Effect of pictograms on readability of patient information materials:
- Mansoor, Leila E, Dowse, Roslind
- Authors: Mansoor, Leila E , Dowse, Roslind
- Date: 2003
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/157003 , vital:40078 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1345/aph.1C449
- Description: To design, develop, and evaluate a simple, understandable medicine label and patient information leaflet (PIL) for nystatin suspension, and to assess the effect of incorporating pictograms on understanding in low-literate participants.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Mansoor, Leila E , Dowse, Roslind
- Date: 2003
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/157003 , vital:40078 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1345/aph.1C449
- Description: To design, develop, and evaluate a simple, understandable medicine label and patient information leaflet (PIL) for nystatin suspension, and to assess the effect of incorporating pictograms on understanding in low-literate participants.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
Population biology of Octopus vulgaris on the temperate south-eastern coast of South Africa
- Oosthuizen, A, Smale, Malcolm J
- Authors: Oosthuizen, A , Smale, Malcolm J
- Date: 2003
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6768 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008045
- Description: Population structure and biology of Octopus vulgaris was investigated along the south-eastern coast of South Africa. Samples were collected inter- and sub-tidally as a precursor to the establishment of an experimental octopus fishery in the region. In total, 300 (intertidal) and 147 (subtidal) O. vulgaris were collected over a two year period. Females were found to dominate the intertidal area (sex ratio 2:1), while no difference was found subtidally (sex ratio 1:1). Of those collected intertidally, immature females were most prevalent while males ranged from immature to mature. Mature females were only found subtidally. A marked size difference was apparent, with the subtidal octopus being substantially larger. Although brooding females were found throughout the year, numbers peaked in summer. Individual fecundity ranged between 42,000–790,000 eggs. The total number of eggs produced and the number of eggs per egg string were correlated to female size. Diet did not vary greatly between the inter- and sub-tidal areas, with the main prey items being crustaceans, teleosts and octopus. It appears that the immature females use the intertidal area to feed and grow, before migrating to deeper areas to mature and spawn.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Oosthuizen, A , Smale, Malcolm J
- Date: 2003
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6768 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008045
- Description: Population structure and biology of Octopus vulgaris was investigated along the south-eastern coast of South Africa. Samples were collected inter- and sub-tidally as a precursor to the establishment of an experimental octopus fishery in the region. In total, 300 (intertidal) and 147 (subtidal) O. vulgaris were collected over a two year period. Females were found to dominate the intertidal area (sex ratio 2:1), while no difference was found subtidally (sex ratio 1:1). Of those collected intertidally, immature females were most prevalent while males ranged from immature to mature. Mature females were only found subtidally. A marked size difference was apparent, with the subtidal octopus being substantially larger. Although brooding females were found throughout the year, numbers peaked in summer. Individual fecundity ranged between 42,000–790,000 eggs. The total number of eggs produced and the number of eggs per egg string were correlated to female size. Diet did not vary greatly between the inter- and sub-tidal areas, with the main prey items being crustaceans, teleosts and octopus. It appears that the immature females use the intertidal area to feed and grow, before migrating to deeper areas to mature and spawn.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
A lightwave 3d plug-in for modeling long hair on virtual humans
- Patrick, Deborah, Bangay, Shaun D
- Authors: Patrick, Deborah , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432953 , vital:72916 , https://doi.org/10.1145/602330.602360
- Description: Multimedia applications today make use of virtual humans. Generating realistic virtual humans is a challenging problem owing to a number of factors, one being the simulation of realistic hair. The difficulty in simulating hair is due to the physical properties of hair. The average human head holds thousands of hairs, with the width of each hair often smaller than the size of a pixel. There are also complex lighting effects that occur within hair. This paper presents a LightWave 3D plug-in for modeling thousands of individual hairs on virtual humans. The plug-in allows the user to specify the length, thickness and distribution of the hair, as well as the number of segments a hair is made up of. The plug-in is able to add hairs to a head model, which the user then modifies to define a hairstyle. The hairs are then multiplied by the plug-in to produce many hairs. By providing a plug-in that does most of the work and produces realistic results, the user is able to produce a hairstyle without modeling each individual strand of hair. This greatly reduces the time spent on hair modeling, and makes the possibility of adding realistic long hair to virtual humans reasonable.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Patrick, Deborah , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432953 , vital:72916 , https://doi.org/10.1145/602330.602360
