Exploring targeted metagenomics and untargeted metabolomics for characterising aquaponics bacterial ecology and phytochemistry
- Authors: Abraham, Benjamin Melakail
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192453 , vital:45227
- Description: Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Abraham, Benjamin Melakail
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192453 , vital:45227
- Description: Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
Ethics of climate change: a normative account
- Authors: Afolabi, Abiodun Paul
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Climatic changes Senegal Saint-Louis , Climatic changes Moral and ethical aspects , Cultural property Senegal Saint-Louis , Ethics Senegal Saint-Louis , Applied ethics , Environmental justice Senegal Saint-Louis , Philosophy, African , Normativity (Ethics)
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192864 , vital:45272 , 10.21504/10962/192864
- Description: Consider, for instance, you and your family have lived around a place where you enjoyed the flora and fauna of the land as well as the natural environment. Fishing and farming were pleasant activities for your family, and anyone in the community not only to survive but thrive. Your neighbours and the people in the community pride themselves so much in their farming abilities and fishing techniques. Suddenly things start taking a different turn because of rising sea level and changing weather pattern. First, your land began to give way because of sweeping erosion, and later the riverbank serving the community starts drying up. Your neighbour could not hold their own in this grim condition as they started relocating. You even witnessed some of your family and friends leaving the community and you later heard that they have become climate refugees. To put it all together, you were told that what you are experiencing is one of climate change effects. You were told that the loss of the place that you once cherished is not an act of God but the result of the reckless flaring of greenhouse gasses harmful to the environment by some powerful but polluting nations. What will you do? This might sound like a fairy tale. In reality, this is the story of the people of Saint Louis Atlantic Coasts in Senegal, captured by the Global Climate Change Alliance Plus Initiative.1 Their situation has been described as ‘living on the edge’ because for centuries, Saint Louis Atlantic Coasts, home to around 230,000 inhabitants, also known as the ‘Venice of Africa’ has been protected from the pounding Atlantic waves by the ‘Langue de Barbarie,’ a narrow, 30 km peninsula at the mouth of the Senegal river. However, the low-lying sandy spit of land along this World Heritage site is itself rapidly disappearing in the present. This is the consequence of a changing climate and other man-made problems such as illegal sand-mining and over-development. Today, the southern part of the Langue de Barbarie is an island, and the village of Doune Baba Dieye is under more than a metre of water. The villagers have become climate refugees, forced to live in temporary camps on the mainland. Not only have they lost their homes, but they have also lost significant cultural heritage like the farming and fishing culture tied to this place. The ethical considerations that emerge from climate change impacts on the world’s cultural heritage are varied. However, it seems not as self-evident in the way that research on climate change ethics has been framed around economic interest and direct threats to human life and other species. Even when they mention climate impacts on heritage sites around the world, those of Africans have been side-lined. For instance, the impact of climate change on small island nations like Tuvalu, Kiribati2 have gained much traction in climate change discourse, but we do not get to see stories of Africans whose cherished cultural heritage are affected by climate despoliation. How do we respond to this intractable challenge? This is a question of justice and, to be more precise, climate justice. Many principles and proposals for climate justice have been put forward, but the insufficient attention to the vulnerabilities or loss of cultural heritage values of Africans, which is a critical aspect of their social realities, make these theories less persuasive on a global level. This thesis, then, fills this gap in the literature by suggesting that the failure to take cognizance of the injustice in neglecting cultural heritage values when dealing with the burden of climate change is the effect of three problems. One, the value of culture is less understood in this environmental age. Hence, cultural values are excluded or made to be secondary in consideration of principles of climate justice. Second, the idea of Personhood has been neglected in climate ethics and climate justice discourse. Yet, this idea of Personhood can be an enabler of climate justice in that a realization of the significance of cultural heritage to the wellness of the human persons in Africa, makes it loss morally reprehensible. Third, those whose cultural heritage is significantly affected do not get represented in the debate about sharing the burden of climate change. This dissertation thereby builds upon the general findings of the past about anthropogenic climate change, its causes and consequences. Adopting a discursive normative framework, I also address the significance of cultural heritage in this contemporary environmental age and discuss the global justice implications of cultural heritage loss to climate change. This dissertation further provides a critique of mainstream climate justice theories, especially their marginalization of the cultural dimension of climate change. In this regard, the metaphor - ‘cultural storm’ was deployed to argue that climate justice discourses have neither factored the deep socio-cultural impact of climate change nor do they draw on the cultural understanding of justice in putting forward their theories. Given the nature of the indirect, cumulative, and interconnected invisible losses to cultural heritage from climate change, it seems unlikely that they can be addressed by simple tweaks of the climate justice status quo. This dissertation proposes that the idea of personhood in African philosophy, can be conceived to ensure climate justice live up to its expectations in a world of diverse persons dealing with a complex phenomenon like climate change. It argues that a cultural dimension of climate ethics has implications for how mitigation, adaptation and compensation plans should be furthered for global climate justice. At the foundation of my argument, I suggest that what is needed in climate justice discourse is a commitment to explore new and innovative alternatives that will produce an inclusive global climate treaty that is sensitive to the cultural heritage assets that is destroyed by climate change in Africa. This will require a multi-dimensional framework that allows fundamentally different kinds of values and benefits to be given equal visibility and standing in global climate negotiations. The dissertation proceeds in six chapters. In the first chapter, I discuss how climate change denies, damage and destroys cultural heritage values in Africa and argue that it is unjust to ignore this dimension of climate change impact, particularly on the African continent. In the second chapter, I critically discuss the normative value of cultural heritage in an environmentally sustainable and morally appropriate way for this global age. I argue that what is lost when climate change affects cultural heritage is a significant cultural asset that ought to be seriously considered in climate ethics. The third chapter addresses the global justice implications of the destruction of Africa's cultural heritage by climate change that must be paid attention to. In chapter four, I evaluate the plausibility of some of the mainstream climate justice proposals. I offered a different possible critique of current approaches to climate justice to show how they have furthered cultural injustice. The critique of current climate justice theories that I offer, stems from an uninspiring approach that belies logic permitting the sacrificing of that which is connected to others wellbeing as well as the implicit assumptions and the limitation of the idea of justice that undergird these climate justice theories. I offer, in chapter five, a plausible climate ethics theory that recognizes culturally embedded ideas of justice and empower all stakeholders to build by themselves, lives that are, in the light of these ideas, deemed to be adversely impacted by climate change. This theory advances a socio-cultural perspective to climate change which could provide a nuanced basis for understanding and addressing global climate duties that will be sensitive to the loss of cultural heritage. Specifically, I apply the African conception of personhood, to provide a normative basis for a different but intuitive understanding of the cultural dimension of climate ethics. In the final chapter, I discuss how this theory can be applied to rethink current global responses in the form of mitigation, adaptation and compensation in such a way that it takes seriously the impacts of climate change on Africa’s cultural heritage and values. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Philosophy, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Afolabi, Abiodun Paul
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Climatic changes Senegal Saint-Louis , Climatic changes Moral and ethical aspects , Cultural property Senegal Saint-Louis , Ethics Senegal Saint-Louis , Applied ethics , Environmental justice Senegal Saint-Louis , Philosophy, African , Normativity (Ethics)
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192864 , vital:45272 , 10.21504/10962/192864
- Description: Consider, for instance, you and your family have lived around a place where you enjoyed the flora and fauna of the land as well as the natural environment. Fishing and farming were pleasant activities for your family, and anyone in the community not only to survive but thrive. Your neighbours and the people in the community pride themselves so much in their farming abilities and fishing techniques. Suddenly things start taking a different turn because of rising sea level and changing weather pattern. First, your land began to give way because of sweeping erosion, and later the riverbank serving the community starts drying up. Your neighbour could not hold their own in this grim condition as they started relocating. You even witnessed some of your family and friends leaving the community and you later heard that they have become climate refugees. To put it all together, you were told that what you are experiencing is one of climate change effects. You were told that the loss of the place that you once cherished is not an act of God but the result of the reckless flaring of greenhouse gasses harmful to the environment by some powerful but polluting nations. What will you do? This might sound like a fairy tale. In reality, this is the story of the people of Saint Louis Atlantic Coasts in Senegal, captured by the Global Climate Change Alliance Plus Initiative.1 Their situation has been described as ‘living on the edge’ because for centuries, Saint Louis Atlantic Coasts, home to around 230,000 inhabitants, also known as the ‘Venice of Africa’ has been protected from the pounding Atlantic waves by the ‘Langue de Barbarie,’ a narrow, 30 km peninsula at the mouth of the Senegal river. However, the low-lying sandy spit of land along this World Heritage site is itself rapidly disappearing in the present. This is the consequence of a changing climate and other man-made problems such as illegal sand-mining and over-development. Today, the southern part of the Langue de Barbarie is an island, and the village of Doune Baba Dieye is under more than a metre of water. The villagers have become climate refugees, forced to live in temporary camps on the mainland. Not only have they lost their homes, but they have also lost significant cultural heritage like the farming and fishing culture tied to this place. The ethical considerations that emerge from climate change impacts on the world’s cultural heritage are varied. However, it seems not as self-evident in the way that research on climate change ethics has been framed around economic interest and direct threats to human life and other species. Even when they mention climate impacts on heritage sites around the world, those of Africans have been side-lined. For instance, the impact of climate change on small island nations like Tuvalu, Kiribati2 have gained much traction in climate change discourse, but we do not get to see stories of Africans whose cherished cultural heritage are affected by climate despoliation. How do we respond to this intractable challenge? This is a question of justice and, to be more precise, climate justice. Many principles and proposals for climate justice have been put forward, but the insufficient attention to the vulnerabilities or loss of cultural heritage values of Africans, which is a critical aspect of their social realities, make these theories less persuasive on a global level. This thesis, then, fills this gap in the literature by suggesting that the failure to take cognizance of the injustice in neglecting cultural heritage values when dealing with the burden of climate change is the effect of three problems. One, the value of culture is less understood in this environmental age. Hence, cultural values are excluded or made to be secondary in consideration of principles of climate justice. Second, the idea of Personhood has been neglected in climate ethics and climate justice discourse. Yet, this idea of Personhood can be an enabler of climate justice in that a realization of the significance of cultural heritage to the wellness of the human persons in Africa, makes it loss morally reprehensible. Third, those whose cultural heritage is significantly affected do not get represented in the debate about sharing the burden of climate change. This dissertation thereby builds upon the general findings of the past about anthropogenic climate change, its causes and consequences. Adopting a discursive normative framework, I also address the significance of cultural heritage in this contemporary environmental age and discuss the global justice implications of cultural heritage loss to climate change. This dissertation further provides a critique of mainstream climate justice theories, especially their marginalization of the cultural dimension of climate change. In this regard, the metaphor - ‘cultural storm’ was deployed to argue that climate justice discourses have neither factored the deep socio-cultural impact of climate change nor do they draw on the cultural understanding of justice in putting forward their theories. Given the nature of the indirect, cumulative, and interconnected invisible losses to cultural heritage from climate change, it seems unlikely that they can be addressed by simple tweaks of the climate justice status quo. This dissertation proposes that the idea of personhood in African philosophy, can be conceived to ensure climate justice live up to its expectations in a world of diverse persons dealing with a complex phenomenon like climate