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First results on bathymetry, stratification and physicochemical limnology of a small tropical African reservoir (Malilangwe, Zimbabwe)

- Dalu, Tatena, Thackeray, Zane, Leuci, Rio, Clegg, Bruce, Chari, Lenin D, Nhiwatiwa, Tamuka

Authors: Dalu, Tatena , Thackeray, Zane , Leuci, Rio , Clegg, Bruce , Chari, Lenin D , Nhiwatiwa, Tamuka
Date: 2013-01-11
Language: English
Type: Article
Identifier: vital:6970 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013297
Description: The study provides a 9-month record of Malilangwe Reservoir water chemistry periodicity, for the period between February and October 2011. Malilangwe Reservoir is a small (211 ha), shallow (mean depth 4.54 m) reservoir situated in the south-eastern lowveld of Zimbabwe. The reservoir has not spilled in nearly 11 years, which makes it a unique system as most reservoirs of comparable size spill annually. This is the first bathymetric and limnological study of the reservoir where the morphology and physicochemical quality of the water body were examined. The reservoir was not strongly stratified during the hot-wet and hot-dry season with oxygen depletion of < 2 mg·ℓ-1 DO being observed in the bottom layers (<6 m depth). Nutrient concentrations varied throughout the seasons. The reservoir exhibited marked seasonal fluctuations in water level, which decreased by over 149 cm between February and October. The N:P ratio rose to as high as 10.9 and generally reflected high levels of phosphorus in the reservoir. There were significant differences (p<0.05) in Secchi depth transparency between the study sites. Differences observed in water quality were due to water level fluctuations, with poor water quality conditions being experienced during the hot-dry season and the cool-dry season when water levels were low. The reservoir was classified as being mesotrophic. Therefore, there is a risk of eutrophication, especially since the reservoir is currently merely a sink for nutrients.
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"Giving voice" to the bereaved : family grief and resilience after a child has died

- Scheepers, Lucas Johannes

Authors: Scheepers, Lucas Johannes
Date: 2013
Subjects: Bereavement -- Psychological aspects , Death -- Psychological aspects , Loss (Psychology) , Grief
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: vital:9977 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021096
Description: This study investigated family grief and resilience following a child’s death. Representing 23 families, 35 bereaved parents completed biographical questionnaires, the Family Hardiness Index, and the Family Attachment and Changeability Index 8. Significant positive correlations were found between family hardiness and family adaptation, and between parents’ age and family hardiness. Using grounded theory, interviews allowed for the formulation of categories including grief, continuing bonds, external support, religion, and family hardiness. The study reveals the need for exploring unique experiences of families bereaved by children’s deaths and identifies family hardiness as a potential resilience factor for this population
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Date Issued: 2013

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"The wings of whipped butterflies" : trauma, silence and representation of the suffering child in selected contemporary African short fiction

- Njovane, Thandokazi

Authors: Njovane, Thandokazi
Date: 2013
Subjects: Children in literature Psychic trauma in literature Short stories, African (English) -- 21st century
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: vital:2253 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004214
Description: This dissertation, which examines the literary representation of childhood trauma, is held together by three threads of inquiry. Firstly, I examine the stylistic devices through which three contemporary African writers – NoViolet Bulawayo, Uwem Akpan, and Mia Couto – engage with the subject of childhood trauma in five of their short stories: “Hitting Budapest”; “My Parents’ Bedroom” and “Fattening for Gabon”; and “The Day Mabata-bata Exploded” and “The Bird-Dreaming Baobab,” respectively. In each of these narratives, the use of ingén(u)s in the form of child narrators and/or focalisers instantiates a degree of structural irony, premised on the cognitive discrepancy between the protagonists’ perceptions and those of the implied reader. This structural irony then serves to underscore the reality that, though in a general sense the precise nature of traumatic experience cannot be directly communicated in language, this is exacerbated in the case of children, because children’s physical and psychological frameworks are underdeveloped. Consequently, children’s exposure to trauma and atrocity results in disruptions of both personal and communal notions of safety and security which are even more severe than those experienced by adults. Secondly, I analyse the political, cultural and economic factors which give rise to the traumatic incidents depicted in the stories, and the child characters’ interpretations and responses to these exigencies. Notions of subjectivity and intersubjectivity, identity and community, victimhood and survival, agency and disempowerment are discussed here in relation to the context of postcolonial Africa and the contemporary realities of chronic poverty, genocide, child-trafficking, the aftermath of civil war, and the legacies of colonialism and racism. Thirdly, this dissertation inspects the areas of congruence and divergence between trauma theory, literary scholarship on trauma narratives, and literary attempts to represent atrocity and trauma despite what is widely held to be the inadequacy of language – and therefore representation – to this task. There are certain differences between the three authors’ depictions of children’s experiences of trauma, despite the fact that the texts all grapple with the aporetic nature of trauma and the paradox of representing the unrepresentable. To this end, they utilise various strategies – temporal disjunctions and fragmentations, silences and lacunae, elements of the fantastical and surreal, magical realism, and instances of abjection and dissociation – to gesture towards the inexpressible, or that which is incommensurable with language. I argue that, ultimately, it is the endings of these stories which suggest the unrepresentable nature of trauma. Traumatic experience poses a challenge to representational conventions and, in its resistance, encourages a realisation that new ways of writing and speaking about trauma in the African continent, particularly with regards to children, are needed. , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
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Date Issued: 2013

