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Students as Agents of Social Change-Student Initiatives at Rhodes University, South Africa

- Togo, Muchaiteyi

Authors: Togo, Muchaiteyi
Date: 2009
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/386561 , vital:68151 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/122830"
Description: Rhodes University has a diversity of sustainable development initiatives meant for students and in a range of cases activities are initiated by students themselves with the support of the university. Results of a sustainability assessment revealed the involvement of students in environmental societies, environmental awareness campaigns, campus sustainability initiatives and community sustainability projects. Though most of the projects are still in their infancy and some challenges are yet to be overcome, the sustainability initiatives are gaining momentum and have contributed to improving the overall picture of sustainability at the university. Based on the results of the Rhodes University case study, the underpinning viewpoint in this paper is that university students are not merely recipients of Education for Sustainable Development but have the capacity to become agents for social change.
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Date Issued: 2009

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Analysis of protein thermostability enhancing factors in industrially important thermus bacteria species

- Kumwenda, Benjamin, Litthauer, Derek, Tastan Bishop, Özlem, Reva, Oleg

Authors: Kumwenda, Benjamin , Litthauer, Derek , Tastan Bishop, Özlem , Reva, Oleg
Date: 2013
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123085 , vital:35404 , https://doi.10.4137/EBO.S12539
Description: Elucidation of evolutionary factors that enhance protein thermostability is a critical problem and was the focus of this work on Thermus species. Pairs of orthologous sequences of T. scotoductus SA-01 and T. thermophilus HB27, with the largest negative minimum folding energy (MFE) as predicted by the UNAFold algorithm, were statistically analyzed. Favored substitutions of amino acids residues and their properties were determined. Substitutions were analyzed in modeled protein structures to determine their locations and contribution to energy differences using PyMOL and FoldX programs respectively. Dominant trends in amino acid substitutions consistent with differences in thermostability between orthologous sequences were observed. T. thermophilus thermophilic proteins showed an increase in non-polar, tiny, and charged amino acids. An abundance of alanine substituted by serine and threonine, as well as arginine substituted by glutamine and lysine was observed in T. thermophilus HB27. Structural comparison showed that stabilizing mutations occurred on surfaces and loops in protein structures.
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Date Issued: 2013

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Afrikanische Entwicklungsalternativen: Ubuntu und die Post-Development-Debatte

- Matthews, Sally

Authors: Matthews, Sally
Date: 2018
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142157 , vital:38054 , DOI: 10.3224/peripherie.v38i2.03
Description: In post-development theory, ubuntu is often cited as an example of an “alternative to development”. This article investigates whether ubuntu can play this role and what to think of the demand for alternatives to development in general. In order to do this, the paper fi rst deals with central aspects of postdevelopment theory and the debate about ubuntu. Although the concept fi ts well into a post-development perspective, the attempts to contrast ubuntu with Western ideas and ways of life are often fueled by the desire to rekindle an original, pre-colonial, authentic African philosophy. Yet discourses on Africa are always embedded in Western discourses, so this opposition reproduces precisely those dichotomies it aims to fi ght. More generally, this also holds true for the idea of “alternatives to development”, which postulate an essential opposition to “development”. This, however, denies claims for equal rights and participation at the root of demands for “development”. The struggle for these claims cannot be fought beyond the existing global order. Instead of engaging in romanticizing projections about an Africa beyond “development”, people’s views and needs should be taken as the starting point for the struggle against injustice and inequality.
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Date Issued: 2018

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Melatonin alters the photodegradation of paracetamol

- Anoopkumar-Dukie, Shailendra, Glass, Beverley D, Walker, Roderick B, Daya, Santylal

Authors: Anoopkumar-Dukie, Shailendra , Glass, Beverley D , Walker, Roderick B , Daya, Santylal
Date: 2000
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/184357 , vital:44211 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1211/146080800128735755"
Description: The effects of melatonin, a known free-radical scavenger, on paracetamol in the presence of UV irradiation was studied by use of HPLC. The experiments were performed in air and nitrogen. The results show that the rate of photodegradation of melatonin is faster in air than in nitrogen whereas that of paracetamol is similar in air and nitrogen. When the two drugs were combined, melatonin retarded the degradation of paracetamol for up to 6h in the presence of nitrogen. However, in the presence of air melatonin rapidly enhances the photodegradation of paracetamol. This study shows that a combination of melatonin and paracetamol in the presence of air and UV irradiation can lead to rapid inactivation of both agents, thus raising important concerns about the possible use of melatonin as sunscreen
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Date Issued: 2000

