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Infant observation : the first year of life

  • Authors: Gering, Jeanne
  • Date: 2013-10-02
  • Subjects: Infant psychology Parent and infant Interpersonal communication in infants Mother and infant
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:3196 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1009451
  • Description: This research project is about infant-observation, that is looking at, observing, and studying parent-infant interactions and relationships within the first year of life. The principle intention of the study is to illustrate and shed light upon human infant development and how the newborn becomes a fully functioning member within the family. The study provides a context in which to consider parent-infant interaction beginning in utero, expanding to the birthing process, and continuing through the infant's first year. It focuses on specific themes of parent-infant interaction. The following situations are explored: the role of the mother; the mother as a container; the infant's experience of containment; the internalisation of experience; the symbolic meaning of food; dealing with distress and the development of concrete communication; the growth of a sense of ego; and, the infant's internal world. The study concludes by addressing various implications for further psychotherapy and compares the therapist-client relationship to the mother-infant relationship. The research outlines one particular psychoanalytic theoretical orientation of mental and emotional development. It is a model derived predominantly from The Developmental School Theorists and Object Relations Theorists, namely, Bowlby, Klein, Mahler and Winnicott. This model looks at the infant's earliest relationships and the processes these set up within the infant's developing mind. Infant observation, asa research method proposed by Bick and Sidoli, links method and theory, and serves as the methodological approach utilised in the present study. A video, based on the parent-infant interaction of three families, provides observational data and may be viewed in conjunction with this research. , KMBT_363 , Adobe Acrobat 9.54 Paper Capture Plug-in
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"Re-thinking" the Great Trek: a study of the nature and development of the Boer community in the Ohrigstad/Lydenburg area, 1845-1877

  • Authors: Erasmus, Diderick Justin
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: South Africa -- History -- Great Trek, 1836-1840 , Afrikaners , Afrikaners -- South Africa -- Transvaal -- History
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:2541 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002393 , South Africa -- History -- Great Trek, 1836-1840 , Afrikaners , Afrikaners -- South Africa -- Transvaal -- History
  • Description: From the late 1830s Boer settlers conquered and settled vast new lands outside the Cape Colony. Although they more than doubled the area of European domination, historians have categorised Boer society outside the British colonies as primitive and dismissed the Boer conquests as an abberation from the broader process of European expansion. Such a distinction is no longer tenable. This study, which focuses on the Obrigstad/Lydenburg area, shows that the Boers were an integral part of European expansion in southern Africa. Settler expansion did not occur in a vacuum. Booming demand for commodities sparked economic growth across the sub-continent; the Boers were part of this process and consistently strove to produce for the region's expanding markets. In tandem with the expanding regional system, the Boer economy grew constantly. This was reflected in the centralisation of power in the Z.A.R. as Boer producers created formal political and administrative structures to further their economic interests. (A parallel process culminated in the Cape with colonists receiving representative government in March 1853.) This correlation between political and economic development was evident in the creation of a coercive labour system by the Boer state. Through their control of state structures, the Boers employed measures ranging from brute force to punitive taxation, legally enforceable contracts and pass laws to procure and control workers. It is important to note that the creation of a coercive labour system by the Boers paralleled similar developments in the Cape Colony. The speed with which the Boer economy expanded in comparison to the Cape, however, meant that stages in the development of an unfree labour force which had been chronologically distinct in the Cape coexisted within the Boer coercive system. Boer dependence on coerced labour made conflict with African groups inevitable. African groups in the eastern Transvaal had already been partly moulded by predatory economic forces emanating from the Portuguese settlements on the east coast since at least the 1750s. The arrival of the Boers in the 1840s greatly accelerated this process. Some groups were crushed, but others were able to obtain the means to resist Boer rule by interfacing with the settler economy. The economic forces which drove Boer settlement were thus not confined to the white settlers: Boer expansion was paralleled by the rise of African survivor states. The Dlamini, for example, built the powerful Swazi state by exchanging captives, ivory and cattle for guns and horses. Similarly, the Pedi, through the large scale expon of migrant labour, were able to acquire the means to challenge Boer authority in the late 1870s. Oearly then, the Boers 'Were not only representative of the wider settler social and economic order, but were acting in response to the same circumstances as the British settlers, Portuguese traders and African survivor states. It is thus impossible to continue to classify them as retrogressive and distinct from other groups in the region.
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  • Date Issued: 1995

