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The prevalence of insufficient iodine intake in pregnancy in Africa: Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

  • Authors: Charles Bitamazire Businge , Benjamin Longo-Mbenza , Andre Pascal Kengne
  • Date: 22-8-2019
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/3387 , vital:43338 , https://systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13643-019-1092-7#citeas
  • Description: Background: Insufficient iodine intake in pregnancy is associated with many adverse pregnancy outcomes. About 90% of African countries are at risk of iodine deficiency due to poor soils and dietary goitrogens. Pregnancy predisposes to insufficient iodine nutrition secondary to increased physiological demand and increased renal loss. Iodine deficiency is re-emerging in countries thought to be replete with pregnant women being the most affected. This review seeks to identify the degree of iodine nutrition in pregnancy on the entire African continent before and after the implementation of national iodization programmes. Methods: A systematic search of published literature will be conducted for observational studies that directly determined the prevalence of insufficient iodine intake among pregnant women in Africa. Electronic databases and grey literature will be searched for baseline data before the implementation of population-based iodine supplementation and for follow-up data up to December 2018. Screening of identified articles and data extraction will be conducted independently by two investigators. Risk of bias and methodological quality of the included studies will be assessed using a risk of bias tool. Appropriate meta-analytic techniques will be used to pool prevalence estimates from studies with similar features, overall and by major characteristics including the region of the study, time period (before and after implementation of iodization programmes), sample size and age. Heterogeneity of the estimates across studies will be quantified and publication bias investigated. This protocol is reported according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 guidelines. Discussion This review will help ascertain the impact of national iodization programmes on the iodine nutrition status in pregnancy in Africa and advise policy on the necessity for monitoring and mitigating iodine deficiency in pregnancy in Africa. This review is part of a thesis that will be submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, for the award of a PhD in Medicine whose protocol has been granted ethics approval (UCT HREC 135/2018). In addition, the results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.
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  • Date Issued: 22-8-2019

Fishes of Southern African estuaries: from species to systems

  • Authors: Whitfield, Alan K
  • Date: 2022
  • Subjects: Estuarine fishes -- South Africa , Estuarine fishes -- Africa, Southern , Fishes -- Africa, Southern -- Identification , Estuaries -- Africa, Southern
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/97933 , vital:31512
  • Description: South Africa, despite its relatively small size, is often called “a world in one country”. This phrase arises mainly from the range of oceanographic and climatic features; geological and geomorphological attributes, the diversity of human cultures, languages, races and religions; the mix of developed and developing economies; the wide range in political opinion and parties; the vast array of mineral resources; and finally, what biologists find most interesting of all, the richness of the indigenous flora and fauna. Although southern African aquatic scientists cannot boast an equivalent of the Cape Floral Kingdom, the stretch of coast between northern Namibia and southern Mozambique has a particularly rich marine biota, accounting for almost 15% of all the coastal marine species known world-wide. The richness of the ichthyofauna is due to a number of factors, including the variety of habitats around the subcontinent, ranging from coral reefs, kelp beds, sheltered bays, sandy beaches, exposed rocky shores, coastal lakes to estuaries. In addition, southern Africa is the meeting place of three great oceans and is thus the recipient of species from each of these separate faunas. In comparison to land vertebrates, the world’s fish fauna is by no means well-known, either taxonomically or with regard to the biology of the component species. Apart from the very large number of fish species (estimated to be approximately 40 000), and the difficulties posed by the medium in which they live, there are other reasons for the above state of affairs. An obvious and universal reason is the shortage of funding available for taxonomic, biological and ecological studies, with increasing emphasis being placed on aquaculture, mariculture and fisheries related work. This situation is unlikely to improve and many research institutions around the world are operating on shrinking rather than expanding budgets. The onus of responsibility to disseminate information on the world’s fish faunas therefore rests squarely on the shoulders of those who are fortunate enough to be employed in the fascinating field of ichthyology. This book, which is a major revision and expansion of an earlier monograph (Whitfield 1998), is an attempt to synthesize the available information on fishes associated with southern African estuaries and to highlight the importance of conserving these systems for both fishes and people of the region. Limited reference is made to international estuarine fish research due to space constraints and readers are referred to global ichthyological reviews in this regard. The estuaries of southern Africa (defined as south of 26°S latitude for the purposes of this book) are highly diverse, both in terms of form and functioning. They range from the clear Kosi Estuary entering the coral rich subtropical Indian Ocean waters on the east coast, to the turbid Orange River flowing into the cool upwelled waters of the Atlantic Ocean on the west coast. The estuaries of the subcontinent are fed by catchments with a wide variety of climatic and geological characteristics. For example, the cool-temperate west coast is characterized by good winter rains and relatively dry summers, whereas on the subtropical east coast the opposite rainfall pattern prevails. While most south-western Cape estuaries are fed by rivers with low suspended sediment levels, those of KwaZulu-Natal normally carry high silt loads during the rainy season. Between Mossel Bay and St Francis Bay, rainfall patterns show no distinct seasonal peak and relatively acidic waters with low nutrient levels enter a variety of estuarine types along this section of the coast. The Eastern Cape is a region of transition between the subtropical and warm-temperate biogeographic provinces, and is prone to both droughts and floods occurring during any season of the year. The southern African estuarine environment is an unpredictable and often harsh habitat to occupy, yet each year millions of larval and juvenile fishes enter and thrive in these systems. The fish species that utilize estuaries as nursery areas exhibit great diversity in size, body form, salinity tolerance, diet, habitat preference and breeding behaviour. There is also a complete gradation in terms of the dependence that each species has on the estuarine environment. These and many other issues relating to the biology and ecology of estuary-associated fish species in southern Africa are explored in the chapters to follow. It is my sincere wish that our improved knowledge of these species and their environmental requirements will contribute to the wise management and conservation of these valuable ecosystems. , 2022 Edition
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  • Date Issued: 2022

