Economically important cephalopods of southern Angola, with a focus on the artisanal jig fishery
- Vázquez Morán, Chénelle Lesley
- Authors: Vázquez Morán, Chénelle Lesley
- Date: 2023-03-31
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/422529 , vital:71955 , DOI 10.21504/10962/422529
- Description: The global decline in marine finfish stocks has been met with a concomitant expansion of fisheries for cephalopods. Despite the increase in the exploitation and commercialization of cephalopods, there is a dearth of scientific information for over 90% of the extant species and this is even more marked in the developing world. Angolan capture fisheries production noted a tenfold increase in cephalopod landings between 1994 and 2003. One of the important fisheries is a cephalopod directed jig fishery that targets the squid Loligo reynaudii and the cuttlefish Sepia vermiculata in southern Angola, however, there is a complete lack of socio-ecological information available for this fishery. Hence the aim of this thesis was to provide basic biological and demographic information on L. reynaudii and S. vermiculata distributed off the coast of southern Angola, assess the importance and dependence of local artisanal fishers on these two species and examine the current management strategies and policies in the region This study found that the artisanal cephalopod jig fishery is critical for the livelihoods of the coastal communities of southern Angola, particularly due to the limited alternative income generating opportunities available. The cephalopod jig fishery is highly labour intensive, with fishers spending a considerable amount of time per day, drifting over known fishing grounds. Catch composition of the artisanal jig fishery indicated that squid is the dominant species within the fishery, in terms of numerical abundance and weight. The productivity and progression of the fishery is hampered by a number of ecological, socio-economic and governance constraints, as highlighted by socio-economic surveys conducted with local squid fishers. Such constraints include, but are not limited to declining catches, increased negative interactions with seals, increased inter-sector competition, lack of infrastructure, poor quality fishing equipment as well as a lack of communication and support from government officials. To examine aspects of the biology and demography of L. reynaudii, whole specimens were collected monthly, from the two primary fishing areas in southern Angola; Namibe and Tombua, during two main sampling periods, June 2008 – May 2009 (Period 1) and June 2014 – May 2015 (Period 2). Male L. reynaudii were found to be significantly larger in size and weight than females, however both the average and maximum dorsal mantle length (DML) decreased between sampling periods. Length-at-50% maturity was larger for male L. reynaudii (170.47 mm DML – 1st period, 165.44 mm DML – 2nd period) than female L. reynaudii (114.71 mm DML – 1st period, 109.43 mm DML – 2nd period). Gonadosomatic indices (GSI) varied significantly during month and season for both sexes. Peak GSI coincided with a low catches in the artisanal jig fishery suggesting that the population may undergo a spawning migration away from fishing grounds, during late spring and summer. The theory of a seasonal spawning migration is further supported in this study by the low abundance of juvenile and sub-adult L, reynaudii collected during the study, along with the inability to detect egg beds in known fishing grounds. Stomach content analysis indicated that teleosts were the most important dietary item (66.3% F of the stomach contents). Trachurus capensis and Engraulis encrasicolus are both highly abundant small pelagic fishes in the cold nutrient rich waters of the Benguela Current and dominated the diet of sampled squid during autumn and winter months. It is likely that the prevalence of large, adult squid off the coast of Angola, as observed within the current study, may be ascribed to the suitable environmental conditions and the abundance of suitable prey. The results from the current study indicate that the southern Angolan subpopulation reveals similarities to that of the West Coast subpopulation of squid in South Africa, with regards to demographics and reproductive characteristics. It is likely that the population in southern Angola is an extension of the South African subpopulation of L. reynaudii on the western extremities. To examine the basic population biology and ecology of S. vermiculata off southern Angola whole specimens were collected from the fishery between December 2014 and April 2015. Morphological results indicate clear sexual dimorphism in soft part characteristics, cuttlebone and beak morphometry. Length-at-50% maturity was smaller in male S. vermiculata (217.53 mm DML) than female S. vermiculata (231.13 mm DML), although these differences were not significant. Stomach content analysis indicated that S. vermiculata predominantly fed on teleost species which were found within 64.5% of stomachs. Teleosts were more dominant in the diet of male S. vermiculata (78.6% F) than female S. vermiculata (53.0% F), which ate a more varied diet including crustaceans (41.2% F) and cephalopods (17.7% F). Availability and abundance of cuttlefish in Namibe indicates that the species may undergo a spatio-temporal shift in distribution, with majority of the artisanal catches of S. vermiculata occurring during summer months. The results from the current study highlights the fisheries potential of L. reynaudii and S. vermiculata and the dependence of artisanal fishers in southern Angola on cephalopods, and more specifically squid. The development of sustainable fisheries management strategies for the artisanal cephalopod jig fishery is critical, particularly as the global exploitation of cephalopods continues to increase with declining finfish populations. Failure to implement management strategies may remove this critical economic safety net for vulnerable coastal communities which have little alternative livelihood opportunities. Ongoing ecological research, a co-management approach and an increased consideration of local ecological knowledge will assist in designing appropriate management plans for the southern Angolan cephalopod jig fishery. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Ichthyology and Fisheries Science, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-31
- Authors: Vázquez Morán, Chénelle Lesley
- Date: 2023-03-31
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/422529 , vital:71955 , DOI 10.21504/10962/422529
- Description: The global decline in marine finfish stocks has been met with a concomitant expansion of fisheries for cephalopods. Despite the increase in the exploitation and commercialization of cephalopods, there is a dearth of scientific information for over 90% of the extant species and this is even more marked in the developing world. Angolan capture fisheries production noted a tenfold increase in cephalopod landings between 1994 and 2003. One of the important fisheries is a cephalopod directed jig fishery that targets the squid Loligo reynaudii and the cuttlefish Sepia vermiculata in southern Angola, however, there is a complete lack of socio-ecological information available for this fishery. Hence the aim of this thesis was to provide basic biological and demographic information on L. reynaudii and S. vermiculata distributed off the coast of southern Angola, assess the importance and dependence of local artisanal fishers on these two species and examine the current management strategies and policies in the region This study found that the artisanal cephalopod jig fishery is critical for the livelihoods of the coastal communities of southern Angola, particularly due to the limited alternative income generating opportunities available. The cephalopod jig fishery is highly labour intensive, with fishers spending a considerable amount of time per day, drifting over known fishing grounds. Catch composition of the artisanal jig fishery indicated that squid is the dominant species within the fishery, in terms of numerical abundance and weight. The productivity and progression of the fishery is hampered by a number of ecological, socio-economic and governance constraints, as highlighted by socio-economic surveys conducted with local squid fishers. Such constraints include, but are not limited to declining catches, increased negative interactions with seals, increased inter-sector competition, lack of infrastructure, poor quality fishing equipment as well as a lack of communication and support from government officials. To examine aspects of the biology and demography of L. reynaudii, whole specimens were collected monthly, from the two primary fishing areas in southern Angola; Namibe and Tombua, during two main sampling periods, June 2008 – May 2009 (Period 1) and June 2014 – May 2015 (Period 2). Male L. reynaudii were found to be significantly larger in size and weight than females, however both the average and maximum dorsal mantle length (DML) decreased between sampling periods. Length-at-50% maturity was larger for male L. reynaudii (170.47 mm DML – 1st period, 165.44 mm DML – 2nd period) than female L. reynaudii (114.71 mm DML – 1st period, 109.43 mm DML – 2nd period). Gonadosomatic indices (GSI) varied significantly during month and season for both sexes. Peak GSI coincided with a low catches in the artisanal jig fishery suggesting that the population may undergo a spawning migration away from fishing grounds, during late spring and summer. The theory of a seasonal spawning migration is further supported in this study by the low abundance of juvenile and sub-adult L, reynaudii collected during the study, along with the inability to detect egg beds in known fishing grounds. Stomach content analysis indicated that teleosts were the most important dietary item (66.3% F of the stomach contents). Trachurus capensis and Engraulis encrasicolus are both highly abundant small pelagic fishes in the cold nutrient rich waters of the Benguela Current and dominated the diet of sampled squid during autumn and winter months. It is likely that the prevalence of large, adult squid off the coast of Angola, as observed within the current study, may be ascribed to the suitable environmental conditions and the abundance of suitable prey. The results from the current study indicate that the southern Angolan subpopulation reveals similarities to that of the West Coast subpopulation of squid in South Africa, with regards to demographics and reproductive characteristics. It is likely that the population in southern Angola is an extension of the South African subpopulation of L. reynaudii on the western extremities. To examine the basic population biology and ecology of S. vermiculata off southern Angola whole specimens were collected from the fishery between December 2014 and April 2015. Morphological results indicate clear sexual dimorphism in soft part characteristics, cuttlebone and beak morphometry. Length-at-50% maturity was smaller in male S. vermiculata (217.53 mm DML) than female S. vermiculata (231.13 mm DML), although these differences were not significant. Stomach content analysis indicated that S. vermiculata predominantly fed on teleost species which were found within 64.5% of stomachs. Teleosts were more dominant in the diet of male S. vermiculata (78.6% F) than female S. vermiculata (53.0% F), which ate a more varied diet including crustaceans (41.2% F) and cephalopods (17.7% F). Availability and abundance of cuttlefish in Namibe indicates that the species may undergo a spatio-temporal shift in distribution, with majority of the artisanal catches of S. vermiculata occurring during summer months. The results from the current study highlights the fisheries potential of L. reynaudii and S. vermiculata and the dependence of artisanal fishers in southern Angola on cephalopods, and more specifically squid. The development of sustainable fisheries management strategies for the artisanal cephalopod jig fishery is critical, particularly as the global exploitation of cephalopods continues to increase with declining finfish populations. Failure to implement management strategies may remove this critical economic safety net for vulnerable coastal communities which have little alternative livelihood opportunities. Ongoing ecological research, a co-management approach and an increased consideration of local ecological knowledge will assist in designing appropriate management plans for the southern Angolan cephalopod jig fishery. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Ichthyology and Fisheries Science, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-31
Which Black Lives matter? : a decolonial interrogation of xenophobia on Black South African Twitter
- Authors: McBrown, Anima
- Date: 2023-03-30
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/408930 , vital:70538
- Description: Thesis embargoed. To be released in 2025. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-30
- Authors: McBrown, Anima
- Date: 2023-03-30
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/408930 , vital:70538
- Description: Thesis embargoed. To be released in 2025. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-03-30
A critical analysis of Professor Andrew Tracey’s contribution to African music pedagogy and the field of applied ethnomusicology
- Authors: Moyo, Vuyelwa O'Lacy
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Tracey, Andrew T N , Ethnomusicology , Music Instruction and study Africa , Mbira Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/406829 , vital:70311
- Description: The research presented in this thesis is based on my interest and experience in forms of African music, ethnomusicology, and studying mbira with Professor Emeritus Andrew Tracey. When I arrived in South Africa in 2019 to join Rhodes University’s Applied Ethnomusicology programme, I chose to study the mbira with Tracey as the idea of learning more about Zimbabwe through music was important to the formation of my identity. Through the lens of embodied learning and a practice-based approach in this research, I evaluate how Tracey’s numerous contributions to African music pedagogy have improved prospects for African music scholars and students in terms of contributing to the goals of applied ethnomusicology. The primary purpose of this thesis is to respond to the absence of serious scrutiny of existing pedagogical approaches to African music at universities across South Africa. The contribution this research makes will be valuable to African music programmes across the continent as well as to practitioners of African traditional instruments, such as the marimba, mbira, timbila xylophones, nyanga pan pipes, and valimba xylophones. The thesis comprises five chapters. The first presents an introduction to the research, and its goals, procedures and approaches, along with an outline of the subsequent chapters. Tracey’s biography is covered in the second chapter. A consideration of the state of African music teaching in other African countries such as Ghana, Kenya, and Zimbabwe; the history of African music; and the state of African music pedagogy in tertiary institutions in South Africa constitutes the third chapter. Chapter 4 comprises an analysis of Tracey’s articles and data gathered from interviews, as well as my personal reflections as Tracey’s student. The final chapter presents a summary of the preceding chapters, the study’s findings, and suggestions for further research. A multidisciplinary approach was used for this thesis. The results finds that Tracey’s articles had six common themes which he wrote about and are a contribution to African music pedagogy. These themes are the history of instruments, the structure of the instrument, the learning/playing technique, structure of the instrument, transcription and dance steps. , Thesis (MMus) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Moyo, Vuyelwa O'Lacy
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Tracey, Andrew T N , Ethnomusicology , Music Instruction and study Africa , Mbira Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/406829 , vital:70311
- Description: The research presented in this thesis is based on my interest and experience in forms of African music, ethnomusicology, and studying mbira with Professor Emeritus Andrew Tracey. When I arrived in South Africa in 2019 to join Rhodes University’s Applied Ethnomusicology programme, I chose to study the mbira with Tracey as the idea of learning more about Zimbabwe through music was important to the formation of my identity. Through the lens of embodied learning and a practice-based approach in this research, I evaluate how Tracey’s numerous contributions to African music pedagogy have improved prospects for African music scholars and students in terms of contributing to the goals of applied ethnomusicology. The primary purpose of this thesis is to respond to the absence of serious scrutiny of existing pedagogical approaches to African music at universities across South Africa. The contribution this research makes will be valuable to African music programmes across the continent as well as to practitioners of African traditional instruments, such as the marimba, mbira, timbila xylophones, nyanga pan pipes, and valimba xylophones. The thesis comprises five chapters. The first presents an introduction to the research, and its goals, procedures and approaches, along with an outline of the subsequent chapters. Tracey’s biography is covered in the second chapter. A consideration of the state of African music teaching in other African countries such as Ghana, Kenya, and Zimbabwe; the history of African music; and the state of African music pedagogy in tertiary institutions in South Africa constitutes the third chapter. Chapter 4 comprises an analysis of Tracey’s articles and data gathered from interviews, as well as my personal reflections as Tracey’s student. The final chapter presents a summary of the preceding chapters, the study’s findings, and suggestions for further research. A multidisciplinary approach was used for this thesis. The results finds that Tracey’s articles had six common themes which he wrote about and are a contribution to African music pedagogy. These themes are the history of instruments, the structure of the instrument, the learning/playing technique, structure of the instrument, transcription and dance steps. , Thesis (MMus) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
Assessment of cytotoxic artemisinin and its derivatives as DNA damaging inducing agents in triple-negative breast cancer cells
- Authors: Mkhwanazi, Ntando
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Breast Cancer , Artemisinin , DNA damage , Antineoplastic agents , Breast Cancer Treatment
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/362960 , vital:65378
