An entrepreneurial framework for deciding on the implementation of large format digital printing internationally
- Authors: Adendorff, Christian Michael
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Entrepreneurship , Success in business , Business -- Technological innovations , Digital printing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:1169 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002785 , Entrepreneurship , Success in business , Business -- Technological innovations , Digital printing
- Description: This study focuses on entrepreneurs within the SME sector using large format digital printing (LFDP) because of the changes in technology that influences the decisionmaking processes of the entrepreneur in the purchasing of a new LFDP. These fast changes are likely to continue and can cause technologies to become obsolete overnight. The entrepreneurs within the LFDP industry find themselves in the midst of these fast changes and are faced with a dilemma. On the one hand, they need to make sure that the technology used produces consistent and quality products. On the other hand, the entrepreneur needs to ensure an optimal return on investments. From the literature and the findings of the study, the researcher recommends a change to an existing model on a consultant involvement purchase of high technology products, which is then adapted to integrate resource-forecasting areas together with timing and type of information required as well as external environment scanning. The existing model’s focus is on the individual’s ability to make decisions based on their own knowledge. However, by integrating technology forecasting components, and scanning the business environment and resource forecasting needed the decision-maker will be better equipped to make decisions that also takes into account the external environment. This will also allow them to plan and manage growth in a systematic way. Therefore the proposed model takes into account individual capabilities and technology forecasting components that can facilitate the decision-making process. The adapted model on decision-making clearly delineates that the combination of entrepreneurial qualities and technology forecasting techniques in the LFDP industry will ultimately assist the entrepreneur on various levels in deciding on a new LFDP.
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- Date Issued: 2003
An analysis of digital photojournalistic practices: a study of the Sowetan's photographic department
- Authors: Allan, Christopher
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Sowetan (Johannesburg, South Africa) , Photojournalism -- South Africa , Photography -- Digital techniques , Photojournalists -- South Africa , Photojournalism -- South Africa -- Moral and ethical aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3496 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003071 , Sowetan (Johannesburg, South Africa) , Photojournalism -- South Africa , Photography -- Digital techniques , Photojournalists -- South Africa , Photojournalism -- South Africa -- Moral and ethical aspects
- Description: Photojournalism in South Africa is in the process of undergoing a shift from an analogue past to a fully digital future. This shift to digital has already been completed by many of the newspapers in the United States of America and Europe, and the new technology is seen to have made fundamental differences in the way that journalists do their job. This thesis attempts to explore the differences brought about, as well as the problems experienced by the photographic department at the Sowetan newspaper as a result of the shift to digital. How the development of technology has affected the photojournalist throughout is focused upon in a brief history of photojournalism and examples of how technology has shaped different aspects of journalism in both a positive and negative manner is considered. Exactly what digital photography is, how it has been integrated into American Photographic departments and the changes that the new technology has prompted are also explained. The manipulation of images in the past as well as the relative ease of digital manipulation are covered and concerns are raised about the future implications of digital manipulation. By conductlng participant observation and holding interviews, research data was compiled which allowed conclusions to be drawn about the impact that the shift to digital had had on the Sowetan photographic department. Intentional and unintentional consequences were expected and revealed in the research. The job of the photojournalist and photographic editor was found to have changed but perhaps not as dramatically as expected. Third world factors such as crime, poverty and lack of education were discovered to have resulted in problems that differed noticeably from those experienced by American and European photographic departments. Some expected difficulties were not experienced at all, while other major obstacles, specifically the repairs that must constantly be made to the digital cameras, continue to hamper the operations of the new digital department. Some understanding of the problems that might be encountered by future photojournalism departments that are considering making the shift to digital are arrived at, in the hope that they may be foreseen and overcome.
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- Date Issued: 2003
Multivariate morphometric analysis and behaviour of honeybees (Apis Mellifera L.) in the southern regions of Ethiopia
- Authors: Amssalu, Argaw Bezabeh
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Honeybee -- Ethiopia -- Behavior Honeybee -- Ethiopia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:5616 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003130
- Description: Morphometric and behavioural characteristics of honeybees, Apis mellifera were analysed using multivariate and bivariate statistical methods to characterise honeybees of southern Ethiopian region. A total of 33800 morphometric character measurements were taken from 2600 individual worker honeybees of 130 honeybee colonies collected at 26 sampling localities with an average inter-locality distance of 89km to determine the occurrence of morphoclusters. 117 experienced farmer beekeepers and beekeeping experts were interviewed on pre-tested questionnaire to investigate the behavioural characteristics of these honeybees in their respective areas. Morphometric characters associated with pigmentation and body size exhibited a higher discriminant power while forewing venation angles (B4, N23 and 026) lack discriminatory power to segregate honeybees in the southern Ethiopian region. Principal components and discriminant analyses using the most discriminatory morphological characters delineated four statistically distinct morphoclusters in the southern Ethiopian region: the smallest and yellow honeybees, A. m. woyi-gambella which are different from all African honeybees, occur in the western and southern lowlands; the small and yellowiest honeybees, Apis mellifera jemenitica in the eastern escarpment; the largest and darkest honeybees, Apis mellifera bandasii in the central and eastern highlands; and dark honeybees, Apis mellifera scutellata in the wet tropical forests. High intracolonial and intercolonial variances within and between the boundaries of the honeybee groups were detected. The former suggests areas of ecological instability, while the latter areas of transitional or natural hybridisation zones. These areas are characterised by transitional ecological zones having intermediate climate and physiography. Even though honeybees of the southern Ethiopian region are generally dark and small, they show a high tendency to reproductive swarming, migration and aggressiveness, great variation in pigmentation, size and behaviour were observed both within and between the groups. A. m. jemenitica honeybees have a high propensity to migration and less a tendency for reproductive swarming. A. m. bandasii and A. m. scutellata have a high inclination to reproductive swarming and the former has a lesser and the later intermediate propensity to migration. A. m. woyi-gambella honeybees have intermediate swarming and migration tendencies. These results revealed that reproductive swarming and migration are higher in resource-rich and resource-poor areas respectively. Honey plants of the central highlands of Ethiopia are predominantly herbaceous in nature and mainly grow on open and cultivated lands. The bulk of pollen collected came comparatively from few genera. Strong correlation was observed between the intensities of flowering and rainfall. Reproductive swarming and migration occur during high and low intensity of flowering respectively.
