Food gardens, environmental lesson planning and active learning in the life orientation learning area - foundation phase: a case study at Lungelolethu Lower and Higher Primary School
- Ncula, Ntombizandile Shirley
- Authors: Ncula, Ntombizandile Shirley
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: School gardens -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Gardening -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Environmental education -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa --Eastern Cape Environmental education -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1546 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003428
- Description: This study was conducted at Lungelolethu Lower/Higher Primary School in Keiskammahoek at a time when I was struggling to understand and implement the new South African curriculum policy, particularly in the Foundation Phase Life Skills Learning Programme. The research focused on my developing an understanding of key Learning Outcomes and linking them with the National Curriculum Statement principle of social justice, human rights, a healthy environment and inclusivity. During this time I was the key 4-H Programme educator in my school, responsible for school food garden activities. I used the school food garden for this study to explore the opportunities the garden might provide to develop the new curriculum using active learning approaches to teaching and learning; as well as to respond to environmental issues such as poverty. This research was an interpretive case study which supported my reflections within a practical action research framework. This framework suited my intention to change my classroom practice. I undertook three action research cycles with the first cycle aimed at gaining insights from the 4-H Programme teachers which informed 2 lesson plans for cycles 2 and 3 respectively. I generated data through focus group interviews, observations, document analysis, video and tape recording, and my research journal entries. The data indicated the value of school food gardens in meeting curriculum requirements, particularly in relation to learner centred ideologies and the first principle of the national curriculum. As both researcher and mediator of learning, I developed skills and knowledge that helped me to understand working in the Foundation Phase. The study also revealed a need for meaningful integration within and across Learning Areas when planning lessons in the Life Skills Learning Programme. The study indicated that there is a need to develop assessment practices beyond a technical exercise to a more interpretive approach. Lastly this study offers some recommendations for further research into the use of school food gardens through taking the context of learners into account and by encouraging school community relationships that will also contribute in poverty alleviation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Ncula, Ntombizandile Shirley
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: School gardens -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Gardening -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Environmental education -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa --Eastern Cape Environmental education -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1546 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003428
- Description: This study was conducted at Lungelolethu Lower/Higher Primary School in Keiskammahoek at a time when I was struggling to understand and implement the new South African curriculum policy, particularly in the Foundation Phase Life Skills Learning Programme. The research focused on my developing an understanding of key Learning Outcomes and linking them with the National Curriculum Statement principle of social justice, human rights, a healthy environment and inclusivity. During this time I was the key 4-H Programme educator in my school, responsible for school food garden activities. I used the school food garden for this study to explore the opportunities the garden might provide to develop the new curriculum using active learning approaches to teaching and learning; as well as to respond to environmental issues such as poverty. This research was an interpretive case study which supported my reflections within a practical action research framework. This framework suited my intention to change my classroom practice. I undertook three action research cycles with the first cycle aimed at gaining insights from the 4-H Programme teachers which informed 2 lesson plans for cycles 2 and 3 respectively. I generated data through focus group interviews, observations, document analysis, video and tape recording, and my research journal entries. The data indicated the value of school food gardens in meeting curriculum requirements, particularly in relation to learner centred ideologies and the first principle of the national curriculum. As both researcher and mediator of learning, I developed skills and knowledge that helped me to understand working in the Foundation Phase. The study also revealed a need for meaningful integration within and across Learning Areas when planning lessons in the Life Skills Learning Programme. The study indicated that there is a need to develop assessment practices beyond a technical exercise to a more interpretive approach. Lastly this study offers some recommendations for further research into the use of school food gardens through taking the context of learners into account and by encouraging school community relationships that will also contribute in poverty alleviation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Opportunity and constraint : historicity, hybridity and notions of cultural identity among farm workers in the Sundays River Valley
- Authors: Connor, Teresa Kathleen
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Agricultural laborers -- South Africa -- Relocation Addo Elephant National Park (South Africa) Xhosa (African people) -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Ethnic identity Forced migration -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Land settlement -- South Africa -- Government policy
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2117 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008367
- Description: This thesis focuses on relationships of opportunity and constraint among farm workers in the Sundays River Valley (SRV), Eastern Cape Province. Relationships of 'constraint' include those experiences of displacement and forced removal and war, including forced removals by the apartheid state in 1960 and 1970. Relationships of 'opportunity' include the ways in which residents in the SRV have contested their experiences of upheaval and domination, and the formation of a regional sense of place and belonging/ investigate how farm workers actually draw elements of locality and identity from their experiences of upheaval, and how displacement bolsters feelings of belonging and place. Instead of viewing displacement as a once-off experience, this thesis investigates displacement in historical terms, as a long-term, 'serial' experience of human movement, which is continued in the present- specifically through the creation of the Greater Addo Elephant National Park. I concentrate on developing a spatialised and cultural notion of movemenUplacement. 'Place' is investigated as a term that refers to rather indeterminate feelings of nostalgia, memory and identity, which depend on a particular connection to territory (ie: 'space'). I emphasise that elements of place in the SRV are drawn from and expressed along dualistic lines, which juxtapose situations of opportunity and constraint. In this way, farm workers' sense of connection to farms and ancestral territory in the SRV depends on their experiences of stable residency and work on farms, as well as their memories of removal from land in the area. I emphasise that those elements of conservatism (expressed as 'tradition' and Redness) among Xhosa-speaking farm workers are indications of a certain hybridity of identity in the region, which depend on differentiation from other groups (such as so-called 'coloured' farm workers and 'white' farmers), as well as associations between these groups. This thesis lays emphasis upon those less visible and definable 'identities' in the Eastern Cape Province, specifically by shifting focus away from the exhomeland states of the Ciskei and Transkei, to more marginal expressions of identity and change (among farm workers) in the Province. I point out that labourers cannot solely be defined by their positions as farm workers, but by their place and sense of cultural belonging in the area. In this sense, I use the idea of work as a loaded concept that can comment on a range of cultural attitudes towards belonging and place, and which is firmly embedded in the private lives of labourers - beyond their simple socio-economic conditions of farm work. I use Bourdieu's conception of habitus and doxa to define work as a set of dispositions that have been historicised and internalised by workers to such an extent, that relationships of domination are sometimes inadvertently obscured through their apparent 'naturalness'. Moreover, I point out that work can be related to ritualised action in the SRV through the use of performance and practice-based anthropological theory. Both work and ritual are symbolic actions, and are sites of struggle within which workers express themselves dualistically. Rituals, specifically, are dramatic events that combine disharmonious and harmonious social processes - juxtaposing the powerlessness of workers (on farms), and the deep sense of belonging and place in the SRV. I argue that the deep historical connections in the SRV have largely been ignored by conservationists in the drive to establish new protected zones (such as the Greater Addo Elephant National Park), and that a new model of shared conservation management is needed for this Park.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Connor, Teresa Kathleen
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Agricultural laborers -- South Africa -- Relocation Addo Elephant National Park (South Africa) Xhosa (African people) -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Ethnic identity Forced migration -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Land settlement -- South Africa -- Government policy
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2117 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008367
- Description: This thesis focuses on relationships of opportunity and constraint among farm workers in the Sundays River Valley (SRV), Eastern Cape Province. Relationships of 'constraint' include those experiences of displacement and forced removal and war, including forced removals by the apartheid state in 1960 and 1970. Relationships of 'opportunity' include the ways in which residents in the SRV have contested their experiences of upheaval and domination, and the formation of a regional sense of place and belonging/ investigate how farm workers actually draw elements of locality and identity from their experiences of upheaval, and how displacement bolsters feelings of belonging and place. Instead of viewing displacement as a once-off experience, this thesis investigates displacement in historical terms, as a long-term, 'serial' experience of human movement, which is continued in the present- specifically through the creation of the Greater Addo Elephant National Park. I concentrate on developing a spatialised and cultural notion of movemenUplacement. 'Place' is investigated as a term that refers to rather indeterminate feelings of nostalgia, memory and identity, which depend on a particular connection to territory (ie: 'space'). I emphasise that elements of place in the SRV are drawn from and expressed along dualistic lines, which juxtapose situations of opportunity and constraint. In this way, farm workers' sense of connection to farms and ancestral territory in the SRV depends on their experiences of stable residency and work on farms, as well as their memories of removal from land in the area. I emphasise that those elements of conservatism (expressed as 'tradition' and Redness) among Xhosa-speaking farm workers are indications of a certain hybridity of identity in the region, which depend on differentiation from other groups (such as so-called 'coloured' farm workers and 'white' farmers), as well as associations between these groups. This thesis lays emphasis upon those less visible and definable 'identities' in the Eastern Cape Province, specifically by shifting focus away from the exhomeland states of the Ciskei and Transkei, to more marginal expressions of identity and change (among farm workers) in the Province. I point out that labourers cannot solely be defined by their positions as farm workers, but by their place and sense of cultural belonging in the area. In this sense, I use the idea of work as a loaded concept that can comment on a range of cultural attitudes towards belonging and place, and which is firmly embedded in the private lives of labourers - beyond their simple socio-economic conditions of farm work. I use Bourdieu's conception of habitus and doxa to define work as a set of dispositions that have been historicised and internalised by workers to such an extent, that relationships of domination are sometimes inadvertently obscured through their apparent 'naturalness'. Moreover, I point out that work can be related to ritualised action in the SRV through the use of performance and practice-based anthropological theory. Both work and ritual are symbolic actions, and are sites of struggle within which workers express themselves dualistically. Rituals, specifically, are dramatic events that combine disharmonious and harmonious social processes - juxtaposing the powerlessness of workers (on farms), and the deep sense of belonging and place in the SRV. I argue that the deep historical connections in the SRV have largely been ignored by conservationists in the drive to establish new protected zones (such as the Greater Addo Elephant National Park), and that a new model of shared conservation management is needed for this Park.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Eluvial chromite resources of the Great Dyke of Zimbabwe