change. It argues that a cultural dimension of climate ethics has implications for how mitigation, adaptation and compensation plans should be furthered for global climate justice. At the foundation of my argument, I suggest that what is needed in climate justice discourse is a commitment to explore new and innovative alternatives that will produce an inclusive global climate treaty that is sensitive to the cultural heritage assets that is destroyed by climate change in Africa. This will require a multi-dimensional framework that allows fundamentally different kinds of values and benefits to be given equal visibility and standing in global climate negotiations. The dissertation proceeds in six chapters. In the first chapter, I discuss how climate change denies, damage and destroys cultural heritage values in Africa and argue that it is unjust to ignore this dimension of climate change impact, particularly on the African continent. In the second chapter, I critically discuss the normative value of cultural heritage in an environmentally sustainable and morally appropriate way for this global age. I argue that what is lost when climate change affects cultural heritage is a significant cultural asset that ought to be seriously considered in climate ethics. The third chapter addresses the global justice implications of the destruction of Africa's cultural heritage by climate change that must be paid attention to. In chapter four, I evaluate the plausibility of some of the mainstream climate justice proposals. I offered a different possible critique of current approaches to climate justice to show how they have furthered cultural injustice. The critique of current climate justice theories that I offer, stems from an uninspiring approach that belies logic permitting the sacrificing of that which is connected to others wellbeing as well as the implicit assumptions and the limitation of the idea of justice that undergird these climate justice theories. I offer, in chapter five, a plausible climate ethics theory that recognizes culturally embedded ideas of justice and empower all stakeholders to build by themselves, lives that are, in the light of these ideas, deemed to be adversely impacted by climate change. This theory advances a socio-cultural perspective to climate change which could provide a nuanced basis for understanding and addressing global climate duties that will be sensitive to the loss of cultural heritage. Specifically, I apply the African conception of personhood, to provide a normative basis for a different but intuitive understanding of the cultural dimension of climate ethics. In the final chapter, I discuss how this theory can be applied to rethink current global responses in the form of mitigation, adaptation and compensation in such a way that it takes seriously the impacts of climate change on Africa’s cultural heritage and values. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Philosophy, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
The classification of fuzzy subgroups of some finite non-cyclic abelian p- groups of rank 3, with emphasis on the number of distinct fuzzy subgroups
- Authors: Appiah, Isaac Kwadwo
- Date: 2021-03
- Subjects: Fuzzy sets , Commutative algebra
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/20783 , vital:46563
- Description: In [6] and [7] we classi_ed fuzzy subgroups of some rank-3 abelian groups of the form G = Zpn + Zp + Zp for any _xed prime integer p and any positive integer n, using the natural equivalence relation de_ned in [40]. In this thesis, we extend our classi_cation of fuzzy subgroups in [6] to the group G = Zpn + Zpm + Zp for any _xed prime integer p; m = 2 and any positive integer n using the same natural equivalence relation studied in [40]. We present and prove explicit polynomial formulae for the number of (i) subgroups, (ii) maximal chains of subgroups of G for any n;m _ 2 and (iii) distinct fuzzy subgroups for m = 2 and n _ 2. We have also developed user-friendly polynomial formulae for the number of (iv) subgroups, (v) maximal chains for the group G = Zpn + Zpm for any n;m _ 2; any _xed prime positive integer p and (vi) distinct fuzzy subgroups of Zpn + Zpm for m equal to 2 and 3, and n _ 2 and provided their proofs. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science and Agriculture, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-03
- Authors: Appiah, Isaac Kwadwo
- Date: 2021-03
- Subjects: Fuzzy sets , Commutative algebra
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/20783 , vital:46563
- Description: In [6] and [7] we classi_ed fuzzy subgroups of some rank-3 abelian groups of the form G = Zpn + Zp + Zp for any _xed prime integer p and any positive integer n, using the natural equivalence relation de_ned in [40]. In this thesis, we extend our classi_cation of fuzzy subgroups in [6] to the group G = Zpn + Zpm + Zp for any _xed prime integer p; m = 2 and any positive integer n using the same natural equivalence relation studied in [40]. We present and prove explicit polynomial formulae for the number of (i) subgroups, (ii) maximal chains of subgroups of G for any n;m _ 2 and (iii) distinct fuzzy subgroups for m = 2 and n _ 2. We have also developed user-friendly polynomial formulae for the number of (iv) subgroups, (v) maximal chains for the group G = Zpn + Zpm for any n;m _ 2; any _xed prime positive integer p and (vi) distinct fuzzy subgroups of Zpn + Zpm for m equal to 2 and 3, and n _ 2 and provided their proofs. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science and Agriculture, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-03
Cellphones and whistles: Exploring the communicative ecology and sociality of the Enkanini informal settlement in Makhanda
- Authors: Baloyi, Karabo
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Communication models , Cell phones Social aspects South Africa Makhanda , Cell phones Economic aspects South Africa Makhanda , Squatter settlements South Africa Makhanda , South Africa Social conditions 1994- , South Africa Economic conditions 1991- , South Africa Social life and customs , Communication Economic aspects South Africa Makhanda , Whistles South Africa Makhanda , Decolonization South Africa Makhanda , Communicative ecology
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/191046 , vital:45053
- Description: This thesis explores the communicative ecology in the Enkanini informal settlement in Makhanda, and in particular their use of mobile phones and whistles to build a sense of community. It makes the case for word-of-mouth as an integral part of the communicative ecology despite not being a technological device. It then examines the sociality that arises from the use of these devices, and how coloniality impacts on the participants’ everyday experiences. The research was conducted through telephonic in-depth interviews with participants. To corroborate some of the content drawn from interviews, I used Grocott’s Mail, Makhanda’s only independent newspaper as an archival source, as well as some of the participants’ Facebook profiles. This research argues that as a consequence of coloniality, Enkanini’s residents suffer socio-economic challenges, and thus are unable to use digital technologies as much as they might like to, to communicate with their neighbours. As a consequence, word-of-mouth is their main form of communication with one another. Whistles are the ‘low-tech’ device used for community-wide communication to alert residents of an emergency, or about a meeting or protest. My findings contest generalised claims of society moving towards a network sociality, where individuality and project-based communication is valued over more communal forms of living. They also demonstrate the ways in which coloniality shapes almost every aspect of marginalised people’s lives, making word of mouth the most significant form of communication, notwithstanding the apparent availability of digital technology. It also shows how a marginalised group uses the resources it has to pressure local government officials to provide them with the basis infrastructure they need for survival. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Baloyi, Karabo
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Communication models , Cell phones Social aspects South Africa Makhanda , Cell phones Economic aspects South Africa Makhanda , Squatter settlements South Africa Makhanda , South Africa Social conditions 1994- , South Africa Economic conditions 1991- , South Africa Social life and customs , Communication Economic aspects South Africa Makhanda , Whistles South Africa Makhanda , Decolonization South Africa Makhanda , Communicative ecology
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/191046 , vital:45053
- Description: This thesis explores the communicative ecology in the Enkanini informal settlement in Makhanda, and in particular their use of mobile phones and whistles to build a sense of community. It makes the case for word-of-mouth as an integral part of the communicative ecology despite not being a technological device. It then examines the sociality that arises from the use of these devices, and how coloniality impacts on the participants’ everyday experiences. The research was conducted through telephonic in-depth interviews with participants. To corroborate some of the content drawn from interviews, I used Grocott’s Mail, Makhanda’s only independent newspaper as an archival source, as well as some of the participants’ Facebook profiles. This research argues that as a consequence of coloniality, Enkanini’s residents suffer socio-economic challenges, and thus are unable to use digital technologies as much as they might like to, to communicate with their neighbours. As a consequence, word-of-mouth is their main form of communication with one another. Whistles are the ‘low-tech’ device used for community-wide communication to alert residents of an emergency, or about a meeting or protest. My findings contest generalised claims of society moving towards a network sociality, where individuality and project-based communication is valued over more communal forms of living. They also demonstrate the ways in which coloniality shapes almost every aspect of marginalised people’s lives, making word of mouth the most significant form of communication, notwithstanding the apparent availability of digital technology. It also shows how a marginalised group uses the resources it has to pressure local government officials to provide them with the basis infrastructure they need for survival. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
A multiple case study exploration into community members’ ecopsychological responses to environmental degradation in South Africa
- Authors: Barnwell, Garret
- Date: 2021-03
- Subjects: Environmental psychology -- South Africa , Environmental degradation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/54892 , vital:48377
- Description: The psychological impact of environmental degradation in South Africa and its impact on communities’ relationships to the natural world is an understudied area. This study’s main aim was to explore community members’ reactions and responses to different forms of environmental degradation in South Africa by analysing two case studies: Rustenburg in the North West province and Limpopo province’s Vhembe District. The qualitative case studies relied on emplaced individual and focus group interviews. The findings from this study are presented in this doctoral thesis by publication. The first case study of Rustenburg in the North West’s platinum mining belt was selected due to the extractive industry’s historical impact on the natural environment, which is interlinked with the identity and heritage of host mining communities who could be considered land and environmental defenders. Two publications have been published on this case study. The first article, Critical reflections from South Africa: Using the Power Threat Meaning Framework to place climate-related distress in its socio-political context, was published in the British Psychology Society’s Clinical Psychology Forum Special Issue: Psychology and the Climate and Environmental Crisis in August 2020 and provides a critical reflection on psychological distress in Rustenburg, and questions whether popular terms used, such as “climate anxieties”, are useful for communities confronted by ecological crises. The paper concludes that there is danger in the dehistoricisation and medicalisation of distress that is rooted in climate, land and environmental injustices. The paper sets the scene for papers to follow that examine the interrelationship between place attachments and psychological responses to environmental degradation associated with slow violence. The second article, ’Nothing green can grow without being on the land’: Mine-affected communities’ psychological experiences of ecological degradation and resistance in Rustenburg, South Africa, was published in Community Psychology in Global Perspective Special Issue: Communities reclaiming power and social justice in the face of climate change and presents a broad overview of psychological responses to ecological degradation associated with environmental injustices. The paper suggests that psychological distress is attributed to environmental injustices. Furthermore, the process of place severing – the psychological threats, harms and disruptions to place-based dialogues – contributes to distress experienced in extractive settings. The two articles in this case study concluded by demonstrating how community resistance plays a part in addressing cumulative ecological harms and restoring the ancestral relationship with place. The second case study in the Vhembe District was selected due to the community’s psycho-spiritual connection to the sacred sites in the area and the histories of environmental degradation in the area. Article three, ‘Mupo is life’: Intergenerational community identity and safeguarding of sacred natural sites is in press in the journal Ecopsychology. The paper found that place plays a role in shaping and transferring intergenerational community identities. Furthermore, Zwifho shape worldviews about Mupo, i.e. all of existence, that underpin land and environmental defenders’ responses to environmental degradation and place severing. The fourth article, “Restoring roots”: Lived experiences of place severing and dialogical resurgence associated with deforestation and land dispossession in Limpopo province, South Africa, is under review by AWRY: Journal of Critical Psychology. The article demonstrates that place severing is rooted in histories of colonialism and that distress is related to losses and cumulative ecological harm. Furthermore, the article shows how decolonial dialogical resurgence responds to the mechanisms that drive place severing. The fifth and final publication, Grounding community psychology in ecopsychosocial accompaniment, is a chapter that explores opportunities for community psychologists to accompany others, specifically in relationship with people who have experienced displacement and environmental justice struggles. Collectively, these four articles and book chapter present the first publications of a larger research study that spans two South African case studies and that should yield several more publications. These publications draw on critical psychologies, including decolonial theory, liberation psychology, critical community psychology and radical ecopsychology. Within this thesis, the journal articles and book chapter are consolidated by an overarching discussion chapter that situates these five publications within the context of existing literature, and describes how existing theory and methodology have been advanced. The study demonstrates the interconnectedness between histories of colonialism, land injustices and environmental degradation that contribute to intergenerational psychological distress. Grassroots community organising groups play a critical role in addressing the resulting cumulative environmental harms through place-based resistance and dialogical resurgence. Moreover, the study suggests that critical psychologies have important roles to play in supporting land and environmental justice struggles through critical research, evaluations and assessments, and litigation. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-03