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Histological validation of gonadal macroscopic staging criteria for Labeo cylindricus (Pisces: Cyprinidae)

- Booth, Anthony J, Weyl, Olaf L F

Authors: Booth, Anthony J , Weyl, Olaf L F
Date: 2010
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124593 , vital:35634 , https://doi.org/10.1080/15627020.2000.11657094
Description: Histological examination of gametogenesis revealed that the current staging criteria used to assess gonadal recrudescence of the redeye labeo, Labeo cylindricus, were adequate. Gametogenesis was qualitatively similar to that of freshwater teleosts with a clearly defined seasonal reproductive cycle. L. cylindricus undergoes seasonal gross morphological and cytological gonadal changes with previtellogenesis dominating during the winter, vitellogenic development during spring and summer culminating in large-scale spawning at the end of summer. Post-spawning mass atresia of oocytes was evident in autumn. The histological data presented support macroscopical evidence that L. cylindricus is a synchronous iteroparous spawner, reproducing over a short period each year throughout its life-span.
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Date Issued: 2010

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On-site evaluation of smoking, alcohol consumption and physical inactivity among commercial taxi drivers in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa

- Adedokun, Aanuoluwa Odunayo, Ter Goon, Daniel, Owolabi, Eyitayo Omolara, Adeniyi, Oladele Vincent, Ajayi, Anthony Idowu

Authors: Adedokun, Aanuoluwa Odunayo , Ter Goon, Daniel , Owolabi, Eyitayo Omolara , Adeniyi, Oladele Vincent , Ajayi, Anthony Idowu
Date: 2019
Subjects: Alcohol use , Substance use , Commercial drivers
Language: English
Type: article , text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/5086 , vital:44345 , https://doi.org/10.5539/gjhs.v11n2p110
Description: Commercial drivers have been identified as eliciting behaviours that promote non- communicable diseases and road traffic accidents. The aim of the study is to determine the prevalence and pattern of alcohol use, smoking and physical inactivity among commercial taxi drivers in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 403 commercial drivers using the face-to-face interviews method. The WHO STEPwise questionnaire was used to obtain the demographic data, self-reported rate of alcohol consumption, tobacco use and physical inactivity. The participants’ mean age was 43.3 ± 12.5 years. About 30% of the participants were daily smokers, 37% consumed alcohol regularly and only 18% were physically active, whilst 82% were physically inactive. The prevalence of alcohol use, smoking and physical inactivity is high among commercial drivers in East London. Workplace health education on the health effects of these lifestyles’ risky behaviours on individuals and the general public should be given to the drivers.
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Date Issued: 2019

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The effectiveness of schools-based National Arbor Week activities in greening of urban homesteads

- Parkin, Fiona, Shackleton, Charlie M, Schudel, Ingrid J

Authors: Parkin, Fiona , Shackleton, Charlie M , Schudel, Ingrid J
Date: 2006
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/294447 , vital:57222 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2006.08.001"
Description: Arbor Day, or Week, is a well-established greening initiative worldwide, focusing on tree planting and the benefits thereof. Frequently most effort is targeted at institutions such as schools and community groups. Yet there has been limited assessment of the success of Arbor Day, or Week, activities both at the schools, or the wider dissemination in neighbouring communities and suburbs. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of school-based Arbor Week activities on learners’ home-based practices regarding tree planting and urban forestry. Learners from three schools in Grahamstown South Africa, with good Arbor Week participation, were assessed on their tree planting knowledge. The learners’ parents were also interviewed to determine whether the information obtained by the learners at school was taken home. A control group consisting of people with no children or very young children was also assessed. This study found that Arbor Week activities were, for the most part, successfully taught in the case study schools, and most of the learners stated that their knowledge of trees and their benefits came from their school activities. However, many learners could not remember the activities in which their schools partook the previous year. Whilst most learners were aware of the importance of trees, few had encouraged tree planting at home. However, over one-fifth of adults claimed that their knowledge of the benefits of trees was as a consequence of Arbor Day activities when they were young. Numerous constraints to tree planting were provided by learners and both the adult groups, the two most frequent being limited space and falling leaves making their yards untidy. External organisations should become more actively involved and provide much needed support systems if greening initiatives are to reach the wider community.
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Date Issued: 2006