- Authors: Musa, Caston Tamburayi
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Dikes (Geology) -- Zimbabwe Chromite -- Zimbabwe Geology -- Zimbabwe Olivine Serpentinite Eluvium
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5046 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007731
- Description: Apart from the concentrations of chromite in layers within the Great Dyke and other ultramafic complexes, chromite also occurs as interstitial grains throughout the olivine-bearing rock-types. These olivine-bearing rocks include no rites, gabbros, dunites and pyroxenites. Chromite concentration in these rocks varies from 0.48 to 3.09 per cent of the rock, usually in the form of chromite (Ahrens, 1965; Worst, 1960). A small fraction of this chromite settled to form chromitite layers whilst the remainder is retained within the rock mass as finely disseminated chromite and chromite interstitial to olivine. This retained chromite is much finer grained than layer chromite and is the primary source of eluvial chromite (Cotterill, 1981). During weathering of the serpentine rock and transportation by rainwater, the heavier chromite and magnetite grains are re-deposited along watercourses and vleis or valleys as the speed of the water is retarded sufficiently for the heavier particles to settle. The lighter serpentine material is removed and the chromite concentration in the soil is increased, thus resulting in eluvial chromite (Keech et ai, 1961; Worst, 1960; Prendergast, 1978). The concentration of chromite particles in soil can be up to 15 (or more) Cr₂O₃ %, resulting in economic and exploitable deposits, located primarily along the Great Dyke fiacks. A preliminary evaluation of the eluvials indicate that the Great Dyke could be host to up to 10 million tonnes of potential chromite concentrates which could be processed from such eluvial concentrates. These chromite-rich soils can be mined more cheaply than the traditional seams mining and processed into chromite concentrates through simple mechanical processing techniques of spirals, jigs and heavy media separators. The resultant chromite concentrates are of high quality and can be used to manufacture chromite ore briquettes, which are an alternative to lumpy chromite smelter feed. The main challenges to eluvial mining are the inevitable environmental degradation and coming up with methods that could possibly mitigate against such environmental damage. The distribution of these eluvials over vast plains as thin soil horizons, necessitate use of mobile concentrator plants and hence establishment of extensive infrastructure. These challenges, however, are not insurmountable and test mining and previous production runs have proved profitable. The eluvials are also associated with some lateritic nickel concentrations. The nickel occurs in close association with some oxide such as goethite and garnierite and is associated with iron-manganiferous soil pisolites. The analyses of these pisolites indicate high nickel grades of generally above 1.00 %Ni. Such high nickel-content of Great Dyke laterites warrant, further investigations.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Musa, Caston Tamburayi
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Dikes (Geology) -- Zimbabwe Chromite -- Zimbabwe Geology -- Zimbabwe Olivine Serpentinite Eluvium
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5046 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007731
- Description: Apart from the concentrations of chromite in layers within the Great Dyke and other ultramafic complexes, chromite also occurs as interstitial grains throughout the olivine-bearing rock-types. These olivine-bearing rocks include no rites, gabbros, dunites and pyroxenites. Chromite concentration in these rocks varies from 0.48 to 3.09 per cent of the rock, usually in the form of chromite (Ahrens, 1965; Worst, 1960). A small fraction of this chromite settled to form chromitite layers whilst the remainder is retained within the rock mass as finely disseminated chromite and chromite interstitial to olivine. This retained chromite is much finer grained than layer chromite and is the primary source of eluvial chromite (Cotterill, 1981). During weathering of the serpentine rock and transportation by rainwater, the heavier chromite and magnetite grains are re-deposited along watercourses and vleis or valleys as the speed of the water is retarded sufficiently for the heavier particles to settle. The lighter serpentine material is removed and the chromite concentration in the soil is increased, thus resulting in eluvial chromite (Keech et ai, 1961; Worst, 1960; Prendergast, 1978). The concentration of chromite particles in soil can be up to 15 (or more) Cr₂O₃ %, resulting in economic and exploitable deposits, located primarily along the Great Dyke fiacks. A preliminary evaluation of the eluvials indicate that the Great Dyke could be host to up to 10 million tonnes of potential chromite concentrates which could be processed from such eluvial concentrates. These chromite-rich soils can be mined more cheaply than the traditional seams mining and processed into chromite concentrates through simple mechanical processing techniques of spirals, jigs and heavy media separators. The resultant chromite concentrates are of high quality and can be used to manufacture chromite ore briquettes, which are an alternative to lumpy chromite smelter feed. The main challenges to eluvial mining are the inevitable environmental degradation and coming up with methods that could possibly mitigate against such environmental damage. The distribution of these eluvials over vast plains as thin soil horizons, necessitate use of mobile concentrator plants and hence establishment of extensive infrastructure. These challenges, however, are not insurmountable and test mining and previous production runs have proved profitable. The eluvials are also associated with some lateritic nickel concentrations. The nickel occurs in close association with some oxide such as goethite and garnierite and is associated with iron-manganiferous soil pisolites. The analyses of these pisolites indicate high nickel grades of generally above 1.00 %Ni. Such high nickel-content of Great Dyke laterites warrant, further investigations.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
The trouble with culture : Plato's critique of poetry
- Authors: Ansell, James D'Olier
- Date: 2007 , 2013-07-25
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2733 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004460
- Description: In this thesis I argue that Plato's critique of poetry, taken in its proper context, is a serious and relevant critique of popular culture. In the first chapter I argue that the poetic reforms proposed in Books 2 and 3 and Book 10 of Republic stand at the front of a total reform of Greek culture. I argue for the consistency of Plato's whole argument and then I claim that if we get Plato's targets right, not fine art or literature, and focus on appropriate modern analogues then we can see why his critique is still important. If we share his claim that we are influenced by popular culture in important and often insidious ways and agree that culture can promote corrupt values, then we have accepted the core of Plato's challenge. If we find his solution distasteful, then the task is to come up with a democratic alternative. In the remaining two chapters I focus specifically on the challenge to the poets, putting the other reforms to the side. In the second chapter I consider a possible reply to the challenge focusing on the worth of the poetry that was expelled. I first look elsewhere in the Platonic oeuvre at the account of beauty in Symposium and Phaedrus but I argue that neither of them gives anything like aesthetic value that could be usefully applied to poetry. Next I look to some modern accounts of aesthetic value. I argue that while they might go some of the distance against Plato's challenge, they face a difficult task because it is not sufficient positing the value, an account is needed of their positive benefit. In the third chapter I turn to a more direct response to the challenge. Arguably Aristotle offers such a response in the Poetics, in terms of the notion of katharsis. I consider two interpretative candidates for katharsis. The first takes the benefit of poetry to be psychological - katharsis is a purgation of otherwise pathological emotions. I argue that this fails because it misunderstands precisely what Plato's concerns about poetry are, and, furthermore, this account could even be compatible with Plato's worries. The second interpretation takes the benefit of poetry to be ethical- katharsis is a type of ethical clarification which is beneficial in training our emotional responses. I claim that the clarification, and education, is worryingly conventionalist, and doesn't take seriously that Plato's target was popular culture and not great, educative literature. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Ansell, James D'Olier
- Date: 2007 , 2013-07-25
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2733 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004460
- Description: In this thesis I argue that Plato's critique of poetry, taken in its proper context, is a serious and relevant critique of popular culture. In the first chapter I argue that the poetic reforms proposed in Books 2 and 3 and Book 10 of Republic stand at the front of a total reform of Greek culture. I argue for the consistency of Plato's whole argument and then I claim that if we get Plato's targets right, not fine art or literature, and focus on appropriate modern analogues then we can see why his critique is still important. If we share his claim that we are influenced by popular culture in important and often insidious ways and agree that culture can promote corrupt values, then we have accepted the core of Plato's challenge. If we find his solution distasteful, then the task is to come up with a democratic alternative. In the remaining two chapters I focus specifically on the challenge to the poets, putting the other reforms to the side. In the second chapter I consider a possible reply to the challenge focusing on the worth of the poetry that was expelled. I first look elsewhere in the Platonic oeuvre at the account of beauty in Symposium and Phaedrus but I argue that neither of them gives anything like aesthetic value that could be usefully applied to poetry. Next I look to some modern accounts of aesthetic value. I argue that while they might go some of the distance against Plato's challenge, they face a difficult task because it is not sufficient positing the value, an account is needed of their positive benefit. In the third chapter I turn to a more direct response to the challenge. Arguably Aristotle offers such a response in the Poetics, in terms of the notion of katharsis. I consider two interpretative candidates for katharsis. The first takes the benefit of poetry to be psychological - katharsis is a purgation of otherwise pathological emotions. I argue that this fails because it misunderstands precisely what Plato's concerns about poetry are, and, furthermore, this account could even be compatible with Plato's worries. The second interpretation takes the benefit of poetry to be ethical- katharsis is a type of ethical clarification which is beneficial in training our emotional responses. I claim that the clarification, and education, is worryingly conventionalist, and doesn't take seriously that Plato's target was popular culture and not great, educative literature. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
The European Union trade, development and cooperation agreement (TDCA) with South Africa : promoting development or self interest?