A case for geography in South African senior primary schools: an analysis and evaluation of current geographical thinking and practice

  • Authors: Taylor, Simon Michael
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: Geography -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa -- Evaluation Geography teachers -- South Africa -- Attitudes Geography -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Curricula -- Comparative studies
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
  • Identifier: vital:1428 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003309
  • Description: Geography faces several challenges in a changing South Africa. These include the challenge to initiate a primary curriculum that helps to provide a foundation for sustainable living in a society that faces serious problems of unemployment, violence, irreparable damage to the environment and the lack of housing, water and basic services for the majority of the population. This thesis attempts to provide a case for geography in the primary school by examining the value of the subject for pupils' development and by reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of an integrated approach in view of the possible introduction of an integrated primary curriculum in South Africa. The second aspect of the study is concerned with a survey of teachers in the Natal Education Department to evaluate the perceived value of geography as a subject and support for geography as a discrete subject. The main thrust of geography in the primary school is to develop concepts, skills, values and attitudes that allow pupils to be more understanding and caring about the local and global environment, about people, communities, species and the natural environment on which we all depend. The results of the survey reveal that teachers support geography as a discrete subject with an intra-curriculum approach. The introduction of an integrated core curriculum in South Africa would prove problematic as teachers are not in favour of an integrated approach across the curriculum. The lack of teacher support in Kenya for an integrated curriculum was one of the main reasons for its failure. Hopefully South Africa will learn from other countries experiences with introducing an integrated curriculum. Teachers value the role of geography in the education of the child and suggest the introduction of environmental and development themes to make the subject more relevant to children's lives. The syllabus analysis revealed that a unified pnmary curriculum is required which is influenced by the needs of society in South Africa. Recommendations are made regarding ideas for a future primary curriculum.
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  • Date Issued: 1995

A case study of oral linguistic error-treatment in second language classrooms where English is the medium of instruction

  • Authors: Mntambo, Nomawabo
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: Second language acquisition Language and languages -- Study and teaching English language -- Errors of usage
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
  • Identifier: vital:1439 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003320
  • Description: One of the issues that have been debated at length in second language acquisition research circles is that of error-feedback and its desirability. Although there is as yet no conclusive evidence concerning its effectiveness in contributing towards the acquisition of a second language, a number of studies that have been conducted bear evidence to its desirability in L2 classrooms. This research then, was concerned with the way teachers of content subjects reacted to their learners' linguistically erroneous responses during oral interaction in their classes. The participants were four teachers who, with their pupils, are second language speakers of English . Three of these were content subject teachers while the fourth one teaches English. The data was collected from a class of Std 5 pupils in a rural school in the Eastern Cape where the lessons of these teachers were observed and audio-taped. Subsequently some of them were transcribed and analysed. The analysis of the data revealed that teachers in content subject classes, who teach through the medium of English showed more concern for content than for linguistic errors despite the fact that they are expected to extend the pupils' chances of second language acquisition.
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  • Date Issued: 1995

A comparative study of L1 and EFL reading abilities amongst junior primary students using different reading schemes in black schools

  • Authors: Duncan, Kenneth Foster
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: Black people -- Education (Primary) -- South Africa , English language -- Study and teaching (Primary) -- Foreign speakers -- South Africa , Native language and education , Reading (Primary) -- South Africa , Molteno Project
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:2346 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002628 , Black people -- Education (Primary) -- South Africa , English language -- Study and teaching (Primary) -- Foreign speakers -- South Africa , Native language and education , Reading (Primary) -- South Africa , Molteno Project
  • Description: This thesis examines the development of children's reading skills, in both the mother tongue and English as a foreign language, during their first four years of school. It is an attempt to enter the reading world of very young learners in underdeveloped, mainly rural communities in search of practical insights into the teaching of reading in the junior primary classroom. The research focuses specifically on two approaches to reading instruction. The first is the approach traditionally used in black South African schools, characterised by teacher-centredness and rote-recall techniques. The second is a more progressive and communicative approach encapsulated in the language courses of the Molteno Project. Both approaches, and their theoretical underpinnings, are described in some detail. The context of language-in-education policy in South Africa is also reviewed. The research then tests the hypothesis that a communicative approach to reading pedagogy produces measurably better results in pupils than more traditional methods. The research explores the use of quantitative methods of evaluation, giving justification for their use, and examines the practicability of standardised EFL tests at junior primary level. Existing tests are evaluated and found wanting. The process of developing and administering original hybrid-communicative tests is described. The results of these, which were administered over four years to a total of some 6 000 pupils across the first four years of school, are assessed. Implications for testers, teachers, educational administrators and educational NGOs are extrapolated.
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  • Date Issued: 1995