Breaking the Rules: Zodwa Wabantu and postfeminism in South Africa

  • Authors: Boshoff, Priscilla A
  • Date: 2021
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/177408 , vital:42819 , http://dx.doi.org/10.17645/mac.v9i2.3830
  • Description: Zodwa Wabantu, a South African celebrity recently made popular by the Daily Sun, a local tabloid newspaper, is notorious as an older working-class woman who fearlessly challenges social norms of feminine respectability and beauty. Her assertion of sexual autonomy and her forays into self-surveillance and body-modification, mediated by the Daily Sun and other tabloid and social media platforms, could be read as a local iteration of a global postfeminist subjectivity. However, the widespread social opprobrium she faces must be accounted for: Using Connell’s model of the gender order together with a coloniality frame, I argue that northern critiques of postfeminism omit to consider the forms of patriarchy established by colonialism in southern locales such as South Africa. The local patriarchal gender order, made visible within the tabloid reportage, provides the context within which the meaning of Zodwa Wabanu’s contemporary postfeminist identity is constructed. I examine a range of Zodwa Wabantu’s (self)representations in Daily Sun and other digital media in the light of this context, and conclude that a close examination of the local gender order assists in understanding the limits of postfeminism’s hegemony.
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  • Date Issued: 2021

Gender bias in the field of economics: an analysis of South African academia

  • Authors: Hitchcock, Siobhan
  • Date: 2020-10-30
  • Subjects: Sexism South Africa , Sexism in higher education South Africa , Economics Study and teaching (Higher) South Africa , Economics teachers South Africa , Women in higher education South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/366275 , vital:65850
  • Description: In recent years there has been a growing focus internationally on the low participation of females in Economics, both in academia and business. While female enrolment in higher education, including other maths-based subjects, has grown substantially, this has not been the case for Economics. Economics, particularly as one progresses through postgraduate studies to doctoral degrees now stands out as an outlier. A number of reasons have been advanced for this, including the nature of the subject, the type of people it attracts and the lack of female role models. Male and female enrolments in South African HEIs have grown between 2007 and 2017, but females have grown at a faster rate, thus increasing the female share of total enrolments to 59%. Female students are more successful and so make up an even greater proportion of South African graduates. Female enrolments and graduates are also higher than in the US. As in the US there is a significant drop off in female representation when progressing from undergraduate to postgraduate studies in South Africa. When looking at Economics in South Africa in comparison to the broad CESM categories, female enrolment in Economics Bachelor degrees is significantly lower than in Business and Humanities, but on a par with STEM subjects. At the Doctoral level, there are sharp drop offs in female enrolments for all categories. Business and Economics are the laggards at the Doctoral level, below STEM and Humanities. Furthermore, females make up a minority of academic staff in South African HEIs, with males dominating in especially the higher academic ranks. As one moves up the academic ladder, the female share decreases. This research analyses gender compositions of staff and students at South African HEIs. National data are obtained from government publications and data relating to four specific South African universities was obtained directly from the universities. Questionnaires