Within- and between-beach variation in intertidal macrofaunal communities inhabiting two Transkei sandy beaches
- Authors: Dreyer, Nicolaas Burger
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Intertidal animals -- Ecology -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:10700 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1070 , Intertidal animals -- Ecology -- South Africa
- Description: Until recently most sandy beach studies have made use of snapshot samples but the validity of this approach has been widely questioned. In this study we attempt to resolve this issue by repeatedly sampling two beaches using a stratified random design. Three sampling sessions took place, each approximately six months apart. The three sites on the first beach were selected according to the type of beach (reflective, intermediate and dissipative) with each morphological type duplicated on the second beach. Many of the physical variables measured had significant differences between the sampling sessions but only a few were significantly different between the Sites. Very few of the individual physical variables had significant relationships with the sandy beach macrofaunal abundance and density. However, composite indices had a greater number of significant relationships with the macrofaunal abundance and density. Also very few significant relationships were seen between the species richness and the physical variables of the beaches studied. Effluent line crossing frequency was the only physical variable that could predict species richness but it was considered a weak predictor. Changes in the zonation patterns within and between beaches were also investigated. The highest concentration of taxa and individuals was found near the low-water mark with a gradual reduction of both towards the high-water mark. Some of the sandy beach community variables (abundance, density and species richness) showed significant difference between the sampling sessions but no significant differences were seen between the two beaches. The presence of three zones was noted using MDS plots and Cluster diagrams. However, using a SIMPER analyses, four zones with the possibility of a fifth was noted.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Dreyer, Nicolaas Burger
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Intertidal animals -- Ecology -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:10700 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1070 , Intertidal animals -- Ecology -- South Africa
- Description: Until recently most sandy beach studies have made use of snapshot samples but the validity of this approach has been widely questioned. In this study we attempt to resolve this issue by repeatedly sampling two beaches using a stratified random design. Three sampling sessions took place, each approximately six months apart. The three sites on the first beach were selected according to the type of beach (reflective, intermediate and dissipative) with each morphological type duplicated on the second beach. Many of the physical variables measured had significant differences between the sampling sessions but only a few were significantly different between the Sites. Very few of the individual physical variables had significant relationships with the sandy beach macrofaunal abundance and density. However, composite indices had a greater number of significant relationships with the macrofaunal abundance and density. Also very few significant relationships were seen between the species richness and the physical variables of the beaches studied. Effluent line crossing frequency was the only physical variable that could predict species richness but it was considered a weak predictor. Changes in the zonation patterns within and between beaches were also investigated. The highest concentration of taxa and individuals was found near the low-water mark with a gradual reduction of both towards the high-water mark. Some of the sandy beach community variables (abundance, density and species richness) showed significant difference between the sampling sessions but no significant differences were seen between the two beaches. The presence of three zones was noted using MDS plots and Cluster diagrams. However, using a SIMPER analyses, four zones with the possibility of a fifth was noted.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
A critical ethnography of HIV-positive women attending public health care facilities in Gauteng
- Authors: Du Plessis, Gretchen Erika
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: HIV-positive women -- South Africa -- Gauteng , HIV-positive women -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Gauteng
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: vital:16129 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/777 , HIV-positive women -- South Africa -- Gauteng , HIV-positive women -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Gauteng
- Description: Women living with HIV have a variety of reproductive health and psychosocial needs. The purpose of this critical ethnographic study was to examine how HIV, empowerment and reproduction are experienced by a volunteer sample of HIVpositive women attending public health care facilities in Gauteng. Feminist and critical approaches were used to guide the methodology of the research and the interpretation of the findings. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and observation. An overview of literature pertaining to the social construction of HIV-AIDS, women’s empowerment and reproductive decision-making is presented. A discourse of “healthy lifestyle” as technologies of the self is considered. Women’s empowerment as an ideal is described and structural barriers to its achievement are discussed. Stigma and discrimination as products of hegemony are discussed as important issues in the disempowerment of women living with HIV. HIV-AIDS as illness experience is reviewed with reference to the social context and to the individual context. Reproductive decision-making models and theories are critically analysed for their applicability to women living with HIV. The need for a conceptual shift in the notion of empowerment in order to understand constrained decision-making for women living with HIV is propagated. The stories of women living with HIV and dependent on public health care services are presented. Through the principles of a critical ethnography the lived experiences of these women are described by means of emerging themes. A historiography of family planning and HIV-AIDS services throws the narrations of the research participants into broader historic relief. Findings revealed that biomedical hegemonic power contoured and marked the lived experiences of women following an HIV-positive diagnosis. Taken-for-granted views of passivity and of own responsibilities regarding reproductive health are challenged. The women in the study were dependent upon public health care personnel for treatment, testing, dietary advice/supplementation and recommendations for a social xii disability grant. ARV-treatment was regarded as a low point in the illness career. All of the participants reported that the overriding problems in their lives were having too few material resources and not having the means to change this. This made them vulnerable to compounded health problems and decreased their ability to voice their own opinions about treatment. They did not regard themselves as having been at risk for contracting HIV and some harboured resentment towards men who were seen as being absolved from testing and responsibilities towards female partners, born and unborn children. Women who were not tested as part of antenatal sentinel groups tended to suffer symptoms of ill health for some time prior to being tested for HIV. Social support systems were either absent or consisted of trusted family members and friends. In many cases, women became the silent care-givers for those affected and infected by HIV. Anticipated stigma permeated the participants’ narrations of living with HIV and disclosure of their statuses was difficult. The use of male condoms, stressed during counselling sessions, was narrated as a difficult burden for women to bear. Although the research participants expressed low fertility preferences, HIV-AIDS was seen as disrupting the link between heterosexual conjugal relations and the taken-for-grantedness of procreation. HIV-AIDS also disrupted norms in infant feeding practices and bottle-feeding was regarded as a sign of possible HIV-infection and hidden. The research participants were not empowered with knowledge about how to deal with side-effects, condom failures and the reluctance of male partners to be tested for HIV. They enacted, resisted and lived with HIV in different ways, incorporating some of the biomedically prescribed posturing as women living positively and blending it with stigma-negating performances and gender-prescribed ways of dressing, walking and acting. Participation in a support group validated their experiences and promoted positive self-perception. The formation of a collective voice in the support group was hampered by irregular attendance, the interference of community leaders and horizontal violence. Power relations, yielded by biomedical hegemony, androcentric sociocultural practices, material deprivation, fear, discrimination and stigma potentially undermined the women’s abilities to become empowered. Expansion of choices in various spheres or fields and collective action xiii are proposed as dimensions to be added to an empowerment-of-women approach to the problems of reproductive health in the age of HIV-AIDS. The contribution of the study as an emancipatory project is evaluated and implications for policy and practice are suggested. On a methodological level, this study is a demonstration of the contribution to be made by a micro-level, critical analysis to the body of knowledge about female reproductive health in the era of HIV-AIDS in South Africa. On a theoretical level, this study contributes to a wider conceptualisation of women’s empowerment by recognising the interplay between micro-level elements of situated experience, knowledge and preferences and the macro-level elements of sociocultural, biomedical and material influences on health and reproductive behavior.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Du Plessis, Gretchen Erika
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: HIV-positive women -- South Africa -- Gauteng , HIV-positive women -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Gauteng
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: vital:16129 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/777 , HIV-positive women -- South Africa -- Gauteng , HIV-positive women -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Gauteng