A comparison of the reproductive strategies of key species of a prograding dune system in the Mlalazi Nature Reserve, Natal

  • Authors: Todd, Colleen Barbara
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: Sand dune plants -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- Mlalazi Nature Reserve , Sand dune plants Comparative studies
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: vital:4231 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003800 , Sand dune plants -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- Mlalazi Nature Reserve , Sand dune plants Comparative studies
  • Description: The succession on the dunes of the Mlalazi Nature Reserve represents a classical example of primary succession. The reproductive strategies of eight key species were compared to determine some of the mechanisms affecting the community dynamics, at the population level, in the early stages of succession. There is a temporal separation in the flowering and fruiting phenologies. Passerina rigida, Stipagrostis zeyheri and Imperata cylindrica produced small seeds with a low fruit/seed mass ratio within a short cycle. The seeds are suitable for wind-dispersal. The animal-dispersed species; Eugenia capensis, Mimusops caffra and Scaevola plumieri, produced large fleshy seeds with a high fruit/seed mass ratio within cycles of six months and more. Chrysanthemoides monilifera, also an animal-dispersed species, produced a large quantity of small fleshy seeds throughout the year. The fern, Microsorium scolopendrium produced spores throughout the year. The staggered fruiting and flowering phenology ensures a year-round availability of fruit in the dunefield. The key species formed less than half of the species composition of the soil seed bank. The size and range of the soil seed bank differed between the species. P. rigida and S. plumieri formed a high proportion of the seeds in the soil with a wide distribution along the successional gradient. The other species had low soil seed densities with short distribution ranges, or were not present. P. rigida and S. plumieri are easily dispersed species, whereas the other species may have a more restricted and clumped distribution due to the effect of foragers. A high density of P. rigida and E. capensis seeds were found under the parent trees. Only seeds of P. rigida and S. zeyheri were found in the soil in the open. Seeds of P. rigida, S. zeyheri, E. capensis and M. caffra were found under the canopies of P. rigida, E. capensis and M. caffra. No seeds of C. monilifera and I. cylindrica were found in the soil, possibly due to predation. The period of the study (September 1991 to November 1992) was in a dry or drought cycle with only 56.8% of the mean annual rainfall falling. Seed germination and seedling survival of all the species were affected by these dry, warm climatic conditions. The species had seedling densities of less than 4 seeds/m². The environmental conditions along the successional gradient also had an effect on seed germination and seedling survival. Environmental factors of soil pH, light intensity and surface soil temperatures were higher in the open than under canopy. Soil pH and the understorey cover decreased as the light intensity decreased from under the canopy of P. rigida to M. caffra . Litter cover and plant height increased. E. capensis had measurements intermediate to the two species, but had higher surface soil temperatures and plant height than P. rigida. Seedlings of P. rigida in the open and under the canopy of the parent plants had died by the end of the monitoring period. 50% of the seedlings of S. zeyheri under the canopy of P. rigida and M. caffra died. The mortality rate of the seedlings of E. capensis was lower under M. caffra than under the parent plants. I. cylindrica may be propagated vegetatively. However, the mortality of the propagules was greater under the canopy of E. capensis than under P. rigida. M. caffra only germinated under the canopy of E. capensis with a 100% mortality of the seedlings. M. scolopendrium only produced propagules through vegetative propagation under the canopy of E. capensis and M. caffra. The mortality of the young ferns was less than 50% and less under M. caffra than under E. capensis. No seedlings of C. monilifera or S. plumieri were found. The seed distribution range, seed germination requirements and the effect of the environmental conditions on the germination of the seeds and seedling establishment of the species appear to important factors of the reproductive strategies regulating the size of the species populations along the successional gradient.
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  • Date Issued: 1995

A contribution to the taxonomy of the marine fish genus Argyrosomus (Perciformes: Sciaenidae), with descriptions of two new species from southern Africa