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- Date Issued: 2003
The impact of diversity training on employee attitudes and behaviour with regard to diversity in work organisations: an analysis of a diversity-training programme in a Namibian work organisation
- Authors: Amuenje, Florentia
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Employees -- Training of -- Namibia , Diversity in the workplace , Employees -- Attitudes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2924 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002433 , Employees -- Training of -- Namibia , Diversity in the workplace , Employees -- Attitudes
- Description: Diversity training programmes are formal efforts to prepare the workforce to work with individuals from different cultural backgrounds and to improve organisational effectiveness. Although many studies have described diversity training programmes in the workplace, only a few have been evaluated to assess their effectiveness and impact on job outcomes. This thesis describes a study that assessed the impact of a diversity management-training programme on employee attitudes and behaviour towards diversity in a manufacturing company in Namibia. Kirkpatrick’s (1959) four-level model, which examines the trainees’ reactions to the training, the learning acquired, the behaviour change and improvement in organisational results, was used to measure the impact of the training programme. Data was collected through pre-and post-assessment semi-structured individual interviews and a focus group was conducted two months after the training. Data analysis indicates that the first two levels of the evaluation model showed an impact. The participants had positive reactions towards the course and said that they had learnt from the course. The data also showed that the training did not have any impact on the behaviour of the participants and on organisational outcomes. The research also revealed that lack of improved productivity and organisational results might have been influenced by unrealistic expectations, past political conditions, job insecurity and unemployment and the training context. Some recommendations for both the diversity training programme administrators as well as the management of the company are made.
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- Date Issued: 2003
The process of coping and self-management in the experience of recovering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)
- Authors: Andrews, Karen Joyce
- Date: 2003 , 2013-05-20
- Subjects: Chronic fatigue syndrome , Chronic fatigue syndrome -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:3094 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003132 , Chronic fatigue syndrome , Chronic fatigue syndrome -- Psychological aspects
- Description: A hermeneutical model of doing research is adopted to investigate the process of coping and self-management in the experience of recovering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). Three research participants who consider themselves as recovering or recovered from CFS were interviewed to obtain data for analysis. The findings are that once the participants cope with the uncertainty about the meaning of the onset of symptoms by defining themselves as ill in somatic terms, the participants use external social and treatment resources to cope with the onset of symptoms and being chronically ill with CFS. As a consequence of feeling stigmatised in relation to social and professional scepticism about initially being ill and subsequently, being chronically ill with CFS, the participants become uncertain about the meaning of having CFS. Coping shifts to using internal resources by adopting self-management practises. In this process, firstly, existing self-management shifts in such a way that the participants view themselves as recovering or recovered from CFS, and secondly, the participants come to the understanding that difficulties with self-management cause and maintain CFS. The findings are discussed to conclude that CFS may be a misdiagnosis of difficulties with self-management. CFS itself may not be an 'objective' disorder, but a constituent of social processes. Becoming diagnosed with CFS arises as a consequence of the search for meaning in relation to the lay and professional assumption that psychological illness does not constitute 'real' illness, operating at both the levels of popular society and the doctor-patient relationship. Difficulties with self-management rather than the diagnosis of CFS provide a more adequate understariding of the participants' illnesses. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
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- Date Issued: 2003
Pyrroloiminoquinone metabolites from South African Latrunculid sponges
- Authors: Antunes, Edith Martins
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Sponges -- South Africa PQQ (Biochemistry) Marine metabolites -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:4340 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005001
