List of Titles

Quick View

'Fetal "rights"? The need for a unified approach to the fetus in the context of feticide'

- Kruuse, Helen

Authors: Kruuse, Helen
Date: 2009
Language: English
Type: Article , text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/54163 , vital:26397 , https://store.lexisnexis.co.za/products/tydskrif-vir-hedendaagse-romeinshollandse-reg-journal-of-contemporary-romandutch-law-skuZASKU9780409079241/details
Description: The issues of fetal protection, fetal rights and the status of unborn life have been debated on a variety of levels in a variety of disciplines over the past centuries. One needs only think of John Milton who asked the “hard” question: “For man to tell how human life began / Is hard: for who himself beginning knew?” (Paradise lost (1667) Bk 8 251–252). While the issue of fetal rights most often arises in abortion debates, the issue of fetal rights in the context of feticide has received scant attention in South Africa. (For a thought-provoking general discussion of fetal rights, see Du Plessis “Jurisprudential reflections on the status of unborn life” 1990 TSAR 44; Van Niekerk (ed) The status of prenatal life (1991) and Kahn (ed) The sanctity of human life (1983).) This note seeks to initiate a discussion on the current legal position in South Africa in respect of feticide.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 2009

Quick View

'Here's to you, Mrs Robinson' : peculiarities and paragraph 29 in determining the treatment of domestic partnerships

- Kruuse, Helen

Authors: Kruuse, Helen
Date: 2009
Language: English
Type: Article , text
Identifier: vital:26388 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/54083
Description: There is always need of persons not only to discover new truths, and point out when what were once truths are true no longer, but also to commence new practices, and set the example of more enlightened conduct. The law is one of the important architects of social norms. At times, it can be a tool to solve problems, eradicate inequalities, and advance the rights of the disadvantaged. At other times, the law is an anchor and a constraint upon social and ideological advances. With regards to equality and non-traditional partnerships, it seems that law falls into this latter category.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 2009

Quick View

A case of effective single-session treatment for attention deficit and learning problems in a routine clinical practice : the value of a transdiagnostic approach to case formulation

- Whitefield-Alexander, V, Edwards, David J A

Authors: Whitefield-Alexander, V , Edwards, David J A
Date: 2009
Language: English
Type: Article
Identifier: vital:6274 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008274
Description: This article reports a systematic clinical case study of the psychological assessment and treatment of Daniel (9), a coloured South African boy with a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (inattentive type). The case is of scientific interest because: (1) there was only a single treatment session, in which contingency management training was delivered to Daniel’s parents and teacher; (2) there was evidence for the effectiveness of the intervention immediately and at two-year follow-up; (3) it documents the transportability to a South African context of an intervention developed by overseas research; (4) it documents the central role of case formulation in the delivery of effective psychological interventions; and (5) although Daniel met the criteria for ADHD, he also displayed symptoms of depression and social anxiety and the case supports the use of a transdiagnostic approach to case formulation. The conscientiousness with which his parents and teachers applied the programme was a major factor in the effectiveness of the intervention, and such rapid impact would not be possible where parents and teachers are unavailable or not co-operative. The publication of systematic case studies such as this one is important for the development of a local evidence-based practice in South Africa.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 2009

Quick View

A change of the seaward boundary of Goukamma Marine Protected Area could increase conservation and fishery benefits

- Gotz, A, Kerwath, S E, Attwood, Colin G

Authors: Gotz, A , Kerwath, S E , Attwood, Colin G
Date: 2009
Language: English
Type: Article
Identifier: vital:7147 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011846 , https://doi.org/10.4102/sajs.v105i9/10.102
Description: Goukamma Marine Protected Area (MPA) on the South African temperate South Coast has been shown to be effective in maintaining a spawning stock of roman, Chrysoblephus laticeps (Sparidae). The larval ecology and the oceanographic conditions in the area suggest a good potential for the enhancement of roman stocks outside the reserve through larval dispersal. A high rate of illegal fishing just inside the seaward boundary of the MPA could severely compromise its function.We suggest that a change of the seaward boundary of the reserve to coincide with a latitudinal line could increase its function as a harvest refuge for resident reef fishes such as roman, facilitate voluntary compliance and monitoring and prosecution of illegal fishing without a significant negative impact on the commercial linefishing fleet in the area. Simple adjustments such as the one proposed here could be attempted at a number of South African MPAs as they would be beneficial to achieve fishery and conservation goals alike.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 2009