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'Leaders like children playing with a grenade?' : an analysis of how the Arab Spring was received in South Africa

- Gevers, Tristan Ronald

Authors: Gevers, Tristan Ronald
Date: 2013
Subjects: Arab Spring, 2010- Revolutions -- Theory Arab countries -- Social conditions -- 21st century South Africa -- Social condtions -- 21st century
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
Identifier: vital:2846 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006031
Description: When the Arab Spring took place, it took the world by surprise and sparked renewed interest in the idea of revolution. With differing opinions on what caused such a revolutionary wave throughout the North African and Middle Eastern region, many began looking at their own countries, and South Africa was no different. A debate was sparked in South Africa, as to whether there would be a revolution or not. What I originally set out to accomplish is to find out which side of the debate would be correct through the philosophical context of revolutionary theory. Initially, we attempted to define and consider the history of revolutionary theory. We found that revolutionary theory has gone through four generation and that even finding a theoretically informed definition is difficult. Following this, we considered some social-psychological theories of revolution as well as theories of moral indignation. We found that these theories were incredibly informative and that they provide some insight into the reasoning for revolutionary fear in the South African debate. Through the use of opinion pieces, we then considered the South African debate, and – using socialpsychological theories and the theories of moral indignation - found that both sides of the argument had valuable points, however, they often lacked some foresight. With tentative agreement, we found that the side arguing that there would a revolution in South Africa had a more valuable argument, despite its limitations. However, far more research is required before one can – with more accuracy – predict a revolutionary occurrence in such a way as was done in South Africa.
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Date Issued: 2013

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'The Area of a Triangle is 1800C’: an analysis of Learners' Idiosyncratic Geometry Responses through the Lenses of Vygotsky's Theory of Concept Formation

- Mhlolo, Michael K, Schäfer, Marc

Authors: Mhlolo, Michael K , Schäfer, Marc
Date: 2013
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141127 , vital:37946 , DOI: 10.1080/10288457.2013.826973
Description: In this paper, we focus specifically on Vygotsky's theory of concept formation to gain initial insights into seemingly garbled and incoherent connections we observed in learners' responses to a geometry task. While acknowledging research that is supportive of the van Hiele model as being useful when analysing concept formation in geometry, in this paper we use empirical evidence to argue that today's geometry requires learners to reason with many tools which the van Hiele model does not seem to accommodate. Working with 470 written responses of 12–14-year-old learners to a geometry task, we then explored the potential of Vygotsky's theory of concept formation as an alternative framework. We conclude by discussing the paper's contribution both to theory and to classroom practice.
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Date Issued: 2013

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13C pulse-chase labeling comparative assessment of the active methanogenic archaeal community composition in the transgenic and nontransgenic parental rice rhizospheres