- Authors: Mavura, Mike Tigere
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: European Union Economic development -- South Africa European Union countries -- Foreign economic relations -- South Africa South Africa -- Foreign economic relations -- European Union countries
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2859 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007572
- Description: This research analyses development cooperation between the European Union (EU) and South Africa with the objective of determining which between the two entities, ultimately benefits more out of this arrangement The research goes beyond the altruistic reasons offered by the EU as the rationale for development cooperation to investigate whether South Africa's development is actually being promoted by this cooperation. Further, the research investigates whether there is also EU self-interest that informs this development cooperation. This research is conceptualised within the development aid debate framework. The research argues that this development cooperation is important to South Africa even though its impact is in real terms has not been extensive due to a number of factors. It further contends that there are EU political, security and economic interests amongst others that are being promoted by this development cooperation. The research concludes by asserting that this development cooperation promotes the mutual interests of the EU and South Africa. This conclusion challenges the paradigms of the debate on development aid which is premised in black and white terms of development aid promoting either donor or recipient interests.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Mavura, Mike Tigere
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: European Union Economic development -- South Africa European Union countries -- Foreign economic relations -- South Africa South Africa -- Foreign economic relations -- European Union countries
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2859 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007572
- Description: This research analyses development cooperation between the European Union (EU) and South Africa with the objective of determining which between the two entities, ultimately benefits more out of this arrangement The research goes beyond the altruistic reasons offered by the EU as the rationale for development cooperation to investigate whether South Africa's development is actually being promoted by this cooperation. Further, the research investigates whether there is also EU self-interest that informs this development cooperation. This research is conceptualised within the development aid debate framework. The research argues that this development cooperation is important to South Africa even though its impact is in real terms has not been extensive due to a number of factors. It further contends that there are EU political, security and economic interests amongst others that are being promoted by this development cooperation. The research concludes by asserting that this development cooperation promotes the mutual interests of the EU and South Africa. This conclusion challenges the paradigms of the debate on development aid which is premised in black and white terms of development aid promoting either donor or recipient interests.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Pricing exotic options using C++
- Authors: Nhongo, Tawuya D R
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: C++ (Computer program language) , Monte Carlo method , Simulation methods , Options (Finance) -- Mathematical models , Pricing -- Mathematical models
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5577 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008373 , C++ (Computer program language) , Monte Carlo method , Simulation methods , Options (Finance) -- Mathematical models , Pricing -- Mathematical models
- Description: This document demonstrates the use of the C++ programming language as a simulation tool in the efficient pricing of exotic European options. Extensions to the basic problem of simulation pricing are undertaken including variance reduction by conditional expectation, control and antithetic variates. Ultimately we were able to produce a modularized, easily extend-able program which effectively makes use of Monte Carlo simulation techniques to price lookback, Asian and barrier exotic options. Theories of variance reduction were validated except in cases where we used control variates in combination with the other variance reduction techniques in which case we observed increased variance. Again, the main aim of this half thesis was to produce a C++ program which would produce stable pricings of exotic options.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Nhongo, Tawuya D R
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: C++ (Computer program language) , Monte Carlo method , Simulation methods , Options (Finance) -- Mathematical models , Pricing -- Mathematical models
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5577 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008373 , C++ (Computer program language) , Monte Carlo method , Simulation methods , Options (Finance) -- Mathematical models , Pricing -- Mathematical models
- Description: This document demonstrates the use of the C++ programming language as a simulation tool in the efficient pricing of exotic European options. Extensions to the basic problem of simulation pricing are undertaken including variance reduction by conditional expectation, control and antithetic variates. Ultimately we were able to produce a modularized, easily extend-able program which effectively makes use of Monte Carlo simulation techniques to price lookback, Asian and barrier exotic options. Theories of variance reduction were validated except in cases where we used control variates in combination with the other variance reduction techniques in which case we observed increased variance. Again, the main aim of this half thesis was to produce a C++ program which would produce stable pricings of exotic options.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Pharmaceutical analysis and quality of complementary medicines : sceletium and associated products
- Patnala, Satya Siva Rama Ranganath Srinivas
- Authors: Patnala, Satya Siva Rama Ranganath Srinivas
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Alternative medicine , Herbs -- Therapeutic use
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3872 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018263
- Description: There has been an upsurge in the use of Complementary and Alternate Medicines (CAMs) in both developed and developing countries. Although herbal medicines have been in use for many centuries, their quality, safety and efficacy are still of major concern. Many countries are in the process of integrating CAMs into conventional health care systems based on the knowledge and use of traditional medicines. The quality control (QC) of herbal products usually presents a formidable analytical challenge in view of the complexity of the constituents in plant material and the commercial non-availability of appropriate qualified reference standards. Sceletium, a genus belonging to the family Aizoaceae, has been reported to contain psychoactive alkaloids, specifically mesembrine, mesembrenone, mesembrenol and some other related alkaloids. Sceletium is marketed as dried plant powder and as phyto-pharmaceutical dosage forms. Sceletium products and plant material marketed through health shops and on the internet are associated with unjustified claims of specific therapeutic efficacy and may be of dubious quality. Validated analytical methods to estimate Sceletium alkaloids have not previously been reported in the scientific literature and the available methods have focused only on qualitative estimation. Furthermore, since appropriate markers were not commercially available for use as reference standards, a primary objective of this study was to isolate relevant compounds, qualify them as reference standards which could be applied to develop appropriate validated qualitative and quantitative analytical methods for fingerprinting and assay of Sceletium plant material and dosage forms. The alkaloidal markers mesembrine, mesembrenone and ∆⁷ mesembrenone were isolated by solvent extraction and chromatography from dried plant material. Mesembranol and epimesembranol were synthesised by hydrogenation of the isolated mesembrine using the catalyst platinum (IV) oxide and then further purified by semi-preparative column chromatography. All compounds were subjected to analysis by ¹H, ¹³C, 2-D nuclear magnetic resonance and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectroscopy. Mesembrine was converted to hydrochloride crystals and mesembranol was isolated as crystals from the hydrogenation reaction mass. These compounds were analysed and characterised by X-ray crystallography. A relatively simple HPLC method for the separation and quantitative analysis of five relevant alkaloidal components in Sceletium was developed and validated. The method was applied to determine the alkaloids in plant material and dosage forms containing Sceletium. An LCMS method developed during the study provided accurate identification of the five relevant Sceletium alkaloids. The method was applied for the quantitative analysis and QC of Sceletium plant material and its dosage forms. This LCMS method was found to efficiently ionize the relevant alkaloidal markers in order to facilitate their detection, identification and quantification in Sceletium plant material as well as for the assay and QC of dosage forms containing Sceletium. The chemotaxonomy of some Sceletium species and commercially available Sceletium dosage forms were successfully studied by the LCMS method. The HPLC and LCMS methods were also used to monitor the bio-conversion of some of the alkaloids while processing the plant material as per traditional method of fermentation. Additionally a high resolution CZE method was developed for the separation of several Sceletium alkaloids in relatively short analysis times. This analytical method was used successfully to fingerprint the alkaloids and quantify mesembrine in Sceletium and its products. Sceletium species grown under varying conditions at different locations, when analyzed, showed major differences in their composition of alkaloids and an enormous difference was found to exist between the various species with respect to the presence and content of alkaloids. Sceletium and its products marketed through health shops and the internet may thus have problems with respect to the quality and related therapeutic efficacy. The QC of Sceletium presents a formidable challenge as Sceletium plants and products contain a complex mixture of compounds. The work presented herein contributes to a growing body of scientific knowledge to improve the QC standards of herbal medicines and also to provide vital information regarding the selection of plant species and information on the specific alkaloidal constituents to the cultivators of Sceletium and the manufacturers of its products.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Patnala, Satya Siva Rama Ranganath Srinivas
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Alternative medicine , Herbs -- Therapeutic use
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3872 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018263
- Description: There has been an upsurge in the use of Complementary and Alternate Medicines (CAMs) in both developed and developing countries. Although herbal medicines have been in use for many centuries, their quality, safety and efficacy are still of major concern. Many countries are in the process of integrating CAMs into conventional health care systems based on the knowledge and use of traditional medicines. The quality control (QC) of herbal products usually presents a formidable analytical challenge in view of the complexity of the constituents in plant material and the commercial non-availability of appropriate qualified reference standards. Sceletium, a genus belonging to the family Aizoaceae, has been reported to contain psychoactive alkaloids, specifically mesembrine, mesembrenone, mesembrenol and some other related alkaloids. Sceletium is marketed as dried plant powder and as phyto-pharmaceutical dosage forms. Sceletium products and plant material marketed through health shops and on the internet are associated with unjustified claims of specific therapeutic efficacy and may be of dubious quality. Validated analytical methods to estimate Sceletium alkaloids have not previously been reported in the scientific literature and the available methods have focused only on qualitative estimation. Furthermore, since appropriate markers were not commercially available for use as reference standards, a primary objective of this study was to isolate relevant compounds, qualify them as reference standards which could be applied to develop appropriate validated qualitative and quantitative analytical methods for fingerprinting and assay of Sceletium plant material and dosage forms. The alkaloidal markers mesembrine, mesembrenone and ∆⁷ mesembrenone were isolated by solvent extraction and chromatography from dried plant material. Mesembranol and epimesembranol were synthesised by hydrogenation of the isolated mesembrine using the catalyst platinum (IV) oxide and then further purified by semi-preparative column chromatography. All compounds were subjected to analysis by ¹H, ¹³C, 2-D nuclear magnetic resonance and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectroscopy. Mesembrine was converted to hydrochloride crystals and mesembranol was isolated as crystals from