Quick View

A preliminary survey of the estuaries on the south coast of South Africa, Robberg Peninsula - Cape St Francis, with particular reference to the fish fauna : ecological overview article

- James, Nicola Caroline, Harrison, T D

Authors: James, Nicola Caroline , Harrison, T D
Date: 2009
Language: English
Type: text , Article
Identifier: vital:7144 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011842
Description: A basic ichthyofaunal and physico-chemical survey of the coastal outlets on the south coast of South Africa (Robberg Peninsula to Cape St Francis) was undertaken during November 1994 and September 1995. Some 27 systems were identified along this stretch of coast and of these, 48% (Brak, Helpmekaars, Klip, Witels, Geelhoutbos, Kleinbos, Bruglaagte, Langbos, Sanddrif, Eerste, Boskloof, Kaapsedrif and Klipdrif [Wes]) comprised the inlets of coastal streams that offer little habitat for fishes, 26% (Sout, Bloukrans, Lottering, Elandsbos, Storms, Elands and Groot [Oos]) are located within deeply incised valleys within the Tsitsikamma region and provide limited littoral habitat for estuary-associated fishes; 26% of the systems (Piesang, Keurbooms, Matjies, Groot [Wes], Tsitsikamma, Klipdrif [Oos], Slang) appear to serve some estuarine function for both marine migrant and resident species although some of these may also be limited due to their small size and infrequent connection with the sea. This study serves to emphasize the ecological importance of these latter estuaries within this coastal sector.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 2009

Quick View

A recurrent neural network approach to quantitatively studying solar wind effects on TEC derived from GPS; preliminary results

- Habarulema, John B, McKinnell, Lee-Anne, Opperman, Ben D L

Authors: Habarulema, John B , McKinnell, Lee-Anne , Opperman, Ben D L
Date: 2009
Language: English
Type: text , Article
Identifier: vital:6813 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004323
Description: This paper attempts to describe the search for the parameter(s) to represent solar wind effects in Global Positioning System total electron content (GPS TEC) modelling using the technique of neural networks (NNs). A study is carried out by including solar wind velocity (Vsw), proton number density (Np) and the Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF Bz) obtained from the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) satellite as separate inputs to the NN each along with day number of the year (DN), hour (HR), a 4-month running mean of the daily sunspot number (R4) and the running mean of the previous eight 3-hourly magnetic A index values (A8). Hourly GPS TEC values derived from a dual frequency receiver located at Sutherland (32.38° S, 20.81° E), South Africa for 8 years (2000–2007) have been used to train the Elman neural network (ENN) and the result has been used to predict TEC variations for a GPS station located at Cape Town (33.95° S, 18.47° E). Quantitative results indicate that each of the parameters considered may have some degree of influence on GPS TEC at certain periods although a decrease in prediction accuracy is also observed for some parameters for different days and seasons. It is also evident that there is still a difficulty in predicting TEC values during disturbed conditions. The improvements and degradation in prediction accuracies are both close to the benchmark values which lends weight to the belief that diurnal, seasonal, solar and magnetic variabilities may be the major determinants of TEC variability.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 2009

Quick View

A test for Allee effects in the self-incompatible wasp-pollinated milkweed Gomphocarpus physocarpus

