List of Titles

Effect of peripheral fused ring substitution on the optical spectroscopy and electronic structure of metal phthalocyanine complexes

- Chidawanyika, Wadzanai J U, Mack, John, Shimizu, Soji, Kobayashi, Nagao, Nyokong, Tebello

Authors: Chidawanyika, Wadzanai J U , Mack, John , Shimizu, Soji , Kobayashi, Nagao , Nyokong, Tebello
Date: 2009
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/263353 , vital:53620 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1142/S1088424609001339"
Description: In this paper the impact of peripheral substitution with a strongly withdrawing fused ring group on the optical spectroscopy of a metal phthalocyanine complex is analyzed. We report the synthesis of [9 (or 10), 16 (or 17), 23 (or 24)-tri-tert-butylimidophthalocyaninato]zinc(II) (ZnttbIPc), which should eventually prove to be a useful precursor for forming dimeric compounds. The electronic structure is analyzed through a detailed analysis of the UV-visible absorption and magnetic circular dichroism spectra and time-dependent density functional theory calculations. Other than a marked splitting of the Q band, the spectrum is broadly similar to that of ZnPc in terms of the main π → π* electronic bands. The vibrational bands differ markedly in the Q band region when an imido group is added to ligand periphery, relative to what is observed in the case of zinc mononaphthotribenzotetraazaporphyrin (Zn3B1N) with an additional fused benzene ring. The absorption and emission spectra lack mirror symmetry as is the case with ZnPc and thus provide possible evidence for a second set of electronic origins in the Q band region arising from n → π* rather then π → π* transitions.
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Date Issued: 2009

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Effects of the number of ring substituents of cobalt carboxyphthalocyanines on the electrocatalytic detection of nitrite, cysteine and melatonin

- Matemadombo, Fungisai, Sehlotho, Nthapo, Nyokong, Tebello

Authors: Matemadombo, Fungisai , Sehlotho, Nthapo , Nyokong, Tebello
Date: 2009
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/263408 , vital:53625 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1142/S108842460900125X"
Description: Cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc), cobalt tetracarboxy phthalocyanine (CoTCPc) and cobalt octacarboxy phthalocyanine (CoOCPc), adsorbed onto glassy carbon electrodes, have been used for the electrocatalytic detection of nitrite, L-cysteine and melatonin. The modified electrodes electrocatalytically detected nitrite around 800 mV vs.Ag|AgCl, a value less positive compared to that of an unmodified glassy carbon electrode (at 950 mV vs.Ag|AgCl) and also gave detection limits in the 10-7 M range for nitrite detection. L-cysteine was detected by the modified electrodes at potentials between 0.50 to 0.65 V vs.Ag|AgCl, with L-cysteine detection limits also in the 10-7 M range. The detection limits for melatonin ranged from 10-7 to 10-6 M. CoPc-modified electrodes displayed good separation of interferents (tryptophan and ascorbic acid) in the presence of melatonin. Analyses of commercial melatonin tablets using modified electrodes gave excellent agreement with manufacturer's value for all modified electrodes of this work.
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Date Issued: 2009

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Electrostatic self-assembly of quaternized 2,(3)-tetra (oxo-pyridine) phthalocyaninato chloroindium (III) with a series of tetrasulfonated phthalocyanines

- George, Reama C, Durmus, Mahmut, Egharevba, Gabriel O, Nyokong, Tebello

Authors: George, Reama C , Durmus, Mahmut , Egharevba, Gabriel O , Nyokong, Tebello
Date: 2009
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/263330 , vital:53618 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poly.2009.07.035"
Description: The self-assembly of oppositely charged phthalocyanines, fabricated using quaternized 2,(3)-tetra(oxo-pyridine) phthalocyaninato chloroindium (III) (QInPyPc) as the positively charge molecule and a series of tetrasulfonate phthalocyanine (MTSPc), M = 2H, Mn, Fe, Co and Ni as negatively charged molecules are reported. The self-assembly results in the formation of heteroaggregates. The metallated sulfonated phthalocyanines form nanorod and nanoleaf shaped structures as evidenced by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The UV–Vis spectra showed blue shifted Q bands, suggesting that these structures were in a face-to-face arrangement. The Raman spectra of the heteroaggregates showed shifting compared to the spectra of the precursors.
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Date Issued: 2009