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Evidence for protandry in Polydactylus quadrifilis in the Kwanza Estuary, Angola, and its implications for local fisheries

- Butler, Edward C, Childs, Amber-Robyn, Winkler, Alexander C, Milner, Marianne V, Potts, Warren M

Authors: Butler, Edward C , Childs, Amber-Robyn , Winkler, Alexander C , Milner, Marianne V , Potts, Warren M
Date: 2018
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124451 , vital:35614 , https://doi.10.1007/s10641-017-0699-6
Description: A total of 141 Polydactylus quadrifilis were sampled from the Kwanza Estuary in Angola ranging in size from 436 to 1360 mm fork-length (FL). Of these, 124 were male, six intersex and 11 female. Female fish were significantly longer (mm, FL) and heavier (kg) than males and had significantly higher gonadosomatic indices (GSI’s) than those of males and intersex fish. Transitional (intersex) gonads were delimited, with testicular and ovarian regions separated by connective tissue. The first signs of ovarian tissue appeared on the outer ventral surface of the gonad. A second layer of ovarian tissue was first noticeable at either end of the initial ovarian region and developed back towards the centre of the ventral wall to form a luminal space. Early-stage oocytes were commonly found in the outer area of male regions and residual late-stage spermatids and spermatozoa were found in the luminal space of ovarian regions, suggesting a process of sex change from the outside inwards. A loss of male function was noted with increased ovarian prevalence. Based on this evidence it is suggested that P. quadrifilis in the Kwanza Estuary are protandrous. Owing to the reliance of P. quadrifilis on large highly fecund females for egg production, it is likely that they will be sensitive to fishing practices that target larger individuals within the population.
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Date Issued: 2018

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Local people and conservation officials’ perceptions on relationships and conflicts in South African protected areas

- Thondhlana, Gladman, Cundill, Georgina

Authors: Thondhlana, Gladman , Cundill, Georgina
Date: 2017
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68640 , vital:29300 , https://doi.org/10.1080/21513732.2017.1315742
Description: Protected areas (PAs) are often conflict-ridden, but conflict resolution mechanisms are often constrained by little appreciation of the perceptions of the principal agents (PA managers and local communities) about such conflicts. Getting local people’s support in PA management efforts is considered important for achieving conservation and livelihood goals. Using data from 13 nature reserves in South Africa, this study explores the perceptions of reserve managers and local communities about their relationships and the existence and underlying causes of conflicts. The findings showed sharp contrasts in perceptions between reserve managers and local communities. Reserve managers generally perceived that there were no conflicts with local communities and that their relationship with them was positive while local communities thought otherwise, claiming conflicts were centred around restricted access to PAs, lack of benefits from PAs and communication problems. These findings have profound implications for conservation, especially considering the importance of getting local people’s support in PA management.
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Date Issued: 2017

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Human, vector and parasite Hsp90 proteins: a comparative bioinformatics analysis

- Faya, Ngonidzashe, Penkler, David L, Tastan Bishop, Özlem

Authors: Faya, Ngonidzashe , Penkler, David L , Tastan Bishop, Özlem
Date: 2015
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/148038 , vital:38704 , DOI: 10.1016/j.fob.2015.11.003
Description: The treatment of protozoan parasitic diseases is challenging, and thus identification and analysis of new drug targets is important. Parasites survive within host organisms, and some need intermediate hosts to complete their life cycle. Changing host environment puts stress on parasites, and often adaptation is accompanied by the expression of large amounts of heat shock proteins (Hsps). Among Hsps, Hsp90 proteins play an important role in stress environments. Yet, there has been little computational research on Hsp90 proteins to analyze them comparatively as potential parasitic drug targets. Here, an attempt was made to gain detailed insights into the differences between host, vector and parasitic Hsp90 proteins by large-scale bioinformatics analysis.
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Date Issued: 2015