- Description: In developing countries, including South Africa, breast cancer is the primary cause of cancer-related deaths among women. TNBC (triple-negative breast cancer) is an aggressive breast cancer subtype that is more prevalent in women of African descent. This subtype lacks the key receptors, namely the estrogen receptor (ER-), progesterone receptor (PR-), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2-) that are the basis of successful targeted therapies for other subtypes of the disease. To date, there are no effective, standardized targeted therapies for TNBC. Artemisinin is an anti-malarial drug and numerous derivatives of the compound have been developed to improve the potency and solubility of the parent compound. Artemisinin and its derivatives have gained attention as potential anti-cancer agents; however, such studies have not yet progressed to clinical trials and the precise mechanism of action of these compounds is yet to be fully explained. In this study, artemisinin, and its known derivative artesunate, as well as a novel derivative, WHN11, were investigated as DNA damage-inducing agents in TNBC. WHN11 was found to be the most potent of the three compounds, displaying an IC50 of 3.20 μM against HCC70 cells, artemisinin displayed an IC50 of 214.70 μM and artesunate displayed an IC50 of 25.48 μM. The compounds were less toxic to the MCF12A non-cancerous cells, with IC50 values 298.30, 87.53, and 8.35 μM for artemisinin, artesunate, and WHN11, respectively, and displayed selectivity indices of 1.39, 3.44 and 2.61 μM for artemisinin, artesunate, and WHN11, respectively. In silico and in vitro studies revealed that the artemisinin compounds bind to DNA through the minor groove. While all three compounds were able to bind to DNA, a comet assay revealed that only artemisinin and artesunate, and not WHN11, were able to cause DNA damage compared to the vehicle control, DMSO. Finally, a topoisomerase I (TOPO I) enzyme assay demonstrated that while the compounds appeared to display a degree of inhibition of TOPO I, as evidenced by a downward shift in the plasmid band on the agarose gel, they were not able to fully inhibit the enzyme to return the plasmid to the supercoiled conformation. In addition, combination studies revealed that artemisinin, artesunate, and WHN11 acted synergistically in combination with camptothecin, but displayed either an additive (artemisinin) or antagonistic (artesunate and WHN11) relationship when used in combination with etoposide. In conclusion, artemisinin, its known derivative artesunate, and novel and highly toxic derivative WHN11, all bind to DNA via the minor groove, however only artemisinin and artesunate, and not WHN11, cause DNA damage, indicating a potentially different mechanism of action of the three artemisinins. All three compounds act synergistically with camptothecin, which suggests interference with topoisomerase activity, partially supported by slight inhibition of TOPO I activity, and could indicate either direct inhibition of the enzyme or interference with enzyme function by competitive binding to the DNA. Further studies could help explore alternate DNA damage assays, to validate these findings, and the effect of the compounds on TOPO II activity could also be assessed. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Mkhwanazi, Ntando
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Breast Cancer , Artemisinin , DNA damage , Antineoplastic agents , Breast Cancer Treatment
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/362960 , vital:65378
- Description: In developing countries, including South Africa, breast cancer is the primary cause of cancer-related deaths among women. TNBC (triple-negative breast cancer) is an aggressive breast cancer subtype that is more prevalent in women of African descent. This subtype lacks the key receptors, namely the estrogen receptor (ER-), progesterone receptor (PR-), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2-) that are the basis of successful targeted therapies for other subtypes of the disease. To date, there are no effective, standardized targeted therapies for TNBC. Artemisinin is an anti-malarial drug and numerous derivatives of the compound have been developed to improve the potency and solubility of the parent compound. Artemisinin and its derivatives have gained attention as potential anti-cancer agents; however, such studies have not yet progressed to clinical trials and the precise mechanism of action of these compounds is yet to be fully explained. In this study, artemisinin, and its known derivative artesunate, as well as a novel derivative, WHN11, were investigated as DNA damage-inducing agents in TNBC. WHN11 was found to be the most potent of the three compounds, displaying an IC50 of 3.20 μM against HCC70 cells, artemisinin displayed an IC50 of 214.70 μM and artesunate displayed an IC50 of 25.48 μM. The compounds were less toxic to the MCF12A non-cancerous cells, with IC50 values 298.30, 87.53, and 8.35 μM for artemisinin, artesunate, and WHN11, respectively, and displayed selectivity indices of 1.39, 3.44 and 2.61 μM for artemisinin, artesunate, and WHN11, respectively. In silico and in vitro studies revealed that the artemisinin compounds bind to DNA through the minor groove. While all three compounds were able to bind to DNA, a comet assay revealed that only artemisinin and artesunate, and not WHN11, were able to cause DNA damage compared to the vehicle control, DMSO. Finally, a topoisomerase I (TOPO I) enzyme assay demonstrated that while the compounds appeared to display a degree of inhibition of TOPO I, as evidenced by a downward shift in the plasmid band on the agarose gel, they were not able to fully inhibit the enzyme to return the plasmid to the supercoiled conformation. In addition, combination studies revealed that artemisinin, artesunate, and WHN11 acted synergistically in combination with camptothecin, but displayed either an additive (artemisinin) or antagonistic (artesunate and WHN11) relationship when used in combination with etoposide. In conclusion, artemisinin, its known derivative artesunate, and novel and highly toxic derivative WHN11, all bind to DNA via the minor groove, however only artemisinin and artesunate, and not WHN11, cause DNA damage, indicating a potentially different mechanism of action of the three artemisinins. All three compounds act synergistically with camptothecin, which suggests interference with topoisomerase activity, partially supported by slight inhibition of TOPO I activity, and could indicate either direct inhibition of the enzyme or interference with enzyme function by competitive binding to the DNA. Further studies could help explore alternate DNA damage assays, to validate these findings, and the effect of the compounds on TOPO II activity could also be assessed. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
Characterisation of two novel ferrocenyl benzoxazines as in vitro triple-negative breast cancer inhibitors
- Authors: Mhlanga, Richwell
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365689 , vital:65776
- Description: Thesis access embargoed. Expected released date early 2025. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Mhlanga, Richwell
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365689 , vital:65776
- Description: Thesis access embargoed. Expected released date early 2025. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
Conceptualising mental distress from an African psychology paradigm: using an interpretative phenomenological analysis of the views of traditional healers
- Nabo-Bazana, Sandisiwe Sifanelwe
- Authors: Nabo-Bazana, Sandisiwe Sifanelwe
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Healers South Africa , Traditional healer , Mental distress , Black psychology , Afrocentrism
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/406213 , vital:70249
- Description: With South Africa's long history of colonialism and racial oppression, there are still services in the country that many South Africans cannot relate to, including psychology. Research shows that many South Africans experience and are affected by mental distress due to several factors, including poverty, unemployment, and traumatic experiences. Managing and treating such distress has always been challenging for most South Africans. Some debates question the relevance of psychological services from the West in a South African context. This study explores other approaches to psychology that look beyond the Biopsychosocial model when dealing with certain types of disorders in an African context. African psychology, or the Afrocentric approach, looks at what is beneath the surface, not just the presenting problem. Mainstream psychology strives to be universal and applicable to all. However, African psychology disagrees with this notion. African psychology perceives human beings as strongly influenced by social and cultural influences. The focus of this approach includes the spiritual realm and the attached meanings. There is evidence for the need to merge Traditional and Western medicine. The research methodology for this study is qualitative, using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. IPA allows for a critical engagement with the ways in which participants construct their reality. The researcher carried out semi-structured interviews to enable participants, all traditional healers (3 female and 2 male), to narrate their experiences dealing with mentally distressed clients. The accounts of these traditional healers were analysed focusing on people who have experienced mental distress. From the analysis and synthesis of the themes, findings illustrate how traditional healers conceptualise and construct mental distress from an African Psychology paradigm. An emerging core theme was the importance of the divine call and its influence on the chosen treatments. More studies are needed to illustrate the potential for collaboration between African Traditional healing and EuroAmerican healing practices, to provide holistic services to people in need. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Nabo-Bazana, Sandisiwe Sifanelwe
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Healers South Africa , Traditional healer , Mental distress , Black psychology , Afrocentrism
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/406213 , vital:70249
- Description: With South Africa's long history of colonialism and racial oppression, there are still services in the country that many South Africans cannot relate to, including psychology. Research shows that many South Africans experience and are affected by mental distress due to several factors, including poverty, unemployment, and traumatic experiences. Managing and treating such distress has always been challenging for most South Africans. Some debates question the relevance of psychological services from the West in a South African context. This study explores other approaches to psychology that look beyond the Biopsychosocial model when dealing with certain types of disorders in an African context. African psychology, or the Afrocentric approach, looks at what is beneath the surface, not just the presenting problem. Mainstream psychology strives to be universal and applicable to all. However, African psychology disagrees with this notion. African psychology perceives human beings as strongly influenced by social and cultural influences. The focus of this approach includes the spiritual realm and the attached meanings. There is evidence for the need to merge Traditional and Western medicine. The research methodology for this study is qualitative, using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. IPA allows for a critical engagement with the ways in which participants construct their reality. The researcher carried out semi-structured interviews to enable participants, all traditional healers (3 female and 2 male), to narrate their experiences dealing with mentally distressed clients. The accounts of these traditional healers were analysed focusing on people who have experienced mental distress. From the analysis and synthesis of the themes, findings illustrate how traditional healers conceptualise and construct mental distress from an African Psychology paradigm. An emerging core theme was the importance of the divine call and its influence on the chosen treatments. More studies are needed to illustrate the potential for collaboration between African Traditional healing and EuroAmerican healing practices, to provide holistic services to people in need. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
Development and optimisation of a qPCR assay for the enumeration of Cryptophlebia leucotreta granulovirus (CrleGV) used for commercial applications
- Authors: Mela, Thuthula
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Cryptophlebia leucotreta granulovirus , Cryptophlebia leucotreta , Late expression factor 8 (LEF-8) , Late expression factor 9 , Dark field microscopy , Genomic DNA , Polymerase chain reaction , Plasmids
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/362949 , vital:65377
- Description: The citrus industry contributes significantly to the South African agricultural sector. Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is highly important to the South African citrus industry as it is classified as a phytosanitary pest by most international markets. Thaumatotibia leucotreta has caused an estimated annual loss of up to R100 million to the industry. In order to control T. leucotreta in South Africa, an integrated pest management (IPM) programme has been used. One of the components of this programme is Cryptophlebia leucotreta granulovirus (CrleGV), which has been formulated to a registered biopesticide namely Cryptogran and has been successfully applied in the field for over 15 years. To use CrleGV as biopesticides, quantification of the viral particles is required to perform bioassays for field trials and formulation, among other applications. Darkfield microscopy is a traditional method used for the quantification of CrleGV; however, the method is characterised as being subjective, tedious, labour intensive, and time-consuming. This study aims to develop and optimise a qPCR technique to accurately quantify CrleGV-SA OBs using plasmid DNA for downstream applications. Firstly, lef-8, lef-9, and granulin conserved genes from CrleGV-SA and CrleGV-CV3 genome sequences were analysed by performing multiple alignments to evaluate the degree of identity between these genes. This was done to design two sets of oligonucleotides (internal and external) from regions with the highest identity. Subsequently, in silico testing was done to evaluate the designed oligonucleotides to determine whether they specifically bind to the selected target regions. Secondly, three sets of DNA plasmids (pJET1.2-Gran, pJET1.2-lef-9, and pJET1.2-lef-8) were constructed, each containing a target region for either granulin, lef-9, and lef-8 genes for use as standards in a downstream qPCR assay. This was achieved by first extracting gDNA from CrleGV-SA OBs and using the gDNA as a template to PCR amplify the target regions of the selected gene regions with the designed oligonucleotides. Subsequently, the PCR amplified regions were then directly ligated into the pJET1.2/blunt vector, and the plasmids were confirmed by colony PCR, restriction enzyme digestion, and Sanger sequencing. Thirdly, two different methods of CrleGV-SA gDNA extraction were compared to determine which method has the best yields in terms of concentration. The extraction methods compared were the Quick-DNA Miniprep Plus kit according to manufacturer’s instructions (Method 1a), pre-treatment with Na2CO3 prior to using the Quick-DNA Miniprep Plus kit (Method 1b), pre- treatment with Na2CO3, and neutralisation with Tris-HCl prior to gDNA extraction using the Quick-DNA Miniprep Plus kit (Method 1c) and the CTAB method (Method 2). The gDNA concentration and purity for all samples were determined using a Nanodrop spectrophotometer. Method 1c (Na2CO3 and Tris-HCl pre-treated plus Quick-DNA Miniprep Plus kit) was the most efficient at extracting genomic DNA compared with the other methods, resulting in the highest DNA concentration in short processing time. Fourthly, plasmid standards were evaluated for use in the qPCR assay. This was done as it was important to consider the efficacy of the oligonucleotides; including the ability of the oligonucleotides to anneal to the appropriate segment of DNA without extensive formation of oligonucleotides dimers, non-specific annealing, or formation of secondary structure. In addition, it was done to ensure that highly accurate standard curves were generated. The standard curves were to be utilised in the downstream qPCR assay to determine the quantity of test samples by interpolation, reading from the values within the standard curve. Lastly, darkfield microscopy and qPCR methods of enumeration were compared to verify their accuracy and determine the most consistent and comparable method. This was achieved by quantifying the purified, crude-purified, and viral formulated CrleGV-SA suspensions using these methods. Subsequently, a statistical analysis was conducted to compare the results produced by the two enumeration methods. The obtained results showed that the granulin, lef- 8 and lef-9 qPCR values did not significantly differ from the darkfield microscopy results. The findings of this study revealed that the two assays, lef-8 qPCR and lef-9 qPCR, were more robust, sensitive, and efficient for the quantification of CrleGV-SA. Thus, this study has successfully developed a qPCR assay that is comparable with the traditional darkfield microscopy counting technique. This is the first study to use the qPCR technique to enumerate CrleGV-SA using plasmid standards. The developed qPCR assay is reliable, rapid, and cost- effective and has a great potential to be used as an alternative method to darkfield microscopy in the laboratory and commercial settings. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Mela, Thuthula
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Cryptophlebia leucotreta granulovirus , Cryptophlebia leucotreta , Late expression factor 8 (LEF-8) , Late expression factor 9 , Dark field microscopy , Genomic DNA , Polymerase chain reaction , Plasmids
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/362949 , vital:65377