the hydrogenation reaction mass. These compounds were analysed and characterised by X-ray crystallography. A relatively simple HPLC method for the separation and quantitative analysis of five relevant alkaloidal components in Sceletium was developed and validated. The method was applied to determine the alkaloids in plant material and dosage forms containing Sceletium. An LCMS method developed during the study provided accurate identification of the five relevant Sceletium alkaloids. The method was applied for the quantitative analysis and QC of Sceletium plant material and its dosage forms. This LCMS method was found to efficiently ionize the relevant alkaloidal markers in order to facilitate their detection, identification and quantification in Sceletium plant material as well as for the assay and QC of dosage forms containing Sceletium. The chemotaxonomy of some Sceletium species and commercially available Sceletium dosage forms were successfully studied by the LCMS method. The HPLC and LCMS methods were also used to monitor the bio-conversion of some of the alkaloids while processing the plant material as per traditional method of fermentation. Additionally a high resolution CZE method was developed for the separation of several Sceletium alkaloids in relatively short analysis times. This analytical method was used successfully to fingerprint the alkaloids and quantify mesembrine in Sceletium and its products. Sceletium species grown under varying conditions at different locations, when analyzed, showed major differences in their composition of alkaloids and an enormous difference was found to exist between the various species with respect to the presence and content of alkaloids. Sceletium and its products marketed through health shops and the internet may thus have problems with respect to the quality and related therapeutic efficacy. The QC of Sceletium presents a formidable challenge as Sceletium plants and products contain a complex mixture of compounds. The work presented herein contributes to a growing body of scientific knowledge to improve the QC standards of herbal medicines and also to provide vital information regarding the selection of plant species and information on the specific alkaloidal constituents to the cultivators of Sceletium and the manufacturers of its products.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
An investigation into the popularity of the Zimbabwean tabloid newspaper, uMthunywa: a reception study of Bulawayo readers
- Authors: Mabweazara, Hayes Mawindi
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: uMthunywa (Zimbabwe) Tabloid newspapers -- Zimbabwe Journalism -- Zimbabwe Newspapers -- Marketing -- Zimbabwe Mass media -- Social aspects -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3454 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002908
- Description: The development of the tabloid press has stirred heated debate among media scholars. Critics have argued against the relevance of tabloids in society, often framing them as the ‘journalistic other’ deserving no place in ‘serious’ journalism. Much of this criticism, however, has not been based on a close interrogation of the phenomenon, or an examination of the reasons for their popularity amongst readers. It is against this background that this study investigates the reasons behind the popularity of the Zimbabwean state-controlled tabloid newspaper uMthunywa, among its Bulawayo readers. In particular, it explores the meanings obtained from the content of the paper and the relevance of this content to the readers’ everyday lives. In undertaking this investigation, the study draws primarily on qualitative research methods, particularly qualitative content analysis and in-depth interviews (both group and individual). As the study demonstrates, these methods uncover the complex manner in which Bulawayo readers are attracted to uMthunywa and how they appropriate its textual meanings to their lived realities. The study establishes that despite uMthunywa being state-controlled, it offers space through which the conventional ways of presenting reality are challenged, and the importance of the newspaper being written in isiNdebele. As the study indicates, the popularity of the newspaper is largely dependent on its excessive formulaic and sensational stories, which cover issues experienced by its readers in their lived circumstances. The study thus argues that the newspaper constitutes an alternative mediated public sphere that finds space in the deeper social conditions that have alienated the people of Bulawayo from the macropolitical life of the nation and the ‘power bloc’.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Mabweazara, Hayes Mawindi
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: uMthunywa (Zimbabwe) Tabloid newspapers -- Zimbabwe Journalism -- Zimbabwe Newspapers -- Marketing -- Zimbabwe Mass media -- Social aspects -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3454 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002908
- Description: The development of the tabloid press has stirred heated debate among media scholars. Critics have argued against the relevance of tabloids in society, often framing them as the ‘journalistic other’ deserving no place in ‘serious’ journalism. Much of this criticism, however, has not been based on a close interrogation of the phenomenon, or an examination of the reasons for their popularity amongst readers. It is against this background that this study investigates the reasons behind the popularity of the Zimbabwean state-controlled tabloid newspaper uMthunywa, among its Bulawayo readers. In particular, it explores the meanings obtained from the content of the paper and the relevance of this content to the readers’ everyday lives. In undertaking this investigation, the study draws primarily on qualitative research methods, particularly qualitative content analysis and in-depth interviews (both group and individual). As the study demonstrates, these methods uncover the complex manner in which Bulawayo readers are attracted to uMthunywa and how they appropriate its textual meanings to their lived realities. The study establishes that despite uMthunywa being state-controlled, it offers space through which the conventional ways of presenting reality are challenged, and the importance of the newspaper being written in isiNdebele. As the study indicates, the popularity of the newspaper is largely dependent on its excessive formulaic and sensational stories, which cover issues experienced by its readers in their lived circumstances. The study thus argues that the newspaper constitutes an alternative mediated public sphere that finds space in the deeper social conditions that have alienated the people of Bulawayo from the macropolitical life of the nation and the ‘power bloc’.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Investigating the implementation of continuous assessment at the lower primary phase in a Namibian school
- Authors: Hamukonda, Paulina
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Education, Elementary -- Namibia Educational tests and measurements -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1592 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003474
- Description: Many Namibian teachers experience difficulties in actualising the principles of learner-centred education, one of which being continuous assessment. Continuous assessment serves important formative purposes. That is, it can inform education stakeholders and help improve learners’ progress in the teaching and learning environment. Although a great deal is known about continuous assessment in general, not much is yet known about how Namibian lower primary teachers actually understand and implement continuous assessment in the classroom. This study investigates the assessment practices of three Grade Three teachers in a school in Oshana Region of Namibia. The study found that although the teachers who participated in the investigation have a reasonably sound knowledge of continuous assessment in theory, they lack implementation skills. They were unable to effectively transfer what they know to what they actually do. This study found that as much as training of teachers is important, the ongoing professional development of teachers is more appropriate for enhancing a complex understanding of issues related to learner-centred education that will help them to manage continuous assessment more effectively.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Hamukonda, Paulina
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Education, Elementary -- Namibia Educational tests and measurements -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1592 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003474
- Description: Many Namibian teachers experience difficulties in actualising the principles of learner-centred education, one of which being continuous assessment. Continuous assessment serves important formative purposes. That is, it can inform education stakeholders and help improve learners’ progress in the teaching and learning environment. Although a great deal is known about continuous assessment in general, not much is yet known about how Namibian lower primary teachers actually understand and implement continuous assessment in the classroom. This study investigates the assessment practices of three Grade Three teachers in a school in Oshana Region of Namibia. The study found that although the teachers who participated in the investigation have a reasonably sound knowledge of continuous assessment in theory, they lack implementation skills. They were unable to effectively transfer what they know to what they actually do. This study found that as much as training of teachers is important, the ongoing professional development of teachers is more appropriate for enhancing a complex understanding of issues related to learner-centred education that will help them to manage continuous assessment more effectively.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Localisation of Theiler's Murine Encephalomyelitis virus non-structural proteins 2B, 2C, 2BC and 3A in BHK-21 cells, and the effect of amino acid substitutions in 2C on localisation and virus replication
- Authors: Murray, Lindsay
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Encephalomyelitis -- Genetic aspects , Amino acid sequence , Picornaviruses , Viruses -- Reproduction
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4090 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007722 , Encephalomyelitis -- Genetic aspects , Amino acid sequence , Picornaviruses , Viruses -- Reproduction
- Description: The picornavirus family includes significant human and animal viruses such as poliovirus (PV), human rhinovirus (HRV) and foot-and-mouth-disease virus (FMDV). Current disease treatment and control strategies are limited by an incomplete understanding of the interactions between the non-structural, replicative picornavirus proteins and host cell components. To investigate these interactions, Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) 2B, 2C, 2BC and 3A proteins were transiently expressed in BHK-21 cells and detected by indirect immunostaining and laser-scanning or epifluorescence microscopy. The signal of the 2B protein overlapped with that of the ER marker protein, ERp60, as well as that of the peripheral Golgi marker protein, β-COP. The 2C protein overlapped with ERp60 in a faint reticular stain, and localised to large punctate structures that partially overlapped with β-COP at higher levels of expression. The 2BC protein located to large perinuclear structures that overlapped exclusively with β-COP. The TMEV 3A protein signal overlapped with both ERp60 and β-COP stains, in addition in cells expressing the 3A protein the ER appeared swollen and bulbous while the Golgi was dispersed in some cells. 2C and 2BC proteins with C-terminal deletions localised in the same manner as the wild type proteins indicating that the localisation signals that determine subcellular localisation of the proteins are within the N-terminal 60 amino acids of the 2C protein. The significance of the high degree of conservation of the N-terminal domain of the 2C protein throughout the Picornaviridae was investigated through the introduction of amino acid substitution mutations at highly conserved residues in the N-terminal domain of 2C into the viral cDNA. Upon transfection of the viral RNA into BHK-21 cells, it was observed that substitution of amino acid residues 8, 18 and 29 abolished the ability of TMEV to induce cytopathic effect (CPE), while substitution of residues 4, 14 and 23 only attenuated the ability of TMEV to induce CPE. To determine whether amino acid substitution mutations would affect the localisation of the 2C protein, 2C proteins with substitution mutations at amino acids 4, 8, 14, 18, 23 and 29 were transiently expressed in BHK-21 cells and detected by indirect imrnunostaining and examination by laser-scanning confocal and epifluorescence microscopy. The 2C mutant 4, 8 and 29 proteins showed slightly altered localisation patterns compared to the wild type protein with a significant portion of the proteins localising in a perinuclear stain suggesting possible localisation to the nuclear envelop. The 2C mutant 14 and 18 proteins localised to a diffuse pattern in BHK-21 cells while the 2C mutant 23 protein located to small punctate structures that partially overlapped with the ERp60 stain but were completely separate from the β-COP stain. Finally, a hydrophilic, antigenic region of the 2C protein was expressed in frame with an N-terminal GST tag and was successfully purified on a pilot-scale and detected by Western analysis. This 2C178 peptide will be used to generate antibodies against the 2C and 2BC proteins for use in future studies. This study has furthered our knowledge of the localisation of the picornavirus 2B, 2C, 2BC and 3A proteins in host cells and identified a possible link between this localisation and an ability of TMEV to replicate in BHK-21 cells.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Murray, Lindsay