- Description: An in depth chemical investigation of the major and minor pyrroloiminoquinone metabolites produced by four species of endemic South African Latrunculid sponges, collected from Algoa Bay and the Tsitsikamma Marine Reserve off the south eastern coast of South Africa, yielded eleven new and twelve known pyrroloiminoquinone metabolites. The structures of the new metabolites were determined using standard spectroscopic techniques. Tsitsikamma pedunculata was shown to contain 7,8-dehydro-3-dihydro-discorhabdin C (2.1), 14-bromo-7,8-dehydro-3-dihydro-discorhabdin C (2.2), discorhabdin S (2.3), 14-bromo-1-hydroxy-discorhabdin S (2.4), 1-bromo-2-hydroxy-4-debromo-discorhabdin S (2.5), and 2,4-debromo-3-dihydro-discorhabdin C (2.6), together with the known compounds 14-bromo-discorhabdin C (1.51), 14-bromo-3-dihydro-discorhabdin C (1.52) and 3-dihydro-discorhabdin C. The metabolites from T. pedunculata were characterised by the presence of a reduced C-3 carbonyl and bromination at C-14. Compounds isolated from a second Latrunculid sponge, Latrunculia lorii, ranged from a substituted bicyclic pyrrolecarboxylic acid, makaluvic acid A (1.47), to the simple tricyclic known pyrroloiminoquinones makaluvamine C (1.33) and damirone B (1.20) and the more complex discorhabdin D type metabolites, discorhabdin M (3.2), 1-amino discorhabdin D (3.3), 1-methoxy discorhabdin D (3.4) and 1-alanyl discorhabdin D (3.5). Discorhabdin G* (3.1) was also isolated and characterised. This is the first reported occurrence of the known compounds 1.20, 1.33 and 1.47 in a Latrunculia sponge. Discorhabdin and bis-pyrroloiminoquinone type compounds predominated in Tsitsikamma favus. Three known, tsitsikammamines A (1.71) and B (1.72), 1.52, and five new pyrroloiminoquinones, tsitsikammamine N-oxime (4.1), tsitsikammamine B N-oxime (4.2), 2.1, 2.4 and 2.6, were isolated from this sponge. A fourth Latrunculid sponge (Strongylodesma sp.) yielded three known compounds, discorhabdins A (1.57), D (1.61) and 1.53, and one new pyrroloiminoquinone 3.3. The dual role of these metabolites as cytotoxic agents and pigments resulted in an attempt to relate the photochemical properties of these metabolites to their cytotoxicity. The pyrroloiminoquinone metabolites studied exhibited moderate singlet oxygen quantum yields, while three compounds (1.57, 4.1 and 4.2) were shown to be capable of producing radicals at a wavelength of 532 nm. The possibility of a correlation between the electrochemical properties and anti-cancer (HCT-116) activity of selected pyrroloiminoquinones was explored. A study of the oesophageal and ovarian cytotoxicities of two pyrroloiminoquinones (1.57 and 1.72), together with an investigation into the intercalation and topoisomerase I inhibitory activity of the bis-pyrroloiminoquinones (1.71, 1.72, 4.1 and 4.2), are presented.
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- Date Issued: 2003
Review and development of environmental interpretation resources to foster environmental learning in two Kenyan schools
- Authors: Atiti, Abel Barasa
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Environmental education -- Kenya Environmental education -- Kenya -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1743 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003627
- Description: This participatory action research study involved a group of teachers in transforming school grounds into interpretation resources. Approached from a critical perspective, it challenged the conventional top-down approaches to interpretation resources and materials development. Through a teacher-centred approach, a school-based ‘botanic garden’ and ‘arboretum’ were developed at Samaj and Kenya High respectively. Teachers were further actively engaged in developing a variety of interpretive materials that might engage learners in socially critical environmental education processes at the transformed sites. A process in which educators from five non-formal education organisations shared their skills and knowledge on environmental interpretation with teachers preceded the development of interpretation resources and materials. Drawing on Latour (1999), I have applied the notion of mobilising interpretive capital when describing this process. Interpretive capital within the non-formal education sector was mobilised and made available through social interactions between teachers and non-formal educators. This occurred during workshops, organisational visits and critical reviews of a sample of interpretive materials. I provide insights into how the interpretive capital was mobilised and later drawn on by teachers during the development processes in their schools. This study argues that mobilising interpretive capital with teachers through partnerships can enhance the transformation of school grounds to foster environmental learning. It shows how attempts to find solutions with teachers were made in response to pedagogical and curriculum tensions that arise around the implementation of environmental education processes in their schools. To provide orientation in environmental education processes in schools, analyses of socially critical environmental education processes and a review of theoretical perspectives on interpretation as an environmental education process are presented. I have viewed interpretation and environmental education as reciprocally necessary aspects for enabling the development of critical environmental literacy and action competence. To explain this view, the notion of environmental interpretation and education processes has been applied and presented in this study. Finally, practical outcomes of the study on transformation of school grounds, improved education practice, enhanced professional competencies amongst teachers, new interpretive materials in schools and the establishment of partnerships are examined.