- Description: The citrus industry contributes significantly to the South African agricultural sector. Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is highly important to the South African citrus industry as it is classified as a phytosanitary pest by most international markets. Thaumatotibia leucotreta has caused an estimated annual loss of up to R100 million to the industry. In order to control T. leucotreta in South Africa, an integrated pest management (IPM) programme has been used. One of the components of this programme is Cryptophlebia leucotreta granulovirus (CrleGV), which has been formulated to a registered biopesticide namely Cryptogran and has been successfully applied in the field for over 15 years. To use CrleGV as biopesticides, quantification of the viral particles is required to perform bioassays for field trials and formulation, among other applications. Darkfield microscopy is a traditional method used for the quantification of CrleGV; however, the method is characterised as being subjective, tedious, labour intensive, and time-consuming. This study aims to develop and optimise a qPCR technique to accurately quantify CrleGV-SA OBs using plasmid DNA for downstream applications. Firstly, lef-8, lef-9, and granulin conserved genes from CrleGV-SA and CrleGV-CV3 genome sequences were analysed by performing multiple alignments to evaluate the degree of identity between these genes. This was done to design two sets of oligonucleotides (internal and external) from regions with the highest identity. Subsequently, in silico testing was done to evaluate the designed oligonucleotides to determine whether they specifically bind to the selected target regions. Secondly, three sets of DNA plasmids (pJET1.2-Gran, pJET1.2-lef-9, and pJET1.2-lef-8) were constructed, each containing a target region for either granulin, lef-9, and lef-8 genes for use as standards in a downstream qPCR assay. This was achieved by first extracting gDNA from CrleGV-SA OBs and using the gDNA as a template to PCR amplify the target regions of the selected gene regions with the designed oligonucleotides. Subsequently, the PCR amplified regions were then directly ligated into the pJET1.2/blunt vector, and the plasmids were confirmed by colony PCR, restriction enzyme digestion, and Sanger sequencing. Thirdly, two different methods of CrleGV-SA gDNA extraction were compared to determine which method has the best yields in terms of concentration. The extraction methods compared were the Quick-DNA Miniprep Plus kit according to manufacturer’s instructions (Method 1a), pre-treatment with Na2CO3 prior to using the Quick-DNA Miniprep Plus kit (Method 1b), pre- treatment with Na2CO3, and neutralisation with Tris-HCl prior to gDNA extraction using the Quick-DNA Miniprep Plus kit (Method 1c) and the CTAB method (Method 2). The gDNA concentration and purity for all samples were determined using a Nanodrop spectrophotometer. Method 1c (Na2CO3 and Tris-HCl pre-treated plus Quick-DNA Miniprep Plus kit) was the most efficient at extracting genomic DNA compared with the other methods, resulting in the highest DNA concentration in short processing time. Fourthly, plasmid standards were evaluated for use in the qPCR assay. This was done as it was important to consider the efficacy of the oligonucleotides; including the ability of the oligonucleotides to anneal to the appropriate segment of DNA without extensive formation of oligonucleotides dimers, non-specific annealing, or formation of secondary structure. In addition, it was done to ensure that highly accurate standard curves were generated. The standard curves were to be utilised in the downstream qPCR assay to determine the quantity of test samples by interpolation, reading from the values within the standard curve. Lastly, darkfield microscopy and qPCR methods of enumeration were compared to verify their accuracy and determine the most consistent and comparable method. This was achieved by quantifying the purified, crude-purified, and viral formulated CrleGV-SA suspensions using these methods. Subsequently, a statistical analysis was conducted to compare the results produced by the two enumeration methods. The obtained results showed that the granulin, lef- 8 and lef-9 qPCR values did not significantly differ from the darkfield microscopy results. The findings of this study revealed that the two assays, lef-8 qPCR and lef-9 qPCR, were more robust, sensitive, and efficient for the quantification of CrleGV-SA. Thus, this study has successfully developed a qPCR assay that is comparable with the traditional darkfield microscopy counting technique. This is the first study to use the qPCR technique to enumerate CrleGV-SA using plasmid standards. The developed qPCR assay is reliable, rapid, and cost- effective and has a great potential to be used as an alternative method to darkfield microscopy in the laboratory and commercial settings. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
Development of biosensor systems for the detection of anti-cancer drugs and prostate cancer
- Authors: Mwanza, Daniel
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365929 , vital:65803
- Description: Thesis embargoed. Expected release date early 2025. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Chemistry, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Mwanza, Daniel
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365929 , vital:65803
- Description: Thesis embargoed. Expected release date early 2025. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Chemistry, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
Dual and targeted photodynamic therapy ablation of bacterial and cancer cells using phthalocyanines and porphyrins in the presence of carbon-based nanomaterials
- Authors: Openda, Yolande Ikala
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Phthalocyanines , Porphyrins , Active oxygen , Biofilms , Breast Cancer Treatment , Nanostructured materials , Combination therapy , Photochemotherapy
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365945 , vital:65804 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962//365946
- Description: Phthalocyanines (Pcs) and porphyrins bearing substituents that possess antibacterial/anticancer properties are used as photosensitizers (PS) for the first time in the work. For targeting specificity and improved photoactivity, the PSs were afterward functionalized with carbon nanomaterials such as graphene quantum dots (GQDs) and detonation nanodiamonds (DNDs) via covalent conjugation (amide or ester bonds) or by non-covalent conjugation (π-π stacking and electrostatic interactions). Furthermore, the PSs-DNDs nanoconjugates were conjugated to either chitosan-capped silver nanoparticles (CSAg) via amide bonds or to the bare silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) using the silver- nitrogen affinity. The as-synthesized nanoconjugates were also fully characterized by spectroscopic and microscopic methods together with thermal analysis. The potential photocytotoxicity of the complexes alone and their nanoconjugates against S. aureus and/or E. coli planktonic and biofilm cultures has been evaluated in vitro. Compared to the non- quaternized PSs, the cationic analogs exhibited a higher photodynamic inactivation against the planktonic cells with log10 reduction values above 9 in the viable count using a concentration of ca. 1.25 μM following 30 min exposure to light (Light dose: 943 J/cm2 for Pcs and 250 mW/cm2 for porphyrins). Whereas, at a concentration of ca. 100 μM the cationic PSs showed complete eradication of biofilms upon 30 min exposure to light. As a result of conjugation to carbon-based nanomaterials and silver nanoparticles, the compounds proved to be more effective as they exhibited stronger antibacterial and anti-biofilm activities on the multi-drug resistant bacteria strains due to synergetic effect, compared to PSs alone. This suggests that the newly prepared nanohybrids (PS concentration ca. 100 μM) could be used as potential antimicrobial agents in the treatment of biofilm-related infections. The target nanoconjugates showed all the advantages of two different groups existing on a single entity. In light of the potential advantages of combined chemotherapy and photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT), this work reports for the first time the use of PACT-ciprofloxacin (CIP) dual therapy using selected indium quaternized PSs which showed higher photoactivity with complete eradication of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria biofilms at concentrations of 8 μM of PS versus 2 μg/mL of the antibiotic following 15 min irradiation time (light dose: 471 J/cm2 for Pcs and fluence: 250 mW/cm2 for porphyrins) on S. aureus. Whereas the total killing of E. coli was obtained when combining 8 or 16 μM of PS combined with 4 μg/mL of CIP. The combined treatment resulted in the complete eradication of the matured biofilms with the highest log10 reduction values of 7.05 and 7.20 on S. aureus and E. coli, respectively. Used as a model, positively charged dimethylamino-chalcone Pcs also exhibited interesting photodynamic therapy (PDT) activity against MCF-7 cancer cells giving IC50 values of 17.9 and 7.4 μM, respectively following 15 min irradiation. Additionally, the TD-B3LYP/LanL2DZ calculations were run on the dimethylaminophenyl- porphyrins to compare the singlet excitation energies of quaternized and non-quaternized porphyrins in vacuo. the study shows excellent agreement between time-dependent density- functional theory (TD-DFT) exciting energies and the experimental S1>S0 excitation energies. The small deviation observed between the calculated and experimental spectra arises from the solvent effect. The excitation energies observed in these UV-Vis spectra mostly originated from electron promotion between the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) for the less intense band and the HOMO-1 for the most intense band of the ground states to the lower unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of the excited states. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Chemistry, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Openda, Yolande Ikala
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Phthalocyanines , Porphyrins , Active oxygen , Biofilms , Breast Cancer Treatment , Nanostructured materials , Combination therapy , Photochemotherapy
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365945 , vital:65804 , DOI https://doi.org/10.21504/10962//365946
- Description: Phthalocyanines (Pcs) and porphyrins bearing substituents that possess antibacterial/anticancer properties are used as photosensitizers (PS) for the first time in the work. For targeting specificity and improved photoactivity, the PSs were afterward functionalized with carbon nanomaterials such as graphene quantum dots (GQDs) and detonation nanodiamonds (DNDs) via covalent conjugation (amide or ester bonds) or by non-covalent conjugation (π-π stacking and electrostatic interactions). Furthermore, the PSs-DNDs nanoconjugates were conjugated to either chitosan-capped silver nanoparticles (CSAg) via amide bonds or to the bare silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) using the silver- nitrogen affinity. The as-synthesized nanoconjugates were also fully characterized by spectroscopic and microscopic methods together with thermal analysis. The potential photocytotoxicity of the complexes alone and their nanoconjugates against S. aureus and/or E. coli planktonic and biofilm cultures has been evaluated in vitro. Compared to the non- quaternized PSs, the cationic analogs exhibited a higher photodynamic inactivation against the planktonic cells with log10 reduction values above 9 in the viable count using a concentration of ca. 1.25 μM following 30 min exposure to light (Light dose: 943 J/cm2 for Pcs and 250 mW/cm2 for porphyrins). Whereas, at a concentration of ca. 100 μM the cationic PSs showed complete eradication of biofilms upon 30 min exposure to light. As a result of conjugation to carbon-based nanomaterials and silver nanoparticles, the compounds proved to be more effective as they exhibited stronger antibacterial and anti-biofilm activities on the multi-drug resistant bacteria strains due to synergetic effect, compared to PSs alone. This suggests that the newly prepared nanohybrids (PS concentration ca. 100 μM) could be used as potential antimicrobial agents in the treatment of biofilm-related infections. The target nanoconjugates showed all the advantages of two different groups existing on a single entity. In light of the potential advantages of combined chemotherapy and photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT), this work reports for the first time the use of PACT-ciprofloxacin (CIP) dual therapy using selected indium quaternized PSs which showed higher photoactivity with complete eradication of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria biofilms at concentrations of 8 μM of PS versus 2 μg/mL of the antibiotic following 15 min irradiation time (light dose: 471 J/cm2 for Pcs and fluence: 250 mW/cm2 for porphyrins) on S. aureus. Whereas the total killing of E. coli was obtained when combining 8 or 16 μM of PS combined with 4 μg/mL of CIP. The combined treatment resulted in the complete eradication of the matured biofilms with the highest log10 reduction values of 7.05 and 7.20 on S. aureus and E. coli, respectively. Used as a model, positively charged dimethylamino-chalcone Pcs also exhibited interesting photodynamic therapy (PDT) activity against MCF-7 cancer cells giving IC50 values of 17.9 and 7.4 μM, respectively following 15 min irradiation. Additionally, the TD-B3LYP/LanL2DZ calculations were run on the dimethylaminophenyl- porphyrins to compare the singlet excitation energies of quaternized and non-quaternized porphyrins in vacuo. the study shows excellent agreement between time-dependent density- functional theory (TD-DFT) exciting energies and the experimental S1>S0 excitation energies. The small deviation observed between the calculated and experimental spectra arises from the solvent effect. The excitation energies observed in these UV-Vis spectra mostly originated from electron promotion between the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) for the less intense band and the HOMO-1 for the most intense band of the ground states to the lower unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of the excited states. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Chemistry, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
In vitro pharmacological screening of thiazolidinedione-derivatives on diabetes and Alzheimer’s potential therapeutic targets
- Authors: Arineitwe, Charles
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Diabetes Treatment , Alzheimer's disease Treatment , Antioxidants Therapeutic use , Rosiglitazone , Hypoglycemic agents , In vitro screening , Thiazolidinedione Derivatives
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/232171 , vital:49968
- Description: There is an increased prevalence of diabetes and other non-communicable diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa and globally. In South Africa, the prevalence of type 2 Diabetes mellitus is currently estimated at 9.0% in people aged 30 and older and is expected to increase. Diabetes-related complications result in acute alterations in the mental state due to poor metabolic control as well as greater rates of decline in cognitive functioning with age, higher prevalence of depression and increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia in older adults and possibly contributes to 60 - 70% of cases. Alzheimer’s disease remains incurable, its progression inevitable with the currently available symptomatic therapies being palliative while the treatment of diabetes relies on insulin preparations and other glucose-lowering agents. Current treatment options have numerous side effects such as hypoglycaemia, diarrhoea, weight gain and abnormal liver function. This has geared the investigation of new generations of small molecules which exhibit improved efficacy and safety profiles. On this basis, several studies have shown that thiazolidinediones and their corresponding derivatives exhibit a broad spectrum of biological activities including anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities. Furthermore, recent evidence from experimental, epidemiological, and clinical studies highlight the utility of antioxidants for treating diabetes and its complications. Interestingly, there is increasing evidence that links diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease due to their pathophysiology and suppressing glycaemia has been shown to be beneficial in Alzheimer’s disease treatment. Accordingly, the aim of this study, was to evaluate the anti-diabetic and anti-Alzheimer’s properties of four novel synthesized thiazolidinedione-derivatives owing to their antioxidant properties. Methods The aim of this study was achieved through performing ferric reducing antioxidant power activity, 2,2’-Diphenyl-1-Picry Hydrazyl radical scavenging activity, α-amylase inhibition, α-glucosidase inhibition, aldose reductase inhibition, protein tyrosine phosphatase-1B inhibition, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibition, acetylcholinesterase inhibition, matrix metalloproteinase-1 inhibition, and β-amyloid aggregation inhibition assays. In addition, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ activation was performed through docking studies. To establish physicochemical properties of TZD derivatives investigated, further in-silico studies were done using SwissADME tools. Results To this end, in-vitro and in-silico studies were successfully performed. In-silico ADME profiling predicted these derivatives to be drug-like with moderate to good solubility in the GI and not blood-brain barrier permeable. Furthermore, docking of these molecules against PPARγ predicted a similar mode of action to that of thiazolidinediones using Rosiglitazone as the standard drug with TZDD2 and TZDD4 forming equivalent conformations to that of Rosiglitazone in the same binding site and TZDD3 having an equivalent LBE to that of Rosiglitazone (-8.84 and -8.63kcal/mol respectively). In-vitro evaluation predicted a moderate antioxidant activity with TZDD2 and 3 exhibiting the highest FRAP activity and DPPH radical scavenging activity. Furthermore, enzymatic inhibition assays showed a relative inhibition activity with TZDD3 exhibited > 100% inhibition in concentrations ≥ 30 μg/mL and TZDD1, 2 and 4 exhibited ≥ 50% inhibition activity in all the concentrations (10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 μg/mL) in the α-amylase inhibition assay. Similarly, in the α-glucosidase inhibition assay, all the four derivatives exhibited a concentration dependent activity with TZDD3 showing the most activity. All the four derivatives exhibited ≥ 30% inhibition in the aldose reductase inhibition assay except TZDD1 at 10 μg/mL. TZDD4 exhibited a concentration dependent inhibition activity in the protein tyrosine phosphatase-1B inhibition assay. Interestingly, TZDD3 showed a decreasing inhibition activity as its concentration increased from 10 μg/mL through to 50 μg/mL. In the dipeptidyl peptidase–4 inhibition assay, TZDD2 and TZDD4 exhibited ≥ 20% inhibition activity across all the concentrations and in the acetylcholinesterase assay, TZDD1, 3 and 4 exhibited ≥ 25% across all the concentrations. Interestingly, in the matrix metalloproteinase-1 inhibition assay, some of these derivatives exhibited partial activation activity and partial inhibition with TZDD1 showing activation in concentrations 10 and 20 μg/mL and inhibition in concentrations 30, 40 and 50 μg/mL. TZDD4 showed activation in all the concentrations. In the β-amyloid aggregation assay, all the four derivatives showed inhibition activity ≥ 10% except TZDD1 at 50 μg/mL. Conclusions Diabetes mellitus and Alzheimer’s disease are a type of pathology of global concern, and several researchers worldwide have strived to search for novel therapeutic treatments and prevention for diabetes as well as Alzheimer’s disease. Recent studies provide a direct link v between diabetes mellitus and Alzheimer’s disease, and the need to find novel drugs that can mitigate these two is of increasing interest. In our search for antidiabetic and anti-Alzheimer’s activity, TZD derivatives (TZDD1, TZDD2, TZDD3 and TZDD4) exhibited good antioxidant activity, anti-hyperglycaemic activity and a relatively promising anti-Alzheimer’s activity. This was observed from the in vitro evaluation performed which included α – amylase, α – glucosidase, aldose reductase, PTP1B, DPP4, amyloid β aggregation, and AChE inhibition assays. Furthermore, docking of the derivatives against PPARγ predicted a similar molecular interaction to that of thiazolidinediones using Rosiglitazone as the standard drug. Furthermore, in silico ADME profiling predicted the derivatives to have moderate to good solubility in the GI (good GI bioavailability), and also exhibited excellent drug likeness. However, they are predicted not permeate the BBB. Further in silico studies and in vivo should be conducted to establish toxicities, as well as drug delivery to the brain for effective therapeutic effect against Alzheimer’s disease. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Pharmacy, Pharmacology, 2022