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Encephalomyelitis -- Genetic aspects , Amino acid sequence , Picornaviruses , Viruses -- Reproduction
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4090 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007722 , Encephalomyelitis -- Genetic aspects , Amino acid sequence , Picornaviruses , Viruses -- Reproduction
- Description: The picornavirus family includes significant human and animal viruses such as poliovirus (PV), human rhinovirus (HRV) and foot-and-mouth-disease virus (FMDV). Current disease treatment and control strategies are limited by an incomplete understanding of the interactions between the non-structural, replicative picornavirus proteins and host cell components. To investigate these interactions, Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) 2B, 2C, 2BC and 3A proteins were transiently expressed in BHK-21 cells and detected by indirect immunostaining and laser-scanning or epifluorescence microscopy. The signal of the 2B protein overlapped with that of the ER marker protein, ERp60, as well as that of the peripheral Golgi marker protein, β-COP. The 2C protein overlapped with ERp60 in a faint reticular stain, and localised to large punctate structures that partially overlapped with β-COP at higher levels of expression. The 2BC protein located to large perinuclear structures that overlapped exclusively with β-COP. The TMEV 3A protein signal overlapped with both ERp60 and β-COP stains, in addition in cells expressing the 3A protein the ER appeared swollen and bulbous while the Golgi was dispersed in some cells. 2C and 2BC proteins with C-terminal deletions localised in the same manner as the wild type proteins indicating that the localisation signals that determine subcellular localisation of the proteins are within the N-terminal 60 amino acids of the 2C protein. The significance of the high degree of conservation of the N-terminal domain of the 2C protein throughout the Picornaviridae was investigated through the introduction of amino acid substitution mutations at highly conserved residues in the N-terminal domain of 2C into the viral cDNA. Upon transfection of the viral RNA into BHK-21 cells, it was observed that substitution of amino acid residues 8, 18 and 29 abolished the ability of TMEV to induce cytopathic effect (CPE), while substitution of residues 4, 14 and 23 only attenuated the ability of TMEV to induce CPE. To determine whether amino acid substitution mutations would affect the localisation of the 2C protein, 2C proteins with substitution mutations at amino acids 4, 8, 14, 18, 23 and 29 were transiently expressed in BHK-21 cells and detected by indirect imrnunostaining and examination by laser-scanning confocal and epifluorescence microscopy. The 2C mutant 4, 8 and 29 proteins showed slightly altered localisation patterns compared to the wild type protein with a significant portion of the proteins localising in a perinuclear stain suggesting possible localisation to the nuclear envelop. The 2C mutant 14 and 18 proteins localised to a diffuse pattern in BHK-21 cells while the 2C mutant 23 protein located to small punctate structures that partially overlapped with the ERp60 stain but were completely separate from the β-COP stain. Finally, a hydrophilic, antigenic region of the 2C protein was expressed in frame with an N-terminal GST tag and was successfully purified on a pilot-scale and detected by Western analysis. This 2C178 peptide will be used to generate antibodies against the 2C and 2BC proteins for use in future studies. This study has furthered our knowledge of the localisation of the picornavirus 2B, 2C, 2BC and 3A proteins in host cells and identified a possible link between this localisation and an ability of TMEV to replicate in BHK-21 cells.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
The C-Band : continuum mapping and measuring the radio environment
- Authors: King, Oliver Gray
- Date: 2007 , 2013-07-01
- Identifier: vital:5449 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004744
- Description: Voice-enabled applications, applications that interact with a user via an audio channel, are used extensively today. Their use is growing as speech related technologies improve, as speech is one of the most natural methods of interaction. They can provide customer support as IVRs, can be used as an assistive technology, or can become an aural interface to the Internet. Given that the telephone is used extensively throughout the globe, the number of potential users of voice-enabled applications is very high. VoiceXML is a popular, open, high-level, standard means of creating voice-enabled applications which was designed to bring the benefits of web based development to services. While VoiceXML is an ideal language for creating these applications, VoiceXML gateways, the hardware and software responsible for interpreting VoiceXML applications and interfacing with the PSTN, are still expensive and so there is a need for a low-cost gateway. Asterisk, and open-source, TDM/VoIP telephony platform, can be used as a low-cost PSTN interface. This thesis investigates adding a VoiceXML service to Asterisk, creating a low-cost VoiceXML prototype gateway which is able to render voice-enabled applications. Following the Component-Based Software Engineering (CBSE) paradigm, the VoiceXML gateway is divided into a set of components which are sourced from the open-source community, and integrated to create the gateway. The browser requires a VoiceXML interpreter (OpenVXI), a Text-To-Speech engine (Festival) and a speech recognition engine (Sphinx 4). The integration of the components results in a low-cost, open-source VoiceXML gateway. System tests show that the integration of the components was successful, and that the system can handle concurrent calls. A fully compliant version of the gateway can be used in the real world to render voice-enabled applications at a low cost.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: King, Oliver Gray
- Date: 2007 , 2013-07-01
- Identifier: vital:5449 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004744
- Description: Voice-enabled applications, applications that interact with a user via an audio channel, are used extensively today. Their use is growing as speech related technologies improve, as speech is one of the most natural methods of interaction. They can provide customer support as IVRs, can be used as an assistive technology, or can become an aural interface to the Internet. Given that the telephone is used extensively throughout the globe, the number of potential users of voice-enabled applications is very high. VoiceXML is a popular, open, high-level, standard means of creating voice-enabled applications which was designed to bring the benefits of web based development to services. While VoiceXML is an ideal language for creating these applications, VoiceXML gateways, the hardware and software responsible for interpreting VoiceXML applications and interfacing with the PSTN, are still expensive and so there is a need for a low-cost gateway. Asterisk, and open-source, TDM/VoIP telephony platform, can be used as a low-cost PSTN interface. This thesis investigates adding a VoiceXML service to Asterisk, creating a low-cost VoiceXML prototype gateway which is able to render voice-enabled applications. Following the Component-Based Software Engineering (CBSE) paradigm, the VoiceXML gateway is divided into a set of components which are sourced from the open-source community, and integrated to create the gateway. The browser requires a VoiceXML interpreter (OpenVXI), a Text-To-Speech engine (Festival) and a speech recognition engine (Sphinx 4). The integration of the components results in a low-cost, open-source VoiceXML gateway. System tests show that the integration of the components was successful, and that the system can handle concurrent calls. A fully compliant version of the gateway can be used in the real world to render voice-enabled applications at a low cost.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
A critical ethnographic study of report writing as a literacy practice by automotive engineers
- Authors: Harran, Marcelle
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: English language -- Written English -- South Africa Written communication -- South Africa Literacy -- Social aspects -- South Africa Engineers -- Language -- South Africa Communication in engineering -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1476 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003357
- Description: This study describes the social practices involved in the situated activity of report writing in an engineering automotive discourse community in South Africa. In particular, the study focuses on the subjectivity of predominantly English Second Language (ESL) engineers writing reports by determining what literacy means to them and what meanings they give to dominant literacy practices in report writing, especially feedback in text production. In the South African engineering workplace, because of the diversity and complexity of language and identity issues, the appropriation of the required literacy skills tends to be multifaceted. This context is made more complex as English is the business language upon which engineering is based with engineering competence often related to English proficiency. Therefore, the study is located within the understanding that literacy is always situated within specific discoursal practices whose ideologies, beliefs, power relations, values and identities are manifested rhetorically. The basis for this critical theory of literacy is the assertion that literacy is a social practice which involves not only observable units of behaviour but values, attitudes, feelings and social relationships. As the institution’s socio-cultural context in the form of embedded historical and institutional forces impact on writer identity and writing practices or ways of doing report writing, notions of writing as a transparent and autonomous system are also challenged. As critical ethnography is concerned with multiple perspectives, it was selected as the preferred methodology and critical realism to derive definitions of truth and validity. Critical ethnography explores cultural orientations of local practice contexts and incorporates multiple understandings providing a holistic understanding of the complexity of writing practices. As human experience can only be known under particular descriptions, usually in terms of available discourses such as language, writing and rhetoric, the dominant practices emerging in response to the report acceptance event are explored, especially that of supervisor feedback practices as they causally impact on report-writing practices during the practice of report acceptance. Although critical realism does not necessarily demonstrate successful causal explanations, it does look for substantial relations within wider contexts to illuminate part-whole relationships. Therefore, an attempt is made to find representativeness or fit with situated engineering literacy practices and wider and changing literacy contexts, especially the impact of Higher Education and world Englishes as well as the expanding influence of technological and digital systems on report-writing practices.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Harran, Marcelle
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: English language -- Written English -- South Africa Written communication -- South Africa Literacy -- Social aspects -- South Africa Engineers -- Language -- South Africa Communication in engineering -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1476 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003357
- Description: This study describes the social practices involved in the situated activity of report writing in an engineering automotive discourse community in South Africa. In particular, the study focuses on the subjectivity of predominantly English Second Language (ESL) engineers writing reports by determining what literacy means to them and what meanings they give to dominant literacy practices in report writing, especially feedback in text production. In the South African engineering workplace, because of the diversity and complexity of language and identity issues, the appropriation of the required literacy skills tends to be multifaceted. This context is made more complex as English is the business language upon which engineering is based with engineering competence often related to English proficiency. Therefore, the study is located within the understanding that literacy is always situated within specific discoursal practices whose ideologies, beliefs, power relations, values and identities are manifested rhetorically. The basis for this critical theory of literacy is the assertion that literacy is a social practice which involves not only observable units of behaviour but values, attitudes, feelings and social relationships. As the institution’s socio-cultural context in the form of embedded historical and institutional forces impact on writer identity and writing practices or ways of doing report writing, notions of writing as a transparent and autonomous system are also challenged. As critical ethnography is concerned with multiple perspectives, it was selected as the preferred methodology and critical realism to derive definitions of truth and validity. Critical ethnography explores cultural orientations of local practice contexts and incorporates multiple understandings providing a holistic understanding of the complexity of writing practices. As human experience can only be known under particular descriptions, usually in terms of available discourses such as language, writing and rhetoric, the dominant practices emerging in response to the report acceptance event are explored, especially that of supervisor feedback practices as they causally impact on report-writing practices during the practice of report acceptance. Although critical realism does not necessarily demonstrate successful causal explanations, it does look for substantial relations within wider contexts to illuminate part-whole relationships. Therefore, an attempt is made to find representativeness or fit with situated engineering literacy practices and wider and changing literacy contexts, especially the impact of Higher Education and world Englishes as well as the expanding influence of technological and digital systems on report-writing practices.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Extending the reach of personal area networks by transporting Bluetooth communications over IP networks
