA lecturers and two members of the SAICA management team were interviewed. Three universities provided documents on their practices, which included learner guides, examination papers, suggested answers, lecture notes, tutorials and other curriculum documents for each of the four CTA subjects. SAICA provided the competency framework and examinable pronouncements. A conference that was jointly hosted by SAICA and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation was observed. This study used Critical Realism as its ontological underpinnings and Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) as its substantive theory. It used the Specialisation and Autonomy principles of LCT to analyse the data. Specialization establishes the ways agents and discourses within a field are constructed as special, different or unique and thus deserving of distinction and status (Maton, 2014). The principle of Autonomy is concerned with the extent to which the field is self-governing and can do things of its own free-will (Maton, 2004). The study found that the CTA has a hierarchical knowledge structure, which means that when new knowledge is created in Accounting it is integrated into existing knowledge, resulting in coherent and integrated knowledge. CTA also has a hierarchical curriculum structure. While horizontal curriculum structures evolve through the replacement of existing knowledge by new approaches and content, a hierarchical curriculum typically grows through integration and subsumption of new knowledge into pre-existing knowledge and it relies on the acquisition of knowledge developed in previous modules or levels of study.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Religious musical performance as an articulation of transformation : a study of how the Tsonga Presbyterians of the Presbyterian Church of Mozambique negotiate their indigenous Tsonga and Swiss reformed church heritages
- Authors: Germiquet, Nicole Madeleine
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Igreja Presbiteriana de Moçambique , Sacred music -- Mozambique , Church music -- Mozambique , Church music -- Presbyterian , Tsonga (African people) -- Mozambique -- Music , Ethnomusicology , Church music -- Cross-cultural studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:2699 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020836
- Description: The Presbyterian Church of Mozambique (IPM) has its origins in the Swiss Mission and the European Reformed Church. An ethnomusicological study was conducted on the music of the IPM in order to uncover its musical influences. The musical influences were found to pertain to an indigenous Tsonga musical character, as well as to a Reformed Church musical tradition. By situating the discussion in this thesis within the perspective that music may reflect that which is not explicitly spoken about in words, the music of the IPM was shown to reflect the dual-heritage of the members of the IPM. Thus, this thesis attempts to answer the questions: how is the music of the IPM a reflection of the Tsonga Presbyterians’ dual-heritage?; and how do the Tsonga Presbyterians negotiate their dual-heritage? It was found that the Tsonga Presbyterians negotiate their dual-heritage by blending a Reformed Church performance style with a Tsonga one. For example, the music in the form of hymns and church songs, performed by church choirs, is shown to be didactic in nature where the lyrics are the most important aspect of the music. The didactic nature of the music is a principle of the Reformation carried forth in the music of the IPM. Although music serves to transmit the Christian message and is used as a means of praising the Christian God in the IPM, it also exists on the level in which the indigenous Tsonga heritage may be incorporated into the Christian lives of the members of the IPM without having an impact on the Reformed Church belief system. This is where the members have the freedom to blend their musical heritages. Music, in this instance, is shown to be a powerful tool by which the importance of an indigenous, and an appropriated, heritage may be garnered and observed.Looking to the historical aspects of the IPM, the music and language literacy education, provided by Swiss missionaries on the mission stations, was shown to have had an influence on Tsonga hymn composition. Along with the mobile phone, the observed decrease in music literacy at Antioka was situated within a discussion that looked at the influence of these aspects on the transmission, conservation and continuation of music in the IPM. Throughout the thesis, social transformation is referred to and the manner in which the music of the IPM is conserved or continued is an indication of how musical transformation may reflect social transformation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Germiquet, Nicole Madeleine
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Igreja Presbiteriana de Moçambique , Sacred music -- Mozambique , Church music -- Mozambique , Church music -- Presbyterian , Tsonga (African people) -- Mozambique -- Music , Ethnomusicology , Church music -- Cross-cultural studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: vital:2699 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020836
- Description: The Presbyterian Church of Mozambique (IPM) has its origins in the Swiss Mission and the European Reformed Church. An ethnomusicological study was conducted on the music of the IPM in order to uncover its musical influences. The musical influences were found to pertain to an indigenous Tsonga musical character, as well as to a Reformed Church musical tradition. By situating the discussion in this thesis within the perspective that music may reflect that which is not explicitly spoken about in words, the music of the IPM was shown to reflect the dual-heritage of the members of the IPM. Thus, this thesis attempts to answer the questions: how is the music of the IPM a reflection of the Tsonga Presbyterians’ dual-heritage?; and how do the Tsonga Presbyterians negotiate their dual-heritage? It was found that the Tsonga Presbyterians negotiate their dual-heritage by blending a Reformed Church performance style with a Tsonga one. For example, the music in the form of hymns and church songs, performed by church choirs, is shown to be didactic in nature where the