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Arineitwe, Charles
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Diabetes Treatment , Alzheimer's disease Treatment , Antioxidants Therapeutic use , Rosiglitazone , Hypoglycemic agents , In vitro screening , Thiazolidinedione Derivatives
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/232171 , vital:49968
- Description: There is an increased prevalence of diabetes and other non-communicable diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa and globally. In South Africa, the prevalence of type 2 Diabetes mellitus is currently estimated at 9.0% in people aged 30 and older and is expected to increase. Diabetes-related complications result in acute alterations in the mental state due to poor metabolic control as well as greater rates of decline in cognitive functioning with age, higher prevalence of depression and increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia in older adults and possibly contributes to 60 - 70% of cases. Alzheimer’s disease remains incurable, its progression inevitable with the currently available symptomatic therapies being palliative while the treatment of diabetes relies on insulin preparations and other glucose-lowering agents. Current treatment options have numerous side effects such as hypoglycaemia, diarrhoea, weight gain and abnormal liver function. This has geared the investigation of new generations of small molecules which exhibit improved efficacy and safety profiles. On this basis, several studies have shown that thiazolidinediones and their corresponding derivatives exhibit a broad spectrum of biological activities including anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities. Furthermore, recent evidence from experimental, epidemiological, and clinical studies highlight the utility of antioxidants for treating diabetes and its complications. Interestingly, there is increasing evidence that links diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease due to their pathophysiology and suppressing glycaemia has been shown to be beneficial in Alzheimer’s disease treatment. Accordingly, the aim of this study, was to evaluate the anti-diabetic and anti-Alzheimer’s properties of four novel synthesized thiazolidinedione-derivatives owing to their antioxidant properties. Methods The aim of this study was achieved through performing ferric reducing antioxidant power activity, 2,2’-Diphenyl-1-Picry Hydrazyl radical scavenging activity, α-amylase inhibition, α-glucosidase inhibition, aldose reductase inhibition, protein tyrosine phosphatase-1B inhibition, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibition, acetylcholinesterase inhibition, matrix metalloproteinase-1 inhibition, and β-amyloid aggregation inhibition assays. In addition, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ activation was performed through docking studies. To establish physicochemical properties of TZD derivatives investigated, further in-silico studies were done using SwissADME tools. Results To this end, in-vitro and in-silico studies were successfully performed. In-silico ADME profiling predicted these derivatives to be drug-like with moderate to good solubility in the GI and not blood-brain barrier permeable. Furthermore, docking of these molecules against PPARγ predicted a similar mode of action to that of thiazolidinediones using Rosiglitazone as the standard drug with TZDD2 and TZDD4 forming equivalent conformations to that of Rosiglitazone in the same binding site and TZDD3 having an equivalent LBE to that of Rosiglitazone (-8.84 and -8.63kcal/mol respectively). In-vitro evaluation predicted a moderate antioxidant activity with TZDD2 and 3 exhibiting the highest FRAP activity and DPPH radical scavenging activity. Furthermore, enzymatic inhibition assays showed a relative inhibition activity with TZDD3 exhibited > 100% inhibition in concentrations ≥ 30 μg/mL and TZDD1, 2 and 4 exhibited ≥ 50% inhibition activity in all the concentrations (10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 μg/mL) in the α-amylase inhibition assay. Similarly, in the α-glucosidase inhibition assay, all the four derivatives exhibited a concentration dependent activity with TZDD3 showing the most activity. All the four derivatives exhibited ≥ 30% inhibition in the aldose reductase inhibition assay except TZDD1 at 10 μg/mL. TZDD4 exhibited a concentration dependent inhibition activity in the protein tyrosine phosphatase-1B inhibition assay. Interestingly, TZDD3 showed a decreasing inhibition activity as its concentration increased from 10 μg/mL through to 50 μg/mL. In the dipeptidyl peptidase–4 inhibition assay, TZDD2 and TZDD4 exhibited ≥ 20% inhibition activity across all the concentrations and in the acetylcholinesterase assay, TZDD1, 3 and 4 exhibited ≥ 25% across all the concentrations. Interestingly, in the matrix metalloproteinase-1 inhibition assay, some of these derivatives exhibited partial activation activity and partial inhibition with TZDD1 showing activation in concentrations 10 and 20 μg/mL and inhibition in concentrations 30, 40 and 50 μg/mL. TZDD4 showed activation in all the concentrations. In the β-amyloid aggregation assay, all the four derivatives showed inhibition activity ≥ 10% except TZDD1 at 50 μg/mL. Conclusions Diabetes mellitus and Alzheimer’s disease are a type of pathology of global concern, and several researchers worldwide have strived to search for novel therapeutic treatments and prevention for diabetes as well as Alzheimer’s disease. Recent studies provide a direct link v between diabetes mellitus and Alzheimer’s disease, and the need to find novel drugs that can mitigate these two is of increasing interest. In our search for antidiabetic and anti-Alzheimer’s activity, TZD derivatives (TZDD1, TZDD2, TZDD3 and TZDD4) exhibited good antioxidant activity, anti-hyperglycaemic activity and a relatively promising anti-Alzheimer’s activity. This was observed from the in vitro evaluation performed which included α – amylase, α – glucosidase, aldose reductase, PTP1B, DPP4, amyloid β aggregation, and AChE inhibition assays. Furthermore, docking of the derivatives against PPARγ predicted a similar molecular interaction to that of thiazolidinediones using Rosiglitazone as the standard drug. Furthermore, in silico ADME profiling predicted the derivatives to have moderate to good solubility in the GI (good GI bioavailability), and also exhibited excellent drug likeness. However, they are predicted not permeate the BBB. Further in silico studies and in vivo should be conducted to establish toxicities, as well as drug delivery to the brain for effective therapeutic effect against Alzheimer’s disease. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Pharmacy, Pharmacology, 2022
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
Linking Hop and LANA1 in the KSHV life cycle
- Authors: Ruck, Jamie-Lee
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365291 , vital:65724
- Description: Thesis embargoed. Possible release date set for early 2025. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Ruck, Jamie-Lee
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365291 , vital:65724
- Description: Thesis embargoed. Possible release date set for early 2025. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
Mechanistic analysis of two cytotoxic thiazolidinones as novel inhibitors of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
- Authors: Vukea, Nyeleti
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365734 , vital:65780
- Description: Thesis embargoes. Expected release date early 2025. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Vukea, Nyeleti
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365734 , vital:65780
- Description: Thesis embargoes. Expected release date early 2025. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
Regulation of Oct4 expression during cell stress
- Authors: Samson, William John
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365712 , vital:65778
- Description: Thesis embargoed. Expected release date early 2025. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Samson, William John
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/365712 , vital:65778
- Description: Thesis embargoed. Expected release date early 2025. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
The development, formulation and characterization of an optimized metronidazole loaded solid lipid nanoparticle formulation for ocular drug delivery
- Authors: Sikhondze, Simise Siphelele
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/403014 , vital:69914
- Description: Thesis embargoed. To be released early 2026. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Pharmacy, Pharmacy, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Sikhondze, Simise Siphelele
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/403014 , vital:69914
- Description: Thesis embargoed. To be released early 2026. , Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Pharmacy, Pharmacy, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
Environmental governance, agency and multi-actor dynamics in Southern Africa
- Authors: Falayi, Menelisi
- Date: 2022-04-08
- Subjects: Environmental law South Africa , Environmental law Zimbabwe , Natural resources Management , Conservation of natural resources South Africa Eastern Cape , Natural resources Co-management South Africa Eastern Cape , Range policy South Africa Eastern Cape , Range management South Africa Eastern Cape , Forest reserves Law and legislation Zimbabwe , Agent (Philosophy)
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral thesis , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/232355 , vital:49984 , DOI 10.21504/10962/232355
- Description: Natural resources have, since the beginning of time, played a central role in supporting human wellbeing. In southern Africa resource consumption has drastically increased over the past 50 years, resulting in biodiversity loss and land degradation. To reduce land degradation and biodiversity loss rates in the region, great emphasis has been placed on building effective governance structures that can deliver environmentally and socially sustainable outcomes. However, environmental governance continues to be a major challenge in the management and conservation of natural resources in the region. Thus, there is renewed scientific and policy interest in strengthening the capacity of governance systems. This thesis is timely; there is an increasing desire by policymakers and land users in the region to develop governance options that enhance multi-actor participation and collaboration. Therefore, this thesis explores the dynamics that influence the capacity of natural resource governance systems in southern Africa, predominately in Machubeni, South Africa (chapters 3 and 4) and in State forests in Zimbabwe (chapter 5). To achieve this aim, four stand-alone manuscripts that answer the following questions are included: 1. How have governance challenges manifested in natural resource management between 2010 and 2020 in southern Africa? 2. How were the governance objectives and attributes applied per historical period and what were the influencing drivers? a. What key drivers influenced rangeland condition over time in Machubeni? 3. How have multi-actor ties changed since the external investment in landscape governance and management in Machubeni, South Africa? 4. What role has agency played in the effectiveness of co-management initiatives in southern Africa? To answer the questions, I applied Bennett and Satterfield’s practical framework for understanding the objectives, attributes and elements of governance and Archer’s ii morphogenetic framework. The study employed a mixed-methods approach which included a scoping review methodology (chapter 2), household surveys, historical records, life history interviews, focus group discussions (chapters 3 and 4), social network analysis (chapter 4) and secondary data analysis (chapter 5). Results from the scoping review (chapter 2) show that research on governance challenges has not increased since 2010. Results suggest that governance challenges related to the maintenance of system integrity and functioning, specifically lack of coordination, accountability, skills, and resources to define effective natural resource management, were the most reported in the literature. Chapter 3 elucidates the importance of history in evaluating the application of governance objectives and rangeland condition in resource-poor areas. The results show that the residual impacts of the ‘ghost of environmental history’ still influence governance dynamics in Machubeni, South Africa. Furthermore, contemporary challenges are linked to history. Chapter 4 shows that transformative spaces enhance collaboration and knowledge sharing between land users, government, and researchers. Finally, chapter 5 employs the morphogenetic framework to assess how agency (the capacity of people and organisations to make choices and decisions about their lives) influenced the effectiveness of co-management initiatives in southern Africa. The results suggest that in attempts to shift governance towards greater effectiveness, more attention should be paid to building individual and group agency. Based on the results from the empirical chapters, the study identified three key focus areas that require more attention in order to build effective landscape governance and management in southern Africa:(i) acknowledging the role of historical legacies and context,(ii) building and developing agency, capacity and trust amongst actors and (iii) the development of sustainable landscape financing mechanisms that will enable governance systems to deliver socially and environmentally sustainable outcomes. , Ubutyebi bendalo buqhubekile budlala indima ebalulekileyo ekuxhaseni impilo-ntle yoluntu. Ngenxa yokubaluleka kobutyebi bendalo kubomi babantu, ukusetyenziswa kobutyebi kuye kwanda kakhulu kule minyaka eyi-50 idlulileyo, okubangela ulahleko lweentlobo-ntlobo yezityalo nezilwanyana eziphilayo kunye nokhukhuliseko komhlaba kumazantsi e-Afrika. Ukunciphisa ukhukhuliseko komhlaba kunye namazinga alahleko eentlobo-ntlobo zezityalo nezilwanyana eziphilayo kummandla, ugxininiso olukhulu luye lwabekwa ekwakhiweni kweziseko zolawulo ezisebenzayo ezinokuzisa iziphumo ezizinzileyo ngokwemeko yendalo nentlalo. Nangona kunjalo, ulawulo lwendalo lusaqhubeka lungumceli mngeni omkhulu kulawulo nolondolozo lobutyebi bendalo kulo mmandla. Ngoko ke, kukho umdla ohlaziyiweyo wenzululwazi nomgaqo-nkqubo ekomelezeni isakhono seenkqubo zolawulo. Le ithisisi ifike ngexesha kuba kukho umnqweno okhulayo kummandla ngabaqulunqi bomgaqo-nkqubo kunye nabasebenzisi bomhlaba ukuphuhlisa iinketho zolawulo eziphakamisa ukuthatha inxaxheba kwabantu abaninzi kunye nentsebenziswano. Ke ngoko, le ithisisi iphonononga izinto eziphembelela isakhono seenkqubo zolawulo lobutyebi bendalo kumazantsi eAfrika, ikakhulu eMachubeni, eMzantsi Afrika (isahluko 3 no 4) nakumahlathi kaRhulumente eZimbabwe (isahluko 5). Ukuphumeza le njongo, kufakwe layo: 1. Ibonakaliswe njani imiceli mngeni yolawulo kulawulo lwendalo phakathi ko-2010 no 2020 kumazantsi eAfrika? 2. Zeziphi injongo zolawulo kunye neempawu ezisetyenzisiweyo ngokwexesha lembali? a. Zeziphi ezona zinto eziqhuba phambili eziphembelele ukusetyenziswa kweenjongo zolawulo kunye neempawu ngokuhamba kwexesha? b. Zeziphi iindlela ezibalulekileyo ezichaphazele ngayo iimeko zamadlelo ekuhambeni kwexesha? 3. Atshintshe njani amakhonkco obudlelwane phakathi kwabathathi-nxaxheba ukusukela oko kutyalo-mali lwangaphandle kulawulo lobume bomhlaba eMachubeni, eMzantsi Afrika? 4. Yiyiphi indima edlalwe sisakhono sokwenza ukhetho kunye nezigqibo malunga nobomi bakho ekusebenzeni ngempumelelo kwamalinge olawulo ngokubambisana kumazantsi e-Afrika? Ukuphendula imibuzo, ndisebenzise isakhelo esisebenzayo sikaBennett kunye noSatterfield ukuqonda iinjongo kunye neempawu zolawulo kunye nesakhelo se-Archer's morphogenetic. Uphononongo lusebenzise iindlela ezixubeneyo ezibandakanya indlela yokuphonononga iincwadi zophando (isahluko 2), uphando lwamakhaya, iirekhodi zembali, udliwano-ndlebe lwembali yobomi, iingxoxo zeqela eligxininisiweyo (isahluko 3 kunye no 4), uhlalutyo lonxibelelwano nobudlelwane boluntu (isahluko 4) kunye nohlalutyo lwedatha ethathwe ngomnye umntu. (isahluko 5). Iziphumo ezivela kuphononongo lweencwadi zophando (isahluko 2) zibonakalisa ukuba uphando ngemiceli mngeni yolawulo alunyukanga ukusukela ngo-2010. Iziphumo zibonisa ukuba imiceli mngeni yolawulo enxulumene nokugcinwa kwemfezeko nokusebenza kwenkqubo, ngokukodwa ukungabikho kolungelelwaniso, uxanduva, izakhono, kunye nezibonelelo zokuchaza ulawulo lwemithombo yendalo olusebenzayo, yayiyeyona ichazwe kwiincwadi. Isahluko sesi-3 sicacisa ukubaluleka kwembali ekuvavanyeni ukusetyenziswa kweenjongo zolawulo kunye nemeko yemihlaba ekwiindawo ezihlwempuzekileyo ngezibonelelo. Iziphumo zibonisa ukuba uchaphazeleko oshiyekileyo we-‘ghost of environmental history’ zisenefuthe kulawulo lwenguquko eMachubeni, eMzantsi Afrika. Ngaphezu koko, imiceli mngeni yangoku inxulunyaniswa nembali. Isahluko sesi-4 sibonisa ukuba iindawo eziguqulayo ziphucula intsebenziswano nokwabelana ngolwazi phakathi kwabasebenzisi bomhlaba, urhulumente nabaphandi. Ekugqibeleni, isahluko sesi-5 sisebenzisa isakhelo se-morphogenetic ukuvavanya indlela isakhono sabantu kunye nemibutho sokwenza ukhetho kunye nezigqibo malunga nobomi babo ibe nefuthe ekusebenzeni kwamanyathelo olawulo ngokubambisana kumazantsi e-Afrika. Iziphumo zibonisa ukuba kwiinzame zokutshintsha ulawulo ukuze lusebenze kangangoko, ingqwalasela engaphezulu kufuneka ibekwe ekwakheni isakhono, somntu neseqela, sokwenza ukhetho kunye nezigqibo malunga nobomi babo. Ngokusekelwe kwiziphumo ezivela kwizahluko zobungqina, uphononongo luchonge imiba emithathu engundoqo ekugxilwe kuzo ezifuna ingqwalaselo ethe kratya ukuze kwakhiwe ulawulo lwemihlaba olusebenzayo kumazantsi e-Afrika. Ngokukodwa: (i) ukuqaphela indima yelifa lembali kunye nomxholo (ii) ukwakha nokuphuhlisa isakhono v sokwenza ukhetho kunye nezigqibo malunga nobomi, isakhono kunye nokuthembana phakathi kwabathathi-nxaxheba kunye (iii) nokuphuhliswa kweendlela ezizinzileyo zenkxaso-mali yendawo eziya kwenza ukuba iinkqubo zolawulo zinike iziphumo ezizinzileyo ngokwentlalo nendalo. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Environmental Science, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-08