- Description: Multimedia applications today make use of virtual humans. Generating realistic virtual humans is a challenging problem owing to a number of factors, one being the simulation of realistic hair. The difficulty in simulating hair is due to the physical properties of hair. The average human head holds thousands of hairs, with the width of each hair often smaller than the size of a pixel. There are also complex lighting effects that occur within hair. This paper presents a LightWave 3D plug-in for modeling thousands of individual hairs on virtual humans. The plug-in allows the user to specify the length, thickness and distribution of the hair, as well as the number of segments a hair is made up of. The plug-in is able to add hairs to a head model, which the user then modifies to define a hairstyle. The hairs are then multiplied by the plug-in to produce many hairs. By providing a plug-in that does most of the work and produces realistic results, the user is able to produce a hairstyle without modeling each individual strand of hair. This greatly reduces the time spent on hair modeling, and makes the possibility of adding realistic long hair to virtual humans reasonable.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
A proposed prioritization system for the management of invasive alien plants in South Africa
- Robertson, Mark P, Villet, Martin H, Fairbanks, Dean H K, Henderson, L, Higgins, Simon I, Hoffmann, John H, Le Maitre, David C, Palmer, Anthony R, Riggs, I, Shackleton, Charlie M, Zimmermann, Helmuth G
- Authors: Robertson, Mark P , Villet, Martin H , Fairbanks, Dean H K , Henderson, L , Higgins, Simon I , Hoffmann, John H , Le Maitre, David C , Palmer, Anthony R , Riggs, I , Shackleton, Charlie M , Zimmermann, Helmuth G
- Date: 2003
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6911 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011872
- Description: Every country has weed species whose presence conflicts in some way with human management objectives and needs. Resources for research and control are limited, so priority should be given to species that are the biggest problem. The prioritization system described in this article was designed to assess objectively research and control priorities of invasive alien plants at a national scale in South Africa. The evaluation consists of seventeen criteria, grouped into five modules, that assess invasiveness, spatial characteristics, potential impact, potential for control, and conflicts of interest for each plant species under consideration. Total prioritization scores, calculated from criterion and module scores, were used to assess a species' priority. Prioritization scores were calculated by combining independent assessments provided by several experts, thus increasing the reliability of the rankings. The total confidence score, a separate index, indicates the reliability and availability of data used to make an assessment. Candidate species for evaluation were identified and assessed by several experts using the prioritization system. The final ranking was made by combining two separate indices, the total prioritization score and the total confidence score. This approach integrates the plant's perceived priority with an index of data reliability. Of the 61 species assessed, those with the highest ranks (Lantana camara, Chromolaena odorata and Opuntia ficus-indica) had high prioritization and high confidence scores, and are thus of most concern. Those species with the lowest ranks, for example, Harrisia martinii, Opuntia spinulifera and Opuntia exaltata, had low prioritization scores and high confidence scores, and thus are of least concern. Our approach to ranking weeds offers several advantages over existing systems because it is designed for multiple assessors based on the Delphi decision-making technique, the criteria contribute equally to the total score, and the system can accommodate incomplete data on a species. Although the choice of criteria may be criticized and the system has certain limitations, it appears to have delivered credible results.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Robertson, Mark P , Villet, Martin H , Fairbanks, Dean H K , Henderson, L , Higgins, Simon I , Hoffmann, John H , Le Maitre, David C , Palmer, Anthony R , Riggs, I , Shackleton, Charlie M , Zimmermann, Helmuth G
- Date: 2003
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6911 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011872
- Description: Every country has weed species whose presence conflicts in some way with human management objectives and needs. Resources for research and control are limited, so priority should be given to species that are the biggest problem. The prioritization system described in this article was designed to assess objectively research and control priorities of invasive alien plants at a national scale in South Africa. The evaluation consists of seventeen criteria, grouped into five modules, that assess invasiveness, spatial characteristics, potential impact, potential for control, and conflicts of interest for each plant species under consideration. Total prioritization scores, calculated from criterion and module scores, were used to assess a species' priority. Prioritization scores were calculated by combining independent assessments provided by several experts, thus increasing the reliability of the rankings. The total confidence score, a separate index, indicates the reliability and availability of data used to make an assessment. Candidate species for evaluation were identified and assessed by several experts using the prioritization system. The final ranking was made by combining two separate indices, the total prioritization score and the total confidence score. This approach integrates the plant's perceived priority with an index of data reliability. Of the 61 species assessed, those with the highest ranks (Lantana camara, Chromolaena odorata and Opuntia ficus-indica) had high prioritization and high confidence scores, and are thus of most concern. Those species with the lowest ranks, for example, Harrisia martinii, Opuntia spinulifera and Opuntia exaltata, had low prioritization scores and high confidence scores, and thus are of least concern. Our approach to ranking weeds offers several advantages over existing systems because it is designed for multiple assessors based on the Delphi decision-making technique, the criteria contribute equally to the total score, and the system can accommodate incomplete data on a species. Although the choice of criteria may be criticized and the system has certain limitations, it appears to have delivered credible results.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
Hot-blooded singers: endothermy facilitates crepuscular signaling in African platypleurine cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Platypleura spp.)