- Zhu, Weijing, Lu, Haohao, Hill, Jaclyn M, Wang, Hailong, Wu, Weixiang

Authors: Zhu, Weijing , Lu, Haohao , Hill, Jaclyn M , Wang, Hailong , Wu, Weixiang
Date: 2013
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/122993 , vital:35389 , https://doi.org/10.1111/1574-6941.12261
Description: Rhabdosargus holubi (Steindachner, 1881) is a small (maximum size = 450 mm total length; Heemstra and Heemstra 2004) sparid that is distributed along the south-east coast of Africa from St Helena Bay, South Africa, to Maputo, Mozambique (Götz and Cowley 2013). Spawning occurs in the nearshore marine environment primarily during winter, specifically May–August in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) (Wallace 1975) and July–February in the South-Eastern Cape (Whitfield 1998). Individuals reach 50% sexual maturity at approximately 150 mm standard length (SL) in the Eastern Cape (Whitfield 1998). The early life stages are transported by the south-westward-flowing Agulhas Current, and recruit as post-flexion larvae and early juveniles into estuaries during late winter and early summer (Blaber 1974). The warm temperatures and high nutrient levels in estuaries favour fast growth (Blaber 1973a), and fish spend their first year of life in these environments, migrating back out to sea after reaching approximately 120 mm SL. Some individuals remain trapped in closed estuaries, where they may reach sizes greater than 200 mm SL (James et al. 2007a). Rhabdosargus holubi is the dominant estuarine-dependent marine teleost species recorded in permanently open and temporarily open/closed estuaries in the warm-temperate region, which spans the south, south-east and east coast of South Africa (Harrison 2005). The species is also an important component of the linefishery in many SouthAfrican estuaries (10–15.6% by number) (Pradervand and Baird 2002), particularly in Eastern Cape estuaries (Cowley et al. 2003). These figures underestimate the presence of R. holubi, as most individuals making use of estuaries are young, feeding predominately on filamentous macroalgae and diatom flora, and are generally too small to be caught with hook and line (De Wet and Marais 1990). James et al. (2007b) showed that R. holubi made up 34–92% of the annual seine-net catch in the East Kleinemonde Estuary. Rhabdosargus holubi is also important in the KZN shorebased linefishery, representing 4.6% of the total landed catch (Dunlop and Mann 2012)More and more investigations indicate that genetic modification has no significant or persistent effects on microbial community composition in the rice rhizosphere. Very few studies, however, have focused on its impact on functional microorganisms. This study completed a 13C-CO2 pulse-chase labeling experiment comparing the potential effects of cry1Ab gene transformation on 13C tissue distribution and rhizosphere methanogenic archaeal community composition with its parental rice variety (Ck) and a distant parental rice variety (Dp). Results showed that 13C partitioning in aboveground biomass (mainly in stems) and roots of Dp was significantly lower than that of Ck. However, there were no significant differences in 13C partitioning between the Bt transgenic rice line (Bt) and Ck. RNA-stable isotope probing combined with clone library analyses inferred that the group Methanosaetaceae was the predominant methanogenic Archaea in all three rice rhizospheres. The active methanogenic archaeal community in the Bt rhizosphere was dominated by Methanosarcinaceae, Methanosaetaceae, and Methanomicrobiaceae, while there were only two main methanogenic clusters (Methanosaetaceae and Methanomicrobiaceae) in the Ck and Dp rhizospheres. These results indicate that the insertion of cry1Ab gene into the rice genome has the potential to result in the modification of methanogenic community composition in its rhizosphere.
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Date Issued: 2013

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53 stitches : sustainability, ecology and social engagement in contemporary art