- Authors: Falayi, Menelisi
- Date: 2022-04-08
- Subjects: Environmental law South Africa , Environmental law Zimbabwe , Natural resources Management , Conservation of natural resources South Africa Eastern Cape , Natural resources Co-management South Africa Eastern Cape , Range policy South Africa Eastern Cape , Range management South Africa Eastern Cape , Forest reserves Law and legislation Zimbabwe , Agent (Philosophy)
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral thesis , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/232355 , vital:49984 , DOI 10.21504/10962/232355
- Description: Natural resources have, since the beginning of time, played a central role in supporting human wellbeing. In southern Africa resource consumption has drastically increased over the past 50 years, resulting in biodiversity loss and land degradation. To reduce land degradation and biodiversity loss rates in the region, great emphasis has been placed on building effective governance structures that can deliver environmentally and socially sustainable outcomes. However, environmental governance continues to be a major challenge in the management and conservation of natural resources in the region. Thus, there is renewed scientific and policy interest in strengthening the capacity of governance systems. This thesis is timely; there is an increasing desire by policymakers and land users in the region to develop governance options that enhance multi-actor participation and collaboration. Therefore, this thesis explores the dynamics that influence the capacity of natural resource governance systems in southern Africa, predominately in Machubeni, South Africa (chapters 3 and 4) and in State forests in Zimbabwe (chapter 5). To achieve this aim, four stand-alone manuscripts that answer the following questions are included: 1. How have governance challenges manifested in natural resource management between 2010 and 2020 in southern Africa? 2. How were the governance objectives and attributes applied per historical period and what were the influencing drivers? a. What key drivers influenced rangeland condition over time in Machubeni? 3. How have multi-actor ties changed since the external investment in landscape governance and management in Machubeni, South Africa? 4. What role has agency played in the effectiveness of co-management initiatives in southern Africa? To answer the questions, I applied Bennett and Satterfield’s practical framework for understanding the objectives, attributes and elements of governance and Archer’s ii morphogenetic framework. The study employed a mixed-methods approach which included a scoping review methodology (chapter 2), household surveys, historical records, life history interviews, focus group discussions (chapters 3 and 4), social network analysis (chapter 4) and secondary data analysis (chapter 5). Results from the scoping review (chapter 2) show that research on governance challenges has not increased since 2010. Results suggest that governance challenges related to the maintenance of system integrity and functioning, specifically lack of coordination, accountability, skills, and resources to define effective natural resource management, were the most reported in the literature. Chapter 3 elucidates the importance of history in evaluating the application of governance objectives and rangeland condition in resource-poor areas. The results show that the residual impacts of the ‘ghost of environmental history’ still influence governance dynamics in Machubeni, South Africa. Furthermore, contemporary challenges are linked to history. Chapter 4 shows that transformative spaces enhance collaboration and knowledge sharing between land users, government, and researchers. Finally, chapter 5 employs the morphogenetic framework to assess how agency (the capacity of people and organisations to make choices and decisions about their lives) influenced the effectiveness of co-management initiatives in southern Africa. The results suggest that in attempts to shift governance towards greater effectiveness, more attention should be paid to building individual and group agency. Based on the results from the empirical chapters, the study identified three key focus areas that require more attention in order to build effective landscape governance and management in southern Africa:(i) acknowledging the role of historical legacies and context,(ii) building and developing agency, capacity and trust amongst actors and (iii) the development of sustainable landscape financing mechanisms that will enable governance systems to deliver socially and environmentally sustainable outcomes. , Ubutyebi bendalo buqhubekile budlala indima ebalulekileyo ekuxhaseni impilo-ntle yoluntu. Ngenxa yokubaluleka kobutyebi bendalo kubomi babantu, ukusetyenziswa kobutyebi kuye kwanda kakhulu kule minyaka eyi-50 idlulileyo, okubangela ulahleko lweentlobo-ntlobo yezityalo nezilwanyana eziphilayo kunye nokhukhuliseko komhlaba kumazantsi e-Afrika. Ukunciphisa ukhukhuliseko komhlaba kunye namazinga alahleko eentlobo-ntlobo zezityalo nezilwanyana eziphilayo kummandla, ugxininiso olukhulu luye lwabekwa ekwakhiweni kweziseko zolawulo ezisebenzayo ezinokuzisa iziphumo ezizinzileyo ngokwemeko yendalo nentlalo. Nangona kunjalo, ulawulo lwendalo lusaqhubeka lungumceli mngeni omkhulu kulawulo nolondolozo lobutyebi bendalo kulo mmandla. Ngoko ke, kukho umdla ohlaziyiweyo wenzululwazi nomgaqo-nkqubo ekomelezeni isakhono seenkqubo zolawulo. Le ithisisi ifike ngexesha kuba kukho umnqweno okhulayo kummandla ngabaqulunqi bomgaqo-nkqubo kunye nabasebenzisi bomhlaba ukuphuhlisa iinketho zolawulo eziphakamisa ukuthatha inxaxheba kwabantu abaninzi kunye nentsebenziswano. Ke ngoko, le ithisisi iphonononga izinto eziphembelela isakhono seenkqubo zolawulo lobutyebi bendalo kumazantsi eAfrika, ikakhulu eMachubeni, eMzantsi Afrika (isahluko 3 no 4) nakumahlathi kaRhulumente eZimbabwe (isahluko 5). Ukuphumeza le njongo, kufakwe layo: 1. Ibonakaliswe njani imiceli mngeni yolawulo kulawulo lwendalo phakathi ko-2010 no 2020 kumazantsi eAfrika? 2. Zeziphi injongo zolawulo kunye neempawu ezisetyenzisiweyo ngokwexesha lembali? a. Zeziphi ezona zinto eziqhuba phambili eziphembelele ukusetyenziswa kweenjongo zolawulo kunye neempawu ngokuhamba kwexesha? b. Zeziphi iindlela ezibalulekileyo ezichaphazele ngayo iimeko zamadlelo ekuhambeni kwexesha? 3. Atshintshe njani amakhonkco obudlelwane phakathi kwabathathi-nxaxheba ukusukela oko kutyalo-mali lwangaphandle kulawulo lobume bomhlaba eMachubeni, eMzantsi Afrika? 4. Yiyiphi indima edlalwe sisakhono sokwenza ukhetho kunye nezigqibo malunga nobomi bakho ekusebenzeni ngempumelelo kwamalinge olawulo ngokubambisana kumazantsi e-Afrika? Ukuphendula imibuzo, ndisebenzise isakhelo esisebenzayo sikaBennett kunye noSatterfield ukuqonda iinjongo kunye neempawu zolawulo kunye nesakhelo se-Archer's morphogenetic. Uphononongo lusebenzise iindlela ezixubeneyo ezibandakanya indlela yokuphonononga iincwadi zophando (isahluko 2), uphando lwamakhaya, iirekhodi zembali, udliwano-ndlebe lwembali yobomi, iingxoxo zeqela eligxininisiweyo (isahluko 3 kunye no 4), uhlalutyo lonxibelelwano nobudlelwane boluntu (isahluko 4) kunye nohlalutyo lwedatha ethathwe ngomnye umntu. (isahluko 5). Iziphumo ezivela kuphononongo lweencwadi zophando (isahluko 2) zibonakalisa ukuba uphando ngemiceli mngeni yolawulo alunyukanga ukusukela ngo-2010. Iziphumo zibonisa ukuba imiceli mngeni yolawulo enxulumene nokugcinwa kwemfezeko nokusebenza kwenkqubo, ngokukodwa ukungabikho kolungelelwaniso, uxanduva, izakhono, kunye nezibonelelo zokuchaza ulawulo lwemithombo yendalo olusebenzayo, yayiyeyona ichazwe kwiincwadi. Isahluko sesi-3 sicacisa ukubaluleka kwembali ekuvavanyeni ukusetyenziswa kweenjongo zolawulo kunye nemeko yemihlaba ekwiindawo ezihlwempuzekileyo ngezibonelelo. Iziphumo zibonisa ukuba uchaphazeleko oshiyekileyo we-‘ghost of environmental history’ zisenefuthe kulawulo lwenguquko eMachubeni, eMzantsi Afrika. Ngaphezu koko, imiceli mngeni yangoku inxulunyaniswa nembali. Isahluko sesi-4 sibonisa ukuba iindawo eziguqulayo ziphucula intsebenziswano nokwabelana ngolwazi phakathi kwabasebenzisi bomhlaba, urhulumente nabaphandi. Ekugqibeleni, isahluko sesi-5 sisebenzisa isakhelo se-morphogenetic ukuvavanya indlela isakhono sabantu kunye nemibutho sokwenza ukhetho kunye nezigqibo malunga nobomi babo ibe nefuthe ekusebenzeni kwamanyathelo olawulo ngokubambisana kumazantsi e-Afrika. Iziphumo zibonisa ukuba kwiinzame zokutshintsha ulawulo ukuze lusebenze kangangoko, ingqwalasela engaphezulu kufuneka ibekwe ekwakheni isakhono, somntu neseqela, sokwenza ukhetho kunye nezigqibo malunga nobomi babo. Ngokusekelwe kwiziphumo ezivela kwizahluko zobungqina, uphononongo luchonge imiba emithathu engundoqo ekugxilwe kuzo ezifuna ingqwalaselo ethe kratya ukuze kwakhiwe ulawulo lwemihlaba olusebenzayo kumazantsi e-Afrika. Ngokukodwa: (i) ukuqaphela indima yelifa lembali kunye nomxholo (ii) ukwakha nokuphuhlisa isakhono v sokwenza ukhetho kunye nezigqibo malunga nobomi, isakhono kunye nokuthembana phakathi kwabathathi-nxaxheba kunye (iii) nokuphuhliswa kweendlela ezizinzileyo zenkxaso-mali yendawo eziya kwenza ukuba iinkqubo zolawulo zinike iziphumo ezizinzileyo ngokwentlalo nendalo. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Environmental Science, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-08
Neutral winds and tides over South Africa
- Authors: Ojo, Taiwo Theophilus
- Date: 2022-04-08
- Subjects: Atmospheric tides , Ionosondes , Fabry-Perot interferometers , Thermospheric winds , Servomechanisms , Climatology , Neutral winds , Horizontal Wind Model (HWM)
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral thesis , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/232459 , vital:49993 , DOI 10.21504/10962/232459
- Description: This thesis presents the first results of a climatology of nighttime thermospheric neutral winds between February 2018 and January 2019 measured by a Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) in Sutherland, South Africa (32.2°S, 20.48°E; geomagnetic latitude: 40.7°S). This FPI measures the nighttime oxygen airglow emission at 630.0 nm, which has a peak intensity at an altitude of roughly 250 km. The performance of the Horizontal Wind Model (HWM14) was evaluated by comparing results from HWM14 with the FPI measurements. The results showed that the model had a better agreement with the measurements for meridional component compared to the zonal component. In addition, the HWM14 zonal wind consistently peaked several hours (~3 h) prior to the measured wind, creating what looks like a phase shift compared to the measured wind. An investigation of this apparent phase shift revealed it to be a consequence of a difference in phase shift of the terdiunal tide. Since ionosondes are more prolific with wider temporal and spatial coverage than FPIs, nighttime meridional winds aligned to the magnetic meridian were inferred from the peak height (hmF2) of ionospheric data taken from South Africa ionosonde network using the servo model during February 2018-June 2019. These were compared with FPI measured meridional wind and benchmarked with HWM14 and Magnetic mEridional NeuTrAl Thermospheric (MENTAT) model. The amplitudes and trends of the calculated meridional winds across all four ionosonde stations agreed relatively well with the observed data, especially during the summer months. Furthermore, the results confirmed that the ionosonde station located closest to the FPI, i.e. Hermanus station, had better agreement with measurements compared to the stations located at further distances. The extraction and analysis of atmospheric tides, namely the diurnal, semidiurnal, terdiurnal and 6-hour components from the FPI as well as the long-term tidal winds variations from the thermospheric wind measurements were investigated. The results showed that the semidiurnal peak mostly had the highest peak across all the months, indicating that the semidiurnal tides dominate the dynamic structure of the upper mesosphere at midlatitudes, consistent with previous observation over midlatitudes. Futhermore, the signature of the diurnal tide in the meridional (zonal) wind was stronger in winter (summer) and weaker in summer (winter). Also, semidiurnal tide didn't show any trend with season, while the terdiurnal tide was dominant in summer (zonal) and winter (meridional). Lastly, the 6 hour tide was detected intermittently during the period of the study and had the weakest signature (i.e. lowest amplitudes). , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Physics and Electronics, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-08
- Authors: Ojo, Taiwo Theophilus
- Date: 2022-04-08
- Subjects: Atmospheric tides , Ionosondes , Fabry-Perot interferometers , Thermospheric winds , Servomechanisms , Climatology , Neutral winds , Horizontal Wind Model (HWM)
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral thesis , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/232459 , vital:49993 , DOI 10.21504/10962/232459
- Description: This thesis presents the first results of a climatology of nighttime thermospheric neutral winds between February 2018 and January 2019 measured by a Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) in Sutherland, South Africa (32.2°S, 20.48°E; geomagnetic latitude: 40.7°S). This FPI measures the nighttime oxygen airglow emission at 630.0 nm, which has a peak intensity at an altitude of roughly 250 km. The performance of the Horizontal Wind Model (HWM14) was evaluated by comparing results from HWM14 with the FPI measurements. The results showed that the model had a better agreement with the measurements for meridional component compared to the zonal component. In addition, the HWM14 zonal wind consistently peaked several hours (~3 h) prior to the measured wind, creating what looks like a phase shift compared to the measured wind. An investigation of this apparent phase shift revealed it to be a consequence of a difference in phase shift of the terdiunal tide. Since ionosondes are more prolific with wider temporal and spatial coverage than FPIs, nighttime meridional winds aligned to the magnetic meridian were inferred from the peak height (hmF2) of ionospheric data taken from South Africa ionosonde network using the servo model during February 2018-June 2019. These were compared with FPI measured meridional wind and benchmarked with HWM14 and Magnetic mEridional NeuTrAl Thermospheric (MENTAT) model. The amplitudes and trends of the calculated meridional winds across all four ionosonde stations agreed relatively well with the observed data, especially during the summer months. Furthermore, the results confirmed that the ionosonde station located closest to the FPI, i.e. Hermanus station, had better agreement with measurements compared to the stations located at further distances. The extraction and analysis of atmospheric tides, namely the diurnal, semidiurnal, terdiurnal and 6-hour components from the FPI as well as the long-term tidal winds variations from the thermospheric wind measurements were investigated. The results showed that the semidiurnal peak mostly had the highest peak across all the months, indicating that the semidiurnal tides dominate the dynamic structure of the upper mesosphere at midlatitudes, consistent with previous observation over midlatitudes. Futhermore, the signature of the diurnal tide in the meridional (zonal) wind was stronger in winter (summer) and weaker in summer (winter). Also, semidiurnal tide didn't show any trend with season, while the terdiurnal tide was dominant in summer (zonal) and winter (meridional). Lastly, the 6 hour tide was detected intermittently during the period of the study and had the weakest signature (i.e. lowest amplitudes). , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Physics and Electronics, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-08
The characterization of GTP Cyclohydrolase I and 6-Pyruvoyl Tetrahydropterin Synthase enzymes as potential anti-malarial drug targets
- Khairallah, Afrah Yousif Huseein
- Authors: Khairallah, Afrah Yousif Huseein
- Date: 2022-04-08
- Subjects: Antimalarials , Plasmodium falciparum , Malaria Chemotherapy , Malaria Africa , Drug resistance , Drug development , Molecular dynamics
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral thesis , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/233784 , vital:50127 , DOI 10.21504/10962/233784