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Exploring Learner Participation in Waste-Management Activities in a Rural Botswana Primary School

- Silo, Nthalivi

Authors: Silo, Nthalivi
Date: 2009
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/386509 , vital:68148 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122820"
Description: In Botswana, participation in environmental learning activities has been perceived as a central component of environmental education in formal education. Driven by the need to implement the objective of making the participatory approach part of the infusion of environmental education in the school curriculum as prescribed by the infusion policy, Botswana schools have come up with initiatives to involve learners in environmental education activities that seem to have ‘a direct, perceived benefit to the learners’ (NEESAP, 2007:9). Within this approach it is expected that learners should participate in these activities. However, Ketlhoilwe (2007) revealed that there has been a normalisation of environmental education into existing school culture through equating waste-management activities with environmental education. This generally entails cleaning activities by learners to maintain ‘clean schools’, which is directly associated with environmental education. Drawing from detailed case study data in one rural primary school with Standard 6 learners, I used Cultural Historical Activity Theory to investigate and explain how learners participate in these waste-management activities. Findings from this study revealed that attempts by teachers to meet the policy imperative through prescription of rules, and ascribing roles to learners in waste-management activities, create tensions. This gave rise to an elusive object of learner participation, as the purpose for their participation in these activities is not clear.
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Date Issued: 2009

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How many declarations do we need?: Inside the drafting of the Bonn Declaration on education for sustainable development

- Lotz-Sisitka, Heila

Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
Date: 2009
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/182522 , vital:43837 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1177/097340820900300217"
Description: The Bonn Declaration, approved by the 900 participants at the UNESCO World Conference on Sustainable Development, differs from other conference declarations in that it is the first declaration to deal exclusively with education for sustainable development. It received input from official State representatives and, perhaps because of that, it is somewhat less provocative than some nongovernmental or university-sponsored declarations. Also, it actually sets out, with some authority, an agenda for UNESCO, the manager of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Though some may question the usefulness of conference declarations, history shows that such declarations do have at least some guiding power in that they provide common starting points for deliberation on possible changes at national and international levels.
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Date Issued: 2009

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Interaction of water-soluble CdTe quantum dots with octacarboxy metallophthalocyanines

- Idowu, Mopelola, Nyokong, Tebello

Authors: Idowu, Mopelola , Nyokong, Tebello
Date: 2009
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/264197 , vital:53708 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlumin.2008.11.005"
Description: Water-soluble CdTe quantum dots capped with L-cysteine (QD-CYS) were found to improve the photophysical and photochemical properties of octacarboxy metallophthalocyanine (MOCPc, M=Zn(II), Al(III)(OH), Ge(IV)(OH)2 and Si(IV)(OH)2) complexes. Increased diffusional interactions between the molecules and the ground-state molecular oxygen were established resulting from the increase in the triplet-state quantum yield and lifetimes of the MOCPcs in the presence of QD-CYS. Energy transfer occurred from QD-CYS to the MOCPcs upon excitation of QD-CYS. It was found that an efficient energy transfer process, which is not directly related to the amount of spectral overlap between the donor (QD-CYS) and the acceptor (MOCPc) can occur. Singlet oxygen via fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) mechanism was produced in the QD-MPc mixture.
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Date Issued: 2009

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Intergovermental policy integration and poverty eradication in a developmental state: the case of the PGDP and Amathole IDP in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