- Coombs, Gareth, Peter, Craig I, Johnson, Steven D

Authors: Coombs, Gareth , Peter, Craig I , Johnson, Steven D
Date: 2009
Language: English
Type: Article
Identifier: vital:6511 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005938 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1442-9993.2009.01976.x
Description: It has been suggested that plants which are good colonizers will generally have either an ability to self-fertilize or a generalist pollination system. This prediction is based on the idea that these reproductive traits should confer resistance to Allee effects in founder populations and was tested using Gomphocarpus physocarpus (Asclepiadoideae; Apocynaceae), a species native to South Africa that is invasive in other parts of the world. We found no significant relationships between the size of G. physocarpus populations and various measures of pollination success (pollen deposition, pollen removal, and pollen transfer efficiency) and fruit set. A breeding system experiment showed that plants in a South African population are genetically self-incompatible and thus obligate outcrossers. Out-crossing is further enhanced by mechanical reconfiguration of removed pollinaria before the pollinia can be deposited. Selfpollination is reduced when such reconfiguration exceeds the average duration of pollinator visits to a plant. Observations suggest that a wide variety of wasp species in the genera Belonogaster and Polistes (Vespidae) are the primary pollinators. We conclude that efficient pollination of plants in small founding populations, resulting from their generalist wasp-pollination system, contributes in part to the colonizing success of G. physocarpus. The presence of similar wasps in other parts of the world has evidently facilitated the expansion of the range of this milkweed.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 2009

Quick View

Abahlali baseMjondolo and struggle for the city in Durban, South Africa

- Pithouse, Richard, 1970-

Authors: Pithouse, Richard, 1970-
Date: 2009
Language: English
Type: Article
Identifier: vital:6208 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008578
Description: The racialised regulation of space under apartheid was increasingly undone by insurgent popular action from the late 1970s. After apartheid a technocratic agenda that reduced the urban crisis to a housing crisis successfully depoliticised the urban question. At the same time the state made often violent attempts to reinscribe certain aspects of apartheid spatial logic by forcibly removing shack dwellers living in well located suburbs to tiny houses, and then later ‘transit camps’, in peripheral ghettoes. However from 2004 there was a remarkable sequence of popular protest against local governments across the country. An autonomous shack dweller’s movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo, emerged from this grassroots ferment and has since issued a compelling demand for organisational autonomy, grassroots urban planning and the right to the city.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 2009

Quick View

Ameliorating poverty in South Africa through natural resource commercialisation : how can NGO's make a difference?

- Shackleton, Sheona E

Authors: Shackleton, Sheona E
Date: 2009
Language: English
Type: Article
Identifier: vital:6615 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016222
Description: [From Introduction] Some of the poorest rural people in South Africa are turning to the natural resource base for income generation. Using traditional skills they are converting a variety of wild resources into commodities that are sold in the market place. Wood and woven craft, medicines, fresh and processed wild foods, alcoholic beverages, building materials, fuelwood, dried mopane worms, cultural artefacts and brooms are just some examples of the array of natural resource products increasingly seen for sale in local and external markets. Many of the participants in this trade have minimal education, few assets to draw on, and little access to alternative sources of income or jobs. A significant proportion are women, with more than half heading their own households. Many come from households devastated by HIV/AIDS. The cash earned from selling natural resource products, however modest, is of critical importance to the households involved, preventing them from slipping deeper into poverty. “Since I have been making brooms my children no longer go to bed crying of hunger” observed one broom producer. NGOs, particularly those involved in rural development, can play an important role in assisting producers overcome some of the obstacles they face and in enhancing the opportunities to grow this informal sector. , This policy brief is based on the original brief made available for a workshop in August 2006. It draws on, amongst other sources, the results of several case studies of natural resource commercialisation undertaken across South Africa. The project was funded by the South Africa-Netherlands Programme on Alternatives in Development (SANPAD), BP South Africa and the National Research Foundation (NRF). The Center for International Forestry Research, with support from SIDA, provided the funding to share these findings with key stakeholders including government policy and decision makers.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 2009

Quick View

An exploration of marketing tactics for turbulent environments

- Mason, Roger B, Staude, Gavin E

Authors: Mason, Roger B , Staude, Gavin E
Date: 2009
Language: English
Type: Article
Identifier: vital:6062 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006120 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/02635570910930082 , ISSN 0263-5577
Description: The purpose of this paper is to propose that the choice of marketing tactics is influenced by the company's external environment. It aims to illustrate the marketing tactics suggested for a complex, turbulent environment, when marketing and the environment are viewed through a complexity lens. Design/methodology/approach - A marketing mix model, derived from complexity literature, was assessed via a multiple case study to identify the type of marketing mix suggested for a complex, turbulent environment. The study was exploratory, using in-depth interviews with two companies in the IT industry. Findings - The results tentatively confirmed that the more successful company used a destabilizing marketing mix, and suggest that using complexity theory to develop marketing tactics could be helpful in turbulent environments. Research limitations/implications - The findings are limited by the study's exploratory, qualitative nature and the small sample. Generalizing should be done with care and therefore further research with larger samples and in different environments is recommended. Practical implications - The paper will benefit marketers by emphasizing a new way to consider future marketing activities of their companies. The model can assist marketers to identify the tactics to use, dependent on the nature of their environment. Originality/value - Most work on complexity in marketing has concentrated on strategy, with little emphasis on tactics and the marketing mix. Therefore, the paper is an important contribution to the understanding of marketing mix choices, of interest to both practising marketers and marketing academics.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 2009