- Description: Women living with HIV have a variety of reproductive health and psychosocial needs. The purpose of this critical ethnographic study was to examine how HIV, empowerment and reproduction are experienced by a volunteer sample of HIVpositive women attending public health care facilities in Gauteng. Feminist and critical approaches were used to guide the methodology of the research and the interpretation of the findings. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and observation. An overview of literature pertaining to the social construction of HIV-AIDS, women’s empowerment and reproductive decision-making is presented. A discourse of “healthy lifestyle” as technologies of the self is considered. Women’s empowerment as an ideal is described and structural barriers to its achievement are discussed. Stigma and discrimination as products of hegemony are discussed as important issues in the disempowerment of women living with HIV. HIV-AIDS as illness experience is reviewed with reference to the social context and to the individual context. Reproductive decision-making models and theories are critically analysed for their applicability to women living with HIV. The need for a conceptual shift in the notion of empowerment in order to understand constrained decision-making for women living with HIV is propagated. The stories of women living with HIV and dependent on public health care services are presented. Through the principles of a critical ethnography the lived experiences of these women are described by means of emerging themes. A historiography of family planning and HIV-AIDS services throws the narrations of the research participants into broader historic relief. Findings revealed that biomedical hegemonic power contoured and marked the lived experiences of women following an HIV-positive diagnosis. Taken-for-granted views of passivity and of own responsibilities regarding reproductive health are challenged. The women in the study were dependent upon public health care personnel for treatment, testing, dietary advice/supplementation and recommendations for a social xii disability grant. ARV-treatment was regarded as a low point in the illness career. All of the participants reported that the overriding problems in their lives were having too few material resources and not having the means to change this. This made them vulnerable to compounded health problems and decreased their ability to voice their own opinions about treatment. They did not regard themselves as having been at risk for contracting HIV and some harboured resentment towards men who were seen as being absolved from testing and responsibilities towards female partners, born and unborn children. Women who were not tested as part of antenatal sentinel groups tended to suffer symptoms of ill health for some time prior to being tested for HIV. Social support systems were either absent or consisted of trusted family members and friends. In many cases, women became the silent care-givers for those affected and infected by HIV. Anticipated stigma permeated the participants’ narrations of living with HIV and disclosure of their statuses was difficult. The use of male condoms, stressed during counselling sessions, was narrated as a difficult burden for women to bear. Although the research participants expressed low fertility preferences, HIV-AIDS was seen as disrupting the link between heterosexual conjugal relations and the taken-for-grantedness of procreation. HIV-AIDS also disrupted norms in infant feeding practices and bottle-feeding was regarded as a sign of possible HIV-infection and hidden. The research participants were not empowered with knowledge about how to deal with side-effects, condom failures and the reluctance of male partners to be tested for HIV. They enacted, resisted and lived with HIV in different ways, incorporating some of the biomedically prescribed posturing as women living positively and blending it with stigma-negating performances and gender-prescribed ways of dressing, walking and acting. Participation in a support group validated their experiences and promoted positive self-perception. The formation of a collective voice in the support group was hampered by irregular attendance, the interference of community leaders and horizontal violence. Power relations, yielded by biomedical hegemony, androcentric sociocultural practices, material deprivation, fear, discrimination and stigma potentially undermined the women’s abilities to become empowered. Expansion of choices in various spheres or fields and collective action xiii are proposed as dimensions to be added to an empowerment-of-women approach to the problems of reproductive health in the age of HIV-AIDS. The contribution of the study as an emancipatory project is evaluated and implications for policy and practice are suggested. On a methodological level, this study is a demonstration of the contribution to be made by a micro-level, critical analysis to the body of knowledge about female reproductive health in the era of HIV-AIDS in South Africa. On a theoretical level, this study contributes to a wider conceptualisation of women’s empowerment by recognising the interplay between micro-level elements of situated experience, knowledge and preferences and the macro-level elements of sociocultural, biomedical and material influences on health and reproductive behavior.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Compensating employees who suffer work-related psychiatric harm in the course and scope of their employment
- Authors: Du Plessis, Meryl Candice
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Workers' compensation -- Law and legislation , Liability for emotional distress , Post-traumatic stress disorder , Occupational diseases
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: vital:3671 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003186 , Workers' compensation -- Law and legislation , Liability for emotional distress , Post-traumatic stress disorder , Occupational diseases
- Description: This study aims to ascertain the legal redress available to employees who suffer psychological harm as a result of workplace stress. On a general level, it identifies and assesses some of the available policy options, particularly as they relate to the interaction of statutory workers’ compensation schemes and the common law. On a more specific level, it examines and analyses various issues: the nature and extent of compensable psychiatric harm; the legal duty on employers to protect employees’ health and well being; the role of negligence; requirements specific to the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act 130 of 1993 (COIDA); and the causal nexus necessary to sustain a claim. The conclusion is reached that employees should utilise the workers’ compensation system as the primary vehicle to obtain redress if they suffer from occupational psychiatric harm. However, due to the law’s generally conservative approach to psychiatric harm and intimations that the Department of Labour intends setting strict requirements for claims for psychiatric harm in terms of COIDA, the common law of delict might continue to play an important role in claims for occupational psychiatric harm. The writer recommends that a hybrid system for compensation for stress-related psychiatric harm suffered in the course and scope of employment be adopted, with the statutory compensation scheme providing relatively limited benefits and the common law providing general damages if the claimant can prove negligence on the part of the employer; that the requirement of a recognised psychiatric illness be maintained for both statutory compensation and compensation in terms of the common law; that all parties’ interests are carefully balanced in delineating the employer’s legal duty to employers and that undue weight not be accorded to the terms of the contract of employment; that more attention be paid to factual causation and the development of lternatives/complements to the traditional conditio sine qua non test; that the validity of the circular instruction on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) be tested on administrative-law grounds; and that the stringent prescription requirements set by the circular instruction on PTSD be reviewed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Du Plessis, Meryl Candice
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Workers' compensation -- Law and legislation , Liability for emotional distress , Post-traumatic stress disorder , Occupational diseases
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: vital:3671 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003186 , Workers' compensation -- Law and legislation , Liability for emotional distress , Post-traumatic stress disorder , Occupational diseases
- Description: This study aims to ascertain the legal redress available to employees who suffer psychological harm as a result of workplace stress. On a general level, it identifies and assesses some of the available policy options, particularly as they relate to the interaction of statutory workers’ compensation schemes and the common law. On a more specific level, it examines and analyses various issues: the nature and extent of compensable psychiatric harm; the legal duty on employers to protect employees’ health and well being; the role of negligence; requirements specific to the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act 130 of 1993 (COIDA); and the causal nexus necessary to sustain a claim. The conclusion is reached that employees should utilise the workers’ compensation system as the primary vehicle to obtain redress if they suffer from occupational psychiatric harm. However, due to the law’s generally conservative approach to psychiatric harm and intimations that the Department of Labour intends setting strict requirements for claims for psychiatric harm in terms of COIDA, the common law of delict might continue to play an important role in claims for occupational psychiatric harm. The writer recommends that a hybrid system for compensation for stress-related psychiatric harm suffered in the course and scope of employment be adopted, with the statutory compensation scheme providing relatively limited benefits and the common law providing general damages if the claimant can prove negligence on the part of the employer; that the requirement of a recognised psychiatric illness be maintained for both statutory compensation and compensation in terms of the common law; that all parties’ interests are carefully balanced in delineating the employer’s legal duty to employers and that undue weight not be accorded to the terms of the contract of employment; that more attention be paid to factual causation and the development of lternatives/complements to the traditional conditio sine qua non test; that the validity of the circular instruction on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) be tested on administrative-law grounds; and that the stringent prescription requirements set by the circular instruction on PTSD be reviewed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Pneumocystis jiroveci and respiratorey bacterial pathogens in cases of pneumonia at hospitals in Port Elizabeth
- Authors: Du Plessis, Sarah Jane
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia , Tuberculosis -- pathogenesis , Opportunistic infections
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:10328 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/946 , Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia , Tuberculosis -- pathogenesis , Opportunistic infections
- Description: Pneumocystis jiroveci, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Mycobacterium tuberculosis are respiratory pathogens associated with pneumonia, with increasing prevalence of Pneumocystis pneumonia (PcP) and tuberculosis (TB) in AIDS patients. Increased resistance of M. tuberculosis has emphasized the need for rapid susceptibility testing, such as flow cytometry. Sputum specimens (102) were assessed by PCR employing primers directed at the following genes: P. jiroveci: mitochondrial large subunit ribosomal RNA (mtLSUrRNA), dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) and dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), and for M. pneumoniae: 16S rRNA and P1 adhesin. Positive P. jiroveci samples were genotyped by PCR-SSCP (single-strand conformation polymorphism) targeting the: internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), intron of the nuclear 26S rRNA gene (26S), variable region of the mitochondrial 26S rRNA gene (mt26S) and β-tubulin gene (β-tub). Multi-drug resistant (MDR-TB) cultures grown in the presence and absence of four antibiotics (rifampicin, isoniazid, ethambutol and ofloxacin) were heat killed, stained with SYTO16 and Propidium Iodide and analysed using flow cytometry. Rifampicin resistance gene mutations were screened by PCR and DNA sequencing. Details of patient’s gender, age, HIV and M. tuberculosis status were provided by the hospitals. Women were seen to be at high risk for community-acquired P. jiroveci colonisation. Overall, prevalence of P. jiroveci was 55.1 percent (54/102 patients). P. jiroveci was mainly associated with HIV (25/102 P. jiroveci positive patients for which clinical data was available) and co-colonisation with M. tuberculosis was observed in 11 cases. Sequence analysis of DHPS and DHFR products found no resistance associated mutations. M. pneumoniae was detected in one patient. Four simple SSCP patterns were identified and there were no co-infections with other P. jiroveci strains. Nine M. tuberculosis samples [8 MDR-TB isolates (NHLS) and M. tuberculosis ATCC® 27294TM] were tested. There was a 53 percent (19 out of 36 tests) agreement of flow cytometry with the BACTEC MGIT 960. Mutations (at two specific codons, namely 516 and 531) in the rifampicin resistance-determining region (RRDR) of the rpoB gene were observed in eight M. tuberculosis isolates. Evaluation of methods for genotyping and drug susceptibility testing of PcP and TB are imperative for epidemiology and drug resistance studies, and impact on treatment protocols.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Du Plessis, Sarah Jane
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia , Tuberculosis -- pathogenesis , Opportunistic infections
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:10328 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/946 , Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia , Tuberculosis -- pathogenesis , Opportunistic infections