- Authors: Barnwell, Garret
- Date: 2021-03
- Subjects: Environmental psychology -- South Africa , Environmental degradation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/54892 , vital:48377
- Description: The psychological impact of environmental degradation in South Africa and its impact on communities’ relationships to the natural world is an understudied area. This study’s main aim was to explore community members’ reactions and responses to different forms of environmental degradation in South Africa by analysing two case studies: Rustenburg in the North West province and Limpopo province’s Vhembe District. The qualitative case studies relied on emplaced individual and focus group interviews. The findings from this study are presented in this doctoral thesis by publication. The first case study of Rustenburg in the North West’s platinum mining belt was selected due to the extractive industry’s historical impact on the natural environment, which is interlinked with the identity and heritage of host mining communities who could be considered land and environmental defenders. Two publications have been published on this case study. The first article, Critical reflections from South Africa: Using the Power Threat Meaning Framework to place climate-related distress in its socio-political context, was published in the British Psychology Society’s Clinical Psychology Forum Special Issue: Psychology and the Climate and Environmental Crisis in August 2020 and provides a critical reflection on psychological distress in Rustenburg, and questions whether popular terms used, such as “climate anxieties”, are useful for communities confronted by ecological crises. The paper concludes that there is danger in the dehistoricisation and medicalisation of distress that is rooted in climate, land and environmental injustices. The paper sets the scene for papers to follow that examine the interrelationship between place attachments and psychological responses to environmental degradation associated with slow violence. The second article, ’Nothing green can grow without being on the land’: Mine-affected communities’ psychological experiences of ecological degradation and resistance in Rustenburg, South Africa, was published in Community Psychology in Global Perspective Special Issue: Communities reclaiming power and social justice in the face of climate change and presents a broad overview of psychological responses to ecological degradation associated with environmental injustices. The paper suggests that psychological distress is attributed to environmental injustices. Furthermore, the process of place severing – the psychological threats, harms and disruptions to place-based dialogues – contributes to distress experienced in extractive settings. The two articles in this case study concluded by demonstrating how community resistance plays a part in addressing cumulative ecological harms and restoring the ancestral relationship with place. The second case study in the Vhembe District was selected due to the community’s psycho-spiritual connection to the sacred sites in the area and the histories of environmental degradation in the area. Article three, ‘Mupo is life’: Intergenerational community identity and safeguarding of sacred natural sites is in press in the journal Ecopsychology. The paper found that place plays a role in shaping and transferring intergenerational community identities. Furthermore, Zwifho shape worldviews about Mupo, i.e. all of existence, that underpin land and environmental defenders’ responses to environmental degradation and place severing. The fourth article, “Restoring roots”: Lived experiences of place severing and dialogical resurgence associated with deforestation and land dispossession in Limpopo province, South Africa, is under review by AWRY: Journal of Critical Psychology. The article demonstrates that place severing is rooted in histories of colonialism and that distress is related to losses and cumulative ecological harm. Furthermore, the article shows how decolonial dialogical resurgence responds to the mechanisms that drive place severing. The fifth and final publication, Grounding community psychology in ecopsychosocial accompaniment, is a chapter that explores opportunities for community psychologists to accompany others, specifically in relationship with people who have experienced displacement and environmental justice struggles. Collectively, these four articles and book chapter present the first publications of a larger research study that spans two South African case studies and that should yield several more publications. These publications draw on critical psychologies, including decolonial theory, liberation psychology, critical community psychology and radical ecopsychology. Within this thesis, the journal articles and book chapter are consolidated by an overarching discussion chapter that situates these five publications within the context of existing literature, and describes how existing theory and methodology have been advanced. The study demonstrates the interconnectedness between histories of colonialism, land injustices and environmental degradation that contribute to intergenerational psychological distress. Grassroots community organising groups play a critical role in addressing the resulting cumulative environmental harms through place-based resistance and dialogical resurgence. Moreover, the study suggests that critical psychologies have important roles to play in supporting land and environmental justice struggles through critical research, evaluations and assessments, and litigation. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-03
Modification of Gelatin-Methacrylate, Hyaluronic-Methacrylate and Poly(ethylene) glycol Diacrylate hydrogel bioinks towards the additive manufacturing of articular cartilage
- Authors: Barwick, Matthew William
- Date: 2021-10
- Subjects: Cartilage Diseases , Cartilage Regeneration , Articular cartilage Diseases , Chondrogenesis , Stem cells , Scanning electron microscopy , Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , Three-dimensional printing , Gelatin-Methacrylate , Hyaluronic-Methacrylate , Poly(ethylene) glycolDiacrylate , Hydrogel bioinks , Real-Time Quantitative Cell Analysis (RTCA) , Bioprinting
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/191181 , vital:45068
- Description: Cartilage degradation is most commonly associated with Rheumatoid arthritis and Osteoarthritis, affecting millions of people worldwide. Joint transplants commonly use titanium alloys, which have a shelf life of between 10-15 years. Although the titanium transplant restores partial mobility, side effects such as inflammation, swelling, faulty implants, and metal poisoning in some cases resulting from the transplant. The use of additive manufacturing of articular cartilage sheds new, innovative prospects for joint replacements. This study sets out to formulate and characterize five different hydrogel types towards the additive manufacturing of articular cartilage. Chondrogenic and Adipogenic differentiation was carried out on two separate adipose-mesenchymal stem cell lines A270620-01A, and A311019-02T and validation and efficiency of the differentiation and chondrogenic gene expression was carried out using Alcian Blue stain, Oil Red O stain and Quantitative Reverse Transcription PCR (RT-qPCR). Hydrogel formulation and characterisation of 10 % Gelatin-methacryloyl (GelMA), 10 % Poly (ethylene) glycol diacrylate (PEGDA), 5 % GelMA/5 % PEGDA, 10 % GelMA/0.5 % Hyaluronic Acid Methacrylate (HAMA) and 10 % PEGDA/0.5 % HAMA was carried out through swelling and degradation ratios, surface area and porosity characterisation using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Hydrogel component and spectroscopic analysis were carried using Real-Time Quantitative Cell Analysis (RTCA) and Fourier-transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis for each formulated hydrogel's chemical characterisation. Three-dimensional printing (3D) of 10 % PEGDA/0.5 % HAMA and 5 % GelMA/5 % PEGDA was performed using the Zortrax INKSPIRE Resin Ultra-Violet (UV) LCD Desktop 3D Printer. Hydrogel sterility and cell viability were carried out for each hydrogel type using fluorescence microscopy. Both A270620-01A and A311019-02T cell lines showed adipogenic and chondrogenic differentiation ability, with A311019-02T cell line showing greater chondrogenic differentiation of Alcian blue staining. The A270620-01A cell line resulted in a greater collagen gene expression based on the RT-qPCR results. The hydrogel 10 % GelMA showed the greatest swelling ratio of 1260 % in DPBS and 1192 % in DMEM. A significant difference between hydrogel swelling and swelling with Dulbecco's Phosphate Buffered Saline (DPBS) and Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) was observed. The 10 % PEGDA hydrogel had the greatest degradation ratio of 59 % mass remaining, where the 10 % GelMA/0.5 % HAMA showed the least amount of degradation with a mass remaining at 91 %. The 10 % GelMA showed the greatest porosity will the largest pore size of 14 μm in diameter. Hydrogel component and spectroscopic analysis showed no cytotoxic effects for the visible light photoinitiator used to polymerize the hydrogel and no cytotoxic effects for the concentrations used in chondrogenic differentiation. The FTIR analysis showed partial gelatin and hyaluronic acid modification with methacrylic anhydride; however, the distinction between the hybrid hydrogels and single polymer hydrogels could not be made effectively. UV and ethanol washing showed to completely sterilise the hydrogel disks from any contaminants, making them suitable for tissue culture. The cell viability analysis showed the 10 % GelMA/HAMA having the highest cell viability of 77.3 % using 5000 cells/disk and 89.64 % viability using 50 000 cells/disk over a 7-day incubation period. Overall, the combination of two polymers, GelMA and HAMA, has good potential as a 3D hydrogel scaffold towards additive manufacturing of articular cartilage. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Biotechnology Innovation Centre, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10
- Authors: Barwick, Matthew William
- Date: 2021-10
- Subjects: Cartilage Diseases , Cartilage Regeneration , Articular cartilage Diseases , Chondrogenesis , Stem cells , Scanning electron microscopy , Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , Three-dimensional printing , Gelatin-Methacrylate , Hyaluronic-Methacrylate , Poly(ethylene) glycolDiacrylate , Hydrogel bioinks , Real-Time Quantitative Cell Analysis (RTCA) , Bioprinting
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/191181 , vital:45068
- Description: Cartilage degradation is most commonly associated with Rheumatoid arthritis and Osteoarthritis, affecting millions of people worldwide. Joint transplants commonly use titanium alloys, which have a shelf life of between 10-15 years. Although the titanium transplant restores partial mobility, side effects such as inflammation, swelling, faulty implants, and metal poisoning in some cases resulting from the transplant. The use of additive manufacturing of articular cartilage sheds new, innovative prospects for joint replacements. This study sets out to formulate and characterize five different hydrogel types towards the additive manufacturing of articular cartilage. Chondrogenic and Adipogenic differentiation was carried out on two separate adipose-mesenchymal stem cell lines A270620-01A, and A311019-02T and validation and efficiency of the differentiation and chondrogenic gene expression was carried out using Alcian Blue stain, Oil Red O stain and Quantitative Reverse Transcription PCR (RT-qPCR). Hydrogel formulation and characterisation of 10 % Gelatin-methacryloyl (GelMA), 10 % Poly (ethylene) glycol diacrylate (PEGDA), 5 % GelMA/5 % PEGDA, 10 % GelMA/0.5 % Hyaluronic Acid Methacrylate (HAMA) and 10 % PEGDA/0.5 % HAMA was carried out through swelling and degradation ratios, surface area and porosity characterisation using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Hydrogel component and spectroscopic analysis were carried using Real-Time Quantitative Cell Analysis (RTCA) and Fourier-transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis for each formulated hydrogel's chemical characterisation. Three-dimensional printing (3D) of 10 % PEGDA/0.5 % HAMA and 5 % GelMA/5 % PEGDA was performed using the Zortrax INKSPIRE Resin Ultra-Violet (UV) LCD Desktop 3D Printer. Hydrogel sterility and cell viability were carried out for each hydrogel type using fluorescence microscopy. Both A270620-01A and A311019-02T cell lines showed adipogenic and chondrogenic differentiation ability, with A311019-02T cell line showing greater chondrogenic differentiation of Alcian blue staining. The A270620-01A cell line resulted in a greater collagen gene expression based on the RT-qPCR results. The hydrogel 10 % GelMA showed the greatest swelling ratio of 1260 % in DPBS and 1192 % in DMEM. A significant difference between hydrogel swelling and swelling with Dulbecco's Phosphate Buffered Saline (DPBS) and Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) was observed. The 10 % PEGDA hydrogel had the greatest degradation ratio of 59 % mass remaining, where the 10 % GelMA/0.5 % HAMA showed the least amount of degradation with a mass remaining at 91 %. The 10 % GelMA showed the greatest porosity will the largest pore size of 14 μm in diameter. Hydrogel component and spectroscopic analysis showed no cytotoxic effects for the visible light photoinitiator used to polymerize the hydrogel and no cytotoxic effects for the concentrations used in chondrogenic differentiation. The FTIR analysis showed partial gelatin and hyaluronic acid modification with methacrylic anhydride; however, the distinction between the hybrid hydrogels and single polymer hydrogels could not be made effectively. UV and ethanol washing showed to completely sterilise the hydrogel disks from any contaminants, making them suitable for tissue culture. The cell viability analysis showed the 10 % GelMA/HAMA having the highest cell viability of 77.3 % using 5000 cells/disk and 89.64 % viability using 50 000 cells/disk over a 7-day incubation period. Overall, the combination of two polymers, GelMA and HAMA, has good potential as a 3D hydrogel scaffold towards additive manufacturing of articular cartilage. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Biotechnology Innovation Centre, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10
