A comparative analysis of mobile application development frameworks: A case study of mobile application development for water usage management in Alice and Fort Beaufort communities
- Authors: Manu, Kwabena
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Mobile communication systems Cell phones Cloud computing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc. (Computer Science)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/14130 , vital:39853
- Description: Mobile phones have become an integral part of standard of living. Users and customers expect sensible and very useful applications in less time. In this competitive market, it is an enormous challenge to develop high performance mobile applications that might meet the expectations of end users. Despite the fact that development of new applications for each mobile operating system in short time is fairly an issue, mobile operating systems vendors are giving their best available resources for creating applications in additional convenient ways. These days, there is a common tendency to look for less complex and quicker solutions that could be used in the process of software development. Developers of a new mobile application have to undertake variety of selections and decisions, including the target platform as well as the development technology to utilize. Mobile application development frameworks contribute in solving this problem. Several frameworks have emerged, which we classify and evaluate their appropriateness. In order to compare existing development frameworks solutions in this research, we compiled a set of criteria to assess mobile application development approaches. In view on these criteria, we evaluated five frameworks that is, PhoneGap, Xamarin, App Inventor, Sencha Touch and DragonRad. For proof of concepts, the chosen framework from the five evaluated mobile development frameworks was used to develop application for water usage management. The research will equip mobile application developers to gain more insight into mobile development frameworks available, therefore helping them to choose the most appropriate framework for their project.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Manu, Kwabena
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Mobile communication systems Cell phones Cloud computing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc. (Computer Science)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/14130 , vital:39853
- Description: Mobile phones have become an integral part of standard of living. Users and customers expect sensible and very useful applications in less time. In this competitive market, it is an enormous challenge to develop high performance mobile applications that might meet the expectations of end users. Despite the fact that development of new applications for each mobile operating system in short time is fairly an issue, mobile operating systems vendors are giving their best available resources for creating applications in additional convenient ways. These days, there is a common tendency to look for less complex and quicker solutions that could be used in the process of software development. Developers of a new mobile application have to undertake variety of selections and decisions, including the target platform as well as the development technology to utilize. Mobile application development frameworks contribute in solving this problem. Several frameworks have emerged, which we classify and evaluate their appropriateness. In order to compare existing development frameworks solutions in this research, we compiled a set of criteria to assess mobile application development approaches. In view on these criteria, we evaluated five frameworks that is, PhoneGap, Xamarin, App Inventor, Sencha Touch and DragonRad. For proof of concepts, the chosen framework from the five evaluated mobile development frameworks was used to develop application for water usage management. The research will equip mobile application developers to gain more insight into mobile development frameworks available, therefore helping them to choose the most appropriate framework for their project.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Nutritional and pharmacological profile of moringa oleifera lam. Leaves cultivated in the South African ecotype
- Authors: Yako, Zomsa
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Moringa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/14605 , vital:40021
- Description: Moringa oleifera Lam. is native to the Indian ecotype, which has become naturalized in many tropic and subtropic regions worldwide, thus a great variation in the bioactive compounds of the plant is recorded. The introduction of Moringa oleifera to South Africa occurred in the turn of the twentieth century with the aim of combating malnourishment, aiding health and fostering economic development. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of evaluating and authenticating the nutritional parameters, essential oil and bioactive components found in the various solvent extracts of Moringa oleifera leaves cultivated in the South African ecotype. It also elucidated some of the plants medicinal properties by investigating the antioxidant and antibacterial properties of the plant. The essential oil of the leaves was extracted using two methods (solvent free microwave extraction and hydrodistillation) and analysed using Gas Chromotography/Mass Spectrometer. The safety profile of the leaves was investigated using brine shrimp model. The results from the study revealed that Moringa oleifera leaves cultivated in South Africa were rich in crude protein levels (28.72%) and carbohydrate (28.84%). Among the minerals tested for, the leaves contained high content of calcium (1603.33 mg/100 g), potassium (1690 mg/100 g), zinc (13.03 mg/100 g) and iron (21.13 mg/100 g). The vitamin E content had the highest concentration (89.43 mg/100 g) among the vitamins evaluated. The leaves of Moringa oleifera had low quantities of antinutrients in relation to minerals, thus ensuring nutrients availability. This study identified 15 fatty acids in the dried leaves of Moringa. The highest fatty acid detected were polyunsaturated fatty acids, linoleic acid (56.36) and alpha-linolenic acid (687.58), 7 of the fatty acids were saturated fatty acids, though relatively low besides stearic acid. 15 amino acids were present, 7 of which were essential amino acids, namely; threonine, tyrosine, methionine, valine, phenylalanine, isoleucine and leucine. vi Among the phytochemicals evaluated, the aqueous extract gave the highest total phenolic content (21.01 ± 2.315 mg GAE/g), the acetone extract gave the highest proanthocyanidin (15.33 3.5 mg CE/g) and flavonoid contents (25.04±3.28 mg QE/g), while saponin and alkaloid contents were 27.73 ± 9.97% and 7.32 ± 2.73 % respectively. All the extracts exhibited high radical scavenging power against the 2,2- diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical with an IC50 less than 0.025 mg/mL. Aqueous extract gave the highest capacity based on ABTS and TAC assays with IC50 of 0.074 mg/ mL and 0.055 mg/mL respectively. Ethanol extract exhibited the least antioxidant capacity among the extracts, as well as the least antimicrobial activity on both Gram −ve and Gram +ve bacteria with all its minimum inhibitory concentration values greater than 5 mg/mL. The acetone extract exhibited the strongest antimicrobial activity among the extracts. A total of 8 and 24 chemical compounds were found from the solvent-free microwave extracted and hydrodistilled oils, respectively. The major components found from hydrodistillation were 2-Hexanal (16.37%), Nonanal (6.09%), 5 9-undecadien-2-one 6, 10 dimethyl- (e) - (8.01%), trans-beta-Ionone (8.02%) and octadecane (9.67%). For the solvent free microwave extracted oil, Benzene acetaldehyde (5.68%), Octadecane, Pentacosane and Eicosane which were 11.03%, were the major components. Toxicity evaluation revealed that mortality was time dependent. As the exposure period increased, mortality kept increasing. The hatching success of the cysts in acetone, aqueous and ethanol extracts were 35.7, 33.6 and 35.2% respectively. Acetone extract showed the most prominent hatching success. Hatchability and lethality were in a concentration dependent fashion. Among the extracts, acetone extract exhibited the highest lethality (12.3%) to the nauplii, followed by ethanol (10.9%), then aqueous (5.6%) extracts. All the results obtained from this study suggest that Moringa has the potential of eradicating malnutrition and aid health. It contains the necessary nutritional and bioactive compounds and the leaves proved not to be toxic at the levels (0.0625 – 1 mg/mL) tested.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Yako, Zomsa
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Moringa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/14605 , vital:40021
- Description: Moringa oleifera Lam. is native to the Indian ecotype, which has become naturalized in many tropic and subtropic regions worldwide, thus a great variation in the bioactive compounds of the plant is recorded. The introduction of Moringa oleifera to South Africa occurred in the turn of the twentieth century with the aim of combating malnourishment, aiding health and fostering economic development. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of evaluating and authenticating the nutritional parameters, essential oil and bioactive components found in the various solvent extracts of Moringa oleifera leaves cultivated in the South African ecotype. It also elucidated some of the plants medicinal properties by investigating the antioxidant and antibacterial properties of the plant. The essential oil of the leaves was extracted using two methods (solvent free microwave extraction and hydrodistillation) and analysed using Gas Chromotography/Mass Spectrometer. The safety profile of the leaves was investigated using brine shrimp model. The results from the study revealed that Moringa oleifera leaves cultivated in South Africa were rich in crude protein levels (28.72%) and carbohydrate (28.84%). Among the minerals tested for, the leaves contained high content of calcium (1603.33 mg/100 g), potassium (1690 mg/100 g), zinc (13.03 mg/100 g) and iron (21.13 mg/100 g). The vitamin E content had the highest concentration (89.43 mg/100 g) among the vitamins evaluated. The leaves of Moringa oleifera had low quantities of antinutrients in relation to minerals, thus ensuring nutrients availability. This study identified 15 fatty acids in the dried leaves of Moringa. The highest fatty acid detected were polyunsaturated fatty acids, linoleic acid (56.36) and alpha-linolenic acid (687.58), 7 of the fatty acids were saturated fatty acids, though relatively low besides stearic acid. 15 amino acids were present, 7 of which were essential amino acids, namely; threonine, tyrosine, methionine, valine, phenylalanine, isoleucine and leucine. vi Among the phytochemicals evaluated, the aqueous extract gave the highest total phenolic content (21.01 ± 2.315 mg GAE/g), the acetone extract gave the highest proanthocyanidin (15.33 3.5 mg CE/g) and flavonoid contents (25.04±3.28 mg QE/g), while saponin and alkaloid contents were 27.73 ± 9.97% and 7.32 ± 2.73 % respectively. All the extracts exhibited high radical scavenging power against the 2,2- diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical with an IC50 less than 0.025 mg/mL. Aqueous extract gave the highest capacity based on ABTS and TAC assays with IC50 of 0.074 mg/ mL and 0.055 mg/mL respectively. Ethanol extract exhibited the least antioxidant capacity among the extracts, as well as the least antimicrobial activity on both Gram −ve and Gram +ve bacteria with all its minimum inhibitory concentration values greater than 5 mg/mL. The acetone extract exhibited the strongest antimicrobial activity among the extracts. A total of 8 and 24 chemical compounds were found from the solvent-free microwave extracted and hydrodistilled oils, respectively. The major components found from hydrodistillation were 2-Hexanal (16.37%), Nonanal (6.09%), 5 9-undecadien-2-one 6, 10 dimethyl- (e) - (8.01%), trans-beta-Ionone (8.02%) and octadecane (9.67%). For the solvent free microwave extracted oil, Benzene acetaldehyde (5.68%), Octadecane, Pentacosane and Eicosane which were 11.03%, were the major components. Toxicity evaluation revealed that mortality was time dependent. As the exposure period increased, mortality kept increasing. The hatching success of the cysts in acetone, aqueous and ethanol extracts were 35.7, 33.6 and 35.2% respectively. Acetone extract showed the most prominent hatching success. Hatchability and lethality were in a concentration dependent fashion. Among the extracts, acetone extract exhibited the highest lethality (12.3%) to the nauplii, followed by ethanol (10.9%), then aqueous (5.6%) extracts. All the results obtained from this study suggest that Moringa has the potential of eradicating malnutrition and aid health. It contains the necessary nutritional and bioactive compounds and the leaves proved not to be toxic at the levels (0.0625 – 1 mg/mL) tested.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
The impact of public health expenditure on health outcomes in South Africa
- Authors: Hlafa, Besuthu
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Health services administration
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom (Economics)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/13381 , vital:39639
- Description: Health holds an important position in maintainable economic development since it is both a prerequisite for and an outcome of economic development. This means that health contributes hugely to the attainment of sustainable development and health outcomes. The importance of health is demonstrated in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) where three of the eight goals are aimed at improving health outcomes. Despite progress made by other middle-income countries in achieving health-related MDGs, South Africa still has worse health outcomes and experiences a challenge in attaining positive outcomes for these goals (Coovadia et al., 2009; Malaudzi 2016). This study’s main focus was to identify the association between public health expenditure and health outcomes in South Africa’s nine provinces from 2002 to 2016. The study implemented fixed effects and a random effects panel data estimation technique to control for time effects and individual province heterogeneity. This was followed by employing the Hausman specification test to identify the fixed effects model as the appropriate estimator for the study. The study also employed the seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) model and the least squares dummy variable (LSDV) model to examine the impact of public health expenditure on each province separately. The findings from the study elucidated that the relationship between public health expenditure and health outcomes in South Africa varied across provinces depending provincial management and infrastructure availability.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Hlafa, Besuthu
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Health services administration
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom (Economics)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/13381 , vital:39639
- Description: Health holds an important position in maintainable economic development since it is both a prerequisite for and an outcome of economic development. This means that health contributes hugely to the attainment of sustainable development and health outcomes. The importance of health is demonstrated in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) where three of the eight goals are aimed at improving health outcomes. Despite progress made by other middle-income countries in achieving health-related MDGs, South Africa still has worse health outcomes and experiences a challenge in attaining positive outcomes for these goals (Coovadia et al., 2009; Malaudzi 2016). This study’s main focus was to identify the association between public health expenditure and health outcomes in South Africa’s nine provinces from 2002 to 2016. The study implemented fixed effects and a random effects panel data estimation technique to control for time effects and individual province heterogeneity. This was followed by employing the Hausman specification test to identify the fixed effects model as the appropriate estimator for the study. The study also employed the seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) model and the least squares dummy variable (LSDV) model to examine the impact of public health expenditure on each province separately. The findings from the study elucidated that the relationship between public health expenditure and health outcomes in South Africa varied across provinces depending provincial management and infrastructure availability.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
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