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Shifting white identities in South Africa: white Africanness and the struggle for racial justice

- Matthews, Sally

Authors: Matthews, Sally
Date: 2015
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142180 , vital:38056 , DOI: 10.25159/2413-3086/3821
Description: The end of apartheid predictably caused something of an identity crisis for white South Africans. The sense of uncertainty about what it means to be white has led to much public debate about whiteness in South Africa, as well as a growing body of literature on whites in post-apartheid South Africa. One of the many responses to this need to rethink white identity has been the claim by some that white South Africans can be considered to be African or ought to begin to think of themselves as being African. This paper argues that whites' assertion of an African identity does not necessarily assist in the achievement of racial justice, but that some kind of shift in white identity is required in order for whites to be able to contribute to the achievement of a racially just South Africa. In making this argument, the paper brings contemporary discussions on race and whiteness, and in particular discussions about racial eliminativism, to bear on the question of whether or not white South Africans may rightly claim an African identity.
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Date Issued: 2015

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Synthesis, photophysical and nonlinear optical properties of microwave synthesized 4-tetra and octa-substituted lead phthalocyanines

- Modibane, Desmond K, Nyokong, Tebello

Authors: Modibane, Desmond K , Nyokong, Tebello
Date: 2009
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/263452 , vital:53629 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poly.2009.03.013"
Description: This work presents the photophysical and nonlinear optical behaviour of newly synthesized complexes: 2,(3)-tetrakis(4-benzyloxyphenoxyphthalocyaninato) lead (5a) and 2,3-octakis(4-benzyloxyphenoxyphthalocyaninato) lead (6a). The nonlinear optical behaviour of complexes 5a and 6a are compared with those of 2,(3)-tetraphenoxyphthalocyaninato lead (5b), 2,(3)-tetrakis(4-t-butylphenoxyphthalocyaninato) lead (5c), 2,3-octaphenoxyphthalocyaninato lead (6b) and 2,3-octakis(4-t-butylphenoxyphthalocyaninato) lead (6c). The synthesis of 5a and 6a was performed using microwave irradiation. Photophysical properties were studied for these complexes in dimethylsulfoxide, dimethylformamide, toluene, tetrahydrofuran and chloroform. The fluorescence spectra were different from excitation spectra due to demetallation upon excitation. High triplet quantum yields ranging from 0.80 to 0.86 (in DMSO, DMF and toluene) and low triplet lifetimes (20–50 μs in DMSO, and more than 10 μs in the rest of the solvents) were observed due to the presence of heavy atom. Nonlinear optical properties were studied in dimethylsulfoxide. The optical limiting threshold intensity (Ilim) for the PbPc derivatives were calculated and ranged from 2.1 to 6.6 W/cm2.
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Date Issued: 2009

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On location: Narratives of the South African city of the late 1940s and 1950s in film and literature

- Baines, Gary F

Authors: Baines, Gary F
Date: 2009
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/125397 , vital:35779 , https://doi.10.1080/02582470308671922
Description: This article is about narratives, about the forms and meanings constructed by South African storytellers, especially writers and filmmakers. It examines the relationships between examples of these two different narrative forms of literature (fiction and non-fiction) and feature film. Following Turner, the point of departure is that the study of narrative has the potential to provide a framework within which such a two pronged approach can be undertaken. This is not to say that the production of meaning takes place within an exclusive literary or cinematic context. Rather, this approach will allow us to obtain a fuller picture of the narrative of the South African city than is possible by concentrating on one medium. It is based on the premise that narratives are ultimately produced by culture; thus these cultural constructions generate meanings, take on a significance, and assume forms that are articufations of the values, beliefs -the ideology - of the culture.' Literature and film offer specific forms for such narratives. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach which borrows insights from literary and film studies, this article attempts to make a contribution to the fledgling field of South African cultural studies.
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Date Issued: 2009