- Authors: Mackie, David Sean
- Date: 2007 , 2007-03-29
- Subjects: Bluetooth technology , Communication -- Technological innovations , Communication -- Network analysis , TCP/IP (Computer network protocol) , Computer networks , Computer network protocols , Wireless communication systems
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4637 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006551 , Bluetooth technology , Communication -- Technological innovations , Communication -- Network analysis , TCP/IP (Computer network protocol) , Computer networks , Computer network protocols , Wireless communication systems
- Description: This thesis presents an investigation of how to extend the reach of a Bluetooth personal area network by introducing the concept of Bluetooth Hotspots. Currently two Bluetooth devices cannot communicate with each other unless they are within radio range, since Bluetooth is designed as a cable-replacement technology for wireless communications over short ranges. An investigation was done into the feasibility of creating Bluetooth hotspots that allow distant Bluetooth devices to communicate with each other by transporting their communications between these hotspots via an alternative network infrastructure such as an IP network. Two approaches were investigated, masquerading of remote devices by the local hotspot to allow seamless communications and proxying services on remote devices by providing them on a local hotspot using a distributed service discovery database. The latter approach was used to develop applications capable of transporting Bluetooth’s RFCOMM and L2CAP protocols. Quantitative tests were performed to establish the throughput performance and latency of these transport applications. Furthermore, a number of selected Bluetooth services were tested which lead us to conclude that most data-based protocols can be transported by the system.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Mackie, David Sean
- Date: 2007 , 2007-03-29
- Subjects: Bluetooth technology , Communication -- Technological innovations , Communication -- Network analysis , TCP/IP (Computer network protocol) , Computer networks , Computer network protocols , Wireless communication systems
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4637 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006551 , Bluetooth technology , Communication -- Technological innovations , Communication -- Network analysis , TCP/IP (Computer network protocol) , Computer networks , Computer network protocols , Wireless communication systems
- Description: This thesis presents an investigation of how to extend the reach of a Bluetooth personal area network by introducing the concept of Bluetooth Hotspots. Currently two Bluetooth devices cannot communicate with each other unless they are within radio range, since Bluetooth is designed as a cable-replacement technology for wireless communications over short ranges. An investigation was done into the feasibility of creating Bluetooth hotspots that allow distant Bluetooth devices to communicate with each other by transporting their communications between these hotspots via an alternative network infrastructure such as an IP network. Two approaches were investigated, masquerading of remote devices by the local hotspot to allow seamless communications and proxying services on remote devices by providing them on a local hotspot using a distributed service discovery database. The latter approach was used to develop applications capable of transporting Bluetooth’s RFCOMM and L2CAP protocols. Quantitative tests were performed to establish the throughput performance and latency of these transport applications. Furthermore, a number of selected Bluetooth services were tested which lead us to conclude that most data-based protocols can be transported by the system.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
A critical analysis of employment equity measures in South Africa
- Authors: Laher, Ismail
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: South Africa. Employment Equity Act, 1998 , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa , Discrimination in employment -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Affirmative action programs -- Law and legislation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: vital:3680 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003195 , South Africa. Employment Equity Act, 1998 , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa , Discrimination in employment -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Affirmative action programs -- Law and legislation -- South Africa
- Description: This thesis analyses the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 and its application in labour law in South Africa. After an initial examination of the general concepts with regards to employment equity and current international conventions regarding employment equity, the study will move on to examine employment equity as it stands in the law today. In examining the current law regarding employment equity, a brief historical background will be offered in order to show the legacy of apartheid: the immense disparity between the different categories of South African people in the modern era. By using this background and analysing the relevant provisions of the Constitution, it will be argued that there is a very real need for employment equity measures to bring about a true sense of equality in South Africa and that such measures are fully endorsed by the Constitution. After it has been established that affirmative action is an important tool in the creation of an equal South Africa, the measures put in place to help create this equal South Africa will be critically analysed. This critical analysis will point out certain weaknesses in the current affirmative action system. Following this critical analysis of the South African employment equity law, the employment equity systems used in Brazil, Canada and Malaysia will be examined in detail. The purpose of this analysis will be to find the strengths and weaknesses and successes and failures of these foreign systems. This will be done in order to highlight those areas of the foreign systems that can be implemented into South African law in order to make the South African employment equity system stronger. The weaknesses of those systems will also be highlighted in order to learn valuable lessons from other system’s failures so that South Africa does not make the same mistakes. The final part of this thesis will be in depth discussions and the proposal of solutions to the weaknesses of the South African employment equity system that have been highlighted throughout the thesis. These proposals will be put forward in order to ensure the most efficient and effective employment equity system in South Africa. There will also be a reassessment of the most valuable lessons learned from the foreign systems that would be easily implemented into or avoided by the South African system in order to ensure an effective employment equity system. The purpose, therefore, of this thesis is to critically analyse employment equity in South Africa. A further purpose will be to propose certain amendments and changes to the current system to ensure the Employment Equity Act is reflective of the needs of the people South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Laher, Ismail
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: South Africa. Employment Equity Act, 1998 , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa , Discrimination in employment -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Affirmative action programs -- Law and legislation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: vital:3680 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003195 , South Africa. Employment Equity Act, 1998 , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa , Discrimination in employment -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Affirmative action programs -- Law and legislation -- South Africa
- Description: This thesis analyses the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 and its application in labour law in South Africa. After an initial examination of the general concepts with regards to employment equity and current international conventions regarding employment equity, the study will move on to examine employment equity as it stands in the law today. In examining the current law regarding employment equity, a brief historical background will be offered in order to show the legacy of apartheid: the immense disparity between the different categories of South African people in the modern era. By using this background and analysing the relevant provisions of the Constitution, it will be argued that there is a very real need for employment equity measures to bring about a true sense of equality in South Africa and that such measures are fully endorsed by the Constitution. After it has been established that affirmative action is an important tool in the creation of an equal South Africa, the measures put in place to help create this equal South Africa will be critically analysed. This critical analysis will point out certain weaknesses in the current affirmative action system. Following this critical analysis of the South African employment equity law, the employment equity systems used in Brazil, Canada and Malaysia will be examined in detail. The purpose of this analysis will be to find the strengths and weaknesses and successes and failures of these foreign systems. This will be done in order to highlight those areas of the foreign systems that can be implemented into South African law in order to make the South African employment equity system stronger. The weaknesses of those systems will also be highlighted in order to learn valuable lessons from other system’s failures so that South Africa does not make the same mistakes. The final part of this thesis will be in depth discussions and the proposal of solutions to the weaknesses of the South African employment equity system that have been highlighted throughout the thesis. These proposals will be put forward in order to ensure the most efficient and effective employment equity system in South Africa. There will also be a reassessment of the most valuable lessons learned from the foreign systems that would be easily implemented into or avoided by the South African system in order to ensure an effective employment equity system. The purpose, therefore, of this thesis is to critically analyse employment equity in South Africa. A further purpose will be to propose certain amendments and changes to the current system to ensure the Employment Equity Act is reflective of the needs of the people South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
"Freelance mystic": individuation, mythopoeia and metafiction in the early fiction of Russell Hoban
- Authors: Rumbold, Matthew Ivan
- Date: 2007 , 2013-06-26
- Subjects: Hoban, Russell -- Criticism and interpretation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2257 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004455