- Hofisi, Costa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2571-6991

Authors: Hofisi, Costa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2571-6991
Date: 2009
Subjects: Poverty -- Government policy -- South Africa , Public administration -- South Africa
Language: English
Type: Doctoral theses , text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/25744 , vital:64475
Description: The post-apartheid South African government inherited an economy characterised by a dichotomy between well developed and affluent whites and the underdeveloped and impoverished African blacks. This dichotomy was manifest in sharp divisions with regard to access to decent housing, health, education and transport just to mention a few, thus reflecting poverty, as a widespread phenomenon. Since 1994, the South African government has made major efforts aimed at addressing poverty, however, that poverty persists, despite the efforts, cannot be contested. One of the major challenges has been the disjuncture between policies at various spheres of government. This study examines the articulation between two spheres of government focusing on the Provincial Growth and Development Programme of the Eastern Cape and the integrated development plan of Amathole District Municipality. Currently not much research has been carried out in this area. This study illuminates various analytical and practical issues and hopefully provides a useful basis for improvement in the government’s declared commitment to poverty eradication. Triangulating qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, the study aimed to investigate the integration of the Provincial Growth and Development Program and the Integrated Development Plan and the contribution of these policy instruments towards poverty eradication in the Eastern Cape. A further aim was to analyse community participation in and knowledge of the PGDP and Amathole IDP and how they have been effective. This was an empirically grounded study, based on the use of a combination of data collection methods, analysis of primary and secondary sources of data including government documents, administering in-depth interviews to a range of informants within government, the community and a questionnaire survey of a sample drawn from members of the community in the Amatole District Municipality and, finally the use of Amatole district as a case study which was the major unit of analysis. The findings from the study revealed that there is a plethora of challenges confronting policy integration, often resulting in institutional paralysis and inertia. Such challenges vary from lack of capacity in local government, lack of political will, policy shifts, a plethora of legislation, competing if not conflicting priorities, nonattendance of Intergovernmental forums, lack of cooperation by sector departments, contradictions between legislation, policy inconsistencies, conceptual imprecision and conceptual blurring. Moreover, the neo-liberal ideology informing development planning not only in the province, but in South Africa as a whole as propagated by western main stream economists leaves benefits indeed merely ‘trickling down’ to the poor and not ‘pouring’, such that the transition in South Africa has been reduced to an ‘elite transition’. The research results confirm, as observed elsewhere, that experiences of several developing countries over the past decades do not appear to support the trickle down hypothesis. On the other hand, community participation is also stifled by lack of participatory spaces, poor participatory methodologies and structures which make participation difficult while the poor remain trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty. Real participation goes beyond ‘passive development objects’ and ‘recipients of development’ to ensuring that people are empowered to become ‘masters of their own development’ within the context of a participatory democratic developmental state. There is need for not only a thorough examination of the political use of the ‘local’, the ‘poor’ but even the very conceptualisation of participation and its methodologies for effective community participation to be realised. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Management and Commerce, 2009
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Date Issued: 2009

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Local Knowledge as a Source of Community Resilience: IKS community Development and Resilience

- Shava, Soul, Zazu, Clayton, Tidball, Keith, O'Donoghue, Rob B

Authors: Shava, Soul , Zazu, Clayton , Tidball, Keith , O'Donoghue, Rob B
Date: 2009
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/433052 , vital:72928 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC61567"
Description: Local knowledge can serve a source of local community resilience that provides an enabling capacity for people to sustain their livelihoods and adapt to environmental changes or new environments. This knowledge was evidenced as capable of resurfacing when contingent opportunities arise. This contribution draws upon case studies of emerging self-mobilised social learning processes in the recollection and application of agricultural knowledge as revealed in immigrant gardeners' narratives in New York City, United States and narratives from relocated farming communities in Sebakwe, Zimbabwe. In these narratives the communities draw upon their reserves of local knowledge to respond to changes within their local environments. Such knowledge can serve as a source of community resilience through enabling people to sustain their livelihoods and community wellbeing, and thus adapt to environmental changes and displacement.
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Date Issued: 2009

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Metal (Co, Fe) tribenzotetraazachlorin–fullerene conjugates

- Ozoemena, Kenneth I, Mamuru, Solomon A, Fukuda, Takamitsu, Kobayashi, Nagao, Nyokong, Tebello