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- Date Issued: 2003
Biological control initiatives against Lantana camara L. (Verbenaceae) in South Africa : an assessment of the present status of the programme, and an evaluation of Coelocephalapion camarae Kissinger (Coleoptera: Brentidae) and Falconia intermedia (Distant) (Heteroptera: Miridae), two new candidate natural enemies for release on the weed
- Authors: Baars, Jan-Robert
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Lantana camara Lantana camera -- South Africa Biological pest control agents -- South Africa Beetles -- South Africa Hemiptera -- South Africa Weeds -- Biological control -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:5647 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005329
- Description: Lantana camara (lantana), a thicket-forming shrub, a number of different varieties of which were introduced into South Africa as ornamental plants but which has become a serious invasive weed. Conventional control measures for lantana are expensive and ineffective and it has therefore been targeted for biological control since 1961. To date, eleven biological control agent species have become established on lantana in South Africa. However, most agents persist at low densities and only occasionally impact plant populations. Three species regularly cause significant damage, but only reach sufficiently high numbers by midsummer after populations crash during the winter. Overall, the impact of the biological control programme on the weed is negligible and this has been ascribed to the poor selection of agents for release, the accumulation of native parasitoids, differences in insect preference for different varieties of the weed and variable climatic conditions over the weed’s range. This study suggests that the importance of varietal preferences has been over-estimated. A predictive bioclimatic modelling technique showed that most of the agents established in South Africa have a wide climatic tolerance and that the redistribution and importation of new climatypes of these agents will not improve the level of control. Additional agents are required to improve the biocontrol in the temperate conditions, and also to increase damage in the sub-tropical areas where most of the agents are established and where the weed retains its leaves year round. New candidate agents that possess biological attributes that favour a high intrinsic rate of increase, a high impact per individual and that improve the synchrony between the weed and the agent in climatic conditions that promote the seasonal leaflessness of plants should receive prior consideration. A survey in Jamaica indicated that additional biological control agents are available in the region of origin but that care should be taken to prioritise the most effective agents. The various selection systems currently available in weed biocontrol produce contradictory results in the priority assigned to candidate agents and a new selection system is proposed. The biology and host range of two new candidate natural enemies, the leaf-galling weevil, Coelocephalapion camarae and the leaf-sucking mirid, Falconia intermedia were investigated for the biocontrol of lantana. The studies indicated that these have considerable biocontrol potential, in that the weevil has a wide climatic tolerance and has the potential to survive the host leaflessness typical of temperate conditions, while the mirid has a high intrinsic rate of increase, and the potential for several generations a year. Both agents caused a high level of damage to the leaves, with the weevil galling the vascular tissue in the leaf-petiole and the mirid causing chlorotic speckling of the leaves. During laboratory trials both agents accepted indigenous species in the genus Lippia. However, under multiple choice conditions these agents showed a significant and strong oviposition preference for lantana. A risk assessment and post release field trials indicated that F. intermedia is likely to attack some Lippia species in the presence of lantana, but the levels of damage are predicted to be relatively low. A possible low incidence of damage to indigenous species was considered a justifiable ‘trade-off’ for the potentially marked impact on L. camara. Preference and performance studies on the two candidate agents suggested that most of the South African lantana varieties are suitable host plants. The mirid preferred certain varieties in multiple choice experiments, but this is unlikely to affect its impact under field conditions. Permission for release was accordingly sought for both species. Finally, the challenges facing the biological control programme and the potential for improving the control of L. camara in South Africa are considered.
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- Date Issued: 2003
Mesozooplankton community structure and grazing impact in the polar frontal zone of the Southern Ocean
- Authors: Bernard, Kim Sarah
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Zooplankton -- Antarctic Ocean , Copepoda -- Feeding and feeds
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5731 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005417 , Zooplankton -- Antarctic Ocean , Copepoda -- Feeding and feeds
- Description: Mesozooplankton community structure and grazing impact in the Polar Frontal Zone (PFZ) of the Southern Ocean were investigated during two cruises of the South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP), the Marion Offshore Ecosystem Variability Study I & II (MOEVS). During the first cruise (MOEVS I), a meso-scale oceanographic grid survey was conducted in the upstream region of the Prince Edward Islands (PEI) in austral autumn (April) 2001. Mesozooplankton samples, collected using a Bongo net (fitted with 200 and 300µm mesh nets) at depths between 200 and 300 m, were separated into three size fractions: 200-500 µm; 500-1000 µm; 1000-2000 µm by reverse filtration. Total surface (depth <5 m) chlorophyll-a (chl-a) concentration (measured fluorometrically) during the study ranged between 0.11 and 0.34 µg 1^(-1) and was always dominated by picophytoplankton (<2.0 µm). Total mesozooplankton abundance and biomass during the survey ranged between 49 and 1512 ind. m^(-3) and between 0.7 and 25 mg Dwt. m^(-3), respectively. Throughout the survey, the 200-500 µm class numerically dominated the mesozooplankton community, comprising an average of ~ 69% (SD = ± 12.3%). The dominant species in the 200-500 µm size fraction were the copepods Oithona similis, Calanus simillimus and Metridia lucens and the pteropod, Limacina retroversa. However, in terms of biomass, the 1000-2000 µm group was predominant, with dry weight values constituting an average of ~ 66% (SD = ± 10.2%). Biomass was dominated by carnivorous zooplankton, particularly the euphausiids, Euphausia vallentini and Thysanoessa vicina and the chaetognaths, Sagitta gazellae and Eukrohnia hamata. Three distinct groupings of stations were identified by multivariate analysis. The different station groupings identified reflect changes in the relative contributions of the rather than different species assemblages. During the second cruise (MOEVS II), conducted in April 2002 (austral autumn), mesozooplankton community structure and grazing impact were investigated at 13 stations in the west Indian sector of the PFZ. Total integrated chl-a biomass ranged between 11.17 and 28.34 mg chl-a m^(-2) and was always dominated by nano- and picophytoplankton (<20 µm). Throughout the study, small copepods, mainly Oithona similis and Ctenocalanus vanus, numerically dominated the mesozooplankton community comprising up to 85% (range 30 to 85%) of the total abundance. Grazing activity of the four most abundant copepods (O. similis, C. vanus, Calanus simillimus and Clausocalanus spp.), which comprised up to 93% of total mesozooplankton abundance, was investigated using the gut fluorescent technique. Results of gut fluorescence analyses indicated that C. simillimus, Clausocalanus spp. and Ctenocalanus vanus exhibited diel variability in gut pigments, with maximum values at various stages of the night. In contrast, O. similis did not demonstrate diel variation in gut pigment contents. Ingestion rates of the four copepods ranged from 23.23 to 1462.02 ng (pigm.) ind^(-1) day^(-1), depending on the species. The combined grazing impact of the four copepods, ranged between 1 and 36% of the phytoplankton standing stock per day, with the highest daily impact (~ 35.86%) occurring at stations in the vicinity of the Antarctic Polar Front. Among the copepods, O. similis and C. vanus were generally the most important consumers of phytoplankton biomass; together they were responsible for up to 89% (range 15 to 89%) of the total daily grazing impact. Carbon specific ingestion rates of the copepods varied between 42 and 320% body carbon per day, depending on the species. The study highlights the importance of small copepods in terms of both their significant contribution to total mesozooplankton numbers and their grazing impact on the phytoplankton standing stocks in the PFZ during austral autumn.