- Description: Malaria remains a public health problem and a high burden of disease, especially in developing countries. The unicellular protozoan malaria parasite of the genus Plasmodium infects about a quarter of a billion people annually, with an estimated 409 000 death cases. The majority of malaria cases occurred in Africa; hence, the region is regarded as endemic for malaria. Global efforts to eradicate the disease led to a decrease in morbidity and mortality rates. However, an enormous burden of malaria infection remains, and it cannot go unnoticed. Countries with limited resources are more affected by the disease, mainly on its public health and socio-economic development, due to many factors besides malaria itself, such as lack of access to adequate, affordable treatments and preventative regimes. Furthermore, the current antimalarial drugs are losing their efficacy because of parasite drug resistance. The emerged drug resistance has reduced the drug efficacy in clearing the parasite from the host system, causing prolonged illness and a higher risk of death. Therefore, the emerged antimalarial drug resistance has hindered the global efforts for malaria control and elimination and established an urgent need for new treatment strategies. When the resistance against classical antimalarial drugs emerged, the class of antifolate antimalarial medicines became the most common alternative. The antifolate antimalarial drugs target the malaria parasite de novo folate biosynthesis pathway by limiting folate derivates, which are essential for the parasite cell growth and survival. Yet again, the malaria parasite developed resistance against the available antifolate drugs, rendering the drugs ineffective in many cases. Given the previous success in targeting the malaria parasite de novo folate biosynthesis pathway, alternative enzymes within this pathway stand as good targets and can be explored to develop new antifolate drugs with novel mechanisms of action. The primary focus of this thesis is to contribute to the existing and growing knowledge of antimalarial drug discovery. The study aims to characterise the malaria parasite de novo folate synthesis pathway enzymes guanosine-5'-triphosphate (GTP) cyclohydrolase I (GCH1) and 6-pyruvoyl tetrahydropterin synthase (PTPS) as alternative drug targets for malaria treatment by using computational approaches. Further, discover new allosteric drug targeting sites within the two enzymes' 3D structures for future drug design and discovery. Sequence and structural analysis were carried out to characterise and pinpoint the two enzymes' unique sequence and structure-based features. From the analyses, key sequence and structure differences were identified between the malaria parasite enzymes relative to their human homolog; the identified sites can aid significantly in designing and developing new antimalarial antifolate drugs with good selectivity toward the parasites’ enzymes. GCH1 and PTPS contain a catalytically essential metal ion in their active site; therefore, force field parameters were needed to study their active sites accurately during all-atom molecular dynamic simulations (MD). The force field parameters were derived through quantum mechanics potential energy surface scans of the metals bonded terms and evaluated via all-atom MD simulations. Proteins structural dynamics is imperative for many biological processes; thus, it is essential to consider the structural dynamics of proteins whilst understanding their function. In this regard, the normal mode analysis (NMA) approach based on the elastic network model (ENM) was employed to study the intrinsic dynamics and conformations changes of GCH1 and PTPS enzymes. The NMA disclosed essential structural information about the protein’s intrinsic dynamics and mechanism of allosteric modulation of their binding properties, further highlighting regions that govern their conformational changes. The analysis also disclosed hotspot residues that are crucial for the proteins' fold stability and function. The NMA was further combined with sequence motif results and showed that conserved residues of GCH1 and PTPS were located within the identified key structural sites modulating the proteins' conformational rearrangement. The characterized structural features and hotspot residues were regarded as potential allosteric sites of important value for the design and development of allosteric drugs. Both GCH1 and PTPS enzymes have never been targeted before and can provide an excellent opportunity to overcome the antimalarial antifolate drug resistance problem. The data presented in this thesis contribute to the understanding of the sequence, structure, and global dynamics of both GCH1 and PTPS, further disclose potential allosteric drug targeting sites and unique structural features of both enzymes that can establish a solid starting point for drug design and development of new antimalarial drugs of a novel mechanism of actions. Lastly, the reported force field parameters will be of value for MD simulations for future in-silico drug discovery studies involving the two enzymes and other enzymes with the same Zn2+ binding motifs and coordination environments. The impact of this research can facilitate the discovery of new effective antimalarial medicines with novel mechanisms of action. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-08
- Authors: Khairallah, Afrah Yousif Huseein
- Date: 2022-04-08
- Subjects: Antimalarials , Plasmodium falciparum , Malaria Chemotherapy , Malaria Africa , Drug resistance , Drug development , Molecular dynamics
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral thesis , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/233784 , vital:50127 , DOI 10.21504/10962/233784
- Description: Malaria remains a public health problem and a high burden of disease, especially in developing countries. The unicellular protozoan malaria parasite of the genus Plasmodium infects about a quarter of a billion people annually, with an estimated 409 000 death cases. The majority of malaria cases occurred in Africa; hence, the region is regarded as endemic for malaria. Global efforts to eradicate the disease led to a decrease in morbidity and mortality rates. However, an enormous burden of malaria infection remains, and it cannot go unnoticed. Countries with limited resources are more affected by the disease, mainly on its public health and socio-economic development, due to many factors besides malaria itself, such as lack of access to adequate, affordable treatments and preventative regimes. Furthermore, the current antimalarial drugs are losing their efficacy because of parasite drug resistance. The emerged drug resistance has reduced the drug efficacy in clearing the parasite from the host system, causing prolonged illness and a higher risk of death. Therefore, the emerged antimalarial drug resistance has hindered the global efforts for malaria control and elimination and established an urgent need for new treatment strategies. When the resistance against classical antimalarial drugs emerged, the class of antifolate antimalarial medicines became the most common alternative. The antifolate antimalarial drugs target the malaria parasite de novo folate biosynthesis pathway by limiting folate derivates, which are essential for the parasite cell growth and survival. Yet again, the malaria parasite developed resistance against the available antifolate drugs, rendering the drugs ineffective in many cases. Given the previous success in targeting the malaria parasite de novo folate biosynthesis pathway, alternative enzymes within this pathway stand as good targets and can be explored to develop new antifolate drugs with novel mechanisms of action. The primary focus of this thesis is to contribute to the existing and growing knowledge of antimalarial drug discovery. The study aims to characterise the malaria parasite de novo folate synthesis pathway enzymes guanosine-5'-triphosphate (GTP) cyclohydrolase I (GCH1) and 6-pyruvoyl tetrahydropterin synthase (PTPS) as alternative drug targets for malaria treatment by using computational approaches. Further, discover new allosteric drug targeting sites within the two enzymes' 3D structures for future drug design and discovery. Sequence and structural analysis were carried out to characterise and pinpoint the two enzymes' unique sequence and structure-based features. From the analyses, key sequence and structure differences were identified between the malaria parasite enzymes relative to their human homolog; the identified sites can aid significantly in designing and developing new antimalarial antifolate drugs with good selectivity toward the parasites’ enzymes. GCH1 and PTPS contain a catalytically essential metal ion in their active site; therefore, force field parameters were needed to study their active sites accurately during all-atom molecular dynamic simulations (MD). The force field parameters were derived through quantum mechanics potential energy surface scans of the metals bonded terms and evaluated via all-atom MD simulations. Proteins structural dynamics is imperative for many biological processes; thus, it is essential to consider the structural dynamics of proteins whilst understanding their function. In this regard, the normal mode analysis (NMA) approach based on the elastic network model (ENM) was employed to study the intrinsic dynamics and conformations changes of GCH1 and PTPS enzymes. The NMA disclosed essential structural information about the protein’s intrinsic dynamics and mechanism of allosteric modulation of their binding properties, further highlighting regions that govern their conformational changes. The analysis also disclosed hotspot residues that are crucial for the proteins' fold stability and function. The NMA was further combined with sequence motif results and showed that conserved residues of GCH1 and PTPS were located within the identified key structural sites modulating the proteins' conformational rearrangement. The characterized structural features and hotspot residues were regarded as potential allosteric sites of important value for the design and development of allosteric drugs. Both GCH1 and PTPS enzymes have never been targeted before and can provide an excellent opportunity to overcome the antimalarial antifolate drug resistance problem. The data presented in this thesis contribute to the understanding of the sequence, structure, and global dynamics of both GCH1 and PTPS, further disclose potential allosteric drug targeting sites and unique structural features of both enzymes that can establish a solid starting point for drug design and development of new antimalarial drugs of a novel mechanism of actions. Lastly, the reported force field parameters will be of value for MD simulations for future in-silico drug discovery studies involving the two enzymes and other enzymes with the same Zn2+ binding motifs and coordination environments. The impact of this research can facilitate the discovery of new effective antimalarial medicines with novel mechanisms of action. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-08
The transformative potential of intersecting arts-based inquiry and environmental learning in urban South Africa: a focus on socio-ecological water pedagogies
- Authors: James, Anna Katharine
- Date: 2022-04-08
- Subjects: Environmental education South Africa , Water conservation Study and teaching South Africa , Art in environmental education South Africa , Social learning South Africa , Educational sociology South Africa , Water-supply Social aspects South Africa , Critical realism , Socio-ecological education
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/290660 , vital:56772 , DOI 10.21504/10962/290660
- Description: In this study I explore and explain transformative potential in arts-based environmental learning with a focus on water pedagogy. The study took place over a period of four years, where approximately 40 school pupils between the ages of 10 and 17 years-old were engaged in participatory arts-based inquiries into water located across unequal neighbourhoods in Cape Town, South Africa. Educators, school learners, citizens and decision-makers hold different historical, cultural, political and spiritual perspectives on water. These play a role in shaping what is termed in this research the ‘hydro-social cycle’. Yet, due to dominant ideas of what counts as knowing and truth, educators in educational settings struggle to account for the complexity of water, limiting educational encounters to a partial knowing leading mostly to limited unimaginative framings of problems and solutions. My focus on transformative potential in learning is derived from a concern for how environmental education encounters and the sense-making they enable, are infused by socio-economic, political, and historical elements, specifically colonialism, capitalism, and white supremacist racism. The connections between the multiple layers of capitalist crisis and the ever-urgent environmental crisis are not adequately made in mainstream forms of water education. The research explores how arts-based pedagogy could enable a productive meeting of critical environmental education with ecological literacies. Within this positioning, transformative potential considers how educational engagements position questions about water within the social life of participants/learners and inform learning that leads to fuller and more nuanced greater knowledge. Theoretically, I work with an interrogation of critical education theory, underlaboured by critical realism which enabled me to rigorously consider how claims to knowing are shaped by their accompanying assumptions of what is real. Drawing on recent debates in critical education theory, I resist the notion of critique as ideology and engage instead in the craftsmanship of contextual and responsive inquiry practice. This has enabled me to articulate processes and relationships in water education encounters with meaningful understandings of the effects of simultaneous crises rooted in racial capitalism and environmental crisis. My methodological approach is arts-based educational research with a directive to reflect upon educational encounters in an integrated way. It includes two parts informing the facilitation and analysis of open-ended learning processes. One component was arts-based inquiry practice developed for exploring complexity, drawing on the thinking of Norris (2009, 2011) and Finley (2016, 2017). The second part holds reflective space for these encounters guided by the practice of pedagogical narration inspired by the Reggio Amelia approach, demonstrated by Pacini-Ketchabaw, Nxumalo, Kocher, Elliot and Sanchez (2014). Clarifying the intellectual work of a responsive educator-researcher, pedagogical narration brings multiple theoretical lenses into conversation with emergent dimensions of educational process. In practice, in order to transgress the dominance of colonial white supremacist knowledge frames of water, I needed to be curious, to be confounded, to expect the unexpected in the educational encounters with participants and this mirroring of practice was emulated by the participants as they followed their own questions about water in Mzansi (South Africa). In our work together we came up against assumptions we had previously not questioned as individuals. Together we explored the implications of this by, for example, questioning who is responsible for saving water. These explorations required bringing together science knowledge and everyday knowledge at multiple scales: the household, catchment, government and global. It required us to be critical of how language and images are mobilized in public communication and school curriculums; for example, representations of water are infused with history and power in a way that impacts how we know and teach about water. The transformative potential of this pedagogical space is generated through acts of creative expression which are seen as acts of absenting absence, for example exhibiting through play how water use in the household interconnects with gender and age relationships. As such, creative expression through multiple mediums or more-than-text enables a deeper understanding of water as well as openings for interdisciplinary engagement with learning about water. My research found that in bringing together the contributions of critical education and environmental education in practice, two shifts are needed: environmental educators need to view ecological literacy as inseparable from the social and political. The knowledge that is shared about water in the classroom has social and political implications. On the other hand, critical educators need to better locate justice concerns in the material and ecological world at scale. Arts-based inquiry, as a kind of scaffolding for pedagogical process, has the potential to enable these shifts by opening up fixed analytical frames. Making these shifts requires a reflective practice on the part of the educator to navigate the inherited blind spots in environmental learning and critical education, such as dualities. One way to do this is for the educator to identify absences, as articulated in the Critical Realist tradition, and consider how these absences might be absented. This differs from a simplistic process of critique in the possibilities it opens up for collaboration between different schools of thought rather than further polarisation and alienation between educators and knowledge keepers on social ecologies. These insights have relevance for many sites of environmental education practice, such as natural science lecturers, school teachers or community activists. It is knowledge-learning work emergent from and responsive to complex ecological crisis, which requires everyone to rethink and open up to new ways of being, seeing and doing around these issues. The transformative potential of this work is that the thinking and transforming at all scales can be catalysed and grounded through the arts based educational encounters with the participants. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-08
- Authors: James, Anna Katharine
- Date: 2022-04-08
- Subjects: Environmental education South Africa , Water conservation Study and teaching South Africa , Art in environmental education South Africa , Social learning South Africa , Educational sociology South Africa , Water-supply Social aspects South Africa , Critical realism , Socio-ecological education
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/290660 , vital:56772 , DOI 10.21504/10962/290660