- Description: Pneumocystis jiroveci, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Mycobacterium tuberculosis are respiratory pathogens associated with pneumonia, with increasing prevalence of Pneumocystis pneumonia (PcP) and tuberculosis (TB) in AIDS patients. Increased resistance of M. tuberculosis has emphasized the need for rapid susceptibility testing, such as flow cytometry. Sputum specimens (102) were assessed by PCR employing primers directed at the following genes: P. jiroveci: mitochondrial large subunit ribosomal RNA (mtLSUrRNA), dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS) and dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), and for M. pneumoniae: 16S rRNA and P1 adhesin. Positive P. jiroveci samples were genotyped by PCR-SSCP (single-strand conformation polymorphism) targeting the: internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), intron of the nuclear 26S rRNA gene (26S), variable region of the mitochondrial 26S rRNA gene (mt26S) and β-tubulin gene (β-tub). Multi-drug resistant (MDR-TB) cultures grown in the presence and absence of four antibiotics (rifampicin, isoniazid, ethambutol and ofloxacin) were heat killed, stained with SYTO16 and Propidium Iodide and analysed using flow cytometry. Rifampicin resistance gene mutations were screened by PCR and DNA sequencing. Details of patient’s gender, age, HIV and M. tuberculosis status were provided by the hospitals. Women were seen to be at high risk for community-acquired P. jiroveci colonisation. Overall, prevalence of P. jiroveci was 55.1 percent (54/102 patients). P. jiroveci was mainly associated with HIV (25/102 P. jiroveci positive patients for which clinical data was available) and co-colonisation with M. tuberculosis was observed in 11 cases. Sequence analysis of DHPS and DHFR products found no resistance associated mutations. M. pneumoniae was detected in one patient. Four simple SSCP patterns were identified and there were no co-infections with other P. jiroveci strains. Nine M. tuberculosis samples [8 MDR-TB isolates (NHLS) and M. tuberculosis ATCC® 27294TM] were tested. There was a 53 percent (19 out of 36 tests) agreement of flow cytometry with the BACTEC MGIT 960. Mutations (at two specific codons, namely 516 and 531) in the rifampicin resistance-determining region (RRDR) of the rpoB gene were observed in eight M. tuberculosis isolates. Evaluation of methods for genotyping and drug susceptibility testing of PcP and TB are imperative for epidemiology and drug resistance studies, and impact on treatment protocols.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Depressogenic cognitive schemas, levels of depression and hopelessness among individuals diagnosed with unipolar mood disorder
- Authors: Du Preez, Shereen
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Neuropsychiatry , Depression, Mental -- South Africa , Depressed persons -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9899 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1074 , Neuropsychiatry , Depression, Mental -- South Africa , Depressed persons -- South Africa
- Description: While mood disorders rank within the top ten disabilities worldwide, there has been limited research done on cognitive schemas and the role they play in the development of mood disorders in South Africa. Cognitive conceptualisations of depression typically emphasize the schema-based automatic processing of information. Beck (1967, 1976 & 1987) suggested that schematically driven automatic thinking is a key element in depressive disorders. Research in the field of depression has identified cognitive schemas as a factor which increases an individual’s diathesis to depression. The primary aim of this research is to explore and describe maladaptive cognitive schemas, hopelessness and levels of depression amongst individuals diagnosed with Unipolar Mood Disorder. A further aim of the research has been to explore the relationship between maladaptive cognitive schemas and hopelessness as a diathesis to depression. In order to achieve the objectives, data was collected from a sample of 50 inpatients diagnosed with Unipolar Mood Disorder. The following measures were used: Young’s Schema Questionnaire, Beck's Depression Inventory – 2nd edition and Beck’s Hopelessness Scale. The research is quantitative in nature and takes the form of an exploratory-descriptive study. Data has been analysed by means of descriptive statistics in order to identify the mean, ranges and standard deviation of the measures used. Cross-tabulations have been used to further explore the relationship between the variables mentioned above. It was found that a statistically significant correlation exists between the BDI, BHS and YSQ. Maladaptive cognitive schemas were found to have a strong positive correlation 4 to depression, whereas hopelessness was found to have a less significant role in Unipolar Mood Disorder. The most significant schemas found in relation to hopelessness, were the Social Isolation, Unrelenting Standards and Pessimism schemas. With regards to depression, the most significant schemas were found to be Mistrust, Practical Incompetence, Vulnerability, Subjugation, Self-Sacrifice, Emotional Inhibition, Unrelenting Standards, Entitlement, Insufficient Self-Control, Admiration, Pessimism and Self-Punitiveness. All the above mentioned variables proved to have a statistically significant relationship. The findings of this research study are for the most part consistent with the literature on depression, hopelessness and cognitive vulnerabilities, and all of the above mentioned concepts have been found to be related.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Du Preez, Shereen
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Neuropsychiatry , Depression, Mental -- South Africa , Depressed persons -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9899 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1074 , Neuropsychiatry , Depression, Mental -- South Africa , Depressed persons -- South Africa
- Description: While mood disorders rank within the top ten disabilities worldwide, there has been limited research done on cognitive schemas and the role they play in the development of mood disorders in South Africa. Cognitive conceptualisations of depression typically emphasize the schema-based automatic processing of information. Beck (1967, 1976 & 1987) suggested that schematically driven automatic thinking is a key element in depressive disorders. Research in the field of depression has identified cognitive schemas as a factor which increases an individual’s diathesis to depression. The primary aim of this research is to explore and describe maladaptive cognitive schemas, hopelessness and levels of depression amongst individuals diagnosed with Unipolar Mood Disorder. A further aim of the research has been to explore the relationship between maladaptive cognitive schemas and hopelessness as a diathesis to depression. In order to achieve the objectives, data was collected from a sample of 50 inpatients diagnosed with Unipolar Mood Disorder. The following measures were used: Young’s Schema Questionnaire, Beck's Depression Inventory – 2nd edition and Beck’s Hopelessness Scale. The research is quantitative in nature and takes the form of an exploratory-descriptive study. Data has been analysed by means of descriptive statistics in order to identify the mean, ranges and standard deviation of the measures used. Cross-tabulations have been used to further explore the relationship between the variables mentioned above. It was found that a statistically significant correlation exists between the BDI, BHS and YSQ. Maladaptive cognitive schemas were found to have a strong positive correlation 4 to depression, whereas hopelessness was found to have a less significant role in Unipolar Mood Disorder. The most significant schemas found in relation to hopelessness, were the Social Isolation, Unrelenting Standards and Pessimism schemas. With regards to depression, the most significant schemas were found to be Mistrust, Practical Incompetence, Vulnerability, Subjugation, Self-Sacrifice, Emotional Inhibition, Unrelenting Standards, Entitlement, Insufficient Self-Control, Admiration, Pessimism and Self-Punitiveness. All the above mentioned variables proved to have a statistically significant relationship. The findings of this research study are for the most part consistent with the literature on depression, hopelessness and cognitive vulnerabilities, and all of the above mentioned concepts have been found to be related.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
When commercial can also be community:
- Authors: du Toit, Peter , Rau, Asta
- Date: 2008
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/159322 , vital:40287 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC140094
- Description: Questions of ownership, control and profit distribution are widely used to distinguish between commercial and community media ventures, but an over-reliance on such distinctions may eclipse other important considerations in a way that impacts negatively on media diversity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: du Toit, Peter , Rau, Asta
- Date: 2008
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/159322 , vital:40287 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC140094
- Description: Questions of ownership, control and profit distribution are widely used to distinguish between commercial and community media ventures, but an over-reliance on such distinctions may eclipse other important considerations in a way that impacts negatively on media diversity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Widowhood and property inheritance in Zimbabwe: experiences of widows in Sikalenge ward, Binga District
- Authors: Dube, Misheck
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Widows -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Zimbabwe , Women -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Zimbabwe , Inheritance and succession -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M SW
- Identifier: vital:11755 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/200 , Widows -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Zimbabwe , Women -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Zimbabwe , Inheritance and succession -- Zimbabwe
- Description: Zimbabwean widows need to inherit property when their husbands die. Property, be it material or financial in nature, is a source of sustenance and wealth. Depriving women of property inheritance rights has untold consequences. This study focuses on the property inheritance rights of widows in Zimbabwe in the Sikalenge Ward of Binga District. The aim of the study is to understand how property grabbing affects widows and to find possible solutions and intervention strategies social workers may use. The literature reviewed in the study was drawn from both the legal field and social work to create a link between the fields. The study was shaped by radical feminism for conceptualising property grabbing while the formulated intervention strategies utilised the empowerment model. The study is qualitative in nature using interviews to collect data from ten widows and five social service providers who constitute the total of fifteen participants in the study. Data was analysed qualitatively using interpretive approaches and presentation is textual rather than statistical. The main finding of the study is that widows are still being denied their inheritance rights despite the provision of such rights by the Intestate Succession Laws promulgated in November 1997 by the government of Zimbabwe. Moreover, the widows are not aware of the inheritance laws of Zimbabwe and hence did not seek any professional intervention. The few who attempted the legal process for recourse were not successful. Even though it was minimally attempted, the study established that the main form of failed intervention tried by the women was legal in nature and suggests and emphasises an eminent need for Social Work intervention to supplement legal intervention.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Dube, Misheck
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Widows -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Zimbabwe , Women -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Zimbabwe , Inheritance and succession -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M SW
- Identifier: vital:11755 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/200 , Widows -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Zimbabwe , Women -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Zimbabwe , Inheritance and succession -- Zimbabwe