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- Date Issued: 2003
Exploring differences between organisational cultures in a company undergoing change
- Authors: Bowa, Mabvuto
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Organizational change -- Africa , Corporate culture -- Africa , Management -- Africa , Organizational behavior -- Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3126 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006287 , Organizational change -- Africa , Corporate culture -- Africa , Management -- Africa , Organizational behavior -- Africa
- Description: Change is a common phenomena in business organisations today. The turbulent environment is exerting a significant influence on organisations to make continuous changes in their internal environment in an attempt to improve performance and achieve competitiveness in the marketplace. The human factors which confront organisations undergoing change have not been thoroughly investigated in Sub-Saharan Africa. The present study aimed at investigating human issues affecting the performance ofan organisation located in an Afiican country. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Twenty interviews were conducted with employees randomly selected from all the levels of the company, namely attendant, operator, supervisory, middle and top management. Five focus groups were carried out with employees from different employee categories. Both sets of data were analysed using grounded theory. The findings showed that there were several problems in the company including insecurity, lack of opportunities for employee development, autocratic management style, lack of participation in decision making, substandard performance, ineffective human resources systems and lack of adaptation to technology. It was suggested that the problems resulted from the clash between organisational cultures in the company. At one level, there was a clash between the local workers' socialist organisational culture and the expatriates' capitalistic organisational culture. At a more deeper level, the clash appeared to be between the local employees' collectivistic sociocultural values and the expatriates' individualistic value system. These findings have significant implications for managing change in organisations with diverse cultures.
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- Date Issued: 2003
The structure of ant communities and their impact on soil-pupating pests in citrus orchards in the Grahamstown area of the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Bownes, Angela
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Ants -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Pests -- Control -- South Africa , Homoptera -- Control -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Citrus -- Diseases and pests -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5775 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005463 , Ants -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Pests -- Control -- South Africa , Homoptera -- Control -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Citrus -- Diseases and pests -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: Two ant species, Pheidole megacephala (Fabricius) and Anoplolepis custodiens (Smith) reach pest status in citrus orchards through precipitating outbreaks of homopterous pests. However, predacious ants, including these two ant species, play an important role in pest suppression in agroecosystems and are therefore beneficial to these systems. If A. custodiens and P. megacephala are important natural control agents in citrus, using ant bands to break the mutualism between the ants and the Homoptera as a method of ant control is preferable to poisoning. Ant communities were sampled by pitfall trapping in three experimental subunits of 2-, 4-, 15- and 30-year-old citrus orchards, in the Grahamstown area of the Eastern Cape. In one subunit in each orchard, populations of P. megacephala and A. custodiens were suppressed by poison applications. In a second subunit, trees were banded with trunk barriers so that ants were prevented from foraging in the trees and a third subunit served as the untreated control. Bait pupae of bollworm, false codling moth and fruit fly were planted in bait trays in all of the subunits to investigate predation on these citrus pests in the relative absence of predacious ants and where they were excluded from the trees. Pheidole megacephala dominated exclusively in all of the plots. Community composition did not change dramatically with increasing age of the trees, but species diversity and species abundance did. Rank-abundance curves showed that community diversity was highest in the 2-year-old plots and lowest in the 30-year-old plots. The Simpson and Shannon-Wiener diversity indices and their evenness measures indicated that diversity and equitability were highest in the poisoned subunits and lowest in the banded subunits. Principle component analysis revealed that the poisoned subunits were similar and distinct in species composition, that there was significant monthly variation in species composition and that community stability increases with an increase in orchard age. The presence of P. megacephala was significantly negatively correlated (rs = -0.293; p < 0.001) with pest pupal survival. Pupal survival was significantly higher for bollworm (p < 0.001), FCM (p < 0.001) and fruit fly (p < 0.001) in the poisoned subunits, than in the banded and control subunits. There was a general trend for survivorship to increase with an increase in the age of the trees. A significant difference (p < 0.001) was found between the months in which the trials were carried out. Pupal survival was significantly lower (p < 0.001) for FCM than for bollworm and fruit fly. In citrus orchards, ant communities are organised by ecological processes and interactions and are influenced by methods of ant control. Ant bands are preferable to poisoning as a method of ant control, so that beneficial species are left on the ground to prey on pests that pupate in the soil. Maintaining high ant species diversity in citrus orchards would be beneficial as predation on the pupae was more effective where ant species diversity was higher.