lyrics are the most important aspect of the music. The didactic nature of the music is a principle of the Reformation carried forth in the music of the IPM. Although music serves to transmit the Christian message and is used as a means of praising the Christian God in the IPM, it also exists on the level in which the indigenous Tsonga heritage may be incorporated into the Christian lives of the members of the IPM without having an impact on the Reformed Church belief system. This is where the members have the freedom to blend their musical heritages. Music, in this instance, is shown to be a powerful tool by which the importance of an indigenous, and an appropriated, heritage may be garnered and observed.Looking to the historical aspects of the IPM, the music and language literacy education, provided by Swiss missionaries on the mission stations, was shown to have had an influence on Tsonga hymn composition. Along with the mobile phone, the observed decrease in music literacy at Antioka was situated within a discussion that looked at the influence of these aspects on the transmission, conservation and continuation of music in the IPM. Throughout the thesis, social transformation is referred to and the manner in which the music of the IPM is conserved or continued is an indication of how musical transformation may reflect social transformation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Understanding policy making and policy implementation with reference to land redistribution in South Africa : case studies form the Eastern Cape
- Mbokazi, Nonzuzo Nomfundo Mbalenhle
- Authors: Mbokazi, Nonzuzo Nomfundo Mbalenhle
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Land reform -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land reform -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Land reform -- Case studies , Agriculture and state -- South Africa , South Africa -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1961 , South Africa -- Economic conditions -- 1961-1991 , South Africa -- Economic conditions -- 1991- , Reconstruction and Development Programme (South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3394 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018197
- Description: This thesis focuses on land reform in post-apartheid South Africa and specifically on land redistribution, as one of the main pillars of land reform. There have been many studies undertaken on land redistribution in South Africa and these studies offer deep criticisms of the prevailing land redistribution model (a market-led, but state-assisted model) and the ways in which this model has failed to meaningfully address colonial dispossession of land. Further, studies have focused on post-redistribution livelihoods of farmers and the many challenges they face. One significant gap in the prevailing literature is a sustained focus on the state itself, and particularly questions around policy formation and implementation processes pertaining to land redistribution. Delving into policy processes is invariably a difficult task because outsider access to intra-state processes is fraught with problems. But a full account of land redistribution in South Africa demands sensitivity to processes internal to the state. Because of this, it is hoped that this thesis makes a contribution to the existing South African land redistribution literature. In pursuing the thesis objective, I undertook research amongst farmers on selected redistributed farms outside Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape, as well as engaging with both current and former state land officials. Based on the evidence, it is clear that the policy process around land in South Africa is a complex and convoluted process marked not only by consensus-making and combined activities but also by tensions and conflicts. This, I would argue, is the norm with regard to what states do and how they work.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Mbokazi, Nonzuzo Nomfundo Mbalenhle
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: Land reform -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land reform -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Land reform -- Case studies , Agriculture and state -- South Africa , South Africa -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1961 , South Africa -- Economic conditions -- 1961-1991 , South Africa -- Economic conditions -- 1991- , Reconstruction and Development Programme (South Africa)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3394 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018197
- Description: This thesis focuses on land reform in post-apartheid South Africa and specifically on land redistribution, as one of the main pillars of land reform. There have been many studies undertaken on land redistribution in South Africa and these studies offer deep criticisms of the prevailing land redistribution model (a market-led, but state-assisted model) and the ways in which this model has failed to meaningfully address colonial dispossession of land. Further, studies have focused on post-redistribution livelihoods of farmers and the many challenges they face. One significant gap in the prevailing literature is a sustained focus on the state itself, and particularly questions around policy formation and implementation processes pertaining to land redistribution. Delving into policy processes is invariably a difficult task because outsider access to intra-state processes is fraught with problems. But a full account of land redistribution in South Africa demands sensitivity to processes internal to the state. Because of this, it is hoped that this thesis makes a contribution to the existing South African land redistribution literature. In pursuing the thesis objective, I undertook research amongst farmers on selected redistributed farms outside Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape, as well as engaging with both current and former state land officials. Based on the evidence, it is clear that the policy process around land in South Africa is a complex and convoluted process marked not only by consensus-making and combined activities but also by tensions and conflicts. This, I would argue, is the norm with regard to what states do and how they work.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015