Constraints and enablements on quality improvement in higher education
- Authors: Browning, Leanne Elizabeth
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Education, Higher Aims and objectives South Africa , Education, Higher Evaluation , Quality assurance South Africa , Educational evaluation South Africa , Self-evaluation , Critical realism
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/294956 , vital:57273 , DOI 10.21504/10962/294956
- Description: This study contributes to the literature on quality improvement in higher education by examining the structural, cultural and agential constraints and enablements on a quality process at a university in South Africa. It examined four cases and developed an understanding of the complex interaction of structure, culture and agency and the mechanisms that enable or constrain quality improvement in higher education. The study drew on the literature on higher education quality for the theoretical basis for what is known contributes to the way in which quality assurance and improvement is implemented and its impact on the higher education context. Critical Realism provided the ontological framework and conceptual tools to understand and explore the complex social world within which the quality process took place. The literature on the morphogenetic approach provided the analytical framework for the data analysis and findings. The data consisted of a set of documents from a quality process that took place over a five-year period. The data analysis revealed that different departmental contexts impact on how mechanisms are activated. Each school context shapes the way in which people engage with the review process and consequently, processes and procedures are mediated in each context. This research therefore adds to the understanding of the way in which quality processes take place at a micro-level within an institutional context and informs the approach to quality improvement more broadly, nationally and internationally. The research contributes to the knowledge that will inform planning, policies and practices in quality improvement processes in higher education and the findings identify a number of factors (mechanisms) that should inform the way in which a quality process is facilitated, will enable effective self-evaluation and review processes, and consequently are more likely to lead to quality improvement. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Education, Centre for Higher Education Research, Teaching and Learning, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Browning, Leanne Elizabeth
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Education, Higher Aims and objectives South Africa , Education, Higher Evaluation , Quality assurance South Africa , Educational evaluation South Africa , Self-evaluation , Critical realism
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/294956 , vital:57273 , DOI 10.21504/10962/294956
- Description: This study contributes to the literature on quality improvement in higher education by examining the structural, cultural and agential constraints and enablements on a quality process at a university in South Africa. It examined four cases and developed an understanding of the complex interaction of structure, culture and agency and the mechanisms that enable or constrain quality improvement in higher education. The study drew on the literature on higher education quality for the theoretical basis for what is known contributes to the way in which quality assurance and improvement is implemented and its impact on the higher education context. Critical Realism provided the ontological framework and conceptual tools to understand and explore the complex social world within which the quality process took place. The literature on the morphogenetic approach provided the analytical framework for the data analysis and findings. The data consisted of a set of documents from a quality process that took place over a five-year period. The data analysis revealed that different departmental contexts impact on how mechanisms are activated. Each school context shapes the way in which people engage with the review process and consequently, processes and procedures are mediated in each context. This research therefore adds to the understanding of the way in which quality processes take place at a micro-level within an institutional context and informs the approach to quality improvement more broadly, nationally and internationally. The research contributes to the knowledge that will inform planning, policies and practices in quality improvement processes in higher education and the findings identify a number of factors (mechanisms) that should inform the way in which a quality process is facilitated, will enable effective self-evaluation and review processes, and consequently are more likely to lead to quality improvement. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Education, Centre for Higher Education Research, Teaching and Learning, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
The effects of supply chain cooperation on humanitarian relief operations: A case of Cyclone Idai in Zimbabwe
- Chari, Felix, Muzinda, Ozwell, Novukela, Cawe, Ngcamu, Bethuel S.
- Authors: Chari, Felix , Muzinda, Ozwell , Novukela, Cawe , Ngcamu, Bethuel S.
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: Cyclone damage Business logistics Article
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/7155 , vital:53076 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.4102/jtscm.v15i0.532"
- Description: Background: The increased frequency of occurrence and complexity of disasters, the world over, have called for increased cooperation amongst stakeholders to deliver humanitarian aid. Objectives: This study came as a result of the growing interest focussed on creating and implementing cooperation to facilitate management of supply chain-related activities in the humanitarian sector. This study therefore sought to gain a better understanding of the effectiveness of supply chain cooperation in aid delivery performance variables, specifically in the context of Cyclone Idai humanitarian relief operations in Zimbabwe. Method: A pragmatic research paradigm was adopted, where the researchers took a mixed approach informed by both quantitative and qualitative research tools. Results: Findings of this study show a significant and positive impact of humanitarian supply chain (HSC) cooperation in achieving output, resource and flexibility performance in the delivery of aid. These findings will change the shape of humanitarian response to have more cooperation amongst organisations rather than responding as single entities. Conclusion: This study will therefore contribute to how humanitarian organisations improve their approach to future disasters through cooperation in their supply chain activities. Theoretically, the study will show how supply chain cooperation is key to humanitarian responses, thus improving effectiveness of HSC when put into practice. Policymakers can use these findings to develop a standard framework of how humanitarian organisations should collectively respond to disasters. Keywords: cyclone; humanitarian logistics; relief operations; supply chain; supply chain cooperation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
- Authors: Chari, Felix , Muzinda, Ozwell , Novukela, Cawe , Ngcamu, Bethuel S.
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: Cyclone damage Business logistics Article
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/7155 , vital:53076 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.4102/jtscm.v15i0.532"
- Description: Background: The increased frequency of occurrence and complexity of disasters, the world over, have called for increased cooperation amongst stakeholders to deliver humanitarian aid. Objectives: This study came as a result of the growing interest focussed on creating and implementing cooperation to facilitate management of supply chain-related activities in the humanitarian sector. This study therefore sought to gain a better understanding of the effectiveness of supply chain cooperation in aid delivery performance variables, specifically in the context of Cyclone Idai humanitarian relief operations in Zimbabwe. Method: A pragmatic research paradigm was adopted, where the researchers took a mixed approach informed by both quantitative and qualitative research tools. Results: Findings of this study show a significant and positive impact of humanitarian supply chain (HSC) cooperation in achieving output, resource and flexibility performance in the delivery of aid. These findings will change the shape of humanitarian response to have more cooperation amongst organisations rather than responding as single entities. Conclusion: This study will therefore contribute to how humanitarian organisations improve their approach to future disasters through cooperation in their supply chain activities. Theoretically, the study will show how supply chain cooperation is key to humanitarian responses, thus improving effectiveness of HSC when put into practice. Policymakers can use these findings to develop a standard framework of how humanitarian organisations should collectively respond to disasters. Keywords: cyclone; humanitarian logistics; relief operations; supply chain; supply chain cooperation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
Observations of cosmic re-ionisation with the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array: simulations of closure phase spectra
- Authors: Charles, Ntsikelelo
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Epoch of reionization , Space interferometry , Astronomy -- Observations , Closure phase spectra
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/174470 , vital:42480
- Description: The 21 cm transition from neutral Hydrogen promises to be the best observational probe of the Epoch of Reionisation. It has driven the construction of the new generation of low frequency radio interferometric arrays, including the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA). The main difficulty in measuring the 21 cm signal is the presence of bright foregrounds that require very accurate interferometric calibration. Thyagarajan et al. (2018) proposed the use of closure phase quantities as a means to detect the 21 cm signal, which has the advantage of being independent (to first order) from calibration errors and therefore, bypasses the need for accurate calibration. Closure phases are, however, affected by so-called direction dependent effects, e.g. the fact that the dishes - or antennas - of an interferometric array are not identical to each other and , therefore, yield different antenna primary beam responses. In this thesis, we investigate the impact of direction dependent effects on closure quantities and simulate the impact that primary antenna beams affected by mutual coupling have on the foreground closure phase and its power spectrum i.e. the power spectrum of the bispectrum phase (Thyagarajan et al., 2020). Our simulations show that primary beams affected by mutual coupling lead to an overall leakage of foreground power in the so-called EoR window, i.e. power from smooth-spectrum foregrounds is confined to low k modes. We quantified this effect and found that the leakage is up to ~ 8 orders magnitude higher than the case of an ideal beam at kǁ > 0:5 h Mpc-1. We also found that the foreground leakage is worse when edge antennas are included, as they have a more different primary beam compared to antennas at the centre of the array. The leakage magnitude is worse when bright foregrounds appear in the antenna sidelobes, as expected. Our simulations provide a useful framework to interpret observations and assess which power spectrum region is expected to be most contaminated by foreground power leakage.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
- Authors: Charles, Ntsikelelo
- Date: 2021-04
- Subjects: Epoch of reionization , Space interferometry , Astronomy -- Observations , Closure phase spectra
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/174470 , vital:42480
- Description: The 21 cm transition from neutral Hydrogen promises to be the best observational probe of the Epoch of Reionisation. It has driven the construction of the new generation of low frequency radio interferometric arrays, including the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA). The main difficulty in measuring the 21 cm signal is the presence of bright foregrounds that require very accurate interferometric calibration. Thyagarajan et al. (2018) proposed the use of closure phase quantities as a means to detect the 21 cm signal, which has the advantage of being independent (to first order) from calibration errors and therefore, bypasses the need for accurate calibration. Closure phases are, however, affected by so-called direction dependent effects, e.g. the fact that the dishes - or antennas - of an interferometric array are not identical to each other and , therefore, yield different antenna primary beam responses. In this thesis, we investigate the impact of direction dependent effects on closure quantities and simulate the impact that primary antenna beams affected by mutual coupling have on the foreground closure phase and its power spectrum i.e. the power spectrum of the bispectrum phase (Thyagarajan et al., 2020). Our simulations show that primary beams affected by mutual coupling lead to an overall leakage of foreground power in the so-called EoR window, i.e. power from smooth-spectrum foregrounds is confined to low k modes. We quantified this effect and found that the leakage is up to ~ 8 orders magnitude higher than the case of an ideal beam at kǁ > 0:5 h Mpc-1. We also found that the foreground leakage is worse when edge antennas are included, as they have a more different primary beam compared to antennas at the centre of the array. The leakage magnitude is worse when bright foregrounds appear in the antenna sidelobes, as expected. Our simulations provide a useful framework to interpret observations and assess which power spectrum region is expected to be most contaminated by foreground power leakage.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-04
Self-inquiry: Comparing Plato and Patanjali
- Authors: Coughlan, Daniel Michael
- Date: 2021-10
- Subjects: Plato , Patañjali , Self , Identity (Philosophical concept) , Comparison (Philosophy) , Justification (Theory of knowledge)
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190066 , vital:44960