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- Date Issued: 2003
The phenomenology of psychiatric diagnosis: an exploration of the experience of intersubjectivity
- Authors: Bradfield, Bruce Christopher
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Mental illness -- Diagnosis , Intersubjectivity , Stereotypes (Social psychology)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2941 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002450 , Mental illness -- Diagnosis , Intersubjectivity , Stereotypes (Social psychology)
- Description: This work is born out of previous research, conducted by this researcher, into the effects of psychiatric labelling on individuals thus differentiated. Informed by the investigative thrust of phenomenological inquiry, it is the aim herein to provide an illumination of the dramatic confrontation of the labelled individual with the classificatory branding that is his or her label. The question asked is: What is the experience of the labelled individual, and how does the label function as a ‘scientific fact’ (Kiesler, 2000) suffused within his being? In answering these questions, the researcher aims to abandon his own expectations, as is fitting with the phenomenological method, and to devote his sympathies entirely to the subjective disclosures which, it is hoped, the participants will offer. On this point, an obvious tension exists insofar as expectation and hypothesis necessarily constitute the inception of any research endeavour; and so, the notion of a complete bracketing of assumption and anticipation seems methodologically vague. The explorative impetus within this dissertation aims towards an elucidation of the effect of psychiatric diagnosis on the labelled individual, in terms of the individual’s experience of being-with-others. The impact of the offering of the label upon the individual’s interpersonal and intersubjective presence will be explored so as to establish whether psychiatric labelling unfolds as a disconnection of the individual from his co-existence with others.
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- Date Issued: 2003
Nursing in transition: negotiating the experience: an exploration of the impact of the aids pandemic on the subjective work experiences of peri-urban nurses
- Authors: Brown, Lisa Joy
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: AIDS (Disease) -- Nursing -- South Africa , AIDS (Disease) -- Nursing -- Psychological aspects , Nurses -- Job stress -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3252 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015962
- Description: A substantial amount of international research exists examining the impact of HIV/AIDS on health care workers. However, the impact of HIV/AIDS on nursing staff in South Africa has been relatively neglected. The primary objective of this study was to examine the impact of the AIDS pandemic on the subjective work experiences of peri-urban nurses in South Africa. The study explored the relationship between external changes in the nurses' working environment and their internal psychological responses for negotiating this change. A focus group of eight nurses was conducted, followed by indepth individual interviews with three group members. A grounded theory method was utilised to process and analyse the data. The research showed that nurses experience two forms of change. It was suggested that nurses respond to external changes in a manner designed to maximise their control and sense of meaning in an unpredictable environment. This accommodation involves the restoration of an internal psychological equilibrium through a process of balancing positive and negative experiences. The attainment of such an acceptable equilibrium may allow for diminished stress, increased satisfaction or fulfilment and the validation of personal and professional significance.
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- Date Issued: 2003
Patents, pills, poverty and pandemic: the ethical issues
- Authors: Brown, Walter
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Kant, Immanuel, 1724-1804 -- Ethics , AIDS (Disease) -- Treatment -- South Africa -- Moral and ethical aspects , AIDS (Disease) -- Moral and ethical aspects , HIV infections -- South Africa , HIV infections -- Treatment -- South Africa -- Moral and ethical aspects , Social responsibility of business , Pharmaceutical industry -- South Africa -- Moral and ethical aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2705 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002835 , Kant, Immanuel, 1724-1804 -- Ethics , AIDS (Disease) -- Treatment -- South Africa -- Moral and ethical aspects , AIDS (Disease) -- Moral and ethical aspects , HIV infections -- South Africa , HIV infections -- Treatment -- South Africa -- Moral and ethical aspects , Social responsibility of business , Pharmaceutical industry -- South Africa -- Moral and ethical aspects
- Description: This thesis argues that corporations qua corporations are moral agents sui generis and hence capable of being held morally responsible. I argue that corporations qua corporations are responsible for the actual and foreseen consequences of their actions. I analyse normative theories and the different proscriptive responsibilities they place on moral agents and hence corporations. I examine Kantianism, utilitarianism and virtue ethics. I argue for a unique normative ethical theory that incorporates reasoning from all three of the normative theories. I argue for a broad range of reasons to factor into deciding whether an act is ethical or not. One of the claims of this thesis is that ethical theories must incorporate an agent’s motivation, intention and character traits as relevant to deciding on whether an action is ethical or not. My thesis argues for an indispensable role for the virtues while at the same time incorporating impartial beneficence and universal rationality from utilitarianism and Kantianism. This position I, following the literature, refer to as moderate virtue theory. Having established corporate qua corporate responsibility I question the pharmaceutical corporation’s practice of patenting life saving medication during a state of pandemic in poor countries. The moderate virtue theory position prioritises contexts and the actual human condition and criticises normative theories that attempt to give universal, abstracted answers to ethical problems. It is for this reason and the current (2003) HIV/AIDS pandemic that I focus on a particular context. I examine the practice of patenting life saving medication within South Africa and argue, applying moderate virtue theory, that this act cannot be justified. I argue that a pharmaceutical corporation that patents life saving medication in South Africa cannot justify that action and thus is morally responsible for that action. I also argue that corporations patenting HIV/AIDS medication in South Africa have unethical motivations and intentions.