were sent to a sample of academic staff and students who are in the field of economics to identify whether there is a role model effect for economics students and whether female academics experience the same forms of biases, discrimination, or treatment as that identified in international studies. It was concluded that while there are drop offs in the overall female representation of students at the Masters and Doctoral levels in South Africa, this share is gradually increasing. Additionally, Economics seems to perform better than what is depicted in the US, and in comparison to some STEM subjects in South Africa. Furthermore, the environment within the field of academic economics for both female students and staff seems to be more positive than what the international literature depicts for the US. But there are nonetheless different levels of satisfaction between male and female academic economists. While the student surveys revealed that female Economics students do not attach great importance to female role models, there is some evidence of correlation between the percentage of female professors and the percentage of female PhD students across a range of STEM subjects in South Africa. , Thesis (MCom) -- Faculty of Commerce, Economics and Economic History, 2020
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  • Date Issued: 2020-10-30

Afromelampsalta, a new genus, a new species, and five new combinations of African cicadettine cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadettinae):

  • Authors: Sanborn, Allen F , Villet, Martin H
  • Date: 2020
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140680 , vital:37909
  • Description: Afromelampsalta n. gen. is described for African species currently assigned to the genera Melampsalta Kolenati, 1857. Cicadetta Kolenati, 1857 and Pauropsalta Goding and Froggatt, 1904, and the new species Afromelampsalta luteofasciata n. gen., n. sp. is described. Afromelampsalta aethiopica (Distant, 1905) n. comb., A. cadisia (Walker, 1850) n. comb. and A. leucoptera (Germar, 1830) n. comb. are reassigned from Melampsalta to Afromelampsalta n. gen., A. limitata (Walker, 1852) n. comb. is transferred from Cicadetta Kolenati, 1857 and A. mimica (Distant ,1907) n. comb. is transferred from Pauropsalta Goding and Froggatt, 1904 to Afromelampsalta n. gen. Notes on the biology of the new species, a description of the exuvia of A. mimica n. comb., and a key to the species of African Cicadettini are provided.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

Application of quality by design principles for optimizing process variables of Extrusion and Spheronization of a Captopril Pellet Formulation:

  • Authors: Veerubhotla, Krishna , Walker, Roderick B
  • Date: 2020
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/178312 , vital:40098 , DOI: 10.36468/pharmaceutical-sciences.624
  • Description: Product development using quality by design is a proactive and risk-based approach that shifts the manufacturing process from empirical to science-based. Risk assessment was performed to identify and analyse risk areas for the manufacture of captopril pellets. Twelve experimental runs were performed using a Plackett-Burman screening design. Pareto plots revealed the effect of formulation and process variables on the responses monitored and facilitated the identification of the most critical parameters for optimization of the formulation. A response surface methodology approach in conjunction with a central composite design was used to optimize the Eudragit® RL 30D (15-30 ml), microcrystalline cellulose (20-40 % w/w), sodium starch glycolate (2-5 % w/w) and spheronizer speed (650-1050 rpm).
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  • Date Issued: 2020

Contributions of the pars lateralis, pars basilaris and femur to age estimations of the immature skeleton within a South African forensic setting:

