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Fruits of the city: The nature, nurture and future of urban foraging

  • Authors: Sardeshpande, Mallika , Shackleton, Charlie M
  • Date: 2023
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/402259 , vital:69835 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10428"
  • Description: Urban foraging is a global informal phenomenon which has been investigated in the Global North more than oth-er parts of the world. Characterising the nature of urban foraging in the Global South is imperative given the rapid urbanisation and sustainable development priorities in the region. In this study, we interviewed 80 urban forag-ers in four cities in the eastern coastal region of South Af-rica, with an aim to understand the nature of urban forag-ing in a developing nation context. We asked foragers about their initiation to and motivations for foraging, their logistics, yields and associated activities, descriptions of their foraging grounds, and if and how they had changed, and what they envisage as an ideal future for foraging.
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  • Date Issued: 2023

Governing pregnancy in the Global South: the case of post-apartheid South Africa

  • Authors: du Plessis, Ulandi , Macleod, Catriona I
  • Date: 2023
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441212 , vital:73867 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13698575.2023.2249943"
  • Description: Women who sell sex (WSS) are vulnerable to violence. We present a scoping review of the last decade of research on the prevalence and incidence of, factors associated with, and services regarding violence against WSS in Eastern and Southern African (ESA). A systematic search of various databases resulted in 20 papers being reviewed. Inclusion criteria, applied by the first two authors, were as follows: empirical papers, key research problem is violence against WSS, and conducted in ESA countries. The lifetime prevalence of violence revealed in the studies ranged from 21% to 82%. A pattern of generalized violence against WSS from paying clients, male partners, strangers, family members, friends/acquaintances, and the authorities emerged. Factors associated with violence included the context within which the sex work occurs, alcohol use, type of sex exchange interactions, and personal factors (low education, low income, marriage, youth, high client volume, time in sex work, forced sexual debut, and internalized sex work stigma). WSS seldom access services after violence. Evaluations of two programs, a woman-focused HIV intervention, and the Diagonal Interventions to Fast-Forward Reproductive Health project, showed improvements in gender-based violence services. Findings suggest that targeted programmes should be paired with improving general health services and focus on promoting collective agency among WSS.
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  • Date Issued: 2023

Historical diversification of Pseudonympha Wallengren, 1857 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae).

  • Authors: van Steenderen, Clarke J M , Pringle, Ernest L , Villet, Martin H
  • Date: 2023
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/442182 , vital:73965 , https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2023.2257373
  • Description: The butterfly genus Pseudonympha and several related genera are endemic to southern Africa. Although many of the species are montane, some inhabit the arid interior of South Africa, offering an opportunity to study the palaeobiogeography of this biome. Morphological data (for all species of Pseudonympha and allied African and Asian genera) and molecular data (WG and COI genes for nine of the 15 species of Pseudonympha and all of the southern African endemic genera of Ypthimina) were compiled. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that Pseudonympha apparently originated in the Cape Fold Mountains about 15 Mya ago and spread steadily eastwards and northwards along the Great Escarpment during the aridification of the region, perhaps assisted by orogeny in the east and oceanic cooling in the west. Aridification cycles seem to have intermittently isolated some early lineages in elevated habitats in the interior, so that those lineages show lower speciation rates (or perhaps higher extinction rates) than those in the east. Four species delineation techniques indicated that some species are taxonomically oversplit. Based on genetic polyphyly and morphological similarity, we propose that the status of P. swanepoeli be reduced to that of a subspecies of P. varii, such that all the north-eastern populations from Harrismith to Tzaneen fall under P. varii swanepoeli van Son stat. n., and all the southern populations fall under P. varii varii van Son stat. n. Ultimately, the diversification of both of these lineages seems tied to their host plants’ response to aridification brought on by continental drift and orogeny. Sympatric organisms (eg cicadas) with biologies focused around different resources (eg savanna trees) show other patterns of diversification. The phylogenetic analysis of the subtribe Ypthimina also supports the monophyly of Paternympha, paraphyly of Ypthima, recognition of Thymipa Moore stat. rev. as a phylogenetic independent genus, and new relationships for Strabena.
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  • Date Issued: 2023

History matters: Societal acceptance of deep-sea mining and incipient conflicts in Papua New Guinea