Authors: Ozoemena, Kenneth I , Mamuru, Solomon A , Fukuda, Takamitsu , Kobayashi, Nagao , Nyokong, Tebello
Date: 2009
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/263464 , vital:53630 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elecom.2009.04.011"
Description: Novel hexabutylsulphonyltribenzotetraazachlorin–fullerene (C60) complexes of iron (FeHBSTBTAC–C60) and cobalt (CoHBSTBTAC–C60) have been synthesized and their electrochemistry and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) compared with their octabutylsulphonylphthalocyanine analogues (FeOBSPc and CoOBSPc). It is proved that electron-withdrawing substituents (–SO2Bu and C60) on phthalocyanine macrocycle exhibit distinct impact on the solution electrochemistry of these metallophthalocyanine (MPc) complexes. The more electron-withdrawing C60 substituent suppressed ORR compared to the –SO2Bu in alkaline medium. FeOBSPc showed the best ORR activity involving a direct 4-electron mechanism, a rate constant of ∼1 × 108 cm3 mol−1 s−1 and a Tafel slope of −171 mV dec−1.
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Date Issued: 2009

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Metallophthalocyanine Based Carbon Paste Electrodes for the Determination of 2′, 3′‐Dideoxyinosine

- Ozoemena, Kenneth I, Stefan-van Staden, Raluca-Ioana, Nyokong, Tebello

Authors: Ozoemena, Kenneth I , Stefan-van Staden, Raluca-Ioana , Nyokong, Tebello
Date: 2009
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/263430 , vital:53627 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1002/elan.200904581"
Description: Novel electrochemical sensors based on carbon paste impregnated with metallopthalocyanine (MPc, M=Co, Fe) complexes, have been constructed for the assay of anti-HIV drug 2′,3′-dideoxyinosine (didanosine, DDI). Both modified electrodes showed electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of dideoxyinosine in phosphate buffer pH 7.4 with a working concentration range of 10−6–10−4 mol/L and a detection limit of 10−7 mol/L magnitude order. The sensor proved to be highly reliable for the assay of the purity of DDI - raw material as well as for the uniformity content test of Videx tablets.
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Date Issued: 2009

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Numerical quadrature of oscillatory and non-oscillatory integrals

- Dukuza, Kenneth Njengele https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4525-7390

Authors: Dukuza, Kenneth Njengele https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4525-7390
Date: 2009
Subjects: Oscillations , Numerical integration , Numerical analysis
Language: English
Type: Master's theses , text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/24304 , vital:62600
Description: In this dissertation we develop efficient new methods and techniques to numerically evaluate integrals of both oscillatory and non oscillatory kind. We have done a comprehensive literature review on the existing methods and made some modifications to them so as to cope with difficulties such as oscillations and strong singularities. In the numerical algorithms we have used mainly the MATLAB source code. Our results have been compared with well known methods by renowned authors in this field. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science and Agriculture, 2009
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Date Issued: 2009

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Opposing responses elicited by positively charged phthalocyanines in the presence of CdTe quantum dots

- Moeno, Sharon, Nyokong, Tebello

Authors: Moeno, Sharon , Nyokong, Tebello
Date: 2009
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/264506 , vital:53740 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotochem.2008.10.027"
Description: Tetrapositively charged phthalocyanines and CdTe quantum dots (QDs) capped with thioglycolic acid (TGA) and mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) were synthesized. The response of the tetrapositively charged zinc phthalocyanines in the presence of quantum dots was studied. Aggregation and charge transfer were observed for [tetramethyl-2,(3)-[tetra-(2-mercaptopyridinephthalocyaninato)]zinc(II)]4+ (TmTMPyZnPc), however aggregation proved to be the more prominent process of the two. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) was observed with [tetramethyl-2,(3)-[tetra-(2- pyridyloxyphthalocyaninato)]zinc(II)]4+ (TmTPyZnPc). In the FRET study the efficiency of FRET with TmTPyZnPc was determined to be 21% for both MPA and TGA capped CdTe QDs. For the charge transfer study the fluorescence of the quantum dots was quenched by the TmTMPyZnPc used, and from these quenching studies the quenching constants, binding constants and number of binding sites on the quantum dots were determined.
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Date Issued: 2009

