Intellectual challenge is as necessary as breathing: an interview with Laurence Wright
- Authors: Wright, Laurence , Pearce, B
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: text , Article
- Identifier: vital:7059 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007422
- Description: Professor Laurence Wright is Director of the Institute for the Study of English in Africa at Rhodes University. In 2009, he will have completed 25 years of research, teaching and scholarship at Rhodes University and this interview marks the occasion. A Rhodes Scholar and a Commonwealth Scholar, he studied at the universities of Rhodes, Warwick and Oxford. He is also Honorary Life President of the Shakespeare Society of Southern Africa. He has published widely in literary studies and is the Managing Editor of two academic journals as well as of the poetry magazine New Coin. He currently serves on the Council of the English Academy and is a co-opted member of the English National Language Body. He has taken a broad interest in the role of English in this country, ranging from language policy and teacher education matters, to archival research and the role of the humanities in public life. I thought that it would be worthwhile to interview him as his knowledge of literature is substantial, while his incisive and engaging thoughts on a range of topics are worth hearing. The interview was conducted intermittently by email between July and October, 2008.
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- Date Issued: 2009
Archdeacon Merriman, ‘Caliban’, and the Cattle-Killing of 1856–57
- Authors: Wright, Laurence
- Date: 2008
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7026 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007212 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00020180802242574
- Description: [From the introduction]: Did Archdeacon Merriman accept that Mhlakaza was Wilhelm Goliath? The short answer is that we don’t know. However, historical problems sometimes yield, or at least buckle slightly, when approached from unusual, tangential perspectives.I believe it can be shown that in the terrible aftermath of the Cattle-Killing, Nathaniel Merriman was brooding on his former servant, Wilhelm Goliath, and that evidence of this preoccupation emerges indirectly in a very open and unexpected forum: a public lecture on Shakespeare.
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- Date Issued: 2008
Science after a century at Rhodes University
- Authors: Woods, D R
- Date: 2004
- Language: English
- Type: Article , text
- Identifier: vital:7123 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006584
- Description: Rhodes Centenary issue , The small University of Rhodes (6142 students), in the rural city of Grahamstown, was established in 1904 as a result of a £50 000 grant from the Rhodes Trust in Oxford. It grew out of St Andrew’s College, which provided the first four professors and 41 students. The first paper from Rhodes in the South African Journal of Science (then called the Report of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science) was by Selmar Schonland, one of the university’s founding fathers. Entitled: ‘Biological and ethnological observations on a trip to the N.E. Kalahari’, it appeared in 1904. The following pages provide a glimpse into the growth and achievements of various departments in the faculties of Science and Pharmacy and associated institutes a century after the university was born.
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- Date Issued: 2004
Résultats des études menées en Angleterre: détermination de la posologie optimale
- Authors: Woodford, R , Haigh, John M , Barry, B W
- Date: 1981
- Language: French
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6449 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006636
- Description: Les auteurs ont etudie la biodisponibilite et I'activite de formules experimentales et commercialisees de dermocortico'ides en utilisant les essais de vasoconstriction avec et sans occlusion (1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9). L'application unique de six heures avec lectures multiples a ete largement utilisee dans ce travail et la methodologie en a ete decrite en detail ailleurs (4). Sur la base de ce travail. on a pratique des applications repetees de dermocortico'ides commercialises au Royaume- Uni. en utilisant Ie test du blanchiment de la peau sans occlusion, de maniere a reproduire au plus pres la situation realisee en clinique (3). Ce travail a montre que I'application de cortico'ides trois fois par jour pendant cinq jours aboutissait a une tachyphylaxie considerable de la reponse du blanchiment quelque soit I'activite therapeutique de la formule utilisee. Au bout de deux jours de repos, on a assiste a une recuperation considerable, mais a nouveau une tachyphylaxie aigue s'est installee a la suite d'une nouvelle application triquotidienne.
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- Date Issued: 1981
Possible dosage regimens for topical steroids assessed by vasoconstrictor assays using multiple applications
- Authors: Woodford, R , Haigh, John M , Barry, B W
- Date: 1983
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6450 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006637
- Description: The bioavailabilities and activities of three amcinonide preparations and Betnovate cream were assessed using three multiple-dosage regimen vasoconstrictor assays in 10 volunteers. Applications were made once daily, twice daily and every alternate day with an initial three times daily loading dose applied on the first day only. Blanching responses first increased and then decreased due to tachyphylaxis. It is proposed that clinically the most advantageous dosage regimen is a once daily application with no loading dose.