  • Authors: Griffiths, Marc H , Heemstra, Phillip C
  • Date: 1995
  • Language: English
  • Type: Text
  • Identifier: vital:15027 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019891 , ISSN 0073-4381 , Ichthyological Bulletin J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology; No. 65
  • Description: Study of the biology, anatomy and taxonomy of the sciaenid fishes of the genus Argyrosomus from South Africa and Namibia revealed that three species were confused under the name ‘Argyrosomus hololepidotus (Lacepede, 1801)”. Comparison of morphometric and meristic data, otoliths, swim-bladders, drumming muscles, and other morphological features, of specimens from southern Africa, Madagascar, the Mediterranean Sea, the eastern Atlantic Ocean, Japan and Australia, established that the “A. hololepidotus” of recent authors is a complex of four species: A. japonicus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1843), which occurs off southern Africa, Japan and Australia; A. inodorus sp. nov., which is known from Namibia to the Kei River (32°40’S) on the east coast of South Africa; A. coronus sp. nov., which is known from central and northern Namibia and Angola, and A. hololepidotus, which appears to be endemic to Madagascar. These four species are compared with A. regius (Asso, 1801) of the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic, A. thorpei Smith, 1977 from South Africa, Mozambique and the west coast of Madagascar, and A. beccus Sasaki, 1994 known only from Durban harbour. To promote stability in the nomenclature and to resolve the confusion in the taxonomy of Argyrosomus species, neotypes are selected for A. hololepidotus and A. japonicus. The biology, distributions and fisheries of six species are reviewed. Distribution patterns for the southern African species and a key to the seven species known from Africa and Madagascar (A. regius, A. japonicus, A. inodorus, A. coronus, A. thorpei, A. beccus, and A. hololepidotus) are provided. The composition and distinction of the genus Argyrosomus are briefly discussed. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
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  • Date Issued: 1995

A critical analysis of the importance of oracy in the classroom, with particular reference to secondary schools in the Cape Education Department

  • Authors: Malherbe, Neil
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: Communication in education Verbal behavior Oral communication Discussion -- Study and teaching Classroom management
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
  • Identifier: vital:1474 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003355
  • Description: In the past thirty years, oracy has received prominence as a means to enhance teaching styles and assist with learning. Much of what has been written in this field has been by those interested in a 'language across the curriculum' approach, such as Barnes (1969) who developed the terms 'exploratory talk' and 'final draft talk'. The linguist, M.A.K. Halliday {1989} and others have suggested that the teacher's approach should be to encourage what he terms 'heuristic talk' i.e. relatively unstructured exploratory language used by the pupils in talking towards an understanding of a concept. It is more evident in certain school subjects that pupils may have difficulty in understanding abstract or complex concepts. In this regard, English, mathematics and physical science were selected for the purpose of this study, as each has its own metalanguage, specific to that subject. It is presumed that some pupils may find difficulty in these subjects because of the subject-specific language inherent in each. This work explores whether a programme of increased oracy alleviates some of these problems and it makes recommendations for the implementation of such a programme. The period involved for the purpose of this study was five weeks, during which teachers of three selected classes presented lessons in such a way that oral work was stressed. At the completion of this programme, a test was written for comparison with past experiences. Pupils answered a comprehensive questionnaire and staff involved were interviewed; the results of this feedback, in conjunction with what has been written by others in this field, forms the basis for this work. The primary recommendation emerging from this and other studies is that a shift away from a teacher-/ and textbook-dominated approach is necessary. Pupils need to contextualise knowledge in their own terms. One important way of accomplishing this is by affording them theopportunity to interact orally with each other and with the teacher.
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  • Date Issued: 1995

A review of SADTU Congress

  • Authors: SADTU
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: SADTU
  • Language: English
  • Type: text
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/134551 , vital:37177
  • Description: The Third SADTU Congress, held at the World Trade Centre in Kempton Park, was attended by over 800 delegates, representing 100 000 teachers country-wide. Delegates were elected at Branch level, ensuring grass roots participation in the highest decision making body of the Union. The Congress served to confirm SADTU’s position as the largest teacher Union in the country, and demonstrated a strongly unified focus around the theme: “Unionise and Reconstruct for Teacher Empowerment”. The success of any Congress must be measured against the aims it sets itself. Our Congress had two aims: to elect new leadership for the next two years, and to adopt resolutions which would inform the direction and programmes of the Union in this period. While we successfully completed the former task, we could only make a start on the second aspect - confirming the fact that the period we are entering is far more complex than before, and in need of extensive analysis and debate. We therefore mandated the SADTU National Council to formalise the adoption of resolutions arising from the reports. A Special National Council was convened on 25/26 August, with extended participation by regions, and the Congress report can now be finalised.
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  • Date Issued: 1995