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Paper recycling patterns and potential interventions in the education sector: A case study of paper streams at Rhodes University, South Africa

- Amutenya, N, Shackleton, Charlie M, Whittington-Jones, Kevin J

Authors: Amutenya, N , Shackleton, Charlie M , Whittington-Jones, Kevin J
Date: 2009
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/181180 , vital:43705 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2008.12.001"
Description: This paper considers the use of paper by academics and student computer laboratories at Rhodes University as a basis for identifying areas to reduce the amounts used and increase rates of recycling. A sample of 50 academic staff monitored the volume and purpose of the paper they used over 5 months, and the procurement officers in all the academic departments were interviewed regarding the total amount of paper used per academic department. Mean use was 34 ± 20 new sheets of paper per working day, of which 3% were trashed, 15% were kept for later use (as scrap or printed on the opposite side) and 79% were given out as notes to students, filed as records or posted out as mail to other departments or institutions. There was a significant relationship between number of students served by a department and the overall demand for paper, as well the number of staff per department and the number of recycling bins. The university could save approximately US$ 7000 per year for every 10% reduction in current use of paper (12,784 reams/year). Reduction in paper usage could be achieved through an increase in re-use of paper, printing handouts for students on both sides of each sheet of paper and by investing in printers that are capable of printing on both sides of a sheet of paper. Double-sided printers are only 20–25% more expensive than single-sided ones, but will potentially reduce paper usage by half. A 40% reduction would save the university approximately US $ 20,000 per year in direct costs, and more in reduced waste streams, as well as help promote the environmental image of the university. On a per unit basis, the higher costs for a double-sided printer in offices would be repaid in 9 months or less through reduced paper use.
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Date Issued: 2009

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Photophysical, photochemical and electrochemical properties of water soluble silicon, titanium and zinc phthalocyanines

- Masilela, Nkosiphile, Idowu, Mopelola, Nyokong, Tebello

Authors: Masilela, Nkosiphile , Idowu, Mopelola , Nyokong, Tebello
Date: 2009
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/264496 , vital:53739 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotochem.2008.10.009"
Description: The photophysical, and photochemical properties of titanium, silicon and zinc octacarboxy phthalocyanine (OTiOCPc, (OH)2SiOCPc and ZnOCPc) and their tetrasulfonated counterparts (OTiTSPc, (OH)2SiTSPc and ZnTSPc) in phosphate-buffer solution (PBS), pH 10 were studied. The tetrasulfonated derivatives were also studied in the presence of a surfactant, cremophore EL (CEL) due to their high aggregation tendency in aqueous solutions. Triplet quantum yields ranged from 0.20 to 0.48 for MOCPcs and 0.32–0.65 for MTSPcs in the presence of CEL and in pH 10. High triplet lifetimes were observed for ZnTSPc (270 μs, in the presence of CEL) or ZnOCPc (130 μs) compared to values ranging from 50 to 70 μs for the rest of the complexes.
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Date Issued: 2009

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Photophysicochemical and fluorescence quenching studies of tetra-and octa-carboxy substituted silicon and germanium phthalocyanines