- Description: In this study I explore and explain transformative potential in arts-based environmental learning with a focus on water pedagogy. The study took place over a period of four years, where approximately 40 school pupils between the ages of 10 and 17 years-old were engaged in participatory arts-based inquiries into water located across unequal neighbourhoods in Cape Town, South Africa. Educators, school learners, citizens and decision-makers hold different historical, cultural, political and spiritual perspectives on water. These play a role in shaping what is termed in this research the ‘hydro-social cycle’. Yet, due to dominant ideas of what counts as knowing and truth, educators in educational settings struggle to account for the complexity of water, limiting educational encounters to a partial knowing leading mostly to limited unimaginative framings of problems and solutions. My focus on transformative potential in learning is derived from a concern for how environmental education encounters and the sense-making they enable, are infused by socio-economic, political, and historical elements, specifically colonialism, capitalism, and white supremacist racism. The connections between the multiple layers of capitalist crisis and the ever-urgent environmental crisis are not adequately made in mainstream forms of water education. The research explores how arts-based pedagogy could enable a productive meeting of critical environmental education with ecological literacies. Within this positioning, transformative potential considers how educational engagements position questions about water within the social life of participants/learners and inform learning that leads to fuller and more nuanced greater knowledge. Theoretically, I work with an interrogation of critical education theory, underlaboured by critical realism which enabled me to rigorously consider how claims to knowing are shaped by their accompanying assumptions of what is real. Drawing on recent debates in critical education theory, I resist the notion of critique as ideology and engage instead in the craftsmanship of contextual and responsive inquiry practice. This has enabled me to articulate processes and relationships in water education encounters with meaningful understandings of the effects of simultaneous crises rooted in racial capitalism and environmental crisis. My methodological approach is arts-based educational research with a directive to reflect upon educational encounters in an integrated way. It includes two parts informing the facilitation and analysis of open-ended learning processes. One component was arts-based inquiry practice developed for exploring complexity, drawing on the thinking of Norris (2009, 2011) and Finley (2016, 2017). The second part holds reflective space for these encounters guided by the practice of pedagogical narration inspired by the Reggio Amelia approach, demonstrated by Pacini-Ketchabaw, Nxumalo, Kocher, Elliot and Sanchez (2014). Clarifying the intellectual work of a responsive educator-researcher, pedagogical narration brings multiple theoretical lenses into conversation with emergent dimensions of educational process. In practice, in order to transgress the dominance of colonial white supremacist knowledge frames of water, I needed to be curious, to be confounded, to expect the unexpected in the educational encounters with participants and this mirroring of practice was emulated by the participants as they followed their own questions about water in Mzansi (South Africa). In our work together we came up against assumptions we had previously not questioned as individuals. Together we explored the implications of this by, for example, questioning who is responsible for saving water. These explorations required bringing together science knowledge and everyday knowledge at multiple scales: the household, catchment, government and global. It required us to be critical of how language and images are mobilized in public communication and school curriculums; for example, representations of water are infused with history and power in a way that impacts how we know and teach about water. The transformative potential of this pedagogical space is generated through acts of creative expression which are seen as acts of absenting absence, for example exhibiting through play how water use in the household interconnects with gender and age relationships. As such, creative expression through multiple mediums or more-than-text enables a deeper understanding of water as well as openings for interdisciplinary engagement with learning about water. My research found that in bringing together the contributions of critical education and environmental education in practice, two shifts are needed: environmental educators need to view ecological literacy as inseparable from the social and political. The knowledge that is shared about water in the classroom has social and political implications. On the other hand, critical educators need to better locate justice concerns in the material and ecological world at scale. Arts-based inquiry, as a kind of scaffolding for pedagogical process, has the potential to enable these shifts by opening up fixed analytical frames. Making these shifts requires a reflective practice on the part of the educator to navigate the inherited blind spots in environmental learning and critical education, such as dualities. One way to do this is for the educator to identify absences, as articulated in the Critical Realist tradition, and consider how these absences might be absented. This differs from a simplistic process of critique in the possibilities it opens up for collaboration between different schools of thought rather than further polarisation and alienation between educators and knowledge keepers on social ecologies. These insights have relevance for many sites of environmental education practice, such as natural science lecturers, school teachers or community activists. It is knowledge-learning work emergent from and responsive to complex ecological crisis, which requires everyone to rethink and open up to new ways of being, seeing and doing around these issues. The transformative potential of this work is that the thinking and transforming at all scales can be catalysed and grounded through the arts based educational encounters with the participants. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-08
Towards the Common Good: An expansive post-abyssal (Re)stor(y)ing of the epistemic cultures of the citizen sciences
- Authors: Vallabh, Priya
- Date: 2022-04-08
- Subjects: Science Citizen participation , Decolonization , Social epistemology , Hegemony , Common good , Traditional ecological knowledge , Ethnoscience
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/290671 , vital:56773 , DOI 10.21504/10962/290671
- Description: In this study I explore and explain transformatiThe citizen sciences convene complex and reflexive ecologies of knowledges in response to a range of social-ecological risks. Their epistemic cultures seem to be assembled in ways which increase potential mobilisation of the common knowledges being produced, thereby producing knowledges in forms that are more strongly aligned with a range of implementation strategies. However, much of such processes of knowledge production have been ‘cleaned out’ of official accounts through scientifically hegemonic systems of legitimation, deepening hegemonically-entrenched systems of epistemic, contributory and distributive injustices, and undermining the potential for stronger enactments of participatory and radical democracies. The engagement of sociologies of absences and emergences in this study evidence these epistemic insights, thereby evidencing an expansive post-abyssal (re)stor(y)ing of the citizen sciences. Through this research, I consider knowledge production as ‘commoning', towards the constitution of the common good. To date, most accounts of knowledge production within citizen science projects primarily focus on scientific processes of knowledge production and legitimation. Such accounts neglect the ecologies of diverse knowledges through which knowledge is being collaboratively produced, the forms of learning that occur, or the ways in which such ecologies are mobilised in response to specific socialecological risks. To better understand the ways in which citizen science projects build risk-responsive common knowledge, I bring a focus to the diversity of epistemic cultures convened, speaking to this gap. My primary research question is: How do the epistemic cultures within citizen science projects enable commoning in response to social-ecological risk? To begin, I establish a particular vantage point from which the remainder of the thesis is launched, one which centres as the primary interest of knowledge production, an interest in social-ecological justice and the constitution of the common good. From this vantage point, knowledge co-production and learning can be viewed as acts of commoning, which themselves constitute common goods. I draw on the work of Karin Knorr Cetina to conceptualise and frame notions of epistemic cultures and their epistemic features. Expanding notions of epistemic cultures from a post-abyssal perspective, I draw on the work of Bruno Latour and Boaventura de Sousa Santos. Latour’s distinctions between the production of ‘matters of fact’ and ‘matters of concern’ provide a way to challenge hegemonic systems of scientific knowledge production, while preserving the potential emergence of multiplicity in the context of evolving risk, thereby enabling a greater degree of situated reflexivity. Santos argues for the reclamation of all ways of knowing, including but not limited to scientific ways of knowing the world. He argues that other forms of knowledge are produced as nonexistent, and that they might be reclaimed through engaging sociologies of absences and emergences. Both authors enable a stronger analysis of knowledge production in terms of its ability to intervene into context in response to manifest risks. These three theoretical approaches are convened into an analytical framework for the study. To enact sociologies of absences and emergences, I engage two forms of immanent critique, complemented by an epistemic mapping of 50 South African citizen science projects, and an analysis of three illustrative case studies. The first critique is one of produced nonexistence, through which I consider three aspects of the general knowledge cultures within which the epistemic cultures of citizen science projects are situated. This critique makes evident the ways in which the ontological and related conceptual structures of hegemonic scientific knowledge production actively produce as nonexistent, other onto-epistemic contributions to knowledge production in response to social-ecological risks. The second critique reviews the field of peer-reviewed literature through a reading of presence and absence, with a focus on the articulation of epistemic cultures. Predictably, a key finding is that this form of scientific reporting primarily foregrounds legitimated scientifically processed knowledge, while once again producing as nonexistent, other forms of knowledges. However, there is evidence of increasing accounts of citizen science which recognise both a diversity of knowledge contributions, and epistemic, contributory and distributive justice issues as regards hegemonic forms of reporting. The epistemic mapping evidences a highly diversified field of citizen sciences, whose epistemic cultures are convened to produce distinct forms of scientifically-informed knowledges in response to diverse contexts, scales and notions of risk. The three illustrative case studies engage sociologies of absences and emergences, with particular focus on articulating the ecologies of knowledges evidenced in project documentation, including both official and unofficial accounts of epistemic activity. This analysis highlights the significant contributions of diverse forms of knowledges, including scientific, situated, embodied, governance, indigenous, spiritual and relational knowledges, and the ways in which these knowledge are convened to respond to specific configurations of risk. It once again highlights issues of epistemic, contributory and distributive justice, and makes evident the need for stronger integrity in processes of producing and reporting common knowledges. The case studies also illustrate the increased effectiveness of leveraging an ecology of knowledges (in contrast to a monoculture of scientific knowledge) in response to situated risks, including how such ecologies have a tendency to be generative and enable multiple forms of intervention into structures and applied contexts of intervention. In response to the collective research findings, a think-piece on rigour-as-integrity is offered as a contribution to commoning, in response to social-ecological risk. The piece draws together a postabyssal system of rigour intended to strengthen knowledge production in ways which actively centre forms of justice and commoning. ve potential in arts-based environmental learning with a focus on water pedagogy. The study took place over a period of four years, where approximately 40 school pupils between the ages of 10 and 17 years-old were engaged in participatory arts-based inquiries into water located across unequal neighbourhoods in Cape Town, South Africa. Educators, school learners, citizens and decision-makers hold different historical, cultural, political and spiritual perspectives on water. These play a role in shaping what is termed in this research the ‘hydro-social cycle’. Yet, due to dominant ideas of what counts as knowing and truth, educators in educational settings struggle to account for the complexity of water, limiting educational encounters to a partial knowing leading mostly to limited unimaginative framings of problems and solutions. My focus on transformative potential in learning is derived from a concern for how environmental education encounters and the sense-making they enable, are infused by socio-economic, political, and historical elements, specifically colonialism, capitalism, and white supremacist racism. The connections between the multiple layers of capitalist crisis and the ever-urgent environmental crisis are not adequately made in mainstream forms of water education. The research explores how arts-based pedagogy could enable a productive meeting of critical environmental education with ecological literacies. Within this positioning, transformative potential considers how educational engagements position questions about water within the social life of participants/learners and inform learning that leads to fuller and more nuanced greater knowledge. Theoretically, I work with an interrogation of critical education theory, underlaboured by critical realism which enabled me to rigorously consider how claims to knowing are shaped by their accompanying assumptions of what is real. Drawing on recent debates in critical education theory, I resist the notion of critique as ideology and engage instead in the craftsmanship of contextual and responsive inquiry practice. This has enabled me to articulate processes and relationships in water education encounters with meaningful understandings of the effects of simultaneous crises rooted in racial capitalism and environmental crisis. My methodological approach is arts-based educational research with a directive to reflect upon educational encounters in an integrated way. It includes two parts informing the facilitation and analysis of open-ended learning processes. One component was arts-based inquiry practice developed for exploring complexity, drawing on the thinking of Norris (2009, 2011) and Finley (2016, 2017). The second part holds reflective space for these encounters guided by the practice of pedagogical narration inspired by the Reggio Amelia approach, demonstrated by Pacini-Ketchabaw, Nxumalo, Kocher, Elliot and Sanchez (2014). Clarifying the intellectual work of a responsive educator-researcher, pedagogical narration brings multiple theoretical lenses into conversation with emergent dimensions of educational process. In practice, in order to transgress the dominance of colonial white supremacist knowledge frames of water, I needed to be curious, to be confounded, to expect the unexpected in the educational encounters with participants and this mirroring of practice was emulated by the participants as they followed their own questions about water in Mzansi (South Africa). In our work together we came up against assumptions we had previously not questioned as individuals. Together we explored the implications of this by, for example, questioning who is responsible for saving water. These explorations required bringing together science knowledge and everyday knowledge at multiple scales: the household, catchment, government and global. It required us to be critical of how language and images are mobilized in public communication and school curriculums; for example, representations of water are infused with history and power in a way that impacts how we know and teach about water. The transformative potential of this pedagogical space is generated through acts of creative expression which are seen as acts of absenting absence, for example exhibiting through play how water use in the household interconnects with gender and age relationships. As such, creative expression through multiple mediums or more-than-text enables a deeper understanding of water as well as openings for interdisciplinary engagement with learning about water. My research found that in bringing together the contributions of critical education and environmental education in practice, two shifts are needed: environmental educators need to view ecological literacy as inseparable from the social and political. The knowledge that is shared about water in the classroom has social and political implications. On the other hand, critical educators need to better locate justice concerns in the material and ecological world at scale. Arts-based inquiry, as a kind of scaffolding for pedagogical process, has the potential to enable these shifts by opening up fixed analytical frames. Making these shifts requires a reflective practice on the part of the educator to navigate the inherited blind spots in environmental learning and critical education, such as dualities. One way to do this is for the educator to identify absences, as articulated in the Critical Realist tradition, and consider how these absences might be absented. This differs from a simplistic process of critique in the possibilities it opens up for collaboration between different schools of thought rather than further polarisation and alienation between educators and knowledge keepers on social ecologies. These insights have relevance for many sites of environmental education practice, such as natural science lecturers, school teachers or community activists. It is knowledge-learning work emergent from and responsive to complex ecological crisis, which requires everyone to rethink and open up to new ways of being, seeing and doing around these issues. The transformative potential of this work is that the thinking and transforming at all scales can be catalysed and grounded through the arts based educational encounters with the participants. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-08
- Authors: Vallabh, Priya
- Date: 2022-04-08
- Subjects: Science Citizen participation , Decolonization , Social epistemology , Hegemony , Common good , Traditional ecological knowledge , Ethnoscience
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/290671 , vital:56773 , DOI 10.21504/10962/290671