- Salton, Bronwen Lauren

Authors: Salton, Bronwen Lauren
Date: 2013
Subjects: Crocheting Community development -- South Africa Ecology in art
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MFA
Identifier: vital:2390 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001580
Description: Through an exploration of both the sculptural and socially-engaged art practices undertaken in creating my Master of Fine Art exhibition, 53 Stitches, I unpack some of the possibilities pertaining to the practice of sustainability, ecology and social engagement in contemporary art. This thesis explores the history and concepts of sustainable development and what the implications are of the far-reaching global consideration of sustainability for contemporary art production. Looking at the writings of Felix Guattari’s (2000 [1989]) and Suzi Gablik’s (1992) on the effects of the economic model of capitalism on our environmental, social and mental ecologies, I discuss the necessary paradigm shift of the artists’ identity from the ‘individual self’ towards the ‘relational self’, affirming our interdependence upon our social and natural environments. With reference to the writings of Maja and Reuben Fowkes (2008), I explore the principles of sustainability in contemporary art and discuss the notion of ‘sustainability of form’ through insight into dematerialisation, recycling and the prospect of artists now becoming knowledge producers/facilitators. This is supportive of my personal exploration and experimentation with recyclable materials as a creative medium, used as a means of knowledge and skills facilitation in socially-engaged arts practice and the process of art-making as research. I refer to the sculptural and ‘painterly’ constructions of Sofi Zezmer and Mbongeni Buthelezi, respectively, as a means to elucidate a practical contextualisation of my practical work, particularly with regard to the use of plastic as a constructive medium. Looking at the works of Linda Weintraub (2006), Marnie Badham (2010) and Miwon Kwon (2002), I expand on the theoretical discourse pertaining to sociallyengaged art practices, and elucidate the reconfiguration of the role of the artist towards now becoming a cultural service administrator, organiser and knowledge facilitator. With reference to Arjen Wals and Johnson et al., I further discuss the role of education in sustainability and explore the necessary reconciliation between university institutions and the social and environmental context in which they are located, in the form of place-based capacity building and service learning. I explore within this thesis the concepts and processbased research of my own sculptures
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Date Issued: 2013

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A baseline study of potentially malicious activity across five network telescopes

- Irwin, Barry V W

Authors: Irwin, Barry V W
Date: 2013
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/429714 , vital:72634 , https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/6568378
Description: +This paper explores the Internet Background Radiation (IBR) observed across five distinct network telescopes over a 15 month period. These network telescopes consisting of a /24 netblock each and are deployed in IP space administered by TENET, the tertiary education network in South Africa covering three numerically distant /8 network blocks. The differences and similarities in the observed network traffic are explored. Two anecdotal case studies are presented relating to the MS08-067 and MS12-020 vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Windows platforms. The first of these is related to the Conficker worm outbreak in 2008, and traffic targeting 445/tcp remains one of the top constituents of IBR as observed on the telescopes. The case of MS12-020 is of interest, as a long period of scanning activity targeting 3389/tcp, used by the Microsoft RDP service, was observed, with a significant drop on activity relating to the release of the security advisory and patch. Other areas of interest are highlighted, particularly where correlation in scanning activity was observed across the sensors. The paper concludes with some discussion on the application of network telescopes as part of a cyber-defence solution.
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Date Issued: 2013

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A baseline study of youth identity, the media and the public sphere in South Africa:

- Malila, Vanessa, Duncan, Jane, Costera Meijer, Irene, Drok, Nico, Garman, Anthea, Strelitz, Larry N, Steenveld, Lynette N, Bosch, Tanja, Ndlovu, Musa

Authors: Malila, Vanessa , Duncan, Jane , Costera Meijer, Irene , Drok, Nico , Garman, Anthea , Strelitz, Larry N , Steenveld, Lynette N , Bosch, Tanja , Ndlovu, Musa
Date: 2013
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/159780 , vital:40343 , https://research.vu.nl/ws/portalfiles/portal/3635364/Baseline+study+single+column+(1).pdf
Description: The project on youth identity, the media and the public sphere in South Africa was led by Prof Jane Duncan, Highway Africa Chair of Media and Information Society, at Rhodes University in South Africa. The research project was funded by the South Africa Netherlands Research Programme on Alternatives in Development (SANPAD), and partnered in the Netherlands with Prof Irene Costera Meijer (of VU University of Amsterdam) and Prof Nico Drok (of Windesheim University).
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Date Issued: 2013

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A capability approach: Its potential for transformative education research focusing on education for sustainable development and gender issues in science teacher education