Quick View

Antiretroviral therapy in a South African public health care setting – facilitating and constraining factors

- Ruud, K W, Srinivas, Sunitha C, Toverud, E-L

Authors: Ruud, K W , Srinivas, Sunitha C , Toverud, E-L
Date: 2009
Language: English
Type: text , Article
Identifier: vital:6453 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006831
Description: The objective of the study was to identify and document facilitating and constraining factors in the antiretroviral therapy (ART) programme in a public health care setting in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Observations for the study were carried out in a district hospital and two down-referral clinics in Makana Local Services Area in the Eastern Cape Province. Two discussion groups with key stakeholders were conducted to gather information about opinions and experiences among the health care providers (HCPs). It was found that the operating ART programme in this setting has been integrated in the existing down-referral health care system, based on follow-up in primary health care (PHC) clinics. Treatment is provided free of charge. The treatment programme provides the patients with access to counselling, nutritional assistance, psychosocial support and social welfare evaluation. However, increasing patient numbers and lack of human resources leads to a heavy workload for the HCPs involved with the ART programme. The need for additional, educated health workers is a major constraint for progress in provision of health care to patients who have accepted their HIV status, and are enrolled, or waiting to be enrolled, on the ART. However, delegation of work tasks among available HCPs and good communication between HCPs in the different clinics is a facilitating factor that ensures efficient use of the human resources available. Conclusion: Taking into account the challenges in a resource-constrained setting, this programme shows potential for functioning well as a provider of ART for those who are able and willing to access it. Considering an already heavy workload for HCPs, limitations and challenges still exist in reaching out with adequate treatment to a greater number of people who need ART.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 2009

Quick View

Apis florea in Jordan: source of the founder population

- Haddad, N, Fuchs, S, Hepburn, H Randall, Radloff, Sarah E

Authors: Haddad, N , Fuchs, S , Hepburn, H Randall , Radloff, Sarah E
Date: 2009
Language: English
Type: text , Article
Identifier: vital:6844 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011047
Description: A recent isolated population of Apis florea has been reported from Aqaba in Jordan at the Red Sea, consisting of numerous colonies within a still limited range which apparently is expanding. This region is about 1500 km apart from its next occurrences in Sudan where it had been introduced and first detected in 1985 and about 2000 km apart from its next natural occurrences in Iran and Oman. These bees apparently have been imported by human transport, most likely by ship. This new location thus represents a major jump in the progression of the species still to fill a wide area of possible locations offering adequate living conditions. Here we attempt to track the possible origin of this new population by morphometric methods. This analysis indicated closest relation to A. florea from Oman, thus being the most likely source of this population.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 2009

Quick View

Application of neural networks to South African GPS TEC modelling

- Habarulema, John B, McKinnell, Lee-Anne, Cilliers, Pierre J, Opperman, Ben D L

Authors: Habarulema, John B , McKinnell, Lee-Anne , Cilliers, Pierre J , Opperman, Ben D L
Date: 2009
Language: English
Type: Article
Identifier: vital:6807 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004193 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2008.08.020
Description: The propagation of radio signals in the Earth’s atmosphere is dominantly affected by the ionosphere due to its dispersive nature. Global Positioning System (GPS) data provides relevant information that leads to the derivation of total electron content (TEC) which can be considered as the ionosphere’s measure of ionisation. This paper presents part of a feasibility study for the development of a Neural Network (NN) based model for the prediction of South African GPS derived TEC. The South African GPS receiver network is operated and maintained by the Chief Directorate Surveys and Mapping (CDSM) in Cape Town, South Africa. Vertical total electron content (VTEC) was calculated for four GPS receiver stations using the Adjusted Spherical Harmonic (ASHA) model. Factors that influence TEC were then identified and used to derive input parameters for the NN. The well established factors used are seasonal variation, diurnal variation, solar activity and magnetic activity. Comparison of diurnal predicted TEC values from both the NN model and the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI-2001) with GPS TEC revealed that the IRI provides more accurate predictions than the NN model during the spring equinoxes. However, on average the NN model predicts GPS TEC more accurately than the IRI model over the GPS locations considered within South Africa.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 2009