- Description: This thesis is an exploration of three interrelated modes - the psychological, the religious or mythopoeic, and the metafictional - in the early novels of Russell Hoban. It investigates the relationship between Hoban's religious vision and his literary style, through the lens of his 'fictional philosophy' as it is presented in his essay collection The Moment under the Moment. In Chapter One, Kleinzeit is analysed to illustrate Hoban's portrayal of a contemporary crisis of meaning. It includes an introduction to the pattern of individuation and an exposition of Hoban's unique notion of heroism as embodied in Kleinzeit's journey of self-discovery. Hoban's mythopoeic impulse is elucidated with particular reference to his use of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth. Finally, in an attempt to demonstrate Hoban's ideas on the relationship between language and reality, various metafictional techniques are examined, especially in relation to the theme of transcendence. In Chapter Two, the individuation theme in The Medusa Frequenry is considered as a work of mourning, portraying Herman Orfrs movement towards reconciliation and creative renewal. Following Paul Ricoeur, the Orpheus and Eurydice myth is seen as a myth of fault, embodying a primal transgression, and a source of the creative arts. The metafictional style is examined, especially the narrative mode, in order to show how Hoban dissolves the everyday world of reality into a fantastic realm of myth. Chapter Three focuses on the individuation pattern as initiation in Riddley Walker, charting the hero's growth into adulthood. Various myths in the text are analysed to show how they portray human development and the nuclear catastrophe as a mythic Fall. The chapter argues that through Riddley's quest Hoban evokes a redemptive and regenerative fertility myth. The unique literary style of the novel, including the characteristics of 'Riddleyspeak' and the complexity of the process of interpretation is studied. In Chapter Four, which deals with Pilgermann, the final phase of individuation - preparation for death - is discussed. Hoban's religious vision is dissected in relation to his mystical impulse as exemplified in the construction of the Hidden Lion pattern. Hoban's notion of God is investigated in relation to the philosophical problem of evil and suffering. Finally, Pilger mann is shown to be Hoban's mOSt experimental literary novel as it activates his recurring meta fictional techniques, investigations into narrative, and the relationship between language and the sacred. This thesis concludes that Hoban's fiction is best understood holistically with both his religious and literary concerns inextricably entwined. Throughout his novels Hoban explores the human condition in modernity affirming the paradoxical, dialectical and mysterious nature of being. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Rumbold, Matthew Ivan
- Date: 2007 , 2013-06-26
- Subjects: Hoban, Russell -- Criticism and interpretation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2257 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004455
- Description: This thesis is an exploration of three interrelated modes - the psychological, the religious or mythopoeic, and the metafictional - in the early novels of Russell Hoban. It investigates the relationship between Hoban's religious vision and his literary style, through the lens of his 'fictional philosophy' as it is presented in his essay collection The Moment under the Moment. In Chapter One, Kleinzeit is analysed to illustrate Hoban's portrayal of a contemporary crisis of meaning. It includes an introduction to the pattern of individuation and an exposition of Hoban's unique notion of heroism as embodied in Kleinzeit's journey of self-discovery. Hoban's mythopoeic impulse is elucidated with particular reference to his use of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth. Finally, in an attempt to demonstrate Hoban's ideas on the relationship between language and reality, various metafictional techniques are examined, especially in relation to the theme of transcendence. In Chapter Two, the individuation theme in The Medusa Frequenry is considered as a work of mourning, portraying Herman Orfrs movement towards reconciliation and creative renewal. Following Paul Ricoeur, the Orpheus and Eurydice myth is seen as a myth of fault, embodying a primal transgression, and a source of the creative arts. The metafictional style is examined, especially the narrative mode, in order to show how Hoban dissolves the everyday world of reality into a fantastic realm of myth. Chapter Three focuses on the individuation pattern as initiation in Riddley Walker, charting the hero's growth into adulthood. Various myths in the text are analysed to show how they portray human development and the nuclear catastrophe as a mythic Fall. The chapter argues that through Riddley's quest Hoban evokes a redemptive and regenerative fertility myth. The unique literary style of the novel, including the characteristics of 'Riddleyspeak' and the complexity of the process of interpretation is studied. In Chapter Four, which deals with Pilgermann, the final phase of individuation - preparation for death - is discussed. Hoban's religious vision is dissected in relation to his mystical impulse as exemplified in the construction of the Hidden Lion pattern. Hoban's notion of God is investigated in relation to the philosophical problem of evil and suffering. Finally, Pilger mann is shown to be Hoban's mOSt experimental literary novel as it activates his recurring meta fictional techniques, investigations into narrative, and the relationship between language and the sacred. This thesis concludes that Hoban's fiction is best understood holistically with both his religious and literary concerns inextricably entwined. Throughout his novels Hoban explores the human condition in modernity affirming the paradoxical, dialectical and mysterious nature of being. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Preface to Rhodes University Research Report, 2007
- Authors: Badat, Saleem
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Rhodes University
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: vital:7654 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015782
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Badat, Saleem
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Rhodes University
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: vital:7654 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015782
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Women living with HIV/AIDS: a phenomenological intergenerational interpretation of their experiences
- Chisaka, Janet Kaemba Chishimba
- Authors: Chisaka, Janet Kaemba Chishimba
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: AIDS (Disease) in women -- South Africa -- Case studies HIV positive women -- South Africa -- Case studies Poor women -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3307 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003095
- Description: This study deals with the impact of HIV/AIDS on women living in chronic poverty. The question arises: Do we focus on their HIV/AIDS stories only or do we include their other lived experiences? This phenomenological study, on two sets of three generations of women infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and living in poverty, is an attempt at understanding the way the women experience their lifeworlds, not only their HIV/AIDS stories. One set includes a grandmother, her daughter who is living with full-blown AIDS, and her granddaughter, while the other includes a grandmother, her daughter and her granddaughter infected with HIV. The initial focus of the study was on the women’s HIV/AIDS narratives. However as the study progressed, especially during the interviews, it became apparent that the women’s generational poverty or chronic poverty was of greater concern to them than the HIV/AIDS that they were experiencing. Of the six participants, only one woman centred her life story on HIV/AIDS. This finding echoes other studies on HIV/AIDS among poor women: that chronic poverty is more threatening to the women than the risk or reality of AIDS. As a phenomenological researcher my aim was to focus on the participants’ own interpretations of the studied phenomenon. However, this was inadequate in accounting for the role that social structures play in shaping and informing the women’s subjective consciousness and experience. For this reason, I used feminist ideas to understand and interpret the women’s patriarchal experiences.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Women living with HIV/AIDS: a phenomenological intergenerational interpretation of their experiences
- Authors: Chisaka, Janet Kaemba Chishimba
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: AIDS (Disease) in women -- South Africa -- Case studies HIV positive women -- South Africa -- Case studies Poor women -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3307 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003095
- Description: This study deals with the impact of HIV/AIDS on women living in chronic poverty. The question arises: Do we focus on their HIV/AIDS stories only or do we include their other lived experiences? This phenomenological study, on two sets of three generations of women infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and living in poverty, is an attempt at understanding the way the women experience their lifeworlds, not only their HIV/AIDS stories. One set includes a grandmother, her daughter who is living with full-blown AIDS, and her granddaughter, while the other includes a grandmother, her daughter and her granddaughter infected with HIV. The initial focus of the study was on the women’s HIV/AIDS narratives. However as the study progressed, especially during the interviews, it became apparent that the women’s generational poverty or chronic poverty was of greater concern to them than the HIV/AIDS that they were experiencing. Of the six participants, only one woman centred her life story on HIV/AIDS. This finding echoes other studies on HIV/AIDS among poor women: that chronic poverty is more threatening to the women than the risk or reality of AIDS. As a phenomenological researcher my aim was to focus on the participants’ own interpretations of the studied phenomenon. However, this was inadequate in accounting for the role that social structures play in shaping and informing the women’s subjective consciousness and experience. For this reason, I used feminist ideas to understand and interpret the women’s patriarchal experiences.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Field and laboratory analyses of manual tasks in the South African automotive industry
- Authors: James, Jonathan Peter
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa -- Safety measures , Human engineering -- South Africa , Automobile industry workers -- South Africa -- Health risk assessment , Industrial safety -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:5121 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005199 , Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa -- Safety measures , Human engineering -- South Africa , Automobile industry workers -- South Africa -- Health risk assessment , Industrial safety -- South Africa
- Description: The present study adopted a “field-laboratory-field” approach in the assessment of the efficacy of ergonomics interventions specific to two selected tasks evaluated in a South African automotive industry. Initial field testing was conducted in an Eastern Cape (South Africa) automotive plant where high risk areas were identified during walkthrough ergonomics surveys in conjunction with interaction with operators. Temporal factors and working postures of 12 industrial workers were recorded and observed, while physiological and perceptual responses were assessed. Two priority areas were focused upon for analysis, namely the Paintshop and Bodyshop with the former identified as being the more taxing of the two tasks. Responses of 30 students participating in rigourously controlled laboratory simulations were subsequently collected while completing the two tasks, namely the Paintshop Trolley Transfer (PTT) and Car Door Carriage (CDC) for participants. Working postures, kinematic, physiological and perceptual responses were assessed pre- and post-intervention. Following the laboratory experimentation a basic re-evaluation was conducted at the plant to assess whether the proposed changes had a positive effect on working postures, physiological and perceptual responses. The results of the preliminary field investigation revealed a prevalence of awkward working postures and excessive manual work in both areas. Laboratory experimentation revealed a notable reduction in task demands pre- versus post-intervention. The PTT mean lean angle for two-handed pre-intervention pulling observations of 23.7° (±3.51) was reduced to 13.9° (±2.21) post-intervention. Low back disorder (LBD) risk was reduced during the two-handed pull intervention (from 36.8% ±8.03 to 21.7% ±5.31). A significant decrement in heart rate responses from 103 bt.min-1 (±11.62) to 93 bt.min[superscript -1] (±11.77) was recorded during the two-handed symmetrical pushing intervention. The electromyography (EMG) responses for one-handed pushing and pulling pre-intervention showed the highest levels of muscular activity in the right medial deltoid due to an awkward and asymmetrical posture. CDC responses demonstrated that minor changes in the storage height of the door resulted in a significant reduction in sagittal flexion from 28.0° (±4.78) to 20.7° (±5.65). Predictions of average probability of LBD risk were significantly reduced from 50.3% (±5.91) to 39.8% (±5.10) for post-intervention car door lifting. In addition, the greatest reduction in EMG activity as a %MVC was achieved during sub-task ii (reduced from 35.1 to 13.7% and 30.5 to 13.9% for left and right erector spinae respectively) which was associated with the introduction of the transfer trolley for the door transfer phase of the CDC. Re-evaluation in the automotive plant revealed that the most notable change has been the implementation of automated ride on trolleys in the Paintshop. The Bodyshop area has also been modified to allow more effective job rotation and the step into the storage bin has been reduced via a “low-cost” stepping platform. Mean heart rate recordings were reduced from 94 (±9.77) bt.min[superscript -1] to 81 (±3.72) bt.min[superscript -1] in the Paintshop. Overall the results demonstrate the effect of “low-cost” interventions in reducing the physical stresses placed on workers in the automotive industry where much of the work is still done manually.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: James, Jonathan Peter
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa -- Safety measures , Human engineering -- South Africa , Automobile industry workers -- South Africa -- Health risk assessment , Industrial safety -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:5121 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005199 , Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa -- Safety measures , Human engineering -- South Africa , Automobile industry workers -- South Africa -- Health risk assessment , Industrial safety -- South Africa