  • Authors: van Putten, Ingrid , Aswani, Shankar , Boonstra, W.J , De la Cruz-Modino, R , Das, Jewel , Glaser, Marion , Heck, Nadine , Narayan, Siddharth , Paytan, Adina , Selim, Samiya , Vave, Ron
  • Date: 2023
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/391453 , vital:68653 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40152-023-00318-0"
  • Description: New marine industries that develop and grow in response to the changing demand for their products have the potential to exert pressure on fragile marine environments. These emerging industries can benefit local communities but equally can have negative environmental and socio-cultural impacts. The development of new and emerging industries, like deep seabed mining (DSM), requires the acceptance and involvement of local communities. Yet, the history of marine exploitation is imbued with conflicts between industries and local communities. This paper presents a DSM case study in Papua New Guinea (PNG) to stimulate debate around the potential for conflict in the pursuit of resource extraction from the deep sea and the social and environmental harm that these extractions can cause. We do so by first presenting a timeline of local and extra-local events and enabling conditions that form the development background for the DSM Solwara 1 project in PNG. We then undertake a media narrative analysis to consider the contribution of aspects of social acceptability to this highly complex and multi-scale conflict. We find that the lack of (or a decrease in) social acceptability contributed to the conflict situation and ultimately the demise of the Solwara 1 project. Extra-locally, the initial development was positively framed around solutions for decarbonisation using new technology. Over time, actions by international NGOs, financial issues related to foreign companies, and asymmetry in the power balance between the Pacific Island nation and global businesses played a role in growing negative perceptions of acceptability. Historical experiences with prior environmental mining disasters, together with sea tenure governance challenges, and a lack of community and stakeholder acceptance also contributed to the demise of the project. Untangling and debating these complex interactions provides context and reasons for the tension between the lack of societal acceptance at a local scale and the perceived need for DSM products in the global North for innovative technologies and decarbonising societies. Better understanding these interactions and tensions can help emerging industries navigate a future blue economy.
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  • Date Issued: 2023

Host-specificity testing of the leaf-feeding flea beetle, Phenrica guerini, a biological control agent for the invasive alien cactus, Pereskia aculeata

  • Authors: Dixon, Elizabeth , Paterson, Iain D , Muskett, Phillippa C , McConnachie, Andrew
  • Date: 2023
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/417687 , vital:71478 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09583157.2023.2214342"
  • Description: Pereskia aculeata Miller (Cactaceae) is an environmentally damaging invasive alien plant in South Africa and Australia. The flea-beetle, Phenrica guerini Bechyné (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), has been used in South Africa as a biological control agent against the plant for more than 30 years but updated host-specificity testing was required to determine its suitability as an agent in Australia. No-choice larval survival tests were conducted on 26 test plant species from 11 families, with survival to the adult stage only being recorded on the target weed, P. aculeata. No-choice oviposition testing with adult P. guerini was conducted on six test plant species. No adult feeding was recorded on any test plants and significantly more eggs were oviposited on P. aculeata (158.8 SE ± 21.4) than on Talinum caffrum (5.2 SE ± 5.2), which was the only test plant on which they oviposited. The adults survived on average 27 days longer on P. aculeata than on any test plant species. In a multiple-choice trial that included all three species that supported any larval feeding as well as P. aculeata, oviposition and feeding was only recorded on target weed. Phenrica guerini is suitably host specific for consideration in Australia as a biological control agent against P. aculeata.
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  • Date Issued: 2023

Impact of Access and Benefit Sharing implementation on biological control genetic resources

  • Authors: Mason, Peter G , Barratt, Barbara I P , Mc Kay, Fernando , Klapwijk, Johannette N , Silvestri, Luciano C , Hill, Martin P , Hinz, Hariet L , Sheppard, Andy , Brodeur, Jacques , Vitorino, Marcello Diniz , Weyl, Philip S R , Hoelmer, Kim A
  • Date: 2023
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/418013 , vital:71501 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-023-10176-8"
  • Description: The third objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of genetic resources was further developed when the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing came into effect in 2014. Interpretation of how this agreement is being implemented is wide-ranging and there are implications for biological control. A survey of biological control workers indicated that while some countries have facilitated access to biological control genetic resources, requirements in other countries have impeded biological control implementation. There was consensus that benefits to provider countries should be in the form of supporting local research communities. There was also agreement that the free use and exchange of biological control genetic resources has provided benefits to the global community, including to both providers and recipients of the agents. It is recommended that consideration of the free use and exchange principal should be a key element of Access and Benefit Sharing measures for the future.
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  • Date Issued: 2023