- Sanborn, Allen F, Villet, Martin H, Phillips, Polly K F
- Authors: Sanborn, Allen F , Villet, Martin H , Phillips, Polly K F
- Date: 2003
- Language: English
- Type: text , Article
- Identifier: vital:6919 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011882
- Description: The cicada genus Platypleura has a wide distribution across Africa and southern Asia. We describe endothermic thermoregulation in four South African species that show crepuscular signaling behavior. This is the first evidence of thermoregulation in platypleurine cicadas. Field measurements of body temperature (Tb) show that these animals regulate Tb through endogenous heat production. Maximum Tb measured was 22.1°C above ambient temperature during calling activity at dusk. The mean Tb during dusk activity did not differ from the mean Tb during diurnal activity. A unique behavior for cicadas, a temperature-dependent telescoping pulsation of the abdomen, was observed in the laboratory during endogenous warm-up. This behavior is part of a unique method of heat generation in endothermic cicadas. Males generally call from trunks and branches within the canopy and appear to use endothermy even when the sun is available to elevate Tb. Endothermy may provide the cicadas with the advantage of decreasing predation and acoustic competition by permitting calling from perches that most complement their cryptic coloration patterns and that ectotherms cannot use due to thermal constraints. In addition, endothermy may permit calling activity during crepuscular hours when atmospheric conditions are optimal for acoustic communication and predation risks are minimal.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Sanborn, Allen F , Villet, Martin H , Phillips, Polly K F
- Date: 2003
- Language: English
- Type: text , Article
- Identifier: vital:6919 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011882
- Description: The cicada genus Platypleura has a wide distribution across Africa and southern Asia. We describe endothermic thermoregulation in four South African species that show crepuscular signaling behavior. This is the first evidence of thermoregulation in platypleurine cicadas. Field measurements of body temperature (Tb) show that these animals regulate Tb through endogenous heat production. Maximum Tb measured was 22.1°C above ambient temperature during calling activity at dusk. The mean Tb during dusk activity did not differ from the mean Tb during diurnal activity. A unique behavior for cicadas, a temperature-dependent telescoping pulsation of the abdomen, was observed in the laboratory during endogenous warm-up. This behavior is part of a unique method of heat generation in endothermic cicadas. Males generally call from trunks and branches within the canopy and appear to use endothermy even when the sun is available to elevate Tb. Endothermy may provide the cicadas with the advantage of decreasing predation and acoustic competition by permitting calling from perches that most complement their cryptic coloration patterns and that ectotherms cannot use due to thermal constraints. In addition, endothermy may permit calling activity during crepuscular hours when atmospheric conditions are optimal for acoustic communication and predation risks are minimal.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
Rendering optimisations for stylised sketching
- Winnemöller, Holger, Bangay, Shaun D
- Authors: Winnemöller, Holger , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432922 , vital:72913 , https://doi.org/10.1145/602330.602353
- Description: We present work that specifically pertains to the rendering stage of stylised, non-photorealistic sketching. While a substantial body of work has been published on geometric optimisations, surface topologies, space-algorithms and natural media simulation, rendering-specific issues are rarely discussed in-depth even though they are often acknowledged. We investigate the most common stylised sketching approaches and identify possible rendering optimisations. In particular, we define uncertainty-functions, which are used to describe a human-error component, discuss how these pertain to geometric perturbation and textured silhouette sketching and explain how they can be cached to improve performance. Temporal coherence, which poses a problem for textured silhouette sketching, is addressed by means of an easily computed visibility-function. Lastly, we produce an effective yet surprisingly simple solution to seamless hatching, which commonly presents a large computational overhead, by using 3-D textures in a novel fashion. All our optimisations are cost-effective, easy to implement and work in conjunction with most existing algorithms.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
- Authors: Winnemöller, Holger , Bangay, Shaun D
- Date: 2003
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/432922 , vital:72913 , https://doi.org/10.1145/602330.602353
- Description: We present work that specifically pertains to the rendering stage of stylised, non-photorealistic sketching. While a substantial body of work has been published on geometric optimisations, surface topologies, space-algorithms and natural media simulation, rendering-specific issues are rarely discussed in-depth even though they are often acknowledged. We investigate the most common stylised sketching approaches and identify possible rendering optimisations. In particular, we define uncertainty-functions, which are used to describe a human-error component, discuss how these pertain to geometric perturbation and textured silhouette sketching and explain how they can be cached to improve performance. Temporal coherence, which poses a problem for textured silhouette sketching, is addressed by means of an easily computed visibility-function. Lastly, we produce an effective yet surprisingly simple solution to seamless hatching, which commonly presents a large computational overhead, by using 3-D textures in a novel fashion. All our optimisations are cost-effective, easy to implement and work in conjunction with most existing algorithms.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2003
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