- Description: At its most effective my research hopes to re-affirm the central value and importance of self-inquiry. That is, I hope to echo the familiar call of the wise to know thyself. Of the many mouths and temple walls that have lent authority to this precept there is perhaps no mouth more important than one’s own. To know thyself is the task and responsibility of the individual. In order to arrive at the point where I can re-affirm its value I explore the nature of self-inquiry with the help of Plato, Patanjali and a comparison between them. I propose two general senses in which we might understand self-inquiry and seek to bring out the core problems faced by each. We find an account of these two senses and the relationship between them in both Plato and Patanjali, so too, though less obviously, in the comparison between them. The comparison provides the opportunity for reflecting on the ground that it moves from and depends on, the common ground we assume between the two compared philosophers/ies. I contend that this ground is ultimately the comparer, one’s self. The consequence is that the comparative project and the project of self-inquiry both meet and are mutually beneficial. The three together; Plato, Patanjali, and the comparison between them help us account for nature of self-inquiry in helping us to better understand the relationship between the two senses in which we can come to understand and think about it. In the first sense, self-inquiry is cast as the examination of one’s life. In the second sense, we are invited to consider the possibility of an unmediated knowing of the examiner, an unmediated self-knowing. With a better understanding of what self-inquiry is I stand to conclude by re-affirming its value. , Thesis (MPhil) -- Faculty of Humanities, Philosophy, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10
- Authors: Coughlan, Daniel Michael
- Date: 2021-10
- Subjects: Plato , Patañjali , Self , Identity (Philosophical concept) , Comparison (Philosophy) , Justification (Theory of knowledge)
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190066 , vital:44960
- Description: At its most effective my research hopes to re-affirm the central value and importance of self-inquiry. That is, I hope to echo the familiar call of the wise to know thyself. Of the many mouths and temple walls that have lent authority to this precept there is perhaps no mouth more important than one’s own. To know thyself is the task and responsibility of the individual. In order to arrive at the point where I can re-affirm its value I explore the nature of self-inquiry with the help of Plato, Patanjali and a comparison between them. I propose two general senses in which we might understand self-inquiry and seek to bring out the core problems faced by each. We find an account of these two senses and the relationship between them in both Plato and Patanjali, so too, though less obviously, in the comparison between them. The comparison provides the opportunity for reflecting on the ground that it moves from and depends on, the common ground we assume between the two compared philosophers/ies. I contend that this ground is ultimately the comparer, one’s self. The consequence is that the comparative project and the project of self-inquiry both meet and are mutually beneficial. The three together; Plato, Patanjali, and the comparison between them help us account for nature of self-inquiry in helping us to better understand the relationship between the two senses in which we can come to understand and think about it. In the first sense, self-inquiry is cast as the examination of one’s life. In the second sense, we are invited to consider the possibility of an unmediated knowing of the examiner, an unmediated self-knowing. With a better understanding of what self-inquiry is I stand to conclude by re-affirming its value. , Thesis (MPhil) -- Faculty of Humanities, Philosophy, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10
Application of computer-aided drug design for identification of P. falciparum inhibitors
- Authors: Diallo, Bakary N’tji
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Plasmodium falciparum , Malaria -- Chemotherapy , Molecular dynamics , Antimalarials , Cheminformatics , Drug development , Ligand binding (Biochemistry) , Plasmodium falciparum1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase (PfDXR) , South African Natural Compounds Database
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192798 , vital:45265 , 10.21504/10962/192798
- Description: Malaria is a millennia-old disease with the first recorded cases dating back to 2700 BC found in Chinese medical records, and later in other civilizations. It has claimed human lives to such an extent that there are a notable associated socio-economic consequences. Currently, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), Africa holds the highest disease burden with 94% of deaths and 82% of cases with P. falciparum having ~100% prevalence. Chemotherapy, such as artemisinin combination therapy, has been and continues to be the work horse in the fight against the disease, together with seasonal malaria chemoprevention and the use of insecticides. Natural products such as quinine and artemisinin are particularly important in terms of their antimalarial activity. The emphasis in current chemotherapy research is the need for time and cost-effective workflows focussed on new mechanisms of action (MoAs) covering the target candidate profiles (TCPs). Despite a decline in cases over the past decades with, countries increasingly becoming certified malaria free, a stalling trend has been observed in the past five years resulting in missing the 2020 Global Technical Strategy (GTS) milestones. With no effective vaccine, a reduction in funding, slower drug approval than resistance emergence from resistant and invasive vectors, and threats in diagnosis with the pfhrp2/3 gene deletion, malaria remains a major health concern. Motivated by these reasons, the primary aim of this work was a contribution to the antimalarial pipeline through in silico approaches focusing on P. falciparum. We first intended an exploration of malarial targets through a proteome scale screening on 36 targets using multiple metrics to account for the multi-objective nature of drug discovery. The continuous growth of structural data offers the ideal scenario for mining new MoAs covering antimalarials TCPs. This was combined with a repurposing strategy using a set of orally available FDA approved drugs. Further, use was made of time- and cost-effective strategies combining QVina-W efficiency metrics that integrate molecular properties, GRIM rescoring for molecular interactions and a hydrogen mass repartitioning (HMR) molecular dynamics (MD) scheme for accelerated development of antimalarials in the context of resistance. This pipeline further integrates a complex ranking for better drug-target selectivity, and normalization strategies to overcome docking scoring function bias. The different metrics, ranking, normalization strategies and their combinations were first assessed using their mean ranking error (MRE). A version combining all metrics was used to select 36 unique protein-ligand complexes, assessed in MD, with the final retention of 25. From the 16 in vitro tested hits of the 25, fingolimod, abiraterone, prazosin, and terazosin showed antiplasmodial activity with IC50 2.21, 3.37, 16.67 and 34.72 μM respectively and of these, only fingolimod was found to be not safe with respect to human cell viability. These compounds were predicted active on different molecular targets, abiraterone was predicted to interact with a putative liver-stage essential target, hence promising as a transmission-blocking agent. The pipeline had a promising 25% hit rate considering the proteome-scale and use of cost-effective approaches. Secondly, we focused on Plasmodium falciparum 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase (PfDXR) using a more extensive screening pipeline to overcome some of the current in silico screening limitations. Starting from the ZINC lead-like library of ~3M, hierarchical ligand-based virtual screening (LBVS) and structure-based virtual screening (SBVS) approaches with molecular docking and re-scoring using eleven scoring functions (SFs) were used. Later ranking with an exponential consensus strategy was included. Selected hits were further assessed through Molecular Mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann Surface Area (MM-PBSA), advanced MD sampling in a ligand pulling simulations and (Weighted Histogram Analysis Method) WHAM analysis for umbrella sampling (US) to derive binding free energies. Four leads had better predicted affinities in US than LC5, a 280 nM potent PfDXR inhibitor with ZINC000050633276 showing a promising binding of -20.43 kcal/mol. As shown with fosmidomycin, DXR inhibition offers fast acting compounds fulfilling antimalarials TCP1. Yet, fosmidomycin has a high polarity causing its short half-life and hampering its clinical use. These leads scaffolds are different from fosmidomycin and hence may offer better pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties and may also be promising for lead optimization. A combined analysis of residues’ contributions to the free energy of binding in MM-PBSA and to steered molecular dynamics (SMD) Fmax indicated GLU233, CYS268, SER270, TRP296, and HIS341 as exploitable for compound optimization. Finally, we updated the SANCDB library with new NPs and their commercially available analogs as a solution to NP availability. The library is extended to 1005 compounds from its initial 600 compounds and the database is integrated to Mcule and Molport APIs for analogs automatic update. The new set may contribute to virtual screening and to antimalarials as the most effective ones have NP origin. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Diallo, Bakary N’tji
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Plasmodium falciparum , Malaria -- Chemotherapy , Molecular dynamics , Antimalarials , Cheminformatics , Drug development , Ligand binding (Biochemistry) , Plasmodium falciparum1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase (PfDXR) , South African Natural Compounds Database
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192798 , vital:45265 , 10.21504/10962/192798
- Description: Malaria is a millennia-old disease with the first recorded cases dating back to 2700 BC found in Chinese medical records, and later in other civilizations. It has claimed human lives to such an extent that there are a notable associated socio-economic consequences. Currently, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), Africa holds the highest disease burden with 94% of deaths and 82% of cases with P. falciparum having ~100% prevalence. Chemotherapy, such as artemisinin combination therapy, has been and continues to be the work horse in the fight against the disease, together with seasonal malaria chemoprevention and the use of insecticides. Natural products such as quinine and artemisinin are particularly important in terms of their antimalarial activity. The emphasis in current chemotherapy research is the need for time and cost-effective workflows focussed on new mechanisms of action (MoAs) covering the target candidate profiles (TCPs). Despite a decline in cases over the past decades with, countries increasingly becoming certified malaria free, a stalling trend has been observed in the past five years resulting in missing the 2020 Global Technical Strategy (GTS) milestones. With no effective vaccine, a reduction in funding, slower drug approval than resistance emergence from resistant and invasive vectors, and threats in diagnosis with the pfhrp2/3 gene deletion, malaria remains a major health concern. Motivated by these reasons, the primary aim of this work was a contribution to the antimalarial pipeline through in silico approaches focusing on P. falciparum. We first intended an exploration of malarial targets through a proteome scale screening on 36 targets using multiple metrics to account for the multi-objective nature of drug discovery. The continuous growth of structural data offers the ideal scenario for mining new MoAs covering antimalarials TCPs. This was combined with a repurposing strategy using a set of orally available FDA approved drugs. Further, use was made of time- and cost-effective strategies combining QVina-W efficiency metrics that integrate molecular properties, GRIM rescoring for molecular interactions and a hydrogen mass repartitioning (HMR) molecular dynamics (MD) scheme for accelerated development of antimalarials in the context of resistance. This pipeline further integrates a complex ranking for better drug-target selectivity, and normalization strategies to overcome docking scoring function bias. The different metrics, ranking, normalization strategies and their combinations were first assessed using their mean ranking error (MRE). A version combining all metrics was used to select 36 unique protein-ligand complexes, assessed in MD, with the final retention of 25. From the 16 in vitro tested hits of the 25, fingolimod, abiraterone, prazosin, and terazosin showed antiplasmodial activity with IC50 2.21, 3.37, 16.67 and 34.72 μM respectively and of these, only fingolimod was found to be not safe with respect to human cell viability. These compounds were predicted active on different molecular targets, abiraterone was predicted to interact with a putative liver-stage essential target, hence promising as a transmission-blocking agent. The pipeline had a promising 25% hit rate considering the proteome-scale and use of cost-effective approaches. Secondly, we focused on Plasmodium falciparum 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase (PfDXR) using a more extensive screening pipeline to overcome some of the current in silico screening limitations. Starting from the ZINC lead-like library of ~3M, hierarchical ligand-based virtual screening (LBVS) and structure-based virtual screening (SBVS) approaches with molecular docking and re-scoring using eleven scoring functions (SFs) were used. Later ranking with an exponential consensus strategy was included. Selected hits were further assessed through Molecular Mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann Surface Area (MM-PBSA), advanced MD sampling in a ligand pulling simulations and (Weighted Histogram Analysis Method) WHAM analysis for umbrella sampling (US) to derive binding free energies. Four leads had better predicted affinities in US than LC5, a 280 nM potent PfDXR inhibitor with ZINC000050633276 showing a promising binding of -20.43 kcal/mol. As shown with fosmidomycin, DXR inhibition offers fast acting compounds fulfilling antimalarials TCP1. Yet, fosmidomycin has a high polarity causing its short half-life and hampering its clinical use. These leads scaffolds are different from fosmidomycin and hence may offer better pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties and may also be promising for lead optimization. A combined analysis of residues’ contributions to the free energy of binding in MM-PBSA and to steered molecular dynamics (SMD) Fmax indicated GLU233, CYS268, SER270, TRP296, and HIS341 as exploitable for compound optimization. Finally, we updated the SANCDB library with new NPs and their commercially available analogs as a solution to NP availability. The library is extended to 1005 compounds from its initial 600 compounds and the database is integrated to Mcule and Molport APIs for analogs automatic update. The new set may contribute to virtual screening and to antimalarials as the most effective ones have NP origin. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
Factors contributing to unsafe practices in Eskom power division projects
- Authors: Dingilizwe, Nondumiso
- Date: 2021-03
- Subjects: Power-plants
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59226 , vital:60314