- Description: Zimbabwean widows need to inherit property when their husbands die. Property, be it material or financial in nature, is a source of sustenance and wealth. Depriving women of property inheritance rights has untold consequences. This study focuses on the property inheritance rights of widows in Zimbabwe in the Sikalenge Ward of Binga District. The aim of the study is to understand how property grabbing affects widows and to find possible solutions and intervention strategies social workers may use. The literature reviewed in the study was drawn from both the legal field and social work to create a link between the fields. The study was shaped by radical feminism for conceptualising property grabbing while the formulated intervention strategies utilised the empowerment model. The study is qualitative in nature using interviews to collect data from ten widows and five social service providers who constitute the total of fifteen participants in the study. Data was analysed qualitatively using interpretive approaches and presentation is textual rather than statistical. The main finding of the study is that widows are still being denied their inheritance rights despite the provision of such rights by the Intestate Succession Laws promulgated in November 1997 by the government of Zimbabwe. Moreover, the widows are not aware of the inheritance laws of Zimbabwe and hence did not seek any professional intervention. The few who attempted the legal process for recourse were not successful. Even though it was minimally attempted, the study established that the main form of failed intervention tried by the women was legal in nature and suggests and emphasises an eminent need for Social Work intervention to supplement legal intervention.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Network-layer reservation TDM for ad-hoc 802.11 networks
- Authors: Duff, Kevin Craig
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Computer networks -- Access control , Computers -- Access control , Computer networks -- Management , Time division multiple access , Ad hoc networks (Computer networks)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4574 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002773 , Computer networks -- Access control , Computers -- Access control , Computer networks -- Management , Time division multiple access , Ad hoc networks (Computer networks)
- Description: Ad-Hoc mesh networks offer great promise. Low-cost ad-hoc mesh networks can be built using popular IEEE 802.11 equipment, but such networks are unable to guarantee each node a fair share of bandwidth. Furthermore, hidden node problems cause collisions which can cripple the throughput of a network. This research proposes a novel mechanism which is able to overcome hidden node problems and provide fair bandwidth sharing among nodes on ad-hoc 802.11 networks, and can be implemented on existing network devices. The scheme uses TDM (time division multiplexing) with slot reservation. A distributed beacon packet latency measurement mechanism is used to achieve node synchronisation. The distributed nature of the mechanism makes it applicable to ad-hoc 802.11 networks, which can either grow or fragment dynamically.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Duff, Kevin Craig
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Computer networks -- Access control , Computers -- Access control , Computer networks -- Management , Time division multiple access , Ad hoc networks (Computer networks)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4574 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002773 , Computer networks -- Access control , Computers -- Access control , Computer networks -- Management , Time division multiple access , Ad hoc networks (Computer networks)
- Description: Ad-Hoc mesh networks offer great promise. Low-cost ad-hoc mesh networks can be built using popular IEEE 802.11 equipment, but such networks are unable to guarantee each node a fair share of bandwidth. Furthermore, hidden node problems cause collisions which can cripple the throughput of a network. This research proposes a novel mechanism which is able to overcome hidden node problems and provide fair bandwidth sharing among nodes on ad-hoc 802.11 networks, and can be implemented on existing network devices. The scheme uses TDM (time division multiplexing) with slot reservation. A distributed beacon packet latency measurement mechanism is used to achieve node synchronisation. The distributed nature of the mechanism makes it applicable to ad-hoc 802.11 networks, which can either grow or fragment dynamically.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Journalists' appropriation of ICTs in news-gathering and processing: a case study of Grocott's Mail
- Authors: Dugo, Habtamu Tesfaye
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Grocott's Mail (Grahamstown, South Africa) Journalism -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Journalists -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Electronic news gathering -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Journalism -- Data processing -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Information technology -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Reporters and reporting -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Communication and technology -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3427 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002881
- Description: This study set out to investigate Grocott’s Mail journalists’ appropriation of information and communication technologies in news-gathering and processing using the social shaping of technology as a theoretical lens. It mainly focuses on digital ICTs that journalists use in news-gathering and processing including the Internet, electronic mail, and mobile telephony. Grocott’s Mail is a small-scale newspaper based in Grahamstown, South Africa. Using qualitative research method and the case study as its sub-method, the research reveals that Grocott’s Mail journalists’ appropriation of ICTs involves various opportunities and challenges in news-gathering and processing. In terms of the state of the existing technological infrastructure, the study reveals that since it embraced the digital ICTs in 2003, Grocott’s Mail boasts an adequate ICT infrastructure for a small-scale African newspaper with 30 PCs and one laptop, and professional software for 28 permanent employees. On the other hand, the research reveals serious constraints with the existing ICTs: a huge need for staff training and capacity building to fully utilise the ICTs, and the need to look for ways of raising funds to either upgrade or replace the existing ICTs. Grocott’s Mail journalists use the Internet to do background research on news stories, to verify the accuracy of information, and to check competition across other media. These are the merits of the Internet in news-gathering and processing. On the other hand, there are specific unintended consequences of the Internet such as wasting the company’s working time, and its use leading to lazy/press release journalism. Informants unanimously indicate that the main problems of the Internet are heavy dependence on other online news-sources and wasting time on online entertainment. In terms of using email in news-gathering, the research finds email technology as having advantages such as being a tool of flexibility and speed, a tool for email interviews, and as a technology that promotes participatory journalism. On the other hand, challenges related to email include its limitations because of what interviewees view as its supplementary and small-scale use because of its low contextual richness as opposed to face to face interviews. In terms of cellular telephony, the study finds that regardless of the ubiquity of cell phones and cell phone networks, they have not yet been deployed in news-gathering and processing due to various constraints. These are cell phones not being a big factor in reporting, lack of a proper funding and refunding scheme, prevalence of negative attitudes towards cell phones, and lack of a business model. Thus, cellular phones seem to have little or no relevance in news-gathering and processing at Grocott’s Mail presently.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Dugo, Habtamu Tesfaye
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Grocott's Mail (Grahamstown, South Africa) Journalism -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Journalists -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Electronic news gathering -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Journalism -- Data processing -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Information technology -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Reporters and reporting -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Communication and technology -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3427 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002881
- Description: This study set out to investigate Grocott’s Mail journalists’ appropriation of information and communication technologies in news-gathering and processing using the social shaping of technology as a theoretical lens. It mainly focuses on digital ICTs that journalists use in news-gathering and processing including the Internet, electronic mail, and mobile telephony. Grocott’s Mail is a small-scale newspaper based in Grahamstown, South Africa. Using qualitative research method and the case study as its sub-method, the research reveals that Grocott’s Mail journalists’ appropriation of ICTs involves various opportunities and challenges in news-gathering and processing. In terms of the state of the existing technological infrastructure, the study reveals that since it embraced the digital ICTs in 2003, Grocott’s Mail boasts an adequate ICT infrastructure for a small-scale African newspaper with 30 PCs and one laptop, and professional software for 28 permanent employees. On the other hand, the research reveals serious constraints with the existing ICTs: a huge need for staff training and capacity building to fully utilise the ICTs, and the need to look for ways of raising funds to either upgrade or replace the existing ICTs. Grocott’s Mail journalists use the Internet to do background research on news stories, to verify the accuracy of information, and to check competition across other media. These are the merits of the Internet in news-gathering and processing. On the other hand, there are specific unintended consequences of the Internet such as wasting the company’s working time, and its use leading to lazy/press release journalism. Informants unanimously indicate that the main problems of the Internet are heavy dependence on other online news-sources and wasting time on online entertainment. In terms of using email in news-gathering, the research finds email technology as having advantages such as being a tool of flexibility and speed, a tool for email interviews, and as a technology that promotes participatory journalism. On the other hand, challenges related to email include its limitations because of what interviewees view as its supplementary and small-scale use because of its low contextual richness as opposed to face to face interviews. In terms of cellular telephony, the study finds that regardless of the ubiquity of cell phones and cell phone networks, they have not yet been deployed in news-gathering and processing due to various constraints. These are cell phones not being a big factor in reporting, lack of a proper funding and refunding scheme, prevalence of negative attitudes towards cell phones, and lack of a business model. Thus, cellular phones seem to have little or no relevance in news-gathering and processing at Grocott’s Mail presently.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
A critical evaluation of section 332 of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 OF 1977
- Authors: Dunywa, Mziwonke Samson
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Criminal procedure -- South Africa -- Evaluation , South Africa. Criminal Procedure Act, 1977
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: vital:10197 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/748 , Criminal procedure -- South Africa -- Evaluation , South Africa. Criminal Procedure Act, 1977