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- Date Issued: 1983
Bioavailability and activity of 0.1% amcinonide preparations: comparison with proprietary topical corticosteroid formulations of differing potencies
- Authors: Woodford, R , Haigh, John M
- Date: 1979
- Language: English
- Type: text , Article
- Identifier: vital:6447 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006634
- Description: The activity of a 0.1% amcinonide cream was compared with those of selected proprietary topical corticosteroid formulations of potencies differing according to the United Kingdom (U.K.) MIMS classification (very potent, potent and moderately potent) using a standard six hour vasoconstrictor assay with multiple reading times. Statistical analysis indicated that 0.1% amcinonide cream feU within the category of a very potent preparation. Three 0.1% amcinonide formulations (cream, combination cream and combination ointment, the last two containing anti-infective agents) were equipotent in the skin-blanching test.
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- Date Issued: 1979
Great lost recordings
- Authors: Witherden, Barry , Wilmer, Val
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:13672 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012584
- Description: Photocopied article from the magazine Wire about the neglected recording "Very Urgent" by The Chris McGregor Sextet Blue Notes (1968).
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The decline of water hyacinth on Lake Victoria was due to biological control by Neochetina spp
- Authors: Wilson, J R U , Ajuonub, O , Center, R D , Hill, Martin P , Julien, M H , Katagira, F F , Neuenschwander, P , Njoka, S W , Ogwang, J , Reeder, R H , Van, T
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6927 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011918 , https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0579-5298
- Description: There has been some debate recently about the cause of the decline of water hyacinth on Lake Victoria. While much of this evidence points to classical biological control as the major factor, the El Niño associated weather pattern of the last quarter of 1997 and the first half of 1998 has confused the issue. We argue first that the reductions in water hyacinth on Lake Victoria were ultimately caused by the widespread and significant damage to plants by Neochetina spp., although this process was increased by the stormy weather associated with the El Niño event; second that increased waves and current on Lake Victoria caused by El Niño redistributed water hyacinth plants around the lake; and third that a major lake-wide resurgence of water hyacinth plants on Lake Victoria has not occurred and will not occur unless the weevil populations are disrupted. We conclude that the population crash of water hyacinth on Lake Victoria would not have occurred in the absence of the weevils, but that it may have been hastened by stormy weather associated with the El Niño event.
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- Date Issued: 2007
The development phase of a case study of outcomes-based education assessment policy in the Human and Social Sciences learning area of C2005
- Authors: Wilmot, P Dianne
- Date: 2005
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6106 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1009735
- Description: The second phase, the 'development phase' (January to December 2003), of an ongoing research project on policy implementation with specific reference to Grade 9 of the Human and Social Sciences (HSS) learning area of C2005 is described. More specifically, a journey, in which nine History and Geography teachers at two independent schools and one university lecturer, working collaboratively as an HSS research team, navigated their way through the national curriculum and assessment policy arena, pushed the boundaries of their own practice as reflexive practitioners, and implemented the first national application of the new General Education and Training Certificate (GETC), is outlined. The article consists of three sections. The first outlines and offers critical commentary on the national policy context in which the research was located, and in which all South African educators currently work. Drawing on national and international literature, it illuminates a number of issues pertinent to national policy enactment. The second section describes the Development Phase. It outlines two areas of curriculum innovation at the two schools, namely enquiry-based learning and the development of a learning process 'map', before honing in on Grade 9 CASS. Section three describes the implementation at the two schools of the HSS Common Tasks for Assessment (CTA) in October/November 2003. The conclusion synthesises the narrative.
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- Date Issued: 2005
The inception phase of a case study of outcomes - based education assessment policy in the Human and Social Sciences Learning Area of C2005
- Authors: Wilmot, P Dianne
- Date: 2003
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6107 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1009736
- Description: This article describes the Inception Phase (January to December 2002) of an ongoing research project focused on the Grade 9 Learning Area of Human and Social Sciences of Curriculum 2005. The case study involves a dynamic interaction between a university lecturer, playing the role of 'outside facilitator', and the History and Geography teachers at two independent schools. The article describes how teachers in a given context respond to outcomes-based education assessment policy, and the tools and processes they use to develop the deep understanding inferred by policy (Republic of South Africa, 2000) to implement change in a meaningful way. The article consists of three sections. The first contextualises significant events which foregrounded and provided the impetus for the research project. It provides an overview of the theory informing the research and the goals of the research. The second analyses in narrative form the various stages of the Inception Phase. It describes a process of curriculum development which has involved the development of criterion- referenced assessment rubrics, a Learner and Curriculum Profile, and an audit of current assessment practices in History and Geography at the two schools. The article illuminates the time and effort necessary for creative and systemic curriculum innovation. The final section synthesizes the information gathered.