- Chikunda, Charles

Authors: Chikunda, Charles
Date: 2013
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/387120 , vital:68208 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122266"
Description: In this article, I use the capability approach to explore the role that the science, mathematics and technical subjects (SMTs) teacher education curriculum can play as a ‘gender conversion factor’. This comes amidst evidence that a major hindrance to the participation of girls in these disciplines is a lack of gender responsiveness in the pedagogy applied in schools. Seven teacher educators, who were purposively sampled at a Technical Teachers’ College in Zimbabwe, were the research participants. I adopted a case study design in which I used in-depth interviews, focus-group discussions and document analysis to generate data. Data was analysed deductively using predetermined themes based on an analytical tool anchored on Sen’s two, but quite distinct, aspects of freedom, that is, the opportunity aspect and the process aspect of freedom. The findings reveal that there is a limited awareness of gender issues among teacher educators, and that these issues are not being transformed into curriculum practice. All in all, it is evident that curriculum practices of SMTs teacher educators are riddled with gender blindness and so trainee teachers graduate from college without the necessary agency to deal with personal, social and environmental conversion factors that can play a role in girls converting the curriculum into functionings (beings and doings) and wider freedoms and valued beings and doings (capabilities).
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Date Issued: 2013

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A case study of the readability of two grade 4 natural sciences textbooks currently used in South African schools

- Sibanda, Lucy

Authors: Sibanda, Lucy
Date: 2013
Subjects: Science -- Study and teaching (Primary) -- Textbooks Reading comprehension -- Study and teaching (Primary) -- South Africa English language -- Textbooks for foreign speakers English language -- Study and teaching (Primary) -- Foreign speakers Education, Primary -- South Africa
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
Identifier: vital:1892 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006083
Description: This thesis examines the readability of two grade 4 Natural Sciences textbooks currently used in South African schools. Being important sources of classroom input, particularly in grade 4 where learners are reading to learn, textbooks should be readable. That the Natural Sciences subject is only introduced in grade 4 makes the assessment of Natural Sciences textbooks at this level significant. The goal of this research therefore, is to assess the readability of two grade 4 Natural Sciences textbooks and their understandability by learners who speak English as an additional language. The goal of assessing the Natural Sciences textbooks is achieved by the use of cloze and traditional comprehension tests, classic readability formulae, textual analysis and teacher interviews. Cloze and traditional comprehension tests are used to test learners’ understanding of the textbooks and classic readability formulae are meant to assess the grade levels of the textbooks. The tests gauge learner understandability while readability formulae establish text readability. Textual analysis allows the assessment of text readability on the basis of more factors than those accommodated by readability formulae. The textual analysis also helps to identify the readability factors supporting or impeding readability. Teacher interviews are conducted to better understand the teachers’ perceptions on the readability of the Natural Sciences textbooks. The major findings of the study are that the two Natural Sciences textbooks used in the study are generally above the reading level of the intended readers, grade 4 learners and that the participating learners do not understand these textbooks. The challenges with the readability of the textbooks stem mainly from the vocabulary and concepts used in the textbooks which are not well explained.
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Date Issued: 2013

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A case study of the research careers of women academics: constraints and enablements

- Obers, Nöelle Marie Thérèse

Authors: Obers, Nöelle Marie Thérèse
Date: 2013
Subjects: Career success , Research , Women college teachers , Women in higher education , Sex discrimination in higher education
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
Identifier: vital:1313 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001575
Description: The purpose of this research is to investigate constraints that women academics experience in their research careers and how enablements, particularly in the form of mentoring relationships and support structures, can impact on their research career development in the context of the new knowledge economy of Higher Education. The research was a case study of one South African Institution and used a mixed method approach. Social realism underpinned the research. Data was collected and analysed within the spheres of structure, culture and agency, using critical discourse analysis, interpretation and abstraction strategies. I investigated how women researchers understand and experience career success and what they perceive and experience as enablements and constraints to their research careers. Institutional support structures and cultures were examined with a focus on the role of the Head of Department. I explored mentoring and questioned whether the agency of women academics is empowered by mentoring and supportive structures to overcome constraints to their research productivity and the development of their careers. Gender-based issues of inequity, low self-esteem and accrual of social capital appear to be the underlying factors affecting how women perform in the research arena and advance within the institution. It was found that mentoring is a generative mechanism that has a favourable impact on women academics as it enables them to overcome obstacles to research productivity and career advancement.
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Date Issued: 2013