- Description: In this study I explore and explain transformatiThe citizen sciences convene complex and reflexive ecologies of knowledges in response to a range of social-ecological risks. Their epistemic cultures seem to be assembled in ways which increase potential mobilisation of the common knowledges being produced, thereby producing knowledges in forms that are more strongly aligned with a range of implementation strategies. However, much of such processes of knowledge production have been ‘cleaned out’ of official accounts through scientifically hegemonic systems of legitimation, deepening hegemonically-entrenched systems of epistemic, contributory and distributive injustices, and undermining the potential for stronger enactments of participatory and radical democracies. The engagement of sociologies of absences and emergences in this study evidence these epistemic insights, thereby evidencing an expansive post-abyssal (re)stor(y)ing of the citizen sciences. Through this research, I consider knowledge production as ‘commoning', towards the constitution of the common good. To date, most accounts of knowledge production within citizen science projects primarily focus on scientific processes of knowledge production and legitimation. Such accounts neglect the ecologies of diverse knowledges through which knowledge is being collaboratively produced, the forms of learning that occur, or the ways in which such ecologies are mobilised in response to specific socialecological risks. To better understand the ways in which citizen science projects build risk-responsive common knowledge, I bring a focus to the diversity of epistemic cultures convened, speaking to this gap. My primary research question is: How do the epistemic cultures within citizen science projects enable commoning in response to social-ecological risk? To begin, I establish a particular vantage point from which the remainder of the thesis is launched, one which centres as the primary interest of knowledge production, an interest in social-ecological justice and the constitution of the common good. From this vantage point, knowledge co-production and learning can be viewed as acts of commoning, which themselves constitute common goods. I draw on the work of Karin Knorr Cetina to conceptualise and frame notions of epistemic cultures and their epistemic features. Expanding notions of epistemic cultures from a post-abyssal perspective, I draw on the work of Bruno Latour and Boaventura de Sousa Santos. Latour’s distinctions between the production of ‘matters of fact’ and ‘matters of concern’ provide a way to challenge hegemonic systems of scientific knowledge production, while preserving the potential emergence of multiplicity in the context of evolving risk, thereby enabling a greater degree of situated reflexivity. Santos argues for the reclamation of all ways of knowing, including but not limited to scientific ways of knowing the world. He argues that other forms of knowledge are produced as nonexistent, and that they might be reclaimed through engaging sociologies of absences and emergences. Both authors enable a stronger analysis of knowledge production in terms of its ability to intervene into context in response to manifest risks. These three theoretical approaches are convened into an analytical framework for the study. To enact sociologies of absences and emergences, I engage two forms of immanent critique, complemented by an epistemic mapping of 50 South African citizen science projects, and an analysis of three illustrative case studies. The first critique is one of produced nonexistence, through which I consider three aspects of the general knowledge cultures within which the epistemic cultures of citizen science projects are situated. This critique makes evident the ways in which the ontological and related conceptual structures of hegemonic scientific knowledge production actively produce as nonexistent, other onto-epistemic contributions to knowledge production in response to social-ecological risks. The second critique reviews the field of peer-reviewed literature through a reading of presence and absence, with a focus on the articulation of epistemic cultures. Predictably, a key finding is that this form of scientific reporting primarily foregrounds legitimated scientifically processed knowledge, while once again producing as nonexistent, other forms of knowledges. However, there is evidence of increasing accounts of citizen science which recognise both a diversity of knowledge contributions, and epistemic, contributory and distributive justice issues as regards hegemonic forms of reporting. The epistemic mapping evidences a highly diversified field of citizen sciences, whose epistemic cultures are convened to produce distinct forms of scientifically-informed knowledges in response to diverse contexts, scales and notions of risk. The three illustrative case studies engage sociologies of absences and emergences, with particular focus on articulating the ecologies of knowledges evidenced in project documentation, including both official and unofficial accounts of epistemic activity. This analysis highlights the significant contributions of diverse forms of knowledges, including scientific, situated, embodied, governance, indigenous, spiritual and relational knowledges, and the ways in which these knowledge are convened to respond to specific configurations of risk. It once again highlights issues of epistemic, contributory and distributive justice, and makes evident the need for stronger integrity in processes of producing and reporting common knowledges. The case studies also illustrate the increased effectiveness of leveraging an ecology of knowledges (in contrast to a monoculture of scientific knowledge) in response to situated risks, including how such ecologies have a tendency to be generative and enable multiple forms of intervention into structures and applied contexts of intervention. In response to the collective research findings, a think-piece on rigour-as-integrity is offered as a contribution to commoning, in response to social-ecological risk. The piece draws together a postabyssal system of rigour intended to strengthen knowledge production in ways which actively centre forms of justice and commoning. ve potential in arts-based environmental learning with a focus on water pedagogy. The study took place over a period of four years, where approximately 40 school pupils between the ages of 10 and 17 years-old were engaged in participatory arts-based inquiries into water located across unequal neighbourhoods in Cape Town, South Africa. Educators, school learners, citizens and decision-makers hold different historical, cultural, political and spiritual perspectives on water. These play a role in shaping what is termed in this research the ‘hydro-social cycle’. Yet, due to dominant ideas of what counts as knowing and truth, educators in educational settings struggle to account for the complexity of water, limiting educational encounters to a partial knowing leading mostly to limited unimaginative framings of problems and solutions. My focus on transformative potential in learning is derived from a concern for how environmental education encounters and the sense-making they enable, are infused by socio-economic, political, and historical elements, specifically colonialism, capitalism, and white supremacist racism. The connections between the multiple layers of capitalist crisis and the ever-urgent environmental crisis are not adequately made in mainstream forms of water education. The research explores how arts-based pedagogy could enable a productive meeting of critical environmental education with ecological literacies. Within this positioning, transformative potential considers how educational engagements position questions about water within the social life of participants/learners and inform learning that leads to fuller and more nuanced greater knowledge. Theoretically, I work with an interrogation of critical education theory, underlaboured by critical realism which enabled me to rigorously consider how claims to knowing are shaped by their accompanying assumptions of what is real. Drawing on recent debates in critical education theory, I resist the notion of critique as ideology and engage instead in the craftsmanship of contextual and responsive inquiry practice. This has enabled me to articulate processes and relationships in water education encounters with meaningful understandings of the effects of simultaneous crises rooted in racial capitalism and environmental crisis. My methodological approach is arts-based educational research with a directive to reflect upon educational encounters in an integrated way. It includes two parts informing the facilitation and analysis of open-ended learning processes. One component was arts-based inquiry practice developed for exploring complexity, drawing on the thinking of Norris (2009, 2011) and Finley (2016, 2017). The second part holds reflective space for these encounters guided by the practice of pedagogical narration inspired by the Reggio Amelia approach, demonstrated by Pacini-Ketchabaw, Nxumalo, Kocher, Elliot and Sanchez (2014). Clarifying the intellectual work of a responsive educator-researcher, pedagogical narration brings multiple theoretical lenses into conversation with emergent dimensions of educational process. In practice, in order to transgress the dominance of colonial white supremacist knowledge frames of water, I needed to be curious, to be confounded, to expect the unexpected in the educational encounters with participants and this mirroring of practice was emulated by the participants as they followed their own questions about water in Mzansi (South Africa). In our work together we came up against assumptions we had previously not questioned as individuals. Together we explored the implications of this by, for example, questioning who is responsible for saving water. These explorations required bringing together science knowledge and everyday knowledge at multiple scales: the household, catchment, government and global. It required us to be critical of how language and images are mobilized in public communication and school curriculums; for example, representations of water are infused with history and power in a way that impacts how we know and teach about water. The transformative potential of this pedagogical space is generated through acts of creative expression which are seen as acts of absenting absence, for example exhibiting through play how water use in the household interconnects with gender and age relationships. As such, creative expression through multiple mediums or more-than-text enables a deeper understanding of water as well as openings for interdisciplinary engagement with learning about water. My research found that in bringing together the contributions of critical education and environmental education in practice, two shifts are needed: environmental educators need to view ecological literacy as inseparable from the social and political. The knowledge that is shared about water in the classroom has social and political implications. On the other hand, critical educators need to better locate justice concerns in the material and ecological world at scale. Arts-based inquiry, as a kind of scaffolding for pedagogical process, has the potential to enable these shifts by opening up fixed analytical frames. Making these shifts requires a reflective practice on the part of the educator to navigate the inherited blind spots in environmental learning and critical education, such as dualities. One way to do this is for the educator to identify absences, as articulated in the Critical Realist tradition, and consider how these absences might be absented. This differs from a simplistic process of critique in the possibilities it opens up for collaboration between different schools of thought rather than further polarisation and alienation between educators and knowledge keepers on social ecologies. These insights have relevance for many sites of environmental education practice, such as natural science lecturers, school teachers or community activists. It is knowledge-learning work emergent from and responsive to complex ecological crisis, which requires everyone to rethink and open up to new ways of being, seeing and doing around these issues. The transformative potential of this work is that the thinking and transforming at all scales can be catalysed and grounded through the arts based educational encounters with the participants. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Education, Education, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-08
Pink Concrete
- Authors: Curr, Jill Alexandra
- Date: 2022-04-07
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) South Africa , Diaries -- Authorship , South African fiction (English) 21st century , English fiction History and criticism , Nigerian fiction (English) History and criticism , Argentine fiction History and criticism , Angolan fiction (Portuguese) History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Master's thesis , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/232388 , vital:49987
- Description: (From Reader Report Reflection) - I started this course believing I was not a writer. I knew that I loved to write, I knew that it was innate to how I perceived the world. I had written a novel previously, it was an outpouring, uncontrollable imagination spew. I was often scared and doubted myself throughout writing it, but I took comfort in my reading. I picked up all the classics, modern and old, rewriting the words into notebooks alongside my own, retracing the sounds, the rhythms, the symbols and their little links, the pauses. I collected pieces rereading them with reverence, my fingers curling over the lines sunken into the page. I didn’t understand what I was doing, it felt natural to hide in the skirts of other writers peering behind the curtain to see how they built the illusion. And yet, even after finishing my novel I still didn’t think I was a writer; it was a hobby, it was something extra to me, a backpack I could take off and on. I denied what was innate, and said it was not that important to me. I applied for this Master’s in Creative Writing (MACW)7 course because I wanted external validation on my first novel and an application was probably the only way, I was going to get someone to read it. It is sad and stunted that I needed this external validation to believe I could try, to believe that I could learn to control this compulsion, to believe that I could become a writer. In our first course contact week,8 lecturers and supervisors kept saying again again that we were already writers, that this is what we are. I was scared of this, that they would find out I was not really meant to be here. Writing, taking those solitary thoughts that are too much for my skull and making them real, something tangible; this is how I move through my existence. I take pieces of myself and paste them to the page, otherwise the thoughts build up like snow around a car until you are suffocating in an icebox. And by removing this part of myself to just a hobby, a silly backpack that I can pick up and put down, was just me running away. This MACW course gave me the tools to tap into what I am, that I have a why that I must write to and that I have an audience for this why. By sharing pieces of myself, I make them real again, something I can study, tracing their edges, their dark underbelly, the light hillocks. I sat with my fear for two years slowly, piece by piece, cracking it open. I learnt to love my voice and believe in it without needing external validation, without needing the gold star of acceptance, because I accept and love what I am trying to build with my writing. , Thesis (MACW) -- Faculty of Arts, School of Languages and Literatures, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-07
- Authors: Curr, Jill Alexandra
- Date: 2022-04-07
- Subjects: Creative writing (Higher education) South Africa , Diaries -- Authorship , South African fiction (English) 21st century , English fiction History and criticism , Nigerian fiction (English) History and criticism , Argentine fiction History and criticism , Angolan fiction (Portuguese) History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Master's thesis , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/232388 , vital:49987
- Description: (From Reader Report Reflection) - I started this course believing I was not a writer. I knew that I loved to write, I knew that it was innate to how I perceived the world. I had written a novel previously, it was an outpouring, uncontrollable imagination spew. I was often scared and doubted myself throughout writing it, but I took comfort in my reading. I picked up all the classics, modern and old, rewriting the words into notebooks alongside my own, retracing the sounds, the rhythms, the symbols and their little links, the pauses. I collected pieces rereading them with reverence, my fingers curling over the lines sunken into the page. I didn’t understand what I was doing, it felt natural to hide in the skirts of other writers peering behind the curtain to see how they built the illusion. And yet, even after finishing my novel I still didn’t think I was a writer; it was a hobby, it was something extra to me, a backpack I could take off and on. I denied what was innate, and said it was not that important to me. I applied for this Master’s in Creative Writing (MACW)7 course because I wanted external validation on my first novel and an application was probably the only way, I was going to get someone to read it. It is sad and stunted that I needed this external validation to believe I could try, to believe that I could learn to control this compulsion, to believe that I could become a writer. In our first course contact week,8 lecturers and supervisors kept saying again again that we were already writers, that this is what we are. I was scared of this, that they would find out I was not really meant to be here. Writing, taking those solitary thoughts that are too much for my skull and making them real, something tangible; this is how I move through my existence. I take pieces of myself and paste them to the page, otherwise the thoughts build up like snow around a car until you are suffocating in an icebox. And by removing this part of myself to just a hobby, a silly backpack that I can pick up and put down, was just me running away. This MACW course gave me the tools to tap into what I am, that I have a why that I must write to and that I have an audience for this why. By sharing pieces of myself, I make them real again, something I can study, tracing their edges, their dark underbelly, the light hillocks. I sat with my fear for two years slowly, piece by piece, cracking it open. I learnt to love my voice and believe in it without needing external validation, without needing the gold star of acceptance, because I accept and love what I am trying to build with my writing. , Thesis (MACW) -- Faculty of Arts, School of Languages and Literatures, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-07