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Jesus, Che, Luaty: on the relationship between a digital picture and an iconic image in political iconography in Angola

- Siegert, Nadine

Authors: Siegert, Nadine
Date: 2018
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145919 , vital:38478 , DOI: 10.2979/africatoday.65.1.04
Description: This essay makes a close examination of a selection of images of the Angolan rapper Luaty Beirão, who became internationally known as a political activist during his imprisonment in June 2015, accused of staging a coup d'état. By analyzing and interpreting images that were highly mediatized during that period, this article shows how political iconography can be traced back to Christian iconography and other images. Such filiations of images and their mediatization invoke a power that contributes to the formation of political and popular icons. This article analyzes this nexus by deconstructing the transmutation of a photograph into a popular icon.
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Date Issued: 2018

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Effect of bromination on the optical limiting properties at 532 nm of BODIPY dyes with p-benzyloxystyryl groups at the 3, 5-positions

- Ngoy, Bokolombe P, May, Aviwe K, Mack, John, Nyokong, Tebello

Authors: Ngoy, Bokolombe P , May, Aviwe K , Mack, John , Nyokong, Tebello
Date: 2019
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/187507 , vital:44665 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molstruc.2018.08.012"
Description: The optical limiting (OL) properties of 3,5-di-p-benzyloxystyrylBODIPY dyes that contain both protons and bromine atoms at the 2,6-positions have been investigated by using the Z-scan technique at 532 nm on the nanosecond timescale. There is relatively weak absorbance at 532 nm under ambient light conditions, because the incorporation of p-benzyloxystyryl groups at the 3,5-positions results in a ca. 140 nm red shift of the main BODIPY spectral band to the 640–670 nm range. Reverse saturable absorbance (RSA) profiles that are consistent with an excited state absorption (ESA) mechanism involving the T1 and/or S1 states are observed in CH2Cl2 solution. Second order hyperpolarizability values of ca. 8 × 10−30 esu are obtained and this demonstrates that the dyes are potentially suitable for use in OL applications at 532 nm. There is a slight enhancement of the OL properties upon bromination, due to increased intersystem crossing to the triplet manifold, but the enhancement of the OL properties is less significant than has been observed with metal phthalocyanine complexes.
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Date Issued: 2019

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Employee performance, leadership style and emotional intelligence

- Hayward, Brett A, Amos, Trevor L, Baxter, Jeremy

Authors: Hayward, Brett A , Amos, Trevor L , Baxter, Jeremy
Date: 2008
Subjects: To be catalogued
Language: English
Type: text , article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/270077 , vital:54393 , xlink:href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC17031"
Description: Purpose: The purpose of this research is to explore the relationship between employee performance, leadership style and emotional intelligence in the context of a South African parastatal. Problem Investigated: There is a lack of literature and empirical research on the type of leadership required to achieve high levels of employee performance within South African parastatals. Methodology: The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) was used to determine leadership style, while the Emotional Competency Profiler (ECP) was used to determine the emotional intelligence of the sample of leaders. Employee performance data was provided by the parastatal, based on their performance management system. Data was analysed using correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, the standard regression ANOVA/F-test, t-tests and Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient. Findings: The findings of the research show that the ECP is a reliable measure of emotional intelligence and that while the MLQ is a reliable measure of transformational leadership, it is not a reliable measure of transactional leadership. The results of the correlation analysis show a positive significant relationship between emotional intelligence and transformational leadership and a negative significant relationship between employee performance and emotional intelligence. The results of regressing employee performance on emotional intelligence and transformational leadership show that emotional intelligence and transformational leadership have no significant effect on employee performance. The results of the regression models of the research could be biased by the lack of variance in employee performance data. Value of the Research: The value of the research lies in it confirming the MLQ as a reliable measure of transformational leadership and the ECP as a reliable measure of emotional intelligence. The finding of a positive significant relationship between emotional intelligence and transformational leadership is a valuable contribution to the literature. Conclusion: Although a positive significant relationship between emotional intelligence and transformational leadership was found, there is a need for further research to determine the type of leadership best suited to achieve high levels of employee performance within the parastatal.
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Date Issued: 2008

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