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- Date Issued: 2003
Graphicacy as a form of communication
- Authors: Wilmot, P Dianne
- Date: 1999
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6091 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008613
- Description: Children of today inhabit a multi-dimensional world and in order to communicate effectively in it they need the ability to utilise four forms of communication namely, oracy, literacy, numeracy and graphicacy. Communicating in graphic form requires an ability to both encode and decode spatial information using symbols which requires the utilisation and application of spatial perceptual skills and concepts. The draft Curriculum Framework for General and Further Education and Training identifies graphic literacy as one of the critical outcomes of the new South African curriculum. Spatial information about the environment is most frequently communicated in the graphic mode. Yet if graphicacy is to be recognised as an essential mode of communication and, as such, a vital element in education, then we need to seek ways of developing and introducing an explicit and critical pedagogy in our schools to foster the development of graphic and critical graphic literacy. But first, the skills and concepts integral to graphicacy need to be identified and understood. This article provides a framework for thinking about graphicacy as a form of communication in the General Education and Training (GET) band, the compulsory component of South African education (Grades 1-9).
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- Date Issued: 1999
Chris McGregor 1936-1990
- Authors: Wilmer, Val , White, Nick
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:13671 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012583
- Description: Photocopied article from the Wire Magazine. "A Tribute to the pianist and bandleader who died in May". A picture of Chris McGregor is also with the article.
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Chris McGregor: now's the time
- Authors: Wilmer, Val
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:13670 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012582
- Description: Photocopied article from the newspaper Melody Maker about Chris McGregor's music and its influence on the new European jazz style. There is a portrait of Chris McGregor with this article.
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Investigating how the attributes of live theatre productions influence consumption choices using conjoint analysis : the example of the National Arts Festival, South Africa
- Authors: Willis, K G , Snowball, Jeanette D
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6075 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003825 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10824-009-9097-z
- Description: While there is a fair amount of work on determinants of demand for the live performing arts, results have often been contradictory with little explanatory power. This may be because of the difficulty in describing the attributes of a performance, particularly in terms of its quality, and the heterogeneity of consumer preferences. This article uses conjoint analysis, also called choice experiments, to investigate the impact of the attributes of live theatre performances on demand, using data collected from 483 randomly chosen attenders at live theatre performances at the 2008 South African National Arts Festival. Attributes include the type of cast (professional, semi-professional or amateur), reputation of the producer/director, the context or setting, production type and ticket price of the show. Results largely support the a priori expectations based on the results of other demand studies. For example, it is found that the age of consumers affects the type of show chosen, that utility and willingness to pay increase for shows with professional and semi-professional casts and that 93% of the potential audience prefer shows with a South African context. It is concluded that the method could prove useful to both event organisers and policy makers, especially where the goal is to broaden access to the arts.
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- Date Issued: 2009
District Six: To Be Free
- Authors: Williams, Richard
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:13669 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012581
- Description: Photocopied article from the newspaper The Times about the new recording of Brian Abrahams' Jazz Band District Six.
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Re-examining ‘professionalism’ in pharmacy: a South African perspective
- Authors: Williams, K F
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6084 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008481 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.11.001
- Description: Although defining itself as a patient-centred profession, private sector (community and private hospital) pharmacy often appears to be that of a product-for-profit centred occupation. This perception has been at the core of the medical profession's attempts to reduce the professional autonomy of pharmacy, and has appeared at the forefront of the South African Department of Health's positioning of private sector pharmacy. Using as a starting point the debate surrounding attempts by the South African Minister of Health to regulate the price of medicines, I propose that the present negative positioning of private sector pharmacy in South Africa could be ameliorated by pharmacy practice that evidences a redefined understanding of professionalism.
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- Date Issued: 2007
A history of southern African research relevant to forensic entomology
- Authors: Williams, K A , Villet, Martin H
- Date: 2006
- Language: English
- Type: text , Article
- Identifier: vital:6909 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011862
- Description: Entomological forensic evidence has been used in southern Africa for decades but explicitly forensic research began in southern Africa only 26 years ago. Although applicable local research has accumulated since 1921, it is scattered in a diverse literature or unpublished. Some overseas research has also touched on local species. This review uses a historical approach to synthesize the southern African literature and to illustrate the cross-disciplinary, opportunistic nature of forensic entomology. Distinct phases of research focused on agriculture (1921-1950), medicine (1952- 1965), ecology (1968-1990) and forensics (1980-2005), but systematics spanned the entire period and tended to be ad hoc. Few scientists were involved, situated at geographically distant locations and with widely disparate research interests. The review concludes with an overview of southern African entomologists who have been involved in medico-legal investigations, and a critical evaluation of the past and future of the discipline locally.