  • Authors: Thornton, Roxanne , Edkins, Adrienne L , Hutchinson, E F
  • Date: 2020
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/165451 , vital:41245 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1007/s00414-019-02143-9
  • Description: Dental development and eruption sequences have prevailed as the gold standard in age estimations of previously unidentified immature individuals within a legal context. However, in the absence of the dentition, skeletal assessments have served as a frequently applied alternative. While various cranial and postcranial skeletal elements have been used in estimating age of the immature skeleton, little is known about the anthropometric value of the pars basilaris, pars lateralis and femur as skeletal age estimation tools. Thus, this study aimed to assess if these bones of the immature human skeleton were useful elements in estimating the age of prenatal and postnatal individuals. These bones were excised from the remains of 74 unclaimed human immature individuals and evaluated using traditional anthropometric methods. The study sample was sourced from the Johannesburg Forensic Pathology Services (JFPS) and the Johannesburg Forensic Paediatric Collection (JFPC), University of the Witwatersrand and subdivided into an early prenatal (younger than 30 gestational weeks); late prenatal (30 to 40 gestational weeks) and postnatal (birth to 7.5 months) age ranges.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

Implementation of access and benefit-sharing measures has consequences for classical biological control of weeds:

  • Authors: Silvestri, Luciano , Sosa, Alejandro , Mc Kay, Fernando , Vitorino, Marcelo D , Hill, Martin P , Zachariades, Costas , Hight, Stephen , Weyl, Philip S R , Smith, David , Djeddour, Djamila , Mason, Peter G
  • Date: 2020
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/150285 , vital:38964 , https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10526-019-09988-4
  • Description: The Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol establish that genetic resources shall be accessed only upon the existence of prior informed consent of the country that provides those resources and that benefits arising from their utilization shall be shared. Pursuant to both agreements several countries have adopted regulations on access and benefit-sharing. These regulations have created a challenging obstacle to classical biological control of weeds. This paper reviews the experiences of Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, the USA, Canada and CABI in implementing access and benefit-sharing regulations and the implications these measures have on the effective and efficient access, exchange and utilization of biological control agents.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

Integrated computational approaches and tools for allosteric drug discovery:

  • Authors: Amamuddy, Olivier S , Veldman, Wade , Manyumwa, Colleen , Khairallah, Afrah , Agajanian, Steve , Oluyemi, Odeyemi , Verkhivker, Gennady M , Tastan Bishop, Özlem
  • Date: 2020
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/163012 , vital:41004 , https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21030847
  • Description: Understanding molecular mechanisms underlying the complexity of allosteric regulation in proteins has attracted considerable attention in drug discovery due to the benefits and versatility of allosteric modulators in providing desirable selectivity against protein targets while minimizing toxicity and other side effects. The proliferation of novel computational approaches for predicting ligand–protein interactions and binding using dynamic and network-centric perspectives has led to new insights into allosteric mechanisms and facilitated computer-based discovery of allosteric drugs. Although no absolute method of experimental and in silico allosteric drug/site discovery exists, current methods are still being improved. As such, the critical analysis and integration of established approaches into robust, reproducible, and customizable computational pipelines with experimental feedback could make allosteric drug discovery more efficient and reliable. In this article, we review computational approaches for allosteric drug discovery and discuss how these tools can be utilized to develop consensus workflows for in silico identification of allosteric sites and modulators with some applications to pathogen resistance and precision medicine. The emerging realization that allosteric modulators can exploit distinct regulatory mechanisms and can provide access to targeted modulation of protein activities could open opportunities for probing biological processes and in silico design of drug combinations with improved therapeutic indices and a broad range of activities.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

Movement patterns of the epizoic limpet Lottia tenuisculpta on two host snails Omphalius nigerrimus and Reishia clavigera:

  • Authors: Nakano, Tomoyuki , Okumura, Yousuke , Nakayama, Ryo , Seuront, Laurent
  • Date: 2020
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/160268 , vital:40429 , DOI: 10.1080/13235818.2020.1808280
  • Description: The tiny epizoic limpet Lottia tenuisculpta lives on rocky surfaces and shells of the snails Omphalius nigerrimus and Reishia clavigera. The movement patterns of the limpet on host snails was observed during 24 h under controlled laboratory conditions. A specific behaviour, referred to as returning behaviour and reminiscent of homing behaviour, was observed in seven out of 20 individuals, and two out of 15 individuals on O. nigerrimus and R. clavigera, respectively.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

The cultural history of Augustan Rome: texts, monuments, and topography ed. by Matthew P. Loar et al

  • Authors: Pandey, Nandini B
  • Date: 2020
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/149658 , vital:38872 , https://muse.jhu.edu/article/755534
  • Description: This edited collection, the product of a 2014 conference at Notre Dame's Rome Global Gateway, asks "what the texts in, on, and about the city of Rome tell us about how the ancients thought about, interacted with, and responded to the city during the transition from Republic to Empire" (1). Given the enormity of the topic, this slender volume makes no claim to comprehensive treatment. What it offers, instead, is a high-quality sampling with suggestions for future research (8-9) that will reward anyone interested in responsions between Augustan writing and building.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

Understanding the Pyrimethamine drug resistance mechanism via combined molecular dynamics and dynamic residue network analysis:

  • Authors: Amusengeri, Arnold , Tata, Rolland B , Tastan Bishop, Özlem
  • Date: 2020
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/163022 , vital:41005 , https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25040904
  • Description: In this era of precision medicine, insights into the resistance mechanism of drugs are integral for the development of potent therapeutics. Here, we sought to understand the contribution of four point mutations (N51I, C59R, S108N, and I164L) within the active site of the malaria parasite enzyme dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) towards the resistance of the antimalarial drug pyrimethamine. Homology modeling was used to obtain full-length models of wild type (WT) and mutant DHFR. Molecular docking was employed to dock pyrimethamine onto the generated structures. Subsequent all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and binding free-energy computations highlighted that pyrimethamine’s stability and affinity inversely relates to the number of mutations within its binding site and, hence, resistance severity.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

‘There is nothing to hold onto here’:

  • Authors: Shabangu, Samuel M , Babu, Balaji , Soy, Rodah C , Managa, Muthumuni , Sekhosana, Kutloano E , Nyokong, Tebello
  • Date: 2020
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/156410 , vital:39987 , DOI: 10.1080/00958972.2020.1739273
  • Description: Asymmetric mono-carboxy-porphyrins, (5-(4-carboxyphenyl)−10,15,20-tris(pentafluorophenyl)porphyrinato zinc(II) (1), 5-(4-carboxyphenyl)−10,15,20-triphenylporphyrinato zinc(II) (2) and 5-(4-carboxyphenyl)−10,15,20-tris(2-thienyl)porphyrinato zinc(II) (3), were linked to Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) through amide bonds and self-assembly (the latter only for 3). The porphyrins and conjugates were used for photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) against Staphylococcus aureus. PACT uses singlet oxygen for antimicrobial activity. Complex 3 and its conjugates had higher singlet oxygen quantum yields and higher log reduction when compared with the rest of the porphyrins and corresponding conjugates. These high log reductions for 3 and its conjugate were attributed to the presence of sulfur groups whereby there was more interaction with the bacterial membrane.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

"A lean-led-evaluation" of infrastructure development improvement programme in South Africa