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- Date Issued: 2003
Confirmation of a slow symplasmic loading and unloading pathway in barley (Hordeum Vulgare L.) source and sink leaves
- Authors: Buwa, Lisa Valencia
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Phloem , Plant translocation , Barley -- Metabolism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4253 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007804
- Description: Visualization of the transport pathway in barley (Hordeum vulgare) leaves was carried out using a combination of aniline blue and a symplasmically transported fluorochrome, 5,6 carboxyfluorescein (5,6-CF). When applied to a source leaf, basipetal movement of 5,6-CF was observed after 3 h and the fluorochrome front was observed about 3-4cm away from the point of application. The fluorochrome was taken up into the symplasm of the mesophyll and was loaded into the bundle sheath cells and then subsequently the vascular parenchyma and finally into the sieve tubes. In sink leaves, acropetal movement was observed after 3 h and the fluorochrome had moved approximately 3 cm away from the point of application. Unloading of 5,6-CF occurred from all classes of longitudinal veins. Studies on solute retrieval showed that 5,6 CF-diacetate was transferred to xylem parenchyma where it was metabolized. 5,6-CF was then transferred from the xylem parenchyma to the vascular parenchyma cells, and it would appear that thick-walled sieve tubes were the first to show 5,6-CF labeling. Counterstaining with aniline blue demonstrates the presence of plasmodesmata and this suggests a potential symplasmic pathway from the mesophyll to the sieve tubes. Application of 5,6 CF-diacetate revealed a slow symplasmic pathway, which involved transfer of 5,6-CF, which was effected via plasmodesma.
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- Date Issued: 2003
An investigation into the feeding biology and factors influencing the population dynamics of Terebrasabella heterouncinata (Polychaeta: Sabellidae), a problematic tube-dwelling polychaete in farmed abalone in South Africa
- Authors: Chalmers, Russell
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Polychaeta -- South Africa , Sabellidae -- South Africa , Abalones -- Feeding and feeds -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5291 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005136 , Polychaeta -- South Africa , Sabellidae -- South Africa , Abalones -- Feeding and feeds -- South Africa
- Description: Since the discovery of a new species of sabellid worm in 1993, the Californian and South African abalone industries have experienced increasing shell breakage and reduced growth rates of abalone, resulting in reduced market value of product. This polychaete worm can reach very high infestation levels. It was described as Terebrasabella heterouncinata in 1999, having originated from the South African coastline where it had been observed on several wild mollusc species. Although not a shell borer, it occupies tubes on the growing edge which are formed by deposition of nacreous shell over sabellid larvae by the host abalone. Heavy sabellid infestation levels have placed the economic viability of several South African farms under threat. Past research methods have not been successful in establishing effective means of eradication or control, partly due to the lack of knowledge of basic biological information on this species. This study forms the first part of an ongoing research project into the biology of terebrasabella heterouncinata. Abalone farms in South African utilise two main diets in abalone culture. An artificial formulated feed, Abfeed, is produced in South Africa and is used by the majority of farms as it increases abalone growth rate. Kelp, a natural diet of abalone, is harvested and also used as a feed. Farmers have observed higher sabellid infestation levels on Abfeed-fed abalone and suspect that diet may be an important factor influencing sabellid infestation. Abalone stocking density has also been identified as a potential factor influencing sabellid population growth on commercial farms. In order to better understand sabellid nutrition, the feeding behaviour of the sabellid in response to suspended solids of various particle size classes from both abalone diets were investigated. Both the effect of abalone diet and stocking density and their effects on sabellid morphometrics were quantified. The proximate composition and particle size distribution of suspended-solids present within kelp and Abfeed abalone raceways were also quantified. Results indicate that sabellid feeding follows no structured behavioural pattern for both abalone diets. The quantity of suspended solids in kelp raceways was greater than in Abfeed raceways (p<0.02) while there was no difference in particulate level between three abalone stocking densities (p>0.05). Protein (p<0.0001) and energy (p<0.0.1) levels of suspended solids were significantly greater in raceways dedicated to feeding Abfeed. The infestation level (number of tubes/centimetre on the grwoing edge) was significantly higher (p<0.001) in Abfeed-fed abalone. The morphometrics of the sabellids indicated that sabellids from Abfeed-fed abalone were larger in various body measurements: length (p<0.00001); neck width (p<0.001); base width (p<0.001); and surface area (p<0.001). This study suggests that abalone diet has an important influence on the infestation level and size of sabellids and that this is likely to be due to the fragmentation and leaching of nutrients from the artificially enriched commercial abalone diet.
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- Date Issued: 2003
Isolation, expression and purification of the hydantoin hydrolysing enzymes of agrobacterium tumefaciens
- Authors: Clark, Sally-Ann
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Agrobacterium tumefaciens , Amino acids Hydantoin Enzymes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4140 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016233
- Description: The production of enantiomerically pure amino acids is of industrial importance as they are used in the synthesis of a number of pharmaceuticals, insecticides and herbicides and biologically active peptides and hormones. A number of microorganisms have been identified which possess hydantoin hydrolysing enzymes that stereoselectively convert racemic hydantoins into anantiomerically pure amino acids. Consequently these microorganisms and their enzymes are sought after as biocatalysts for the production of amino acids. The isolation of novel hydantoin hydrolising enzymes with unique or improved biocatalytic characteristics is of importance for the development of potential biocatalysts to be used in the production of enantiomerically pure amino acids. The genes encoding an N-carbamoyl-amino acid amidohydrolase, an enzyme involved in the hydrolysis of hydantoin, was isolated by screening a genomic DNA library of Agrobacterium tumefacience RU-AE01. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the region upstream of this gene revealed a fragment of a gene encoding the hydantoinase enzyme. I this study, a DNA probe consisting of the gene encoding the N-carbamoyl amino acid amidohydrolase, on a large enough fragment of the genomic DNA library which would allow for the simultaneous isolation the hydantoinase gene located upstream. Recombinant expression of the genes encoding hydantoin hydrolysing enzymes has been used to facilitate the production and purification of these enzymes for their use as biocatalysts. Two genes (ncaR1 and ncaR2) encoding different N-carbamoyl-amino acid amidohydrolases with distinct nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences were isolated from the genome of A, tumefaciens RU-OR. In this study, the heterologous expression of ncaR1 and ncaR2 was explored. Investigation into the optimisation of the heterologous expression of ncaR1 showed that reducing the growth temperature of the recombinant E. coli producing NcaR1 resulted in a two-fold increase in N-carbamoyl-amino acid amidohydrolase activity and solubility. Furthermore, NcaR1 was produced with a C-terminal 6xHis tag, but NcaR1-6xHis did not possess N-carbamoyl amino acid amidohydrolase activity. Furthermore, purification of NcaR-6xHis under native conditions using affinity chromatography performed, and used for the production of antibodies.