- Description: The general principle in criminal law is that a person is liable when committing a criminal offence. This may include an offence a person has facilitated or procured. Vicarious liability, a principle borrowed from civil law, is an exception to the general rule in that it allows for a person to be held liable for the criminal acts of another. Legal persons have no physical existence and do not have hands and brains like natural persons. A legal person acts through its directors, employees, members or representatives. The corporation, being distinct and separate from its agents, is held liable for the acts or omissions of its representatives. This liability exists even though the corporate body never acted. International recognition of corporate criminal liability can be based on vicarious liability, identification or aggregation. All these forms of liability are derived from the human actus and mens rea. The identification theory provides for the liability of the corporate body, when someone who is identified with it, acted during the course of his employment when committing the offence. Those acts are treated as the acts of the corporate body. The identification theory is normally applied where mens rea is a requirement of the offence. The Aggregation theory provides for criminal liability of the corporation based on the conduct of a group of members of the company taken collectively. This theory is applied effectively where it is difficult to prove that a single person within the company is responsible for the commission of the offence. In South Africa corporate criminal liability developed from vicarious liability. It is regulated by section 332(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977. This liability is based on the special relationship between the director or servant and the corporate body. Corporations act through its agents. The agent can be a director, servant or a third person instructed by either of them. In terms of section 332(1) it is possible that the corporate body can be held liable even where the agent acted beyond the scope of his employment. The latter can be argued is an extension of vicarious liability. Vicarious liability, can be argued, is too broad, because the intention of the agent is imputed to the corporate body, without the enquiry of fault by the corporate body. This offends the general principles of substantive criminal law. Generally, liability in criminal law accrues to someone who committed the offence with the required state of mind. The constitutionality of section 332(1) Act 51 of 1977 is questioned. The question is asked whether it is desirable to punish a legal person for the behaviour of its representatives or employees. Criminal law purports to control the behaviour of individuals to be in line with the interest and values of society. There is doubt whether the same goal can be achieved with the prosecution of corporate bodies. Prosecution of corporate bodies results in stigma to the corporation, which results in suffering a loss of reputation. Some authors argue that civil remedies can control the activities of corporate bodies more effectively. This argument, however, fails to address the issue that criminal law concerns the harm inflicted by human beings, hence the need to regulate human conduct. Corporate criminal liability attempts to address the harm inflicted by corporate bodies. It regulates pollution, health, safety and business. This liability is firmly established around the world but requires further development and modern refinement in South Africa. , Abstract
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Dunywa, Mziwonke Samson
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Criminal procedure -- South Africa -- Evaluation , South Africa. Criminal Procedure Act, 1977
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: vital:10197 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/748 , Criminal procedure -- South Africa -- Evaluation , South Africa. Criminal Procedure Act, 1977
- Description: The general principle in criminal law is that a person is liable when committing a criminal offence. This may include an offence a person has facilitated or procured. Vicarious liability, a principle borrowed from civil law, is an exception to the general rule in that it allows for a person to be held liable for the criminal acts of another. Legal persons have no physical existence and do not have hands and brains like natural persons. A legal person acts through its directors, employees, members or representatives. The corporation, being distinct and separate from its agents, is held liable for the acts or omissions of its representatives. This liability exists even though the corporate body never acted. International recognition of corporate criminal liability can be based on vicarious liability, identification or aggregation. All these forms of liability are derived from the human actus and mens rea. The identification theory provides for the liability of the corporate body, when someone who is identified with it, acted during the course of his employment when committing the offence. Those acts are treated as the acts of the corporate body. The identification theory is normally applied where mens rea is a requirement of the offence. The Aggregation theory provides for criminal liability of the corporation based on the conduct of a group of members of the company taken collectively. This theory is applied effectively where it is difficult to prove that a single person within the company is responsible for the commission of the offence. In South Africa corporate criminal liability developed from vicarious liability. It is regulated by section 332(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977. This liability is based on the special relationship between the director or servant and the corporate body. Corporations act through its agents. The agent can be a director, servant or a third person instructed by either of them. In terms of section 332(1) it is possible that the corporate body can be held liable even where the agent acted beyond the scope of his employment. The latter can be argued is an extension of vicarious liability. Vicarious liability, can be argued, is too broad, because the intention of the agent is imputed to the corporate body, without the enquiry of fault by the corporate body. This offends the general principles of substantive criminal law. Generally, liability in criminal law accrues to someone who committed the offence with the required state of mind. The constitutionality of section 332(1) Act 51 of 1977 is questioned. The question is asked whether it is desirable to punish a legal person for the behaviour of its representatives or employees. Criminal law purports to control the behaviour of individuals to be in line with the interest and values of society. There is doubt whether the same goal can be achieved with the prosecution of corporate bodies. Prosecution of corporate bodies results in stigma to the corporation, which results in suffering a loss of reputation. Some authors argue that civil remedies can control the activities of corporate bodies more effectively. This argument, however, fails to address the issue that criminal law concerns the harm inflicted by human beings, hence the need to regulate human conduct. Corporate criminal liability attempts to address the harm inflicted by corporate bodies. It regulates pollution, health, safety and business. This liability is firmly established around the world but requires further development and modern refinement in South Africa. , Abstract
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Energy transfer in zinc porphyrin–phthalocyanine heterotrimer and heterononamer studied by fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)
- Durmus, Mahmut, Chen, Jiyao Y, Zhao, Zhixin X, Nyokong, Tebello
- Authors: Durmus, Mahmut , Chen, Jiyao Y , Zhao, Zhixin X , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/268599 , vital:54213 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2007.07.010"
- Description: Two or eight zinc triphenyl porphyrins were conjugated with Zn-phthalocyanine or H2-phthalocyanine to form ZnPc–(ZnTPP)2, ZnPc–(ZnTPP)8, H2Pc–(ZnTPP)2 and H2Pc–(ZnTPP)8. Energy transfers from the porphyrin moiety to phthalocyanine part were quantitatively studied with the modality of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). By measuring the fluorescence increment from the phthalocyanine moiety and the decrease from porphyrin part under selective excitation at the B band of the porphyrin part in those conjugated compounds and their equimolar mixture of compositions, energy transfer efficiencies were estimated to be 90% for H2Pc–(ZnTPP)8 and ZnPc–(ZnTPP)8, and 60%, 30% for ZnPc–(ZnTPP)2 and H2Pc–(ZnTPP)2, respectively.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Durmus, Mahmut , Chen, Jiyao Y , Zhao, Zhixin X , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/268599 , vital:54213 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2007.07.010"
- Description: Two or eight zinc triphenyl porphyrins were conjugated with Zn-phthalocyanine or H2-phthalocyanine to form ZnPc–(ZnTPP)2, ZnPc–(ZnTPP)8, H2Pc–(ZnTPP)2 and H2Pc–(ZnTPP)8. Energy transfers from the porphyrin moiety to phthalocyanine part were quantitatively studied with the modality of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). By measuring the fluorescence increment from the phthalocyanine moiety and the decrease from porphyrin part under selective excitation at the B band of the porphyrin part in those conjugated compounds and their equimolar mixture of compositions, energy transfer efficiencies were estimated to be 90% for H2Pc–(ZnTPP)8 and ZnPc–(ZnTPP)8, and 60%, 30% for ZnPc–(ZnTPP)2 and H2Pc–(ZnTPP)2, respectively.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Photophysicochemical and fFluorescence quenching studies of benzyloxyphenoxy substituted zinc phthalocyanines
- Authors: Durmuş, M , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2008
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6570 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004133
- Description: Photochemical and photophysical measurements were conducted on peripheral and non-peripheral tetrakis- and octakis(4-benzyloxyphenoxy)-substituted zinc phthalocyanines (1, 2 and 3). General trends are described for photodegradation, and fluorescence quantum yields, triplet lifetimes and triplet quantum yields as well as singlet oxygen quantum yields of these compounds in dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) and toluene. The fluorescence of the complexes is quenched by benzoquinone (BQ), and fluorescence quenching properties are investigated in DMSO and toluene. The effects of the solvents on the photophysical and photochemical parameters of the zinc(II) phthalocyanines (1, 2 and 3) are also reported. Photophysical and photochemical properties of phthalocyanine complexes are very useful for PDT applications.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Durmuş, M , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2008
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6570 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004133
- Description: Photochemical and photophysical measurements were conducted on peripheral and non-peripheral tetrakis- and octakis(4-benzyloxyphenoxy)-substituted zinc phthalocyanines (1, 2 and 3). General trends are described for photodegradation, and fluorescence quantum yields, triplet lifetimes and triplet quantum yields as well as singlet oxygen quantum yields of these compounds in dimethylsulphoxide (DMSO) and toluene. The fluorescence of the complexes is quenched by benzoquinone (BQ), and fluorescence quenching properties are investigated in DMSO and toluene. The effects of the solvents on the photophysical and photochemical parameters of the zinc(II) phthalocyanines (1, 2 and 3) are also reported. Photophysical and photochemical properties of phthalocyanine complexes are very useful for PDT applications.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Adoption of business information systems in an automotive manufacturing environment: a case study
- Authors: Dyer, Shirley
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Management information systems , Technology -- Information services , Information resources management , Business -- Data processing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:9772 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/892 , Management information systems , Technology -- Information services , Information resources management , Business -- Data processing