- Idowu, Mopelola, Nyokong, Tebello

Authors: Idowu, Mopelola , Nyokong, Tebello
Date: 2009
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/263500 , vital:53633 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotochem.2009.02.002"
Description: Spectral, photophysical and photochemical properties of tetra- and octa-carboxy substituted metallophthalocyanines containing silicon and germanium as central metals ((OH)2GeTCPc, (OH)2SiTCPc, (OH)2GeOCPc and (OH)2SiOCPc) have been studied in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and the trends in triplet, fluorescence, singlet oxygen quantum yields and triplet lifetimes are described for these compounds. The GePc derivatives exhibited high triplet quantum yields (ΦT = 0.79 for (OH)2GeOCPc and 0.82 for (OH)2GeTCPc compared to ΦT = 0.66 for (OH)2SiTCPc and 0.48 for (OH)2SiOCPc) due to the spin–orbit coupling induced by Ge(IV). The triplet lifetimes were higher for MOCPc (τT = 760 μs for (OH)2SiOCPc and 480 μs for (OH)2GeOCPc compared to τT = 210 μs for (OH)2SiTCPc and 260 μs for (OH)2GeTCPc). The fluorescent states of the metallophthalocyanine (MPc) complexes were effectively quenched by benzoquinone (BQ) and the quenching course was found to follow a diffusion-controlled (dynamic) bimolecular mechanism. Theoretical values of bimolecular rate constant for the interaction of the complexes with BQ were determined using the Stokes–Einstein–Smoluchowski model, and values together with the Stern–Volmer quenching constants were used in calculating the fluorescence lifetimes of the complexes.
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Date Issued: 2009

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Plankton trophodynamics at the subtropical convergence, Southern Ocean

- Richoux, Nicole B, Froneman, P William

Authors: Richoux, Nicole B , Froneman, P William
Date: 2009
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/457967 , vital:75704 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbp054"
Description: Stable isotope signatures (δ13C, δ15N) in zooplankton tissues and particulate organic matter (POM) were determined to assess regional differences in the trophodynamics of zooplankton communities between 38 and 43°S, where the cool nutrient-rich subantarctic waters of the Southern Ocean meet the warm nutrient-poor subtropical waters of the southwest Indian Ocean at the subtropical convergence (STC). Significantly enriched values of δ15N were noted in populations of all major zooplankton groups inhabiting the warm and saline water mass north of the STC (maximum surface temperature 21°C), including the euphausiids, salps, amphipods, copepods, ostracods, pyrosomes, pteropods and chaetognaths, compared with those in the cool, less saline southern water mass (minimum surface temperature 11°C). Similar patterns of δ15N in POM collected throughout the region suggest that the large changes in zooplankton δ15N values across the frontal region are driven by variations in the phytoplankton communities. The differing trophodynamics in communities north and south of the STC provide compelling evidence of distinct bottom-up effects on planktonic food webs which have important implications in the determination of trophic positions and motility of plankton and higher consumers using δ15N signatures. Although expected, similar latitudinal variations in δ13C signatures were not found.
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Date Issued: 2009

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Sigtuna think piece 6: A case of exploring learning interactions in rural farming communities of practice in Manicaland, Zimbabwe

- Pesanayi, Tichaona V

Authors: Pesanayi, Tichaona V
Date: 2009
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/386427 , vital:68140 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122802"
Description: Food insecurity is one of the major threats to sustainable development in Africa, and particularly southern Africa. Climate change is increasingly having negative impacts on food production, further increasing the vulnerability of resource-poor communities. This paper outlines a research study conducted in two Zimbabwean smallholder communities of practice, with the aim of understanding learning interactions taking place within the community of practice that influence its choice of cultivated food plants. This would hopefully inform capability-centred teaching and learning. The study was conducted in the context of vulnerability to environment risk, socio-political pressures and a market-oriented agro-based economy in recession. Various causal mechanisms influencing plant-food choice were identified using critical realist ontological analysis. These included mixed messages from external influences in conflict with local knowledge due to power knowledge relationships. A number of learning interactions were found to be important in promoting the adaptive capacity of the farmers to chronic drought, which included inter-generational knowledge sharing; farmer to farmer exchange and reflective dialogue; experiential learning; farmers ‘passing on’ part of their harvests to other farmers; farming communities learning from risk and responding to risk; and learning from trying things out. The implications for capability-centred social learning processes were that it is important to understand the causal mechanisms that influence choices; and to confront tensions, while reducing ambivalence. A focus on more sustainable alternatives, feasible and practical for farmers, was recommended. These findings, in the context of one case study, create research questions to be examined in other case contexts in environmental education research focusing on climate change learning and adaptation.
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Date Issued: 2009

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