A review of the species of the genus Neobythites (Pisces: Ophidiidae) from the Western Indian Ocean, with a description of seven new species

  • Authors: Nielsen, Jørgen G
  • Date: 1995
  • Language: English
  • Type: Text
  • Identifier: vital:15024 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1019887 , ISBN 0-86810-281-4 , Ichthyological Bulletin J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology; No. 62
  • Description: Species of the ophidiid genus Neobythites from the western Indian Ocean are revised based on 225 specimens. The majority of specimens came from the 17th cruise (1988-89) of the Soviet R/V VITYAZ. Twelve species are recognized: N. analis Barnard, 1927 (southern Africa; lectotype designed), N. crosnieri sp.n. (Madagascar), N. kenyaensis sp.n, (east coast of Africa), N. malhaensis sp.n. (Saya de Malha Bank), N. meteori sp.n. (Socotra Id.), N. multistriatus Nielsen and Quero, 1991 (Reunion and Rodrigues Islands), N. natalensis sp.n. (South Africa and Madagascar), N. somaliaensis sp.n. (Somalia), N. steatiticus Alcock, 1893 (northern Indian Ocean), N. stefanovi Nielsen and Uiblein, 1993 (Red Sea to Gulf of Oman), N. trifilis Kotthaus, 1979 (Socotra Id.), N. vityazi sp.n. (Madagascar). All 12 species are illustrated, and a key is included. This paper is the first part of a revision of the genus Neobythites. A second and third part will treat the species from the East Indian/Pacific Oceans and the Atlantic Ocean. , Rhodes University Libraries (Digitisation)
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  • Date Issued: 1995

A Shakespeare bibliography of periodical publications in South Africa in 1994

  • Authors: Blight, Cecilia
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/457430 , vital:75637 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/AJA1011582X_173
  • Description: A Shakespeare Bibliography of Periodical Publications inSouth Mrica in 1999 and 2000.
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  • Date Issued: 1995

A study of atmospheric oscillations in the meteor region above Grahamstown

  • Authors: Malinga, Sandile B
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: Mesosphere , Thermosphere , Atmosphere, Upper -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Meteorology -- Methodology
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: vital:5490 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005276 , Mesosphere , Thermosphere , Atmosphere, Upper -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Meteorology -- Methodology
  • Description: The dynamics of the atmospheric meteor region have been studied using the data obtained with - - the Grahamstown (33°16'S, 26<>:30'E) meteor radar between the years 1987 and 1993 inclusive. Harmonic analysis and the maximum entropy method (MEM) , were used for the spectral characterization ofthe wind above Grahamstown. The prevailing wind, tidal (periods 12- and 24- h) and other (periods 8- and 6-h) oscillations were extracted from the data using the guidelines agreed upon by the A TMAP community. Above Grahamstown the zonal and meridional prevailing winds were found to be predominantly eastward and equatorward respectively. Tidal amplitudes are comparable to the magnitude of the prevailing wind vector, with the diurnal tide being stronger than the semidiurnal tide. The phase differences between ,the zonal and meridional components of the semidiurnal and diurnal tides are - 2 hand - 5 h respectively, which is in reasonable agreement with the corresponding expected values of3 hand 6 h. The tidal wind vectors are on average elliptically polarized with anticlockwise rotation. Longitudinal and day-to-day tidal variations were studied. From the longitudinal study, the semidiurnal tide was found to be dominated by migrating modes, while the diurnal tidal behaviour suggests the presence of nonmigrating modes with zonal wavenumber s = 4. Tides were found to be variable from day to day with little apparent correlation between the zonal and meridional components of the respective tides.
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  • Date Issued: 1995

A study of the personal literature written in the Eastern Cape in the nineteenth century