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A central enrichment-based comparison of two alternative methods of generating transcription factor binding motifs from protein binding microarray data

- Mahaye, Ntombikayise

Authors: Mahaye, Ntombikayise
Date: 2013 , 2013-03-13
Subjects: Transcription factors , Bioinformatics , Protein binding , Protein microarrays , Cell lines
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
Identifier: vital:3890 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003049 , Transcription factors , Bioinformatics , Protein binding , Protein microarrays , Cell lines
Description: Characterising transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) is an important problem in bioinformatics, since predicting binding sites has many applications such as predicting gene regulation. ChIP-seq is a powerful in vivo method for generating genome-wide putative binding regions for transcription factors (TFs). CentriMo is an algorithm that measures central enrichment of a motif and has previously been used as motif enrichment analysis (MEA) tool. CentriMo uses the fact that ChIP-seq peak calling methods are likely to be biased towards the centre of the putative binding region, at least in cases where there is direct binding. CentriMo calculates a binomial p-value representing central enrichment, based on the central bias of the binding site with the highest likelihood ratio. In cases where binding is indirect or involves cofactors, a more complex distribution of preferred binding sites may occur but, in many cases, a low CentriMo p-value and low width of maximum enrichment (about 100bp) are strong evidence that the motif in question is the true binding motif. Several other MEA tools have been developed, but they do not consider motif central enrichment. The study investigates the claim made by Zhao and Stormo (2011) that they have identified a simpler method than that used to derive the UniPROBE motif database for creating motifs from protein binding microarray (PBM) data, which they call BEEML-PBM (Binding Energy Estimation by Maximum Likelihood-PBM). To accomplish this, CentriMo is employed on 13 motifs from both motif databases. The results indicate that there is no conclusive difference in the quality of motifs from the original PBM and BEEML-PBM approaches. CentriMo provides an understanding of the mechanisms by which TFs bind to DNA. Out of 13 TFs for which ChIP-seq data is used, BEEML-PBM reports five better motifs and twice it has not had any central enrichment when the best PBM motif does. PBM approach finds seven motifs with better central enrichment. On the other hand, across all variations, the number of examples where PBM is better is not high enough to conclude that it is overall the better approach. Some TFs bind directly to DNA, some indirect or in combination with other TFs. Some of the predicted mechanisms are supported by literature evidence. This study further revealed that the binding specificity of a TF is different in different cell types and development stages. A TF is up-regulated in a cell line where it performs its biological function. The discovery of cell line differences, which has not been done before in any CentriMo study, is interesting and provides reasons to study this further.
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Date Issued: 2013

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A chronic care coordination model for HIV-positive children requiring antiretroviral therapy