In silico substrate-binding profiling for SARS-CoV-2 Main protease (Mpro) using Hexapeptide substrates

  • Authors: Zabo, Sophakama , Lobb, Kevin A
  • Date: 2023
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/452711 , vital:75164 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.3390/v15071480"
  • Description: The SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) is essential for the life cycle of the COVID-19 virus. It cleaves the two polyproteins at 11 positions to generate mature proteins for virion formation. The cleavage site on these polyproteins is known to be Leu-Gln↓(Ser/Ala/Gly). A range of hexapeptides that follow the known sequence for recognition and cleavage was constructed using RDKit libraries and complexed with the crystal structure of Mpro (PDB ID 6XHM) through extensive molecular docking calculations. A subset of 131 of these complexes underwent 20 ns molecular dynamics simulations. The analyses of the trajectories from molecular dynamics included principal component analysis (PCA), and a method to compare PCA plots from separate trajectories was developed in terms of encoding PCA progression during the simulations. The hexapeptides formed stable complexes as expected, with reproducible molecular docking of the substrates given the extensiveness of the procedure. Only Lys-Leu-Gln*** (KLQ***) sequence complexes were studied for molecular dynamics. In this subset of complexes, the PCA analysis identified four classifications of protein motions across these sequences. KLQ*** complexes illustrated the effect of changes in substrate on the active site, with implications for understanding the substrate recognition of Mpro and informing the development of small molecule inhibitors.
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  • Date Issued: 2023

Inclusion complexation and liposomal encapsulation of an isoniazid hydrazone derivative in cyclodextrin for pH-dependent controlled release

  • Authors: Safari, Justin B , Mona, Lamine B , Sekaleli, Bafokeng T , Avudi, Bénite K , Isamura, Bienfait K , Mukubwa, Grady K , Salami, Sodeeq A , Mbinze, Jérémie K , Lobb, Kevin A , Krause, Rui W M , Nkanga, Christian I
  • Date: 2023
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/452727 , vital:75166 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jddst.2023.104302"
  • Description: Tuberculosis, a predominantly pulmonary pathology, is currently the deadliest infection worldwide. Its treatment is based on combination therapy involving selected antimicrobials including Isoniazid. However, physicochemical properties of isoniazid negatively affect the clinical performance of current tuberculosis regimens, causing drug resistance development and increasing mortality rates. Liposomal encapsulation improves antituberculosis drug delivery; however, nano-formulation of isoniazid remains challenging due to its small molecular size and high hydrophilicity. Therefore, this study aimed to derivatize isoniazid and formulate a controlled delivery system using the concept of drug-in-cyclodextrins-in-liposomes to enhance drug biopharmaceutical properties. A prodrug of isoniazid was synthesized and screened for its ability to form stable complexes with α, β, and γ cyclodextrins. A selected inclusion complex with β-cyclodextrin was encapsulated in liposomes and assessed for controlled release of isoniazid. Successful formation of a 1:1 complex was established and characterized, followed by molecular modeling studies to demonstrate strength of the interactions within the complex and predicted complex structure. The inclusion complex was successfully encapsulated in liposomes using the thin film hydration method and the ethanol injection ultrasonic dispersion, with the latter giving the best results. These findings demonstrate the potential.
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  • Date Issued: 2023

Information extraction model from Ge’ez texts

  • Authors: Gebeyehu, Seffi , Wolde, Worke , Shibeshi, Zelalem S
  • Date: 2023
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/429176 , vital:72565 , 10.11591/ijeecs.v30.i2.pp787-795
  • Description: Nowadays, voluminous and unstructured textual data is found on the Internet that could provide varied valuable information for different institutions such as health care, business-related, training, religion, culture, and history, among others. A such alarming growth of unstructured data fosters the need for various methods and techniques to extract valuable information from unstructured data. However, exploring helpful information to satisfy the needs of the stakeholders becomes a problem due to information overload via the internet. This paper, therefore, presents an effective model for extracting named entities from Ge'ez text using deep learning algorithms. A data set with a total of 5,270 sentences were used for training and testing purposes. Two experimental setups, i.e., long short-term memory (LSTM) and bidirectional long short-term memory (Bi-LSTM) were used to make an empirical evaluation with training and a testing split ratio of 80% to 20%, respectively. Experimental results showed that the proposed model could be a practical solution for building information extraction (IE) systems using Bi-LSTM, reaching a training, validation, and testing accuracy as high as 98.59%, 97.96%, and 96.21%, respectively. The performance evaluation results reflect a promising performance of the model compared with resource-rich languages such as English.
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  • Date Issued: 2023