  • Authors: Monyane, Thabiso Godfrey
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Construction industry -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/44535 , vital:38131
  • Description: A doctoral study was embarked upon with the intentions of addressing cost management problems encountered on Infrastructure Delivery Projects in South Africa. Given that poor cost performance constitute hindrance to the realization of project goals, it is imperative to eliminate it from project delivery. The prevalence of cost overrun in public sector projects is a call to all stakeholders to address cost management issues in the construction industry. The predominance of cost overruns in public sector construction projects in South Africa has been observed. With the decline of the current economic conditions in South Africa, project performance is a great concern that needs attention. In addition, ineffective initiatives to curb the abuse of the procurement processes are directly affecting the outcomes of construction projects, and if these status quo remains, the sector will continue to have a bad image and continued waste of taxpayers’ money will not cease until the public sector remove non-value adding activities in their operations. Study adopted a mixed methods designed that collected both textual and statistical data. Semistructured interviews were undertaken to determine the outcomes of current project management practices in South Africa. In terms of performance of projects, the status quo paints a disconsolate picture. Findings reveal protracted processes, and the use of unqualified and inexperienced contribute to poor performance of public sector projects. Poor performance continues to dominate the construction sector, especially in the public sector. Interviews data were contrasted with evidence from project-related documents. Based on the data, the study produces a vignette of existing cost management frameworks applied to such projects. Encompassing various stages of the project delivery lifecycle, this vignette will enable an identification of the challenges afflicting cost management on projects. Accordingly, this study identified Lean opportunities from existing cost management practices. Such opportunities will enable identification of effective cost management during project delivery. There appears a need for collaborative cost management practices. Lean tools mentioned for improvement include the 5Whys, the big room, target value design, and the integration of design and construction. A collaborative cost management framework was developed through relevant theories to improve the cost management process of public sector projects.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

#KeepItReal: discursive constructions of authenticity in South African consumer culture

  • Authors: Plüg, Simóne Nikki
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Consumer behavior Consumers' preferences -- South Africa Brand choice -- South Africa Marketing -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64973 , vital:28641
  • Description: Writers as diverse as Oscar Wilde (1915), Matthew Arnold (1960), Erich Fromm (1997) and a proliferation of contemporary self-help gurus, variously assert that it is preferable for people to focus on “being”, or to value “who you are”, instead of emphasising “having” or the material possessions you have acquired. These discourses assert that individuals content with “being” are happier and more fulfilled than those involved in the constant (and alienating) motion of acquiring material goods as representations of themselves (de Botton, 2004; Fromm, 1997; James, 2007). This thesis provides an in-depth critical exploration of one of these ideal “ways of being”: authenticity. It does not seek to discover what authenticity is in an empirical sense, nor to define what it should be in a normative sense, but to map the cultural work done by changing and often contradictory discourses of personal authenticity. More specifically, this study uses a qualitative research design, social constructionist theoretical framework, and discourse analytic method to critically discuss the discursive constructions of subject authenticity in South African brand culture. The sample consisted of (1.) ten marketing campaigns of several large, mainstream brands, which were popular in South Africa from 2015 to 2017, and (2.) fifteen smaller South African “craft” brands popular in the “artisanal” context. The analysis is presented in two distinct, but interrelated, sections (namely, Selling Stories and Crafting Authenticity), where the relevant discourses of authenticity for each data set are explored in depth. Through this analysis the thesis provides a critical discussion of the ways in which these discourses of authenticity work to produce and maintain, (or challenge and subvert), subject positions, ideologies, and power relations that structure contemporary South African society.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

'Hayi, they don’t know Xhosa’: Comparative isiXhosa teaching challenges in the Eastern Cape and Gauteng

  • Authors: Kaschula, Russell H , Kretzer, Michael M
  • Date: 2019
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/${Handle} , vital:42499 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02572117.2019.1672318
  • Description: Language-in-education policy in South Africa is underpinned by the Constitution. The gap that this research addresses is the inconsistency of policy implementation and the actual teaching of isiXhosa in primary schools. It analyses the official and overt language policy and the (covert) language practices at schools. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with language teachers and principals. Data were also gathered from classroom observations and document analysis in the Eastern Cape and Gauteng. On the one hand, there are standard language policy documents that exist. These advocate for English as a language of learning and teaching and isiXhosa as a subject. On the other hand, the daily reality in classrooms partly reflects this policy implementation.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