- Williams, Margaret

Authors: Williams, Margaret
Date: 2013
Subjects: HIV-positive children -- Care -- South Africa , HIV-positive persons -- Care -- South Africa
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
Identifier: vital:10062 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020346
Description: The human immunodeficiency virus / acquired immune deficiency syndrome pandemic (HIV/AIDS) continues to increase in prevalence worldwide, particularly in South Africa. There is a concurrent and distinct increase in the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and HIV-related diseases in the paediatric population in South Africa, particularly those using public sector health services, with a corresponding increase in morbidity and mortality rates (Abdool Karim & Abdool Karim, 2010:363), which impacts greatly on paediatric healthcare services. Adding to this, the provision of paediatric antiretroviral care has numerous stumbling blocks, not least of which is lack of decentralisation of facilities to provide treatment. There is the additional shortage of staff, which includes staff that are comfortable dealing with children, lack of training programmes on the provision of antiretroviral therapy to children, and minimal on-site mentorship of staff regarding HIV/AIDS disease in children. This lack of capacity in the healthcare system means that not all of those who require treatment will be able to access it, and this is particularly pertinent to paediatric patients (Meyers et al., 2007:198). Therefore the purpose of this research was to develop a nursing model that would assist healthcare professionals, in particular professional nurses, to optimise the comprehensive treatment, care and support for HIV-positive children who require antiretroviral therapy at PHC clinics. To achieve the purpose of this study, a theory-generating design based on a qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual approach was implemented by the researcher to gain an understanding of how the healthcare professionals and parents/caregivers of HIV-positive children experienced the comprehensive treatment, care and support provided at primary healthcare clinics. The information obtained was used to develop a chronic care coordination model for the optimisation of comprehensive treatment, care and support for HIV-positive children requiring antiretroviral therapy. The study design comprised the following four steps: Step One of the research design focused on the identification, classification and definition of the major concepts of the study. This involved describing and selecting the research population and the sampling process prior to conducting the field work which comprised in-depth interviews with two groups of participants, namely healthcare professionals and parents/caregivers who accompany their HIV-positive children to PHC clinics in order to receive antiretroviral therapy. Step Two of the research design focused on the development of relationship statements in order to bring clarity and direction to the understanding of the phenomenon of interest. Step Three of the design concentrated on the development and description of the chronic care coordination model for optimising comprehensive treatment, care and support for HIV-positive children who require antiretroviral therapy in order to ensure a well-managed child on ART. A visual representation of the structure of the model for chronic care coordination was given and described as well as a detailed description of the process of the model. Step Four was the last step of the research design and its focus was the development of guidelines for the operationalisation of the model for chronic care coordination for the optimisation of comprehensive treatment, care and support for HIV-positive children requiring antiretroviral therapy at PHC clinics. Guidelines and operational implications for each of the five sequential steps of the model were developed. The evaluation criteria of Chinn & Kramer (2008:237‒248) were used to evaluate the model. It is therefore concluded that the researcher succeeded in achieving the purpose for this study because a chronic care coordination model that is understandable, clear, simple, applicable and significant to nursing practice has been developed for use by healthcare professionals, particularly professional nurses, in order to optimise the comprehensive treatment, care and support for HIV-positive children requiring antiretroviral therapy at primary healthcare clinics.
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Date Issued: 2013

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A comparative study of the comfort related properties of commercial apparel fabrics containing natural and man-made fibres

- Stoffberg, Marguerite Ester

Authors: Stoffberg, Marguerite Ester
Date: 2013
Subjects: Textile fabrics , Materials -- Thermal properties
Language: English
Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
Identifier: vital:10455 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020931
Description: The relationship between the fabric parameters, as independent variables, and the comfort related properties, as dependent variables, of commercial suiting fabrics, containing both natural and man-made fibres, have been studied. The fabric parameters measured in the study were mass, thickness, density, and air permeability. The comfort related properties, tested on a Permetest instrument, included water vapour permeability, water vapour resistance, and thermal resistance, with the moisture permeability index being derived. A total of 26 commercial suiting fabrics, covering a wide range of mass, as well as different fibre types and blends and fabric structures, was tested. The fibres covered, included wool, polyester, viscose, and cotton, while the fabric structures covered were 1x1 plain weave, 2x1 twill and 2x2 twill weave. The objectives of this study were to determine the empirical relationships between the measured fabric properties and the measured comfort related properties, and to determine the role, if any, of fibre type and fabric structure, since many claims are made in practice concerning the relative advantages, in terms of comfort, of a specific fibre type or blend, or fabric structure, over others, some of which being supported by research results. Since the fabrics covered, were commercial and were not engineered so that the different fabric parameters (independent variables) and fibre type and blend, as well as fabric structure could be varied independently of each other, the effects of the various fabric parameters on the fabric comfort related properties were determined and quantified by multiple regression analyses (multi-linear and multi-quadratic), and the best fit regression equations, and contribution of each parameter to the overall fit established. It was found that fabric thickness and fabric mass had the largest effect on the comfort related properties as measured here, fabric mass determining, to a large extent, water vapour permeability, and fabric thickness, thermal resistance. The rest of the fabric parameters included in the study had only a relatively small effect on the measured comfort related properties. The influence of fabric parameters, with particular reference to mass and thickness, on the measured comfort related properties, were much greater than that of fibre type or blend, or fabric structure. It was, therefore, concluded from this study, that the fabric parameters, as opposed to the intrinsic characteristics of a particular fibre, whether natural or man-made, largely determined those fabric comfort related properties measured here.
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Date Issued: 2013

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