Quick View

Compositional varition of the Essential Oils of Artemisia afra Jacq. from three Provinces in South Africa- A Case Study of its safety

- Oyedeji, O A, Afolayan, A J, Hutchings, A

Authors: Oyedeji, O A , Afolayan, A J , Hutchings, A
Date: 2009
Language: English
Type: text , Article
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/748 , vital:29679
Description: In South Africa, Centella asiatica. (L.) Urb is used traditionally for the treatment of various diseases. Analyses of the essential oil of this medicinal plant revealed 11 monoterpenoid hydrocarbons (20.20%), nine oxygenated monoterpenoids (5.46%), 14 sesquiterpenoid hydrocarbons (68.80%), five oxygenated sesquiterpenoids (3.90%), and one sulfide sesquiterpenoid (0.76%). α.-Humulene (21.06%), β.-caryophyllene (19.08%), bicyclogermacrene (11.22%), germacrene B (6.29%), and myrcene (6.55%) were the predominant constitutes. The essential oil extract exhibited a broad spectrum of antibacterial activities against Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus.) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Shigella sonnei.) organisms.
Full Text: false
Date Issued: 2009

Quick View

Curiosity first, applications later

- Berold, Robert, Limson, Janice L

Authors: Berold, Robert , Limson, Janice L
Date: 2009
Subjects: Nyokong, Tebello
Language: English
Type: Article , text
Identifier: vital:7188 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006281 , http://www.sajs.co.za/sites/default/files/publications/pdf/1-4-1-PB.pdf , Nyokong, Tebello
Description: Tebello Nyokong speaks to Robert Berold and Janice Limson about her career as a chemist. Tebello Nyokong, who holds a research chair in medicinal chemistry and nanotechnology at Rhodes University, has become the first South African scientist to win the L’Oreal-UNESCO award for women in science, in the physical sciences. Only one laureate is selected from each of five world regions, and Nyokong is the 2009 laureate for Africa and the Arab states. She and the winners from the other four regions travel to Paris in March to each accept the award and a generous prize of close to R1 million. Nyokong now heads the new Nanotechnology Innovation Centre for medical sensors: the biggest single research investment in the history of Rhodes. Linked to other nanotechnology centres in the country, it is designed to bridge the gap between research and the market.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 2009

Quick View

Danger and disease in sex education : the saturation of ‘adolescence’ with colonialist assumptions

- Macleod, Catriona I

Authors: Macleod, Catriona I
Date: 2009
Language: English
Type: Article , text
Identifier: vital:6252 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007870
Description: The United Nations Development Programme’s Millennium project argues for the importance of sexual and reproductive health in the achievement of all Millennium Development Goals. Sex education programmes, aimed principally at the youth, are thus emphasised and are in line with the specific Millennium Development Goals of reducing the incidence of HIV and improving maternal health. In this paper I analyse recent South African sex education and Life Orientation (a learning area containing sex education) manuals. Danger and disease feature as guiding metaphors for these manuals, with early reproduction and abortion being depicted as wholly deleterious and non-normative relationships leading to disease. I argue, firstly, that these renditions ignore well-designed comparative research that calls into questions the easy assumption of negative consequences accompanying ‘teenage pregnancy’ and abortion, and, secondly, that the persistence of danger and disease in sex education programmes is premised on a discourse of ‘adolescence’. ‘Adolescence’ as a concept is always already saturated with the colonialist foundation of phylogeny re-capitulating ontogeny. Individual development is interweaved with collective development with the threat of degeneration implied in both. This interweaving allows for the instrumentalist goal of sex education in which social changes are sought through changing individuals’ sexual attitudes and behaviour.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 2009

Showing items 261 - 280 of 1682