'We throw away our books': Students’ reading practices and identities

  • Authors: O'Shea, Cathy , McKenna, Sioux , Thomson, Carol I
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/187128 , vital:44570 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2018.11.001"
  • Description: The aim of this research was to understand university students’ self-reported reading practices. The students attended the University of Fort Hare in South Africa, a historically black institution in a rural and under-resourced setting. A framework of New Literacy Studies (NLS) was used to understand students’ self-reported reading practices and the links between these and their identities. Tools provided by Gee, 2005, Gee, 2011 were applied to conduct a CDA of focus group discussions. In the ‘We Blacks’ Discourse, interviewees ‘othered’ the idea of reading as not being culturally valued. It was closely allied to the ‘Resistance to Reading’ Discourse, as participants explained that they tended to disregard books and did not enjoy leisure reading. The ‘Better Than Us’ discourse was drawn upon to suggest that reading was associated with attitudes of superiority. These discourses tended to homogenise class and other differences between black students and indicated the ways in which their experiences made adopting academic identities difficult. The analysis suggests that the racism of the past continues to impact students’ reading identities. The article concludes that the effects of these and related discourses require a response across the education sector, and transformative pedagogies might be needed in higher education.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

(Latent) Potentials to Incorporate and Improve Environmental Knowledge Using African Languages in Agriculture Lessons in Malawi:

  • Authors: Kretzer, Michael M , Kaschula, Russell H
  • Date: 2019
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/174717 , vital:42503 , ISBN 978-3-030-32897-9 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32898-6_23
  • Description: In their official language policy, nearly all Sub-Saharan African states use their indigenous language(s) as Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT) only at the beginning of primary schools. This is also the case in Malawi. The curricula in the various school subjects are also highly dominated by ‘Western’ ideas and include very little Indigenous Knowledge (IK). Nevertheless, indigenous languages are frequently used during lessons. This research focused on answering the following questions: How is a meaningful Science Education for pupils in Malawi possible? Does the inclusion of IK and teaching through African Languages assist pupils in any way? Research was done in the Northern Region of Malawi. To obtain a better understanding, semi-structured interviews and ethnographic observations were conducted. The main focus of these interviews was on the subject of ‘Agriculture’.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

(Re) activated heritage:

  • Authors: Siegert, Nadine
  • Date: 2019
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , book
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/146321 , vital:38515 , ISBN 9780429624353
  • Description: Book abstract. Securing Urban Heritage considers the impact of securitization on access to urban heritage sites. Demonstrating that symbolic spaces such as these have increasingly become the location of choice for the practice and performance of contemporary politics in the last decade, the book shows how this has led to the securitization of urban public space. Highlighting specific changes that have been made, such as the installation of closed-circuit television or the limitation of access to certain streets, plazas and buildings, the book analyses the impact of different approaches to securitization.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

31° South: the physiology of adaptation to arid conditions in a passerine bird.

  • Authors: Ribeiro, Ângela M , Puetz, Lara , Pattinson, Nicholas B , Dalén, Love , Deng, Yuan , Zhang, Guojie , da Fonseca, Rute R , Smit, Ben , Gilbert, M. Thomas P
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441508 , vital:73894 , https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15176
  • Description: Arid environments provide ideal ground for investigating the mechanisms of adaptive evolution. High temperatures and low water availability are relentless stressors for many endotherms, including birds; yet birds persist in deserts. While physiological adaptation probably involves metabolic phenotypes, the underlying mechanisms (plasticity, genetics) are largely uncharacterized. To explore this, we took an intraspecific approach that focused on a species that is resident over a mesic to arid gradient, the Karoo scrub‐robin (Cercotrichas coryphaeus). Specifically, we integrated environmental (climatic and primary productivity), physiological (metabolic rates: a measure of energy expenditure), genotypic (genetic variation underlying the machinery of energy production) and microbiome (involved in processing food from where energy is retrieved) data, to infer the mechanism of physiological adaptation. We that found the variation in energetic physiology phenotypes and gut microbiome composition are associated with environmental features as well as with variation in genes underlying energy metabolic pathways. Specifically, we identified a small list of candidate adaptive genes, some of them with known ties to relevant physiology phenotypes. Together our results suggest that selective pressures on energetic physiology mediated by genes related to energy homeostasis and possibly microbiota composition may facilitate adaptation to local conditions and provide an explanation to the high avian intraspecific divergence observed in harsh environments.
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  • Date Issued: 2019
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