A study of the Pycnonotus bulbul species complex in Southern Africa

  • Authors: Lloyd, Penn
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: Bulbuls -- Ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Songbirds -- Ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Birds -- Ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: vital:5782 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005470 , Bulbuls -- Ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Songbirds -- Ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Birds -- Ecology -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
  • Description: The three Pycnonotus bulbuls endemic to Africa, P. barbatus, P. nigricans and P. capensis, occupy mutually exclusive distributions in southern Africa. These species are closely related and appear to occupy very similar ecological niches, only in different regions. Using a multifaceted approach, this study attempts to explain the ecology of this species complex. All three species show similar physiological responses to temperature extremes, and are therefore unlikely to be directly limited by environmental temperature. However, their distributions are highly correlated to a complex of environmental variables, particularly winter minimum temperatures, the coefficient of variation in mean annual rainfall, and the seasonality of rainfall. This combination of environmental parameters can be used to predict the distributions of at least one of the species, P. nigricans, accurately. An analysis of the vocalizations and behaviour of the three species revealed that, whilst P. capensis has a number of recognizably different vocalizations, those of P. barbatus and P. nigricans are very similar. The three have nearly identical behaviours, particularly courtship and pre-copulatory behaviours. The mate recognition systems of the three are therefore extremely similar. P. barbatus is territorial during the breeding season, and exhibits highly structured-variation in male territorial song at the level of the local neighbourhood. The literature pertaining to song dialects is reviewed, and a new hypothesis is postulated to explain song-matching in terms of neighbour/stranger discrimination and the possible existence of cooperative territory defence. A survey of the eastern Cape region, where all three species come into contact, showed that extensive hybridization is taking place between each species pair. Phenotypically, this hybridization is restricted to narrow hybrid zones, that are considered to be stable in both time and place. The evolutionary and ecological significance of these zones to the distributions of the species is discussed, and it is proposed that the zones are maintained by selection acting on differentially-adapted genomes along an environmental gradient.
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  • Date Issued: 1995

A taxonomic study of Senecio speciosus, Senecio macrocephalus and possible hybrid populations using morphological data, toxicty tests and chromatography

  • Authors: Lewis, Gillian Elizabeth
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: Senecio , Senecio -- Analysis , Shrimps , Artemia
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
  • Identifier: vital:4209 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003778
  • Description: The variation between populations of Senecio speciosus Willd., Senecio macrocephalus DC. and intermediate plants was investigated in a comparative study of morphological characters, toxicity of plant extracts to brine shrimps (Artemia salina) and chromatography of plant extracts. Specimens were collected at 18 localities in the Eastern Cape Province. All these specimens were examined morphologically and chemical extracts were tested for toxicity and by comparative chromatography. The collection of Senecio speciosus and Senecio macrocephalus specimens in the Selmar Schonland Herbarium (GRA) was also examined morphologically. Six geographical areas were represented in the combined collections. Analysis of morphological data separated typical Senecio speciosus and Senecio macrocephalus at either end of hybrid index histograms and principal components analysis diagrams. The intermediate populations displayed morphological characters of both Senecio speciosus and Senecio macrocephalus. Some specimens were intermediate between these two species, falling within the range of variation of these species while others fell outside this range. The Brine Shrimp Assay was used to test for toxicity and to investigate the possibility of using toxicity data as a genetic marker in taxonomic studies. As Senecio speciosus extracts were less than 1% toxic and Senecio macrocephalus extracts were at least 95% toxic to the brine shrimps it is suggested that in this case toxicity can be used as a genetic marker. Toxicity can even be described as a good taxonomic character as discontinuity is very sudden and complete. The intermediate plants in the Grahamstown area were at least 92% toxic to the brine shrimps linking them to Senecio macrocephalus. Thin layer and paper chromatography were used as comparative techniques to study the chemical profiles of the specimens. Alkaloids, terpenoids and flavonoids were studied. Thin layer chromatography to separate the alkaloid components of the plant extracts showed Senecio speciosus and Senecio macrocephalus to have distinct chemical profiles suggesting that they are separate species. The intermediate plants- were found to contain chemical compounds matching either or both Senecio speciosus and Senecio macrocephalus suggesting that they may have arisen by hybridisation. In a preliminary investigation Senecio speciosus extracts showed a complete lack of terpenoid compounds whereas extracts from Senecio macrocephalus and the intermediate specimens tested gave a terpenoid colour reaction in the basal spot only. This links the intermediate populations with Senecio macrocephalus. Paper chromatography to separate the flavonoid constituents of the plant extracts also showed typical Senecio speciosus and Senecio macrocephalus to be distinct. The intermediate populations contained flavonoid compounds from one or both of these species. The populations in the Grahamstown area show morphological features close to and in some cases indistinguishable from Senecio speciosus. Chemically these specimens show some similarities with Senecio macrocephalus. In the East London area specimens show a similar mixture of characters but appear morphologically to be closer to Senecio macrocephalus. However, in the Amatole Mountains, despite both species being present in the same locality it appears that no hybridisation has occurred. It is therefore suggested that at some of the localities where the geographical ranges of Senecio speciosus and Senecio macrocephalus overlap in the Eastern Cape Province hybridisation between these two species occurs.
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  • Date Issued: 1995