- Description: Health and safety is accepted as an integral element of the built environment. As construction within the electricity and power supply industry is inevitable, alongside other regulatory systems aimed at ensuring sustainable power supply, health and safety measures, policies, training, management, and incidences become important indicators for the delivery of power supply. This research study explores the health and safety management challenges that are experienced by the construction division of Eskom, South Africa’s national power utility with its head offices in Johannesburg, South Africa. The research explores and identifies factors that affect workers’ on-site behaviour regarding the compliance and adherence to health and safety statutory practices. Using a qualitative research method, and thematic data analysis, the research findings draw on salient emerging themes that allude to the inadequate and insufficient documentation of Eskom procedures, and the failure to make use of recorded past incidents in establishing improved pro-active health and safety management practice and management thereof, are but some of the illuminated factors that emerge from the study findings. For a power utility of its scale and the volume of electricity generation, transmission, and distribution, the compliance to internationally recognised health and safety standards within an appropriate legal framework, are factors that may hinder the successful implementation of its core function. Notwithstanding the fact that the electricity sector of industry, in terms of overall current health, safety and performance, is generally considered to be a lower risk than other industries within the South African economy. Yet this study, in taking cognisance of all four sectors of the energy and power value chain (generation, transmission, distribution and retail), attempts to address the unanswered questions if why and how Eskom, despite its health and safety policies and general compliance to statutory workplace health and safety framework, continues to experience a high level of workplace fatalities in the delivery of its projects. Against a backdrop of reported and documented incidences of time, this research found that the usage of reports to benchmark and re-calibrate policy and preventative procedure is carried out periodically, but in an unstructured manner. The risk this presents is evident in the potential failure to identify proper risk analysis, appropriate health and safety vi performance indicators, and a slow migration to the new ISO 45001 quality standard. Study findings also suggest a lack of training programmes for contractors and employees within Eskom construction projects, as a primary contributing hindrance factor to attaining an improved health and safety management system. Finally, the study also considered new hazards and risks that have, and may still, arise from the uptake and expansion of new technologies, cleaner energy, as well as future trends that would collectively influence health and safety standards along the electricity value chain. The research findings suggest for a more focused goal-setting and the building of competencies to recognise and mitigate risks, especially new risks, and to engage more participatory approaches to setting standards that can be effectively managed and which can contribute to injury reduction through behavioural change. What remains to be explored, will be the changing nature of doing business as the year 2020 witnesses a new confounding pandemic, the Coronavirus (covid-19). Its impact on health and safety in the workplace, and on the entire construction value chain, cost of construction, project management and timeframes, is yet to be determined and factored into the business processes of a large scale public entity such as Eskom. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-03
- Authors: Dingilizwe, Nondumiso
- Date: 2021-03
- Subjects: Power-plants
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/59226 , vital:60314
- Description: Health and safety is accepted as an integral element of the built environment. As construction within the electricity and power supply industry is inevitable, alongside other regulatory systems aimed at ensuring sustainable power supply, health and safety measures, policies, training, management, and incidences become important indicators for the delivery of power supply. This research study explores the health and safety management challenges that are experienced by the construction division of Eskom, South Africa’s national power utility with its head offices in Johannesburg, South Africa. The research explores and identifies factors that affect workers’ on-site behaviour regarding the compliance and adherence to health and safety statutory practices. Using a qualitative research method, and thematic data analysis, the research findings draw on salient emerging themes that allude to the inadequate and insufficient documentation of Eskom procedures, and the failure to make use of recorded past incidents in establishing improved pro-active health and safety management practice and management thereof, are but some of the illuminated factors that emerge from the study findings. For a power utility of its scale and the volume of electricity generation, transmission, and distribution, the compliance to internationally recognised health and safety standards within an appropriate legal framework, are factors that may hinder the successful implementation of its core function. Notwithstanding the fact that the electricity sector of industry, in terms of overall current health, safety and performance, is generally considered to be a lower risk than other industries within the South African economy. Yet this study, in taking cognisance of all four sectors of the energy and power value chain (generation, transmission, distribution and retail), attempts to address the unanswered questions if why and how Eskom, despite its health and safety policies and general compliance to statutory workplace health and safety framework, continues to experience a high level of workplace fatalities in the delivery of its projects. Against a backdrop of reported and documented incidences of time, this research found that the usage of reports to benchmark and re-calibrate policy and preventative procedure is carried out periodically, but in an unstructured manner. The risk this presents is evident in the potential failure to identify proper risk analysis, appropriate health and safety vi performance indicators, and a slow migration to the new ISO 45001 quality standard. Study findings also suggest a lack of training programmes for contractors and employees within Eskom construction projects, as a primary contributing hindrance factor to attaining an improved health and safety management system. Finally, the study also considered new hazards and risks that have, and may still, arise from the uptake and expansion of new technologies, cleaner energy, as well as future trends that would collectively influence health and safety standards along the electricity value chain. The research findings suggest for a more focused goal-setting and the building of competencies to recognise and mitigate risks, especially new risks, and to engage more participatory approaches to setting standards that can be effectively managed and which can contribute to injury reduction through behavioural change. What remains to be explored, will be the changing nature of doing business as the year 2020 witnesses a new confounding pandemic, the Coronavirus (covid-19). Its impact on health and safety in the workplace, and on the entire construction value chain, cost of construction, project management and timeframes, is yet to be determined and factored into the business processes of a large scale public entity such as Eskom. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-03
A modelling approach to the analysis of complex survey data
- Authors: Dlangamandla, Olwethu
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Sampling (Statistics) , Linear models (Statistics) , Multilevel models (Statistics) , Logistic regression analysis , Complex survey data
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192955 , vital:45284
- Description: Surveys are an essential tool for collecting data and most surveys use complex sampling designs to collect the data. Complex sampling designs are used mainly to enhance representativeness in the sample by accounting for the underlying structure of the population. This often results in data that are non-independent and clustered. Ignoring complex design features such as clustering, stratification, multistage and unequal probability sampling may result in inaccurate and incorrect inference. An overview of, and difference between, design-based and model-based approaches to inference for complex survey data has been discussed. This study adopts a model-based approach. The objective of this study is to discuss and describe the modelling approach in analysing complex survey data. This is specifically done by introducing the principle inference methods under which data from complex surveys may be analysed. In particular, discussions on the theory and methods of model fitting for the analysis of complex survey data are presented. We begin by discussing unique features of complex survey data and explore appropriate methods of analysis that account for the complexity inherent in the survey data. We also explore the widely applied logistic regression modelling of binary data in a complex sample survey context. In particular, four forms of logistic regression models are fitted. These models are generalized linear models, multilevel models, mixed effects models and generalized linear mixed models. Simulated complex survey data are used to illustrate the methods and models. Various R packages are used for the analysis. The results presented and discussed in this thesis indicate that a logistic mixed model with first and second level predictors has a better fit compared to a logistic mixed model with first level predictors. In addition, a logistic multilevel model with first and second level predictors and nested random effects provides a better fit to the data compared to other logistic multilevel fitted models. Similar results were obtained from fitting a generalized logistic mixed model with first and second level predictor variables and a generalized linear mixed model with first and second level predictors and nested random effects. , Thesis (MSC) -- Faculty of Science, Statistics, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Dlangamandla, Olwethu
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Sampling (Statistics) , Linear models (Statistics) , Multilevel models (Statistics) , Logistic regression analysis , Complex survey data
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192955 , vital:45284
- Description: Surveys are an essential tool for collecting data and most surveys use complex sampling designs to collect the data. Complex sampling designs are used mainly to enhance representativeness in the sample by accounting for the underlying structure of the population. This often results in data that are non-independent and clustered. Ignoring complex design features such as clustering, stratification, multistage and unequal probability sampling may result in inaccurate and incorrect inference. An overview of, and difference between, design-based and model-based approaches to inference for complex survey data has been discussed. This study adopts a model-based approach. The objective of this study is to discuss and describe the modelling approach in analysing complex survey data. This is specifically done by introducing the principle inference methods under which data from complex surveys may be analysed. In particular, discussions on the theory and methods of model fitting for the analysis of complex survey data are presented. We begin by discussing unique features of complex survey data and explore appropriate methods of analysis that account for the complexity inherent in the survey data. We also explore the widely applied logistic regression modelling of binary data in a complex sample survey context. In particular, four forms of logistic regression models are fitted. These models are generalized linear models, multilevel models, mixed effects models and generalized linear mixed models. Simulated complex survey data are used to illustrate the methods and models. Various R packages are used for the analysis. The results presented and discussed in this thesis indicate that a logistic mixed model with first and second level predictors has a better fit compared to a logistic mixed model with first level predictors. In addition, a logistic multilevel model with first and second level predictors and nested random effects provides a better fit to the data compared to other logistic multilevel fitted models. Similar results were obtained from fitting a generalized logistic mixed model with first and second level predictor variables and a generalized linear mixed model with first and second level predictors and nested random effects. , Thesis (MSC) -- Faculty of Science, Statistics, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
Quantifying the ecological and socioeconomic implications of a recovery/collapse of South Africa’s West Coast rock lobster fishery
- Authors: Eggers, Jessica Marguerite
- Date: 2021-10
- Subjects: Jasus lalandii South Africa , Lobster fisheries South Africa , Lobster fisheries Catch effort South Africa , Fishery management South Africa , Small-scale fisheries South Africa , Economics Sociological aspects , Value chain analysis
- Language: English
- Type: Masters theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/188854 , vital:44792
- Description: The West Coast rock lobster (WCRL) Jasus lalandii fishery is South Africa’s third most valuable fishery, but the stock is currently at less than 2% of its pristine biomass. Scientists are warning that if no measures are taken, the WCRL could face commercial extinction. The necessary reductions in the global Total allowable Catch (TAC) seen in past years have had large economic implications for the WCRL value chain, but research into the socio-economic aspects of this fishery is limited. This study, therefore, aims to establish an overview of the economic revenue over the seasons 2016/17 – 2018/19 by exploring changes and trends in the net seasonal income (NSI) for the fishery, sectors within the fishery and different stakeholders. It also investigates the prospects for the sectors and different actors in this fishery over the seasons 2019/2020 - 2030/31 through analysis of the net present value (NPV) under three proposed global TAC management scenarios (global TAC of 640 tonnes, 1084 tonnes and 1280 tonnes). Data concerning costs and incomes as well as dynamics, mechanisms and concerns surrounding the fishery were collected from stakeholders in the different sectors through interviews and surveys. Further, official records from DEFF (catches, actors, vessels and quotas) and projections made by the Marine Resource Assessment (MARAM) team at the University of Cape Town (rates of recovery of the resource and future catches under the different TAC scenarios) were obtained and analysed. Cost and income data were summarised and models characterising the economic flows within the fishery were created. Calculations regarding the NSI and NPV were made using Monte Carlo simulations to account for the uncertainty surrounding many of the input variables. Results show that while the fishery as a whole made economic profits for the three seasons, the decreasing quotas in 2018/19 had a disproportionately negative impact on some of the representative individuals examined within the different sectors. The projections indicate that while each of the sectors as a whole would continue to make profits largely proportional to their allocation under the different TAC scenarios, many vessel owners in the fishery are likely to face economic losses or very marginal gains under the lower quota options, while the NPV for quota holders who outsource the catching of their quota are likely to be proportionally less affected by the changes in global TAC. This dynamic is important to consider for the future of this fishery. If the resource is to recover, and fishing activity is to continue equitably under the decreased quotas that the recovery of the biomass necessitates, the socio-economic context and the dynamics within which the fishers operate must be considered and studied more extensively and socio-economic consequences of a lower global TAC mitigated while improving the ecological status of the resource. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Ichthyology and Fisheries Science, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10