Inhibiting human dipeptidyl peptidase IV using cannabinoids and Leonotis leonurus extracts as a potential therapy for the management of diabetes

  • Authors: Mkabayi, Lithalethu , Viljoen, Zenobia , Lobb, Kevin A , Pletschke, Brett I , Frost, Carminita L
  • Date: 2023
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/452745 , vital:75167 , xlink:href="https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/html/10.1055/s-0043-1773924"
  • Description: Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder that has been shown to affect a growing number of people worldwide. Controlling blood glucose levels is one of the possible strategies to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). It has been established that the inhibition of dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) prolongs the activity of incretin hormones, which serve as key stimulators of insulin secretion and regulation of blood glucose levels. Although several synthetic DPP-IV inhibitors are available, there is still a need for naturally sourced inhibitors that have fewer to no undesirable side effects. In this study, cannabinoids and Leonotis leonurus aqueous extracts were evaluated for their inhibitory effects against recombinant human DPP-IV. Their potential inhibition mechanism was explored using in vitro and in silico approaches. All tested cannabinoids and L. leonurus aqueous extracts showed significant inhibitory activity against DPP-IV. Phytochemical analysis of L. leonurus extract indicated the presence of diterpenoids and alkaloids, which might contribute to the inhibitory activity. In molecular docking studies, among different constituents known in L. leonurus, luteolin and marrubiin showed binding energy of -7.2 kcal/mol and cannabinoids (cannabidiol, cannabigerol, cannabinol and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol) showed binding energies ranging from -6.5 to -8.2 kcal/mol. Molecular dynamics revealed that all tested compounds formed stable complexes with the enzyme during 100 ns simulation, indicating that they are good ligands. This study provided preliminary evidence for the potential application of the selected cannabinoids and L. leonurus in maintaining glucose homeostasis, suggesting that they could be suitable therapeutic candidates for managing T2DM.
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  • Date Issued: 2023

International agreement for the use and exchange of classical biological control genetic resources: a practical proposal

  • Authors: Mason, Peter G , Mc Kay, Fernando , Silvestri, Luciano C , Hill, Martin P , Weyl, Philip S R , Hinz, Hariet L , Brodeur, Jacques , Vitorino, Marcello Diniz , Barratt, Barbara I P
  • Date: 2023
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/418025 , vital:71502 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-023-10177-7"
  • Description: The Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) was implemented to further develop the third objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources. Interpretation of this agreement is wide-ranging and there is concern that if ABS measures are poorly implemented biological control and the resultant public good will be greatly impeded. The ethos of multilateral use and exchange of genetic resources used in classical biological control will be particularly affected. In the spirit of the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources, we propose a simple practical solution in the form of an international agreement on the use and exchange of classical biological control genetic resources.
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  • Date Issued: 2023

Know thy enemy: Investigating genetic contributions from putative parents of invasive Nymphaea mexicana hybrids in South Africa as part of efforts to develop biological control

  • Authors: Reid, Megan K , Paterson, Iain D , Coetzee, Julie A , Gettys, Lyn A , Hill, Martin P
  • Date: 2023
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/423540 , vital:72070 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2023.105291"
  • Description: Hybridisation of alien invasive plants complicates efforts to develop biological control, because variations in the genetic makeup of the target plant can impact the survival of host specific agents that have evolved adaptations specific to the original host. To maximise the likelihood of success in a biological control program, potential agents should therefore be collected from populations in the region of origin that are genetically similar to plants in the invaded range. Molecular markers are useful tools to understand genetic contributions in hybrid populations, especially where morphological differentiation is difficult. Nymphaea mexicana Zuccarini (Nymphaeaceae) is an invasive alien plant in South Africa that is being targeted for biological control, but hybrids with intermediate morphological traits are also present at several sites. In this study, ISSR (inter simple sequence repeats) and ITS (internal transcribed spacer) markers were used to determine which Nymphaea species are likely to be putative parents of these hybrids, and morphological characters were also investigated to determine if genetic and morphological traits matched. Two major hybrid groups were identified, with one group clustering with Nymphaea odorata Aiton and the other clustering with Nymphaea alba L. A third, smaller group clustered with Nymphaea tetragona Georgi, whereas the remaining samples clustered with pure N. mexicana from the native range. Morphological features agreed with deductions drawn from molecular data. These results allow us to focus efforts to find compatible biological control agents and better understand the complicated genetic structure of N. mexicana and Nymphaea hybrids in South Africa.
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  • Date Issued: 2023