Addendum to the paper Landcare: New directions in professional development for environmental education

  • Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: To be catalogued
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/438672 , vital:73488 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/137475"
  • Description: During 1994-1995, we received correspondence from Tania Sadler of the University of Tasmania and from Debbie Heck, about the latter's paper published in volume 14. In response we publish the following addendum, which includes a list of references inadvertently left out of her paper. Ms Heck did supply these references to the SAJEE originally, and we apologise for any inconvenience to readers as a result of the mistake. (Ed.)
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  • Date Issued: 1995

AIA's Southern Africa Chronicle - Volume VIII No.1

  • Authors: Africa Information Afrique (AIA)
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: AIA
  • Language: English
  • Type: text
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/169377 , vital:41744
  • Description: Sowa, January 3, 1994 (AIA/Caitlin Davies) — Mercy Manakedi Theetso is 29 and has four children. She breast-fed her first child for 18 months, her second for eight months, and she didn’t breast-feed her third child at all. “I was working and the baby stayed with my mother so we used a bottle for the first four months, then we used a cup,” explains Theetso. “Myself, I like to breast-feed but I don’t have the time.” In the 1960s Botswana’s medical practitioners began giving new-born babies the bottle. Now, 30 years later, there is a concerted effort by the Botswana government to promote a return to breast-feeding. But as women have gone out of the home to work, reversing the trend is not an easy task. However, breast-feeding does remain popular in Botswana. “It’s a culturally acceptable norm,” says Virkloti Morewane of UNICEF, and boys and girls are fed for the same amount of time.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 1995

AIA's Southern Africa Chronicle - Volume VIII No.2

  • Authors: Africa Information Afrique (AIA)
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: AIA
  • Language: English
  • Type: text
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/169389 , vital:41745
  • Description: Windhoek, January 16,1995 (AIA/Joshua Amupadhi) — Many impoverished Namibians are demanding swifter change to better their lives following elections which restored the ruling SWAPO party to power for another five years. SWAPO, the former guerrilla organisation which fought for the independence of Namibia from apartheid South African rulers, won an easy victory in the first post independence elections in December. Those interviewed say five years were enough for the former liberation movement to have made a good start on improving the standards of living of many previously disadvantaged Namibians and dismantle apartheid structures established during 75 years of South African colonialism. One SWAPO supporter says independence has created only a black elite to join whites in the rich suburban areas but has not narrowed the gap between the rich and poor.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 1995

AIA's Southern Africa Chronicle - Volume VIII No.3

  • Authors: Africa Information Afrique (AIA)
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: AIA
  • Language: English
  • Type: text
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/169401 , vital:41746
  • Description: Machipanda, February 3,1995 (AIA/Brian Latham)—Many Zimbabwean peasants have quietly found the solution to land shortages by crossing into neighbouring Mozambique where it is plentiful. For as little as US$ 10 a field, they are acquiring land and a place to live — probably illegally — from chiefs and headmen across the border. Information on how to get land is easily accessible in Machipanda, the Mozambique border town at the head of the Beira Corridor from Zimbabwe to the Indian Ocean. Confusion reigns in Mozambique in the aftermath of the devastating civil war. And in a country reputed to be the poorest on earth, the government can do little to control the flood of border jumpers in both directions: Mozambicans enter Zimbabwe to sell everything from guns to clothes donated by aid agencies and Zimbabweans enter Mozambique in search of land to till.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 1995

Alternative dispute resolution in the best interests of the child

  • Authors: Van Zyl, Lesbury
  • Date: 1995
  • Subjects: Divorce mediation -- South Africa , Dispute resolution (Law) -- South Africa , Custody of children -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: vital:3697 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003212 , Divorce mediation -- South Africa , Dispute resolution (Law) -- South Africa , Custody of children -- South Africa
  • Description: The development of private divorce mediation appears to offer a friendly and informal alternative to the "hostile" adversarial divorce. A close analysis of its claims, however, shows them to be largely unproven. Urgent attention should therefore be given to the philosophical base of the movement. There is also a need for empirical research and for standardised training. Further unanswered questions relate to the part to be played by different professions, and to professional ethics. It is submitted that the appointment of Family Advocates is a step in the right direction but that the establishment of a full Family Court will best protect children's interests.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 1995
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