- Authors: Eggers, Jessica Marguerite
- Date: 2021-10
- Subjects: Jasus lalandii South Africa , Lobster fisheries South Africa , Lobster fisheries Catch effort South Africa , Fishery management South Africa , Small-scale fisheries South Africa , Economics Sociological aspects , Value chain analysis
- Language: English
- Type: Masters theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/188854 , vital:44792
- Description: The West Coast rock lobster (WCRL) Jasus lalandii fishery is South Africa’s third most valuable fishery, but the stock is currently at less than 2% of its pristine biomass. Scientists are warning that if no measures are taken, the WCRL could face commercial extinction. The necessary reductions in the global Total allowable Catch (TAC) seen in past years have had large economic implications for the WCRL value chain, but research into the socio-economic aspects of this fishery is limited. This study, therefore, aims to establish an overview of the economic revenue over the seasons 2016/17 – 2018/19 by exploring changes and trends in the net seasonal income (NSI) for the fishery, sectors within the fishery and different stakeholders. It also investigates the prospects for the sectors and different actors in this fishery over the seasons 2019/2020 - 2030/31 through analysis of the net present value (NPV) under three proposed global TAC management scenarios (global TAC of 640 tonnes, 1084 tonnes and 1280 tonnes). Data concerning costs and incomes as well as dynamics, mechanisms and concerns surrounding the fishery were collected from stakeholders in the different sectors through interviews and surveys. Further, official records from DEFF (catches, actors, vessels and quotas) and projections made by the Marine Resource Assessment (MARAM) team at the University of Cape Town (rates of recovery of the resource and future catches under the different TAC scenarios) were obtained and analysed. Cost and income data were summarised and models characterising the economic flows within the fishery were created. Calculations regarding the NSI and NPV were made using Monte Carlo simulations to account for the uncertainty surrounding many of the input variables. Results show that while the fishery as a whole made economic profits for the three seasons, the decreasing quotas in 2018/19 had a disproportionately negative impact on some of the representative individuals examined within the different sectors. The projections indicate that while each of the sectors as a whole would continue to make profits largely proportional to their allocation under the different TAC scenarios, many vessel owners in the fishery are likely to face economic losses or very marginal gains under the lower quota options, while the NPV for quota holders who outsource the catching of their quota are likely to be proportionally less affected by the changes in global TAC. This dynamic is important to consider for the future of this fishery. If the resource is to recover, and fishing activity is to continue equitably under the decreased quotas that the recovery of the biomass necessitates, the socio-economic context and the dynamics within which the fishers operate must be considered and studied more extensively and socio-economic consequences of a lower global TAC mitigated while improving the ecological status of the resource. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Ichthyology and Fisheries Science, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10
An evolutionary study of legless skinks’ (Acontias Cuvier, 1817) head and vertebrae morphology
- Authors: Evlambiou, Anthony Andreas
- Date: 2021-10
- Subjects: Skinks South Africa , Acontias South Africa , Typhlosaurus South Africa , Acontias Morphology , Acontias Phylogeny , Acontias Evolution , Vertebrae , Skull Growth , Evolutionary developmental biology
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190690 , vital:45018
- Description: Environmental factors and/or processes can produce differences in general shape between individuals or particular parts of individuals. Examples of these biological processes may include ontogenetic development, adaptation to local geographic factors, or long-term evolutionary diversification. An organism is not likely to be able to optimise a single structure for multiple purposes and so trade-offs are likely to occur. An example of such a structure is the cranium, as it can be used for multiple activities such as defensive and sexual behaviour, locomotion, prey capture, and ingestion. Morphological characteristics have historically been used in the description of species. Genetic analyses have gained popularity as species delineation techniques and have been particularly useful in identifying cryptic species, especially among morphological conserved species like legless skinks of the subfamily Acontinae (e.g. Acontias Cuvier, 1817 and Typhlosaurus Weigmann, 1834). However, completely doing away with morphological techniques during species descriptions is not the best option. Therefore, novel methods to identify species, especially those with similar body plans, are needed. In this dissertation, we explore the links between head shape and vertebral number to environmental pressures to determine whether the evolutionary process is driven by environmental pressures (soil or biome) or is retained through ancestry. A novel species/clade delineation linked to vertebral number is also investigated. Head shape was expected to have a close link to the environment and the number of vertebrae was expected to have a closer link to ancestry. The first chapter investigates the drivers behind Acontias head shape evolution using geometric morphometric techniques. We found that environmental pressures did affect the evolution of head shape especially in the “soil” and “biome” categories but further investigation is advised. The second chapter explores the viability of using vertebral counts as a novel method for species and/or clade delineation in Acontias and to determine whether vertebral number can be linked to the environment. Delineating species based on vertebral count is likely not an option, however, delineating clades proved to show promising results. A link between vertebral count and environment was found in Acontias with larger bodied species occurring in different environments to smaller body species. In conclusion, the genus Acontias is difficult to delineate morphologically. Genetic sequence analyses can indicate differences and delineate the species. Even though there were differences in morphology based on environmental factors, it is not sufficient to delineate this subfamily alone. Further research is advised and this dissertation provides a good basis to work with. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Zoology and Entomology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10
- Authors: Evlambiou, Anthony Andreas
- Date: 2021-10
- Subjects: Skinks South Africa , Acontias South Africa , Typhlosaurus South Africa , Acontias Morphology , Acontias Phylogeny , Acontias Evolution , Vertebrae , Skull Growth , Evolutionary developmental biology
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190690 , vital:45018
- Description: Environmental factors and/or processes can produce differences in general shape between individuals or particular parts of individuals. Examples of these biological processes may include ontogenetic development, adaptation to local geographic factors, or long-term evolutionary diversification. An organism is not likely to be able to optimise a single structure for multiple purposes and so trade-offs are likely to occur. An example of such a structure is the cranium, as it can be used for multiple activities such as defensive and sexual behaviour, locomotion, prey capture, and ingestion. Morphological characteristics have historically been used in the description of species. Genetic analyses have gained popularity as species delineation techniques and have been particularly useful in identifying cryptic species, especially among morphological conserved species like legless skinks of the subfamily Acontinae (e.g. Acontias Cuvier, 1817 and Typhlosaurus Weigmann, 1834). However, completely doing away with morphological techniques during species descriptions is not the best option. Therefore, novel methods to identify species, especially those with similar body plans, are needed. In this dissertation, we explore the links between head shape and vertebral number to environmental pressures to determine whether the evolutionary process is driven by environmental pressures (soil or biome) or is retained through ancestry. A novel species/clade delineation linked to vertebral number is also investigated. Head shape was expected to have a close link to the environment and the number of vertebrae was expected to have a closer link to ancestry. The first chapter investigates the drivers behind Acontias head shape evolution using geometric morphometric techniques. We found that environmental pressures did affect the evolution of head shape especially in the “soil” and “biome” categories but further investigation is advised. The second chapter explores the viability of using vertebral counts as a novel method for species and/or clade delineation in Acontias and to determine whether vertebral number can be linked to the environment. Delineating species based on vertebral count is likely not an option, however, delineating clades proved to show promising results. A link between vertebral count and environment was found in Acontias with larger bodied species occurring in different environments to smaller body species. In conclusion, the genus Acontias is difficult to delineate morphologically. Genetic sequence analyses can indicate differences and delineate the species. Even though there were differences in morphology based on environmental factors, it is not sufficient to delineate this subfamily alone. Further research is advised and this dissertation provides a good basis to work with. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Zoology and Entomology, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10
An analysis of the medicines regulatory environment in sub-Saharan Africa and the African Medicines Regulatory Harmonization Initiative
- Authors: Feka, Cedric Nyahchong
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192408 , vital:45223
- Description: Thesis (MSc (Pharm)) -- Faculty of Pharmacy, Pharmacy, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Feka, Cedric Nyahchong
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192408 , vital:45223
- Description: Thesis (MSc (Pharm)) -- Faculty of Pharmacy, Pharmacy, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
Production performance, socioeconomic benefits, and agricultural extension services support of scavenging chicken farmers in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality, Eastern Cape Province
- Fentele, Ziphozethu https://orcid.org/ 0000-0001-7939-2964
- Authors: Fentele, Ziphozethu https://orcid.org/ 0000-0001-7939-2964
- Date: 2021-03
- Subjects: Broilers (Chickens) , Poultry -- Breeding
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/21490 , vital:48751
- Description: Scavenging chicken production plays a significant role in the lives of rural farmers as it ensures food security by providing eggs and meat to rural farmers almost in all developing nations. Rural farmers not only consume scavenging chickens, they also sell live chickens to customers to generate immediate income and are able to acquire other products using the money from the sales. The purpose of this study was to investigate production performance, socioeconomic benefits, and agricultural extension services support for scavenging chicken producers. The study was carried out in eight villages in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. This study employed the multistage sampling technique for data collection from respondents between October and November 2018. The study used descriptive statistics, frequencies, percentages and multiple linear regression models to analyse quantitative data that was collected from a survey of 161 rural farmers that rear scavenging chickens. The results reveal that the majority (68.3percent) of the respondents in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality were women, while 52percent were married. Forty-eight percent of the respondents had attained high school education. The majority (53.4percent) relied on social grants and a further majority (68.3percent) had 1 to 10 years of experience in scavenging chicken production. The majority (84.5percent) of the households had between 1 and 50 chickens, with an overwhelming majority (95percent) practising free range system. Most (74.5percent) of the chicken houses were built with scrap material found within the community. The supplementary feed that was mostly offered to scavenging chickens was maize. The majority (95.7percent) of respondents experienced disease outbreaks, the most dominant of which was the Newcastle disease. Most (94.4percent) of the farmers offered a variety of indigenous medicines, mainly Aloe Ferrox. In addition, the majority (88.8percent) of the respondents experienced predation challenges The primary purpose of rearing scavenging chickens was consumption. Chickens were slaughtered for home consumption while forty-two percent at most. Most (50.9percent) of the respondents indicated that they offered chickens as gifts and as friendly gestures. The majority (82.0percent) indicated that they did not use chicken for any cultural rituals. A large (88.2percent) number of the respondents felt food secured as a result of rearing scavenging chickens, as they access products such as eggs and meat. The majority (98.8percent) of the respondents had never received any form of training from agricultural extension services. The results of the multiple linear regression model revealed that independent variables such as number of chickens, type of cockerels, number of hens, type of housing, type of training and cost of trainings had strong statistical significant values (p<0.001) zero-order correlation with production performance,while age and gender had statistical significant values at (p<0.05) and (p<0.010). For the improvement of the production performance of scavenging chicken production of rural farmers, the study recommends massive campaign among the farmers by agricultural extension services to create awareness on the dangers inherent in the use of unorthodox approaches to treating pests and diseases in scavenging chicken. Scavenging chicken farmers could be supported with simple technologies that are affordable on housing, medication and feed supplements. Training should focus on housing, disease management and feeding of scavenging chickens. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science and Agriculture, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-03