- Description: Dorbyl Automotive Technologies (DAT) is a manufacturing company that supplies parts and components to the local and international motor vehicle market. The automotive components’ market is very competitive and customers require more from the industry to stay competitive. Customers require full integration throughout the supply chain. DAT and its Information Systems Department have ensured that the necessary business information systems are available to assist the company in staying competitive. One problem, though, is that the users of these systems are not using and adopting the technologies available. This research examines the reasons for this by making use of a technology acceptance model called the UNIFIED THEORY OF ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF TECHNOLOGY (UTAUT), which is an integrated model based on eight different available acceptance models. The aim is to understand which factors influence the use of systems. The research also proposes a way forward by suggesting a model to assist DAT in new system implementations as well as correcting the current situation. The only way DAT will stay competitive is by ensuring that the company becomes lean. Customers demand this as more and more are moving to just-in-time delivery. This implies that the suppliers must react to changes real-time. The use of business information systems will become the main focus area to react to changes quickly and correctly. Effective and accurate systems depend on users making good use of these systems. Remaining competitive will depend on how effectively Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are used.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Dyer, Shirley
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Management information systems , Technology -- Information services , Information resources management , Business -- Data processing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:9772 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/892 , Management information systems , Technology -- Information services , Information resources management , Business -- Data processing
- Description: Dorbyl Automotive Technologies (DAT) is a manufacturing company that supplies parts and components to the local and international motor vehicle market. The automotive components’ market is very competitive and customers require more from the industry to stay competitive. Customers require full integration throughout the supply chain. DAT and its Information Systems Department have ensured that the necessary business information systems are available to assist the company in staying competitive. One problem, though, is that the users of these systems are not using and adopting the technologies available. This research examines the reasons for this by making use of a technology acceptance model called the UNIFIED THEORY OF ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF TECHNOLOGY (UTAUT), which is an integrated model based on eight different available acceptance models. The aim is to understand which factors influence the use of systems. The research also proposes a way forward by suggesting a model to assist DAT in new system implementations as well as correcting the current situation. The only way DAT will stay competitive is by ensuring that the company becomes lean. Customers demand this as more and more are moving to just-in-time delivery. This implies that the suppliers must react to changes real-time. The use of business information systems will become the main focus area to react to changes quickly and correctly. Effective and accurate systems depend on users making good use of these systems. Remaining competitive will depend on how effectively Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are used.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Community participation and project sustainability in rural Zimbabwe: the case of Sangwe communal lands
- Authors: Dzinavatonga, Naison
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Rural development -- Zimbabwe -- Case studies , Local government -- Zimbabwe -- Case studies , Municipal services -- Zimbabwe -- Case studies , Community development -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc (Dev)
- Identifier: vital:11408 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/130 , Rural development -- Zimbabwe -- Case studies , Local government -- Zimbabwe -- Case studies , Municipal services -- Zimbabwe -- Case studies , Community development -- Zimbabwe
- Description: Development thinkers and practitioners have been pondering over community participation for the last decades. Some even called the 1980s a decade of participation in development discourse while others also view the current decade of social movements, Non-Governmental Organizations, and Community-Based Organizations as a manifestation of organized community participation. The Sangwe Communal Lands is one such area that researchers in the last decades have been pondering over the role of community participation in project sustainability. Likewise this study evaluates the effectiveness of community participation in Sangwe where it has been hypothesized that the current participation discourse has not lived up to its billing of ensuring sustainable projects. The research therefore explores some of the politics surrounding community participation in Sangwe and Zimbabwe at large. From one angle to the other, the research overviews some of the different theoretical orientations, goals, processes and practices that are commonly used but not always recognized to constitute genuine community participation. The research is intended to clarify some of the differences that emerge when projects are designed, and to stimulate discussion about community participation more generally. This study shows that the local communities who in this case are the reason for being of NGOs and their programmes are quite critical in development projects undertaken in their own areas. This to a larger extent determines the success of development initiatives at all levels. Such a scenario calls for a proper sustainable and pro-rural community legal and policy framework as a pre-requisite for sustainable projects. The study further highlights the need for development workers and agents to change their attitude towards communities and their indigenous knowledge systems. They need to co-opt community indigenous knowledge as a system that has a unique contribution to sustainable development. Above all, attitude change is the pillar for the New World System and 21st century development paradigm that respects local values, concerns, culture, and aspirations and that these should be taken on board in the management of development programmes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Dzinavatonga, Naison
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Rural development -- Zimbabwe -- Case studies , Local government -- Zimbabwe -- Case studies , Municipal services -- Zimbabwe -- Case studies , Community development -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc (Dev)
- Identifier: vital:11408 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/130 , Rural development -- Zimbabwe -- Case studies , Local government -- Zimbabwe -- Case studies , Municipal services -- Zimbabwe -- Case studies , Community development -- Zimbabwe
- Description: Development thinkers and practitioners have been pondering over community participation for the last decades. Some even called the 1980s a decade of participation in development discourse while others also view the current decade of social movements, Non-Governmental Organizations, and Community-Based Organizations as a manifestation of organized community participation. The Sangwe Communal Lands is one such area that researchers in the last decades have been pondering over the role of community participation in project sustainability. Likewise this study evaluates the effectiveness of community participation in Sangwe where it has been hypothesized that the current participation discourse has not lived up to its billing of ensuring sustainable projects. The research therefore explores some of the politics surrounding community participation in Sangwe and Zimbabwe at large. From one angle to the other, the research overviews some of the different theoretical orientations, goals, processes and practices that are commonly used but not always recognized to constitute genuine community participation. The research is intended to clarify some of the differences that emerge when projects are designed, and to stimulate discussion about community participation more generally. This study shows that the local communities who in this case are the reason for being of NGOs and their programmes are quite critical in development projects undertaken in their own areas. This to a larger extent determines the success of development initiatives at all levels. Such a scenario calls for a proper sustainable and pro-rural community legal and policy framework as a pre-requisite for sustainable projects. The study further highlights the need for development workers and agents to change their attitude towards communities and their indigenous knowledge systems. They need to co-opt community indigenous knowledge as a system that has a unique contribution to sustainable development. Above all, attitude change is the pillar for the New World System and 21st century development paradigm that respects local values, concerns, culture, and aspirations and that these should be taken on board in the management of development programmes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Handling multiple levels of data and multiple research questions in an embedded case study : methodological challenges
- Authors: Edwards, David J A
- Date: 2008
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6247 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007865
- Description: Hougaard et al. report an embedded case study in which nine socially phobic clients were treated as part of a therapy program, which incorporated individual and group therapy and which was largely delivered by trainee clinicians. An important focus of the report is on the effectiveness of their treatment model. This commentary draws attention to the size and complexity of the available data, and it suggests ways in which the use of a more explicitly interpretative methodology can draw out additional dimensions of the data and allow a more systematic contribution to be made to the development of clinical theory.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Edwards, David J A
- Date: 2008
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6247 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007865
- Description: Hougaard et al. report an embedded case study in which nine socially phobic clients were treated as part of a therapy program, which incorporated individual and group therapy and which was largely delivered by trainee clinicians. An important focus of the report is on the effectiveness of their treatment model. This commentary draws attention to the size and complexity of the available data, and it suggests ways in which the use of a more explicitly interpretative methodology can draw out additional dimensions of the data and allow a more systematic contribution to be made to the development of clinical theory.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
The solvent-free approach versus the use of ionic liquids in the synthesis of ferrocenes
- Authors: Elago, Elago R T
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Ferrocene , Inorganic compounds -- Synthesis , Ionic solutions , Solvents
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:10396 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/853 , Ferrocene , Inorganic compounds -- Synthesis , Ionic solutions , Solvents
- Description: The philosophy of green chemistry has seen much development in the past decade. The use of environmentally benign solvents is amongst the areas of green chemistry that have received the most attention. In this context, imidazolium ionic liquids have been widely reported to offer high product yields, fast reaction rates, excellent selectivity and generally mild working conditions, when used as reaction media. In addition, concerns about costs of solvents and the long-term environmental impact that can potentially result when solvents are discarded after their use have led to focused investigations into solvent-free procedures, as reported in recent literature. We have set out to explore the extent to which these advantages could be realized within our research. Non-volatile, non-flammable imidazolium ionic liquids [bmim][I], [bmim][BF4] and [bmim][PF6] were used as green solvents in ferrocene chemistry. Ferrocenoate esters were synthesised efficiently by the respective DCC/DMAP-promoted reactions of ferrocenecarboxylic acid and substituted benzoic acids or, alternatively, the DMAP-promoted reactions of ferrocenoyl fluoride with a range of substituted phenols in [bmim][BF4] and [bmim][PF6]. High yields and short reaction times were achieved. In addition, the ionic liquid was reused several times without a reduction in product yields. Under solvent-free conditions, DCC/DMAP-promoted reactions provided high yields within 3 min of reaction. The possible rearrangement of one of the intermediates in these reactions was modelled theoretically using density function theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/6-31G* level of approximation. Catalyst-free esterification was achieved by the application of microwave radiation to the reaction of ferrocenoyl fluoride and a range of substituted phenols. All the reactions were complete after 1 min of irradiation and products were isolated in high yield. DPAT, HfCl4, Sc(OTf)3 and Al(OTf)3 were screened as catalysts for esterification in [bmim][BF4] and under solvent-free conditions at various temperatures. All attempts at esterification of ferrocenecarboxylic acid with alcohols and phenols were unsuccessful. The Suzuki cross-coupling reaction was carried out in [bmim][BF4]. The isolated yields are, however, poor and suffer from poor reproducibility with different batches of [bmim][BF4] used.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Elago, Elago R T