Lessons learned from the translation of the Internalised Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) scale into isiXhosa for use with South African Xhosa people with schizophrenia

  • Authors: Matshabane, Olivia P , Appelbaum, Paul S , Faure, Marlyn C , Marshall, Patricia A , Stein, Dan J , de Vries, Jantina , Campbell, Megan M
  • Date: 2023
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/450689 , vital:74974 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1177/13634615231168461"
  • Description: Internalised stigma is highly prevalent among people with mental illness. This is concerning because internalised stigma is often associated with negative consequences affecting individuals’ personal, familial, social, and overall wellbeing, employment opportunities and recovery. Currently, there is no psychometrically validated instrument to measure internalised stigma among Xhosa people in their home language. Our study aimed to translate the Internalised Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) scale into isiXhosa. Following WHO guidelines, the ISMI scale was translated using a five-stage translation design which included (i) forward-translation, (ii) back-translation, (iii) committee approach, (iv) quantitative piloting, and (v) qualitative piloting using cognitive interviews. The ISMI isiXhosa version (ISMI-X) underwent psychometric testing to establish utility, within-scale validity, convergent, divergent, and content validity (assessed using frequency of endorsements and cognitive interviewing) with n = 65 Xhosa people with schizophrenia. The resultant ISMI-X scale demonstrated good psychometric utility, internal consistency for the overall scale (α = .90) and most subscales (α > .70, except the Stigma Resistance subscale where α = .57), convergent validity between the ISMI Discrimination Experiences subscale and the Discrimination and Stigma (DISC) scale's Treated Unfairly subscale (r = .34, p = .03) and divergent validity between the ISMI Stigma Resistance and DISC Treated Unfairly subscales (r = .13, p = .49). But more importantly the study provides valuable insights into strengths and limitations of the present translation design. Specifically, validation methods such as assessing frequency of endorsements of scale items and using cognitive interviewing to establish conceptual clarity and relevance of items may be useful in small piloting sample sizes.
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  • Date Issued: 2023

Local peoples’ knowledge and perceptions of Australian wattle (Acacia) species invasion, ecosystem services and disservices in grassland landscapes, South Africa

  • Authors: Yapi, Thozamile S , Shackleton, Charlie M , Le Maitre, David C , Dziba, Luthando E
  • Date: 2023
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/399791 , vital:69559 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2023.2177495"
  • Description: Many alien tree species were introduced into grassland ecosystems in South Africa by the commercial forestry industry for paper and timber for furniture. Over decades some of these introduced species escaped into neighbouring farms and community land. Adult trees from these alien species now provide other ecosystem services, notably fuelwood. Depending on the spatio-temporal context, many of these species can also negatively affect ecosystem services. We collected interview data from commercial and communal farmers in the upper Umzimvubu catchment in South Africa to compare farmers’ knowledge and perceptions of invasive wattle species invasion and their associated ecosystem services and disservices. Fuelwood and fencing poles were the most common uses of wattle by commercial (83%; 67%) and communal (99%; 49%) farmers. On the other hand, the reduction of grass cover and loss of grazing land were the most commonly mentioned negative impacts of wattles by commercial (83%; 75%) and communal (92%; 80%) farmers. Although both groups recognise the importance of wattles in providing ecosystem services, most communal farmers perceived wattles to have more negative effects than benefits. The findings demonstrate that both farmer groups highly depend on ecosystem services and are affected by disservices of wattles. However, while large-scale commercial households favour the presence of wattles in the landscape, communal households prefer complete removal of the wattles from the landscape. This may be due to lack of locally available alternative options or inability to replace or purchase ecosystem services affected by wattles from other sources or markets like commercial farmers.
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  • Date Issued: 2023

Looking back to move forward: a scoping review of counselling psychology in South Africa