- Description: The present study adopted a “field-laboratory-field” approach in the assessment of the efficacy of ergonomics interventions specific to two selected tasks evaluated in a South African automotive industry. Initial field testing was conducted in an Eastern Cape (South Africa) automotive plant where high risk areas were identified during walkthrough ergonomics surveys in conjunction with interaction with operators. Temporal factors and working postures of 12 industrial workers were recorded and observed, while physiological and perceptual responses were assessed. Two priority areas were focused upon for analysis, namely the Paintshop and Bodyshop with the former identified as being the more taxing of the two tasks. Responses of 30 students participating in rigourously controlled laboratory simulations were subsequently collected while completing the two tasks, namely the Paintshop Trolley Transfer (PTT) and Car Door Carriage (CDC) for participants. Working postures, kinematic, physiological and perceptual responses were assessed pre- and post-intervention. Following the laboratory experimentation a basic re-evaluation was conducted at the plant to assess whether the proposed changes had a positive effect on working postures, physiological and perceptual responses. The results of the preliminary field investigation revealed a prevalence of awkward working postures and excessive manual work in both areas. Laboratory experimentation revealed a notable reduction in task demands pre- versus post-intervention. The PTT mean lean angle for two-handed pre-intervention pulling observations of 23.7° (±3.51) was reduced to 13.9° (±2.21) post-intervention. Low back disorder (LBD) risk was reduced during the two-handed pull intervention (from 36.8% ±8.03 to 21.7% ±5.31). A significant decrement in heart rate responses from 103 bt.min-1 (±11.62) to 93 bt.min[superscript -1] (±11.77) was recorded during the two-handed symmetrical pushing intervention. The electromyography (EMG) responses for one-handed pushing and pulling pre-intervention showed the highest levels of muscular activity in the right medial deltoid due to an awkward and asymmetrical posture. CDC responses demonstrated that minor changes in the storage height of the door resulted in a significant reduction in sagittal flexion from 28.0° (±4.78) to 20.7° (±5.65). Predictions of average probability of LBD risk were significantly reduced from 50.3% (±5.91) to 39.8% (±5.10) for post-intervention car door lifting. In addition, the greatest reduction in EMG activity as a %MVC was achieved during sub-task ii (reduced from 35.1 to 13.7% and 30.5 to 13.9% for left and right erector spinae respectively) which was associated with the introduction of the transfer trolley for the door transfer phase of the CDC. Re-evaluation in the automotive plant revealed that the most notable change has been the implementation of automated ride on trolleys in the Paintshop. The Bodyshop area has also been modified to allow more effective job rotation and the step into the storage bin has been reduced via a “low-cost” stepping platform. Mean heart rate recordings were reduced from 94 (±9.77) bt.min[superscript -1] to 81 (±3.72) bt.min[superscript -1] in the Paintshop. Overall the results demonstrate the effect of “low-cost” interventions in reducing the physical stresses placed on workers in the automotive industry where much of the work is still done manually.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
The representation of South African women politicians in the Sunday Times during the 2004 presidential and general elections
- Authors: Katembo, Tina Kabunda
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Sunday Times (Johannesburg, South Africa) Women politicians -- South Africa Women in mass media Mass media -- Political aspects -- South Africa Elections -- South Africa South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3445 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002899
- Description: This study analysed the representation of South African women politicians in the Sunday Times’ election news during the 2004 Presidential and general elections, by drawing on perspectives from cultural studies, the constructionist approach to representation and the sociology of news production. Using content analysis and critical discourse analysis, the study found that very few women politicians were used as news actors/sources in the Sunday Times, and that when women politicians were figured, the paper tended to present them in ways that serve to sustain women’s subordinate status in society. Using content analysis, the study analysed 106 news items published between January 1, 2004 and April 30, 2004, and found that of all the 588 identifiable news actors/sources counted, 135 were women and 453 were men. Of these, only 7.67% (or 26) were women politicians and 92.33% (or 313) were men politicians. On average however, the amount of words allocated to a woman politician was more than that allocated to a man politician. The discourse analysis also revealed how the Sunday Times managed to reproduce textually the hegemonic power relations between women and men, by constructing different subject positions for women politicians and men politicians, which generally tended to be negative and positive respectively. In the representation of women politicians, the study revealed patterns that tended to ascribe them negative personality traits, accentuate their passivity and dependency on men, and construct them as incompetent political leaders. This study’s conclusions pose a challenge to the role of the national newspaper in the transformation of gender relations and the promotion of equal access to political and decision-making positions, and to the news media. News discourse, as a social practice, both determines and is determined by the social structure in which it is produced. By systematically reproducing subordinate subject positions for women in the news, the Sunday Times helps to further women’s subordinate status in society. Particularly, as part of the broader social cultural context that is embedded in patriarchal and gender ideologies, the Sunday Times does not merely reflect but actively and effectively constructs the reality it claims to be representing.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Katembo, Tina Kabunda
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Sunday Times (Johannesburg, South Africa) Women politicians -- South Africa Women in mass media Mass media -- Political aspects -- South Africa Elections -- South Africa South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1994-
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3445 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002899
- Description: This study analysed the representation of South African women politicians in the Sunday Times’ election news during the 2004 Presidential and general elections, by drawing on perspectives from cultural studies, the constructionist approach to representation and the sociology of news production. Using content analysis and critical discourse analysis, the study found that very few women politicians were used as news actors/sources in the Sunday Times, and that when women politicians were figured, the paper tended to present them in ways that serve to sustain women’s subordinate status in society. Using content analysis, the study analysed 106 news items published between January 1, 2004 and April 30, 2004, and found that of all the 588 identifiable news actors/sources counted, 135 were women and 453 were men. Of these, only 7.67% (or 26) were women politicians and 92.33% (or 313) were men politicians. On average however, the amount of words allocated to a woman politician was more than that allocated to a man politician. The discourse analysis also revealed how the Sunday Times managed to reproduce textually the hegemonic power relations between women and men, by constructing different subject positions for women politicians and men politicians, which generally tended to be negative and positive respectively. In the representation of women politicians, the study revealed patterns that tended to ascribe them negative personality traits, accentuate their passivity and dependency on men, and construct them as incompetent political leaders. This study’s conclusions pose a challenge to the role of the national newspaper in the transformation of gender relations and the promotion of equal access to political and decision-making positions, and to the news media. News discourse, as a social practice, both determines and is determined by the social structure in which it is produced. By systematically reproducing subordinate subject positions for women in the news, the Sunday Times helps to further women’s subordinate status in society. Particularly, as part of the broader social cultural context that is embedded in patriarchal and gender ideologies, the Sunday Times does not merely reflect but actively and effectively constructs the reality it claims to be representing.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
The educationally-related challenges faced by teenage mothers on returning to school: a Namibian case study
- Authors: Shaningwa, Lilia Mariro
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Teenage mothers -- Namibia -- Case studies Teenagers -- Education -- Namibia -- Case studies Education, Secondary -- Namibia -- Case studies Teenage pregnancy -- Namibia -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1506 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003388
- Description: The study aimed to investigate the educationally-related challenges faced by teenage mothers in coming back to school in two senior schools in the Kavango Education Region. This small-scale study focused on the challenges that influence or affect the academic progress and development of these learners. The study looked at how teenage pregnancy is perceived as a social problem in many countries as well as in Namibia and examined its impact on the educational aspirations of the young mothers. Namibia has a policy in place to cater for the continued education of learners returning to school after the birth of their babies. This policy was analysed and its implementation in the selected schools formed part of the study, The findings revealed that the educational challenges faced by these young women range from social exclusion to the need to manage the dual responsibilities of motherhood and study. The way in which the learners who participated in this study are viewed by their peers and their teachers was found to be influenced by the cultural connotations ascribed to women as soon as they become mothers, a factor that adds to the challenges these learners face when returning to schools. Cultural connotations which perceived a mother as an adult in the society was attached to the change of the behaviours and attitudes of school young mothers. The findings also showed that while these learners tended to be withdrawn in class and were generally unable to participate in extra-mural activities, they none the less were able to compete with their peers in terms of their academic performance. The study revealed that there is no shared understanding of the policy among the participants and that it is not effectively implemented in the schools, nor is it uniformly applied.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Shaningwa, Lilia Mariro
- Date: 2007
- Subjects: Teenage mothers -- Namibia -- Case studies Teenagers -- Education -- Namibia -- Case studies Education, Secondary -- Namibia -- Case studies Teenage pregnancy -- Namibia -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1506 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003388
- Description: The study aimed to investigate the educationally-related challenges faced by teenage mothers in coming back to school in two senior schools in the Kavango Education Region. This small-scale study focused on the challenges that influence or affect the academic progress and development of these learners. The study looked at how teenage pregnancy is perceived as a social problem in many countries as well as in Namibia and examined its impact on the educational aspirations of the young mothers. Namibia has a policy in place to cater for the continued education of learners returning to school after the birth of their babies. This policy was analysed and its implementation in the selected schools formed part of the study, The findings revealed that the educational challenges faced by these young women range from social exclusion to the need to manage the dual responsibilities of motherhood and study. The way in which the learners who participated in this study are viewed by their peers and their teachers was found to be influenced by the cultural connotations ascribed to women as soon as they become mothers, a factor that adds to the challenges these learners face when returning to schools. Cultural connotations which perceived a mother as an adult in the society was attached to the change of the behaviours and attitudes of school young mothers. The findings also showed that while these learners tended to be withdrawn in class and were generally unable to participate in extra-mural activities, they none the less were able to compete with their peers in terms of their academic performance. The study revealed that there is no shared understanding of the policy among the participants and that it is not effectively implemented in the schools, nor is it uniformly applied.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007