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Ferrocene , Inorganic compounds -- Synthesis , Ionic solutions , Solvents
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:10396 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/853 , Ferrocene , Inorganic compounds -- Synthesis , Ionic solutions , Solvents
- Description: The philosophy of green chemistry has seen much development in the past decade. The use of environmentally benign solvents is amongst the areas of green chemistry that have received the most attention. In this context, imidazolium ionic liquids have been widely reported to offer high product yields, fast reaction rates, excellent selectivity and generally mild working conditions, when used as reaction media. In addition, concerns about costs of solvents and the long-term environmental impact that can potentially result when solvents are discarded after their use have led to focused investigations into solvent-free procedures, as reported in recent literature. We have set out to explore the extent to which these advantages could be realized within our research. Non-volatile, non-flammable imidazolium ionic liquids [bmim][I], [bmim][BF4] and [bmim][PF6] were used as green solvents in ferrocene chemistry. Ferrocenoate esters were synthesised efficiently by the respective DCC/DMAP-promoted reactions of ferrocenecarboxylic acid and substituted benzoic acids or, alternatively, the DMAP-promoted reactions of ferrocenoyl fluoride with a range of substituted phenols in [bmim][BF4] and [bmim][PF6]. High yields and short reaction times were achieved. In addition, the ionic liquid was reused several times without a reduction in product yields. Under solvent-free conditions, DCC/DMAP-promoted reactions provided high yields within 3 min of reaction. The possible rearrangement of one of the intermediates in these reactions was modelled theoretically using density function theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/6-31G* level of approximation. Catalyst-free esterification was achieved by the application of microwave radiation to the reaction of ferrocenoyl fluoride and a range of substituted phenols. All the reactions were complete after 1 min of irradiation and products were isolated in high yield. DPAT, HfCl4, Sc(OTf)3 and Al(OTf)3 were screened as catalysts for esterification in [bmim][BF4] and under solvent-free conditions at various temperatures. All attempts at esterification of ferrocenecarboxylic acid with alcohols and phenols were unsuccessful. The Suzuki cross-coupling reaction was carried out in [bmim][BF4]. The isolated yields are, however, poor and suffer from poor reproducibility with different batches of [bmim][BF4] used.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Environmental health work methods and procedures for the surveillance and control of avian influenza in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
- Authors: Elie, Sammy Abraham
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Avian influenza -- Eastern Cape -- South Africa -- Prevention , Environmental health -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:9834 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/947 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1009648 , Avian influenza -- Eastern Cape -- South Africa -- Prevention , Environmental health -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: Avian influenza is an infectious disease of birds caused by the Type A strain of the influenza virus. The disease, which was first identified in Italy more than 100 years ago, occurs worldwide (World Health Organization, 2006a). The current outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1), which began in Southeast Asia in mid-2003, is the largest and most severe on record. Never before in the recorded history of this disease have so many countries been simultaneously affected. Since the last pandemic in 1968-1969, the risk of an influenza pandemic has not been considered greater than at the present time. The importance of intervention strategies had become increasingly evident throughout the world. The World Health Organization provides a generic outline for preparedness plans to assist countries in their preparations to respond to a possible avian influenza pandemic. These guidelines may be modified as the epidemiology of avian influenza evolves. The South African National Department of Health has developed national guidelines in the form of an avian influenza preparedness plan. These draft guidelines do not provide detailed Environmental Health work methods and - procedures for the effective surveillance and control of the disease. The general purpose of this study is to develop a standardised set of Environmental Health work methods and - procedures, which will contribute to the effective surveillance and control of avian influenza in the Eastern Cape province – South Africa. Within the context of the purpose of this study, a qualitative, explorative, descriptive, inductive and deductive research design will be used. The methods of data collection will be documentary research, telephonic as well as in-depth personal interviews. In this study, documentary research will be the primary method of data collection. With a qualitative approach, the researcher will be the human instrument for data analysis. The process of qualitative data analysis will be based on data reduction and interpretation; and will be conducted as an activity simultaneously with data collection, data interpretation and narrative reporting writing.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Elie, Sammy Abraham
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Avian influenza -- Eastern Cape -- South Africa -- Prevention , Environmental health -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: vital:9834 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/947 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1009648 , Avian influenza -- Eastern Cape -- South Africa -- Prevention , Environmental health -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: Avian influenza is an infectious disease of birds caused by the Type A strain of the influenza virus. The disease, which was first identified in Italy more than 100 years ago, occurs worldwide (World Health Organization, 2006a). The current outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1), which began in Southeast Asia in mid-2003, is the largest and most severe on record. Never before in the recorded history of this disease have so many countries been simultaneously affected. Since the last pandemic in 1968-1969, the risk of an influenza pandemic has not been considered greater than at the present time. The importance of intervention strategies had become increasingly evident throughout the world. The World Health Organization provides a generic outline for preparedness plans to assist countries in their preparations to respond to a possible avian influenza pandemic. These guidelines may be modified as the epidemiology of avian influenza evolves. The South African National Department of Health has developed national guidelines in the form of an avian influenza preparedness plan. These draft guidelines do not provide detailed Environmental Health work methods and - procedures for the effective surveillance and control of the disease. The general purpose of this study is to develop a standardised set of Environmental Health work methods and - procedures, which will contribute to the effective surveillance and control of avian influenza in the Eastern Cape province – South Africa. Within the context of the purpose of this study, a qualitative, explorative, descriptive, inductive and deductive research design will be used. The methods of data collection will be documentary research, telephonic as well as in-depth personal interviews. In this study, documentary research will be the primary method of data collection. With a qualitative approach, the researcher will be the human instrument for data analysis. The process of qualitative data analysis will be based on data reduction and interpretation; and will be conducted as an activity simultaneously with data collection, data interpretation and narrative reporting writing.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
An investigation into electronic-source plagiarism in a first-year essay assignment
- Authors: Ellery, Karen
- Date: 2008
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70114 , vital:29621 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02602930701772788
- Description: Since the emergence of the electronic era, plagiarism has become an increasingly prevalent problem at tertiary institutions. This study investigated the role electronic sources of information played in influencing plagiarism in an essay assignment in a first-year geography module at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Despite explicit instruction in tutorials on academic writing, referencing and plagiarism, a quarter of students still plagiarised in their essay, with the majority having done so off the Internet. A survey questionnaire and interviews revealed that not only did the school writing experience prepare students poorly for academic writing discourses, but also highlighted that student ignorance with regard to acknowledgement of electronic sources, a pervasive perception of difference between electronic and print sources, as well as the availability of the copy-and-paste facility which reinforces the product view of writing, all contributed towards electronic-source plagiarism. Active instructional engagement with electronic-source material, and open dialogue on ownership of knowledge as well as on moral and ethical issues with students, are recommended as strategies to overcome such plagiarism.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Ellery, Karen
- Date: 2008
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70114 , vital:29621 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02602930701772788
- Description: Since the emergence of the electronic era, plagiarism has become an increasingly prevalent problem at tertiary institutions. This study investigated the role electronic sources of information played in influencing plagiarism in an essay assignment in a first-year geography module at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Despite explicit instruction in tutorials on academic writing, referencing and plagiarism, a quarter of students still plagiarised in their essay, with the majority having done so off the Internet. A survey questionnaire and interviews revealed that not only did the school writing experience prepare students poorly for academic writing discourses, but also highlighted that student ignorance with regard to acknowledgement of electronic sources, a pervasive perception of difference between electronic and print sources, as well as the availability of the copy-and-paste facility which reinforces the product view of writing, all contributed towards electronic-source plagiarism. Active instructional engagement with electronic-source material, and open dialogue on ownership of knowledge as well as on moral and ethical issues with students, are recommended as strategies to overcome such plagiarism.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
WET-Origins: controls on the distribution and dynamics of wetlands in South Africa
- Ellery, William F N, Grenfell, Michael C, Grenfell, Suzanne E, Kotze, Donovan C, McCarthy, Terence, Tooth, Stephen, Grundling, Piet-Louis, Beckedahl, Heinz, Le Maitre, David C, Ramsay, Lisa F