- Authors: Fentele, Ziphozethu https://orcid.org/ 0000-0001-7939-2964
- Date: 2021-03
- Subjects: Broilers (Chickens) , Poultry -- Breeding
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/21490 , vital:48751
- Description: Scavenging chicken production plays a significant role in the lives of rural farmers as it ensures food security by providing eggs and meat to rural farmers almost in all developing nations. Rural farmers not only consume scavenging chickens, they also sell live chickens to customers to generate immediate income and are able to acquire other products using the money from the sales. The purpose of this study was to investigate production performance, socioeconomic benefits, and agricultural extension services support for scavenging chicken producers. The study was carried out in eight villages in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. This study employed the multistage sampling technique for data collection from respondents between October and November 2018. The study used descriptive statistics, frequencies, percentages and multiple linear regression models to analyse quantitative data that was collected from a survey of 161 rural farmers that rear scavenging chickens. The results reveal that the majority (68.3percent) of the respondents in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality were women, while 52percent were married. Forty-eight percent of the respondents had attained high school education. The majority (53.4percent) relied on social grants and a further majority (68.3percent) had 1 to 10 years of experience in scavenging chicken production. The majority (84.5percent) of the households had between 1 and 50 chickens, with an overwhelming majority (95percent) practising free range system. Most (74.5percent) of the chicken houses were built with scrap material found within the community. The supplementary feed that was mostly offered to scavenging chickens was maize. The majority (95.7percent) of respondents experienced disease outbreaks, the most dominant of which was the Newcastle disease. Most (94.4percent) of the farmers offered a variety of indigenous medicines, mainly Aloe Ferrox. In addition, the majority (88.8percent) of the respondents experienced predation challenges The primary purpose of rearing scavenging chickens was consumption. Chickens were slaughtered for home consumption while forty-two percent at most. Most (50.9percent) of the respondents indicated that they offered chickens as gifts and as friendly gestures. The majority (82.0percent) indicated that they did not use chicken for any cultural rituals. A large (88.2percent) number of the respondents felt food secured as a result of rearing scavenging chickens, as they access products such as eggs and meat. The majority (98.8percent) of the respondents had never received any form of training from agricultural extension services. The results of the multiple linear regression model revealed that independent variables such as number of chickens, type of cockerels, number of hens, type of housing, type of training and cost of trainings had strong statistical significant values (p<0.001) zero-order correlation with production performance,while age and gender had statistical significant values at (p<0.05) and (p<0.010). For the improvement of the production performance of scavenging chicken production of rural farmers, the study recommends massive campaign among the farmers by agricultural extension services to create awareness on the dangers inherent in the use of unorthodox approaches to treating pests and diseases in scavenging chicken. Scavenging chicken farmers could be supported with simple technologies that are affordable on housing, medication and feed supplements. Training should focus on housing, disease management and feeding of scavenging chickens. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science and Agriculture, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-03
What are the pertinent intersections in the lives of black women at Rhodes University?
- Authors: Gushman, Lutho Phinda
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Women, Black South Africa Makhanda , Student movements South Africa Makhanda , Intersectionality (Sociology) , Pluralism , Matrix organization South Africa Makhanda , Women, Black Education (Higher) South Africa Makhanda , Social action South Africa Makhanda , Rhodes University
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190990 , vital:45047
- Description: After the 2016 #FeesMustFall protest(s), higher education institutions were dramatically altered with respect to their institutional cultures; the narratives of those who were historically side-lined and marginalised took centre stage. At Rhodes University social activism was constitutive of three components; a ‘revolt’ against the fee increment; a contestation of the rape culture; and a rejection of the colonial curriculum. These concerns, in their varied articulations, made up different social and academic realities that define(d) Rhodes University and affected how individuals experienced institutional culture. According to Ndlovu (2017) while these expressed acts (in the form of protests and institutional shutdowns) of resistance against the system of higher education subsided after the fees must fall campaign, these served to centre the narratives of the marginalised. Keeping with this thinking, the argument presented in this thesis explores the experiences of black women in higher education after the call towards coordinated resistance. Using qualitative data in the form of narrative interviews, the thesis documents how the participants continued their academic and social life post-resistance. This rupture of resistance created a complex matrix of individual subjectivity where participants engaged with traditional social academic norms in new spaces of resistance; a phenomenon that enlivened the intersectionality that came to define the higher education landscape of the country. This thesis explores the stories of the participant’s as they engage(d) with what is becoming a new institution—that is the University in South Africa, with a case-in-point being Rhodes University—and to understand the power relations and intersections that define their lived experiences. This study found that the reality of existing within the confines of power—with its fluidity—meant that black women operate both within spaces of privilege and oppression simultaneously. As such, and following Vivian May’s (2015) argument, this study concludes that black women are situated and simultaneously constrained by power. Thus spaces of resistance are constantly in flux and determined by their relations within power. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Politics and International Studies, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Gushman, Lutho Phinda
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Women, Black South Africa Makhanda , Student movements South Africa Makhanda , Intersectionality (Sociology) , Pluralism , Matrix organization South Africa Makhanda , Women, Black Education (Higher) South Africa Makhanda , Social action South Africa Makhanda , Rhodes University
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190990 , vital:45047
- Description: After the 2016 #FeesMustFall protest(s), higher education institutions were dramatically altered with respect to their institutional cultures; the narratives of those who were historically side-lined and marginalised took centre stage. At Rhodes University social activism was constitutive of three components; a ‘revolt’ against the fee increment; a contestation of the rape culture; and a rejection of the colonial curriculum. These concerns, in their varied articulations, made up different social and academic realities that define(d) Rhodes University and affected how individuals experienced institutional culture. According to Ndlovu (2017) while these expressed acts (in the form of protests and institutional shutdowns) of resistance against the system of higher education subsided after the fees must fall campaign, these served to centre the narratives of the marginalised. Keeping with this thinking, the argument presented in this thesis explores the experiences of black women in higher education after the call towards coordinated resistance. Using qualitative data in the form of narrative interviews, the thesis documents how the participants continued their academic and social life post-resistance. This rupture of resistance created a complex matrix of individual subjectivity where participants engaged with traditional social academic norms in new spaces of resistance; a phenomenon that enlivened the intersectionality that came to define the higher education landscape of the country. This thesis explores the stories of the participant’s as they engage(d) with what is becoming a new institution—that is the University in South Africa, with a case-in-point being Rhodes University—and to understand the power relations and intersections that define their lived experiences. This study found that the reality of existing within the confines of power—with its fluidity—meant that black women operate both within spaces of privilege and oppression simultaneously. As such, and following Vivian May’s (2015) argument, this study concludes that black women are situated and simultaneously constrained by power. Thus spaces of resistance are constantly in flux and determined by their relations within power. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Politics and International Studies, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
Practicing conciliation: Towards a practical application of the Equal Weight View
- Authors: Hartley, Danyel Jordan
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Knowledge, Theory of , Opinion (Philosophy) , Verbal self-defense , Epistemics , Interpersonal relations , Equal Weight View
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/188341 , vital:44745
- Description: The Equal Weight View is a frequently discussed position in the philosophy of disagreement. It holds that when someone disagrees with an epistemic peer, they should adjust their belief to be closer to their peer’s belief. While the reasons for adopting this response to disagreement have been debated, there has been less discussion about its utility as a tool for handling real-world disagreements. In this thesis I pursue a version of the Equal Weight View which is useful in practice. I argue that traditional applications of the Equal Weight View do not reflect its underlying principles when they are used to resolve real-world disagreements. I develop an idealized application of the Equal Weight View that addresses the problems traditional applications face in real-world scenarios. Unfortunately, addressing these problems results in an application that is unrealistically cognitively demanding. The application trades being insensitive to the environment it would be used in for being insensitive to the limits of its user. I suggest that we might be able to save the idealized application and work around those limits by either externalizing or simplifying the most demanding aspects of the application. Externalization is best achieved by making use of some kind of computer assistance. Simplification involves replacing taxing data tracking and computation with heuristic methods. While neither approach is ideal, I argue that both get us closer to resolving disagreements in accordance with the underlying principles of the Equal Weight View than traditional applications do. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Philosophy, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Hartley, Danyel Jordan
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Knowledge, Theory of , Opinion (Philosophy) , Verbal self-defense , Epistemics , Interpersonal relations , Equal Weight View
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/188341 , vital:44745
- Description: The Equal Weight View is a frequently discussed position in the philosophy of disagreement. It holds that when someone disagrees with an epistemic peer, they should adjust their belief to be closer to their peer’s belief. While the reasons for adopting this response to disagreement have been debated, there has been less discussion about its utility as a tool for handling real-world disagreements. In this thesis I pursue a version of the Equal Weight View which is useful in practice. I argue that traditional applications of the Equal Weight View do not reflect its underlying principles when they are used to resolve real-world disagreements. I develop an idealized application of the Equal Weight View that addresses the problems traditional applications face in real-world scenarios. Unfortunately, addressing these problems results in an application that is unrealistically cognitively demanding. The application trades being insensitive to the environment it would be used in for being insensitive to the limits of its user. I suggest that we might be able to save the idealized application and work around those limits by either externalizing or simplifying the most demanding aspects of the application. Externalization is best achieved by making use of some kind of computer assistance. Simplification involves replacing taxing data tracking and computation with heuristic methods. While neither approach is ideal, I argue that both get us closer to resolving disagreements in accordance with the underlying principles of the Equal Weight View than traditional applications do. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Philosophy, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
Green Synthesis of HIV-1 Protease Inhibitors
- Authors: Hartley, Shaun Neil
- Date: 2021-10
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190145 , vital:44967
- Description: Thesis embargoed until October 2022 , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Chemistry, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2021-10
- Authors: Hartley, Shaun Neil
- Date: 2021-10
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190145 , vital:44967
- Description: Thesis embargoed until October 2022 , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Chemistry, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2021-10