  • Authors: Haine, Phillipa , Young, Charles S , Booysen, Duane D
  • Date: 2023
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/454106 , vital:75310 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00812463221091433"
  • Description: Despite that counselling psychologists represent a substantial group of registered psychologists in South Africa, literature specifically on the sub-speciality within the country is limited. The aim of this scoping review was to provide a comprehensive summary of the literature available on counselling psychology in South Africa and examine the extent to which literature is available from a lifespan or career-stage perspective. Three electronic databases (EBSCOhost, Sabinet®, and PubMed) were searched for articles published between 2000 and 2021. Titles and abstracts were reviewed, and data extracted and synthesised thematically. Of 507 citations identified, 10 met the inclusion criteria. Findings indicate that literature on counselling psychology in South Africa is scarce, subject to methodological limitations, and dominated by a small number of authors conducting multiple analyses on the same sets of data. Furthermore, literature on counselling psychologists at key career stages across the professional lifespan is largely missing from the professional discourse. Emphasis is instead placed on counselling psychology as embedded in the sociopolitical history of South Africa, professional identity, the contemporary status of the profession, professional threats and challenges, and the profession’s future promise. Our review highlights the need for more empirically informed studies making use of different methodologies, involving multiple authors with diverse backgrounds, tracking employment trends, and soliciting first-person accounts of counselling psychologist’s experiences at key career stages. Without doing so, ideas about how best to support and utilise this particular group of practitioners may be misguided, in turn compromising the successful provision of mental health care within the country.
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  • Date Issued: 2023

Love at first bite? Pre-release surveys reveal a novel association between a native weevil and the invasive Nymphaea mexicana Zuccarini (Nymphaeaceae) in South Africa

  • Authors: Reid, Megan K , Hill, Martin P , Coetzee, Julie A
  • Date: 2023
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/416866 , vital:71392 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/ejc-ento_v31_n1_a19"
  • Description: Classical biological control aims to suppress alien invasive plant populations by introducing host-specific natural enemies from the native range. This relies on the assumption that invasive plant populations in the invaded range benefit from the release of natural enemies. Pre-release surveys in the invaded range are a useful way to determine if enemy release applies to a particular invasive alien plant, and to determine what other factors may contribute to the invasion. Similarly, pre-release surveys gather information that can be used to compare invaded sites before and after the release of biological control agents and may also identify whether natural enemies have been accidentally introduced into the country. Pre-release surveys were conducted in South Africa on the invasive Nymphaea mexicana Zuccarini (Nymphaeaceae) to gather such information about this species, for which a biological control programme is being developed. There was lower diversity and abundance of herbivores in the native range compared to South Africa, suggesting that N. mexicana does experience enemy release at most sites in South Africa. This support for the enemy release hypothesis justifies the investment in biological control for its management. However, a native weevil, Bagous longulus Gyllenhal (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), was found feeding and reproducing on N. mexicana at three sites, resulting in damage to the leaves and suggesting that a novel association has formed between these species. Bagous longulus may have potential to be distributed to sites of N. mexicana where it is not present, though further investigation is necessary to confirm if its host range is suitable for this to be a safe endeavour. With the exception of sites where B. longulus was present, leaf sizes were large and damage was low, and there is no evidence that any natural enemies have been accidentally introduced from the native range. Findings such as these emphasise the importance of conducting thorough surveys during the development of biological control programmes.
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  • Date Issued: 2023

Male peer talk about menstruation: Discursively bolstering hegemonic masculinities among young men in South Africa

  • Authors: Macleod, Catriona I , Glover, Jonathan M , Makuse, Manase , Kelland, Lindsay , Paphitis, Sharli A
  • Date: 2023
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441253 , vital:73870 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23293691.2022.2057830"
  • Description: In this paper, we show how male peer talk about menstruating women may be used to discursively bolster hegemonic masculinities and denigrate women. Focus group discussions among 37 young isiXhosa-speaking men from two South African schools were facilitated by two young men; statements garnered from a sexuality education class about menstruation conducted in the same schools were used as cues. Data were analyzed using discourse analysis. The interactive talk constructed a bifurcation: “disgusting” menstruating women versus “reasonable” non-menstruating women who abide by idealized feminine behavior and are available sexually. We argue that as the non-menstruating woman cyclically become the other (menstruating woman) in women of particular ages, the trace of disgust inhabits the signifier “woman” for these men. Menstruation also disrupted a core identity strategy of local hegemonic masculinities: virile (hetero)sexuality. Given this, discursive distancing of the self from the very topic of menstruation is necessary. Small moments of resistance to these constructions were quickly closed down, and caring masculinity emerged only in the context of negotiating sex during menstruation. Involving men in menstrual hygiene management programs may provide spaces for resistance to denigrating discourses about menstruation.
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  • Date Issued: 2023