- Authors: Ellery, William F N , Grenfell, Michael C , Grenfell, Suzanne E , Kotze, Donovan C , McCarthy, Terence , Tooth, Stephen , Grundling, Piet-Louis , Beckedahl, Heinz , Le Maitre, David C , Ramsay, Lisa F
- Date: 2008
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/176598 , vital:40091 , ISBN 978-77005-633-6 , https://www.wrc.org.za/mdocs-posts/wetland-management-series-wet-origins-controls-on-the-distribution-and-dynamics-of-wetlands-in-south-africa/
- Description: The need for wetland rehabilitation in South Africa is compelling: loss and degradation of wetlands have been great and national policy and legislation provide clear direction and support for rehabilitation. However, rehabilitating wetlands is often complex because wetlands and their links with people are complex (e.g. through the ways that people use wetlands and the different benefits that people receive from the ecosystem services that wetlands supply).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Ellery, William F N , Grenfell, Michael C , Grenfell, Suzanne E , Kotze, Donovan C , McCarthy, Terence , Tooth, Stephen , Grundling, Piet-Louis , Beckedahl, Heinz , Le Maitre, David C , Ramsay, Lisa F
- Date: 2008
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/176598 , vital:40091 , ISBN 978-77005-633-6 , https://www.wrc.org.za/mdocs-posts/wetland-management-series-wet-origins-controls-on-the-distribution-and-dynamics-of-wetlands-in-south-africa/
- Description: The need for wetland rehabilitation in South Africa is compelling: loss and degradation of wetlands have been great and national policy and legislation provide clear direction and support for rehabilitation. However, rehabilitating wetlands is often complex because wetlands and their links with people are complex (e.g. through the ways that people use wetlands and the different benefits that people receive from the ecosystem services that wetlands supply).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Risk assessment and the effects of overhead work - an automotive industry example
- Authors: Elliott, Andrew Brent
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Human engineering -- South Africa , Industrial safety -- South Africa , Automobile industry workers -- South Africa -- Health risk assessment , Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa -- Safety measures , Musculoskeletal system -- Wounds and injuries -- Prevention , Lifting and carrying -- Safety measures , Work measurement , Posture
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5132 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005211 , Human engineering -- South Africa , Industrial safety -- South Africa , Automobile industry workers -- South Africa -- Health risk assessment , Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa -- Safety measures , Musculoskeletal system -- Wounds and injuries -- Prevention , Lifting and carrying -- Safety measures , Work measurement , Posture
- Description: The focus of this investigation was an analysis of the work demands being placed on South African automotive industry workers as there is a recognised problem with regard to the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Preliminary work was conducted to highlight the dominant risks and areas which elicited higher numbers of MSDs within the chosen automotive plant. An area of concern was highlighted through medical record analysis and the use of risk assessment tools, thereby prioritising the need for ergonomic intervention. In particular, the effects of varying restricted and overhead work heights on the biomechanical, physiological and psychophysical responses of an individual were investigated. Twenty-eight subjects were required to complete sixteen conditions. The conditions consisted of the adoption of restricted and upright overhead static postures, with half requiring the holding of four kilograms of weight in the hands and the remaining eight conditions having no weight. Testing was carried out using an electromyography unit, ergospirometer and a perceptual Body Discomfort Map and Scale. This involved a habituation and testing session. The results of the testing revealed the biomechanical and physiological responses were dependant on the change in height. Body discomfort was also shown to be variable over the changing height conditions. This indicates that there is a significant effect of height on an individual’s responses during overhead work. The extreme restricted (-200mm and -100mm) and upright (+300mm and +400mm) overhead conditions within this study were limiting, as they elicited the highest muscle activation, physiological responses and body discomfort ratings. Positions that are preferable to adopt, which were identified from the results in this study, indicate conditions closer to head height (0mm and +100mm) were favourable. The results therefore illustrate how awkward working postures during work are likely to elicit higher demands from an individual, which could lead to an increased risk for the development of a musculoskeletal disorder. The added factor of weight elicited significant results over all variables, excluding a respiratory The focus of this investigation was an analysis of the work demands being placed on South African automotive industry workers as there is a recognised problem with regard to the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Preliminary work was conducted to highlight the dominant risks and areas which elicited higher numbers of MSDs within the chosen automotive plant. An area of concern was highlighted through medical record analysis and the use of risk assessment tools, thereby prioritising the need for ergonomic intervention. In particular, the effects of varying restricted and overhead work heights on the biomechanical, physiological and psychophysical responses of an individual were investigated. Twenty-eight subjects were required to complete sixteen conditions. The conditions consisted of the adoption of restricted and upright overhead static postures, with half requiring the holding of four kilograms of weight in the hands and the remaining eight conditions having no weight. Testing was carried out using an electromyography unit, ergospirometer and a perceptual Body Discomfort Map and Scale. This involved a habituation and testing session. The results of the testing revealed the biomechanical and physiological responses were dependant on the change in height. Body discomfort was also shown to be variable over the changing height conditions. This indicates that there is a significant effect of height on an individual’s responses during overhead work. The extreme restricted (-200mm and -100mm) and upright (+300mm and +400mm) overhead conditions within this study were limiting, as they elicited the highest muscle activation, physiological responses and body discomfort ratings. Positions that are preferable to adopt, which were identified from the results in this study, indicate conditions closer to head height (0mm and +100mm) were favourable. The results therefore illustrate how awkward working postures during work are likely to elicit higher demands from an individual, which could lead to an increased risk for the development of a musculoskeletal disorder. The added factor of weight elicited significant results over all variables, excluding a respiratory individual.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Elliott, Andrew Brent
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Human engineering -- South Africa , Industrial safety -- South Africa , Automobile industry workers -- South Africa -- Health risk assessment , Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa -- Safety measures , Musculoskeletal system -- Wounds and injuries -- Prevention , Lifting and carrying -- Safety measures , Work measurement , Posture
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5132 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005211 , Human engineering -- South Africa , Industrial safety -- South Africa , Automobile industry workers -- South Africa -- Health risk assessment , Automobile industry and trade -- South Africa -- Safety measures , Musculoskeletal system -- Wounds and injuries -- Prevention , Lifting and carrying -- Safety measures , Work measurement , Posture
- Description: The focus of this investigation was an analysis of the work demands being placed on South African automotive industry workers as there is a recognised problem with regard to the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Preliminary work was conducted to highlight the dominant risks and areas which elicited higher numbers of MSDs within the chosen automotive plant. An area of concern was highlighted through medical record analysis and the use of risk assessment tools, thereby prioritising the need for ergonomic intervention. In particular, the effects of varying restricted and overhead work heights on the biomechanical, physiological and psychophysical responses of an individual were investigated. Twenty-eight subjects were required to complete sixteen conditions. The conditions consisted of the adoption of restricted and upright overhead static postures, with half requiring the holding of four kilograms of weight in the hands and the remaining eight conditions having no weight. Testing was carried out using an electromyography unit, ergospirometer and a perceptual Body Discomfort Map and Scale. This involved a habituation and testing session. The results of the testing revealed the biomechanical and physiological responses were dependant on the change in height. Body discomfort was also shown to be variable over the changing height conditions. This indicates that there is a significant effect of height on an individual’s responses during overhead work. The extreme restricted (-200mm and -100mm) and upright (+300mm and +400mm) overhead conditions within this study were limiting, as they elicited the highest muscle activation, physiological responses and body discomfort ratings. Positions that are preferable to adopt, which were identified from the results in this study, indicate conditions closer to head height (0mm and +100mm) were favourable. The results therefore illustrate how awkward working postures during work are likely to elicit higher demands from an individual, which could lead to an increased risk for the development of a musculoskeletal disorder. The added factor of weight elicited significant results over all variables, excluding a respiratory The focus of this investigation was an analysis of the work demands being placed on South African automotive industry workers as there is a recognised problem with regard to the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Preliminary work was conducted to highlight the dominant risks and areas which elicited higher numbers of MSDs within the chosen automotive plant. An area of concern was highlighted through medical record analysis and the use of risk assessment tools, thereby prioritising the need for ergonomic intervention. In particular, the effects of varying restricted and overhead work heights on the biomechanical, physiological and psychophysical responses of an individual were investigated. Twenty-eight subjects were required to complete sixteen conditions. The conditions consisted of the adoption of restricted and upright overhead static postures, with half requiring the holding of four kilograms of weight in the hands and the remaining eight conditions having no weight. Testing was carried out using an electromyography unit, ergospirometer and a perceptual Body Discomfort Map and Scale. This involved a habituation and testing session. The results of the testing revealed the biomechanical and physiological responses were dependant on the change in height. Body discomfort was also shown to be variable over the changing height conditions. This indicates that there is a significant effect of height on an individual’s responses during overhead work. The extreme restricted (-200mm and -100mm) and upright (+300mm and +400mm) overhead conditions within this study were limiting, as they elicited the highest muscle activation, physiological responses and body discomfort ratings. Positions that are preferable to adopt, which were identified from the results in this study, indicate conditions closer to head height (0mm and +100mm) were favourable. The results therefore illustrate how awkward working postures during work are likely to elicit higher demands from an individual, which could lead to an increased risk for the development of a musculoskeletal disorder. The added factor of weight elicited significant results over all variables, excluding a respiratory individual.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008