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- Date Issued: 2006
Identifying flies used for maggot debridement therapy
- Authors: Williams, K A , Cronje, F , Avenant, L , Villet, Martin H
- Date: 2008
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6852 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011133
- Description: To the Editor: The use of maggots to clean necrotic wounds, known as maggot debridement therapy (MDT), has long been known to the scientific world. Its use has been recorded since the 1500s when soldiers’ wounds were often infested with maggots. Napoleon’s surgeon, Baron Dominic Larrey, reported that wounds that were infested with maggots appeared to heal faster than those without maggots.1 William Baer is considered to be the founder of modern MDT. While treating soldiers in World War I, he noted the good condition of wounds that had been infested with maggots, and was the first doctor on record to experiment with the use of maggots in treating infections.1 MDT even featured in the recent version of the film ‘Spartacus’. Various species of flies have been used for MDT,1 the most commonly used being Lucilia sericata, a greenbottle blowfly (Figs 1 and 2). This fly is closely related to another greenbottle, L. cuprina, but L. cuprina feeds on live as well as necrotic tissue, which is undesirable in MDT. L. cuprina is commonly named the ‘sheep blowfly’ because it is responsible for fly-strike in sheep, a form of massive, usually rectal myiasis that can kill sheep. A recent article2 suggested that L. cuprina was being used successfully for MDT at the Eugene Marais Hospital Wound Care Centre (EMHWCC). As this would be inconsistent with international experience in MDT and at odds with the usual biology of L. cuprina, it was decided to check the identity of these flies.
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- Date Issued: 2008
Recruitment behaviour in the ponerine ant, Plectroctena mandibularis F. Smith (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
- Authors: Wilkins, K J , Harman, K , Villet, Martin H
- Date: 2006
- Language: English
- Type: text , Article
- Identifier: vital:6887 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011647
- Description: Although workers of Plectroctena mandibularis laid trails with their stings while foraging, the trails appeared to be for individual orientation, because they never recruited nestmates to prey. However, both workers and queens laid trails when recruiting nestmates of either caste to new nest sites. During trail-laying, fluted hairs on the posterior edge of tergite VI were dragged along the ground, presumably applying a pheromone to the substrate. Anatomical and behavioural evidence suggests that pygidial gland secretions moved from the intersegmental pygidial gland between tergites VI and VII into a fingerprint-like, lamellar cuticular reservoir on the pygidium, and from there via the hairs to the substrate. These results suggest that recruitment may be crucial to moving nests but of value only to certain types of foraging, and that recruitment might even have originated in the Formicidae in the context of colony relocation, and then secondarily evolved to assist foraging.
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- Date Issued: 2006
Estimating rainfall and water balance over the Okavango River Basin for hydrological applications
- Authors: Wilk, J , Kniveton, D , Andersson, L , Layberry, R , Todd, M C , Hughes, Denis A
- Date: 2006
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7084 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012343 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2006.04.049
- Description: A historical database for use in rainfall-runoff modeling of the Okavango River Basin in Southwest Africa is presented. The work has relevance for similar data-sparse regions. The parameters of main concern are rainfall and catchment water balance, which are key variables for subsequent studies of the hydrological impacts of development and climate change. Rainfall estimates are based on a combination of in situ gauges and satellite sources. Rain gauge measurements are most extensive from 1955 to 1972, after which they are drastically reduced due to the Angolan civil war. The sensitivity of the rainfall fields to spatial interpolation techniques and the density of gauges were evaluated. Satellite based rainfall estimates for the basin are developed for the period from 1991 onwards, based on the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) datasets. The consistency between the gauges and satellite estimates was considered. A methodology was developed to allow calibration of the rainfall-runoff hydrological model against rain gauge data from 1960 to 1972, with the prerequisite that the model should be driven by satellite derived rainfall products from 1990 onwards. With the rain gauge data, addition of a single rainfall station (Longa) in regions where stations earlier were lacking was more important than the chosen interpolation method. Comparison of satellite and gauge rainfall outside the basin indicated that the satellite overestimates rainfall by 20%. A non-linear correction was derived by fitting the rainfall frequency characteristics to those of the historical rainfall data. This satellite rainfall dataset was found satisfactory when using the Pitman rainfall-runoff model (Hughes, D., Andersson, L., Wilk, J., Savenije, H.H.G., this issue. Regional calibration of the Pitman model for the Okavango River. Journal of Hydrology). Intensive monitoring in the region is recommended to increase accuracy of the comprehensive satellite rainfall estimate calibration procedure.
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- Date Issued: 2006