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- Date Issued: 2003
The suspension of mastery and the desire for imaginary : applying Jacques Lacan's theory of the imaginary to the beholder/image dialectic as realised in selected paintings by Lucy Cobern and Gerhard Richter
- Authors: Cobern, Lucy Rebecca
- Date: 2013-05-21
- Subjects: Lacan, Jacques, 1901-1981 -- Criticism and interpretation Richter, Gerhard, 1932- -- Criticism and interpretation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3174 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007806
- Description: This dissertation seeks to explore the nature of the self/other, subject/object dialectic that can be found in Jacques Lacan's theory of the Minor Stage and his notion of Imaginary mastery, and how this relationship can be re-read in terms of a beholder/image relationship. What I seek to demonstrate in exploring the relationship between the beholder and the image is the staging of two opposing emotions, aggression and desire and the consequential tussle for mastery that arises from the self/other, and hence the beholder/image, dichotomy. I seek to explore the reasons why such a beholder/image relationship becomes ambivalent, due to veiled, obscured and fragmented images. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
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An investigation into the neuroprotective properties of curcumin
- Authors: Daniel, Sheril
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Turmeric -- Therapeutic use , Nervous system -- Degeneration -- Prevention
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:3753 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003231 , Turmeric -- Therapeutic use , Nervous system -- Degeneration -- Prevention
- Description: An increasing number of studies show that nutritional antioxidants such as vitamin E and polyphenols are capable of blocking neuronal death in vitro and may have therapeutic properties in animal models of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. In the present study, the neuroprotective ability of one such polyphenolic antioxidant, curcumin, was investigated. Curcumin is the yellow curry spice derived from turmeric, and is widely used as a dietary component and herbal medicine in India. Most neurological disorders are postulated to have an oxidative or excitototoxic basis. Thus the effects of curcumin on oxidative stress in the rat brain were investigated. Curcumin, administered to the rat in vivo and in vitro, was able to exert protective effects on oxidative damage in the brain, induced by cyanide, a mitochondrial inhibitor. Curcumin also offered protection against quinolinic acid induced lipid peroxidation, and this protection was extended to lipid peroxidation induced by metals such as lead and cadmium in the rat brain. Experiments conducted on the pineal gland revealed an increased production of the neuroprotective hormone melatonin in presence of curcumin in vivo. The hippocampus is functionally related to vital behaviour and intellectual activities and is known to be a primary target for neuronal degeneration in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Histological studies were undertaken to assess the effects of curcumin on lead induced toxicity on the rat hippocampus, the results of which show that curcumin affords significant protection to the hippocampus of the lead treated rats. This study also sought to elucidate possible mechanisms by which curcumin exerts its neuroprotective capabilities. Curcumin was found to inhibit the action of cyanide on the mitochondrial electron transport chain, one of the most common sources of free radicals. Electrochemical, UV/VIS and Infrared spectroscopy were used to characterise interactions between curcumin and the metals lead, cadmium, iron (II) and iron (III). Curcumin was shown to directly chelate these metals with the formation and isolation of two new curcumin complexes with lead, and one complex each with cadmium and iron (III). These results suggest chelation of toxic metals as a mechanism of neuroprotection afforded by curcumin. The need for neuroprotective agents is urgent considering the rapid rise in the elderly population and the proportionate increase in neurological disorders. The findings of this study indicate that curcumin, a well-established dietary antioxidant, is capable of playing a bigger role in neuroprotection, which needs to be further explored and exploited.
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- Date Issued: 2003
Paranoid metaphors: an examination of the discursive, theoretical and sometimes personal, interaction between the psychoanalyst, Jacques Lacan, the surrealist, Salvador Dali, and the English poet, David Gascoyne
- Authors: De Klerk, Eugene
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: Paranoia , Lacan, Jacques, 1901-1981 , Dali, Salvador, 1904-1989 , Gascoyne, David, 1916-2001
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2192 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002234 , Paranoia , Lacan, Jacques, 1901-1981 , Dali, Salvador, 1904-1989 , Gascoyne, David, 1916-2001
- Description: This thesis examines the historical interaction of the psychoanalyst, Jacques Lacan, the surrealist, Salvador Dali, and the English poet, David Gascoyne. It traces the discursive, and sometimes personal, relationship between these figures which led to a psychoanalytic-based conception of paranoia that impacted on both surrealism and the surrealist-inspired poetry and theory of David Gascoyne. Furthermore it seeks to identify the potential ramifications of this conception of paranoia, and the artistic practice it engendered, for literary, Marxist and psychoanalytic theory.
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- Date Issued: 2003