Microbial Community Responses to Alterations in Historical Fire Regimes in Montane Grasslands

  • Authors: Gokul, Jarishma K , Matcher, Gwynneth , Dames, Joanna F , Nkangala, Kuhle , Gordijn, Paul J , Barker, Nigel P
  • Date: 2023
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/440366 , vital:73777 , https://doi.org/10.3390/d15070818
  • Description: The influence of fire regimes on soil microbial diversity in montane grasslands is a relatively unexplored area of interest. Understanding the belowground diversity is a crucial stepping-stone toward unravelling community dynamics, nutrient sequestration, and overall ecosystem stability. In this study, metabarcoding was used to unravel the impact of fire disturbance regimes on bacterial and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal community structures in South African montane grasslands that have been subjected to an intermediate (up to five years) term experimental fire-return interval gradient. Bacterial communities in this study exhibited a shift in composition in soils subjected to annual and biennial fires compared to the controls, with carbon and nitrogen identified as significant potential chemical drivers of bacterial communities. Shifts in relative abundances of dominant fungal operational taxonomic units were noted, with Glomeromycota as the dominant arbuscular mycorrhiza observed across the fire-return gradient. A reduction in mycorrhizal root colonisation was also observed in frequently burnt autumnal grassland plots in this study. Furthermore, evidence of significant mutualistic interactions between bacteria and fungi that may act as drivers of the observed community structure were detected. Through this pilot study, we can show that fire regime strongly impacts bacterial and fungal communities in southern African montane grasslands, and that changes to their usually resilient structure are mediated by seasonal burn patterns, chemical drivers, and mutualistic interactions between these two groups.
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  • Date Issued: 2023

Mosquito community composition in Central District, Botswana: insights from a malaria endemic to non-endemic gradient

  • Authors: Buxton, M , Nyamukondiwa, C , Kesamang, M , Wasserman, Ryan J
  • Date: 2023
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/452402 , vital:75126 , http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2254-8854/2022/a13584
  • Description: Spatial distribution of vector mosquitoes plays a critical role in the dynamics of associated diseases' spread across diverse landscapes. In Botswana, six Districts are implicated as malaria endemic zones, one of which is the Central District comprising both malaria endemic and non-endemic sub-districts. Despite being the biggest in the country, mosquito diversity in this District is under-explored, more so in the malaria non-endemic sub-districts. Here, we thus sampled mosquito adults and larvae from the malaria endemic sub-district of Bobirwa and non-endemic sub-districts of Palapye and Serowe, to determine spatial mosquito abundance and diversity in the District.
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  • Date Issued: 2023

Nagoya Protocol and Africa’s willingness to share biological control agents, are we deterred by barriers instead of using opportunities to work together?

  • Authors: Ivey, Philip J , Hill, Martin P , Voukeng, Sonia Nadege Kenfack , Weaver, Kim N
  • Date: 2023
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/418040 , vital:71503 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-023-10184-8"
  • Description: Amongst members of the biological control community there is a range of perceptions regarding the Nagoya Protocol, at best it will hinder access to natural enemies of pests and invasive plants and at worst implementation of the Protocol will prevent access to these resources. In this preliminary study of Africa’s preparedness to implement the Nagoya Protocol and control access to potential biological control agents, we found that several countries have not yet established procedures and policies in this regard. Several factors including lack of awareness, insufficient relevant information and lack of capacity may cause delay in countries implementing access and benefit sharing legislation and processes. The lack of preparedness provides an opportunity for the research community to work with government officials to facilitate future access to natural enemies to act as biological control agents on invasive plants and agricultural pests. Collaboration between researchers, managers and bureaucrats in support of African countries could lead to collective action that develops policies and implements processes to foster exploration of African biodiversity. This collaboration could also foster the sharing of biological control agents that will benefit Africa through integrated pest management in agriculture, protection of human lives and livelihoods, and reduction of the impact of invasive alien species on biodiversity and environmental infrastructure.
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  • Date Issued: 2023
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