Reflections on Teaching Africa in South Africa:
- Authors: Matthews, Sally
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142235 , vital:38061 , DOI: 10.1111/1467-9256.12107
- Description: This article draws on the author’s experience of teaching African Studies to undergraduate South African students in order to reflect on some of the key challenges facing teachers of African Studies, both in South Africa and beyond. In particular, it discusses challenges relating to teaching a field as contested as African Studies, looking at whether teaching African alternatives to mainstream African politics is helpful and at whether and how one can teach Africa in a way that encourages and develops critical thinking. The article also explores how the racial politics of the context in which one teaches African Studies inevitably affects the way in which students engage with the content of the course. While the article discusses these issues in relation to the South African higher education context in particular, implications for other contexts are also highlighted.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Matthews, Sally
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142235 , vital:38061 , DOI: 10.1111/1467-9256.12107
- Description: This article draws on the author’s experience of teaching African Studies to undergraduate South African students in order to reflect on some of the key challenges facing teachers of African Studies, both in South Africa and beyond. In particular, it discusses challenges relating to teaching a field as contested as African Studies, looking at whether teaching African alternatives to mainstream African politics is helpful and at whether and how one can teach Africa in a way that encourages and develops critical thinking. The article also explores how the racial politics of the context in which one teaches African Studies inevitably affects the way in which students engage with the content of the course. While the article discusses these issues in relation to the South African higher education context in particular, implications for other contexts are also highlighted.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
LCT in mixed-methods research: evolving an instrument for quantitative data
- Maton, Karl, Howard, Sarah Katherine
- Authors: Maton, Karl , Howard, Sarah Katherine
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66479 , vital:28954
- Description: publisher version , A mantra of social science declares a fundamental divide between the quantitative and the qualitative that involves more than methods. According to this depiction, the two methodologies are intrinsically associated with a range of ontological, epistemological, political and moral stances. Each of these constellations of stances is strongly integrated, such that choice of method is held to involve a series of associated choices. Each constellation is also strongly opposed to the other, along axes labelled positivism/constructivism, scientism/humanism, conservative/critical, old/new, among others. These ‘binary constellations’ (Maton 2014b: 148-70) offer a forced choice between two tightly-knit sets of practices that are portrayed as jointly exhaustive and mutually exclusive. So widespread is this methodological binarism that many scholars ‘are left with the impression that they have to pledge allegiance to one research school of thought or the other’ (Johnson and Onwuegbuzie 2004: 14). A competing mantra disclaims this divide. Distinctions underpinning the picture of binary constellations have been regularly dissolved. Arguments that one deals with numbers, the other with words, one studies behaviour, the other reveals meanings, one is hypothetico-deductive, the other inductive, one enables generalization, the other explores singular depth, among others, have been repeatedly undermined (e.g. Hammersley 1992). Indeed, the death of the divide is frequently declared. Calls for ‘transcending’ (Salomon 1991) or ‘getting over’ (Howe 1992) the quantitative-qualitative debate and arguments for mixed-methods research (Brannen 2005; Johnson and Onwuegbuzie 2004) are recurrent. These calls highlight how the methodologies offer complementary insights for research and demonstrate that eschewing either methodology on principle is unnecessarily renouncing potential explanatory power. However, the call to mixed-methods research remains more breached than honoured. Methodological monotheism remains dominant – studies of education and society typically adopt either quantitative or qualitative methods. As we shall discuss, the former is typically associated with the influence of psychology and the latter is often claimed as emblematic of sociology. Studies utilizing the sociological frameworks on which Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) builds have echoed this pattern by overwhelmingly adopting qualitative methods. Accordingly, Part I of this volume begins by exploring how LCT concepts can be enacted in qualitative research (Chapter 2). However, LCT is not limited to one methodology and a growing body of mixed-methods research is engaging with both qualitative and quantitative data. In this chapter we illustrate how this research works and the gains it offers. For resolutely qualitative researchers, the prospect of reading anything quantitative, even in mixed-methods research, may be unenticing. However, it would be a mistake to pass over this chapter, for several reasons. First, we offer insights into research practice that might surprise such scholars. As Bourdieu argued, ‘methodological indictments are too often no more than a disguised way of making a virtue out of necessity, of feigning to dismiss, to ignore in an active way, what one is ignorant of in fact’ (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992: 226). Our aim is to contribute towards removing this reason for one-sidedness. We show, for example, how quantitative methods confound their common portrayal as neat, straightforward and procedural; they are complex and involved and require craft work and judgement. Our focus is, therefore, more practical than metaphysical. We shall not enter seemingly endless debates over whether the ‘quantitative-qualitative divide’ refers to paradigms, epistemologies or methods and whether these are complementary or incommensurable. Rather, we discuss the development of an instrument for enacting LCT concepts in quantitative methods and ground this account in real examples of mixed-methods research. Specifically, we trace the evolution of an instrument for embedding specialization codes within questionnaires through its creation for research into school music and then its development within studies of educational technology. Given that mathematics can be off-putting to the noviciate, we minimize discussion of statistics and explain measures in lay terms. Second, this is much more than a story of quantitative methods. The evolution of the instrument both shaped qualitative methods and was shaped by the data they generated, offering insights into how qualitative research can more fully engage with LCT. Its development also involved intimate dialogue with theory that shed fresh light on LCT itself, making explicit the ‘gaze’ embodied by the framework (Chapter 1, this volume). We shall highlight wider lessons learned about the craft of enacting LCT in research, lessons of direct relevance for studies using any methods. Third, we shall illustrate the explanatory power offered by using quantitative and qualitative methods together, such as providing a robust basis for detailed findings, identifying wider-scale trends typically inaccessible to qualitative methods that provide a context for their data, and facilitating knowledge-building through greater replicability across contexts and over time. For example, the technology studies built directly on the music studies to cumulatively develop the instrument and generated probably the largest data set in code sociology: 97,386 responses (83,937 student and 13,449 staff surveys) on the organizing principles of academic subjects, alongside 20 in-depth qualitative case studies of secondary schools. This offers a foundation of substantial breadth and depth for making claims about knowledge practices across the disciplinary map and a firm basis on which future research into disciplinary differences can build. Moreover, the quantitative instrument itself can be adopted or adapted in new studies, further enabling cumulative knowledge-building. Given these substantive, methodological and theoretical gains, it is perhaps surprising there exists any temptation to skip past discussion of mixed-methods research. This reflects the methodological character of the fields in which LCT emerged. We thus begin by briefly illustrating how the sociological frameworks on which the theory builds have become distanced from quantitative methods.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Maton, Karl , Howard, Sarah Katherine
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66479 , vital:28954
- Description: publisher version , A mantra of social science declares a fundamental divide between the quantitative and the qualitative that involves more than methods. According to this depiction, the two methodologies are intrinsically associated with a range of ontological, epistemological, political and moral stances. Each of these constellations of stances is strongly integrated, such that choice of method is held to involve a series of associated choices. Each constellation is also strongly opposed to the other, along axes labelled positivism/constructivism, scientism/humanism, conservative/critical, old/new, among others. These ‘binary constellations’ (Maton 2014b: 148-70) offer a forced choice between two tightly-knit sets of practices that are portrayed as jointly exhaustive and mutually exclusive. So widespread is this methodological binarism that many scholars ‘are left with the impression that they have to pledge allegiance to one research school of thought or the other’ (Johnson and Onwuegbuzie 2004: 14). A competing mantra disclaims this divide. Distinctions underpinning the picture of binary constellations have been regularly dissolved. Arguments that one deals with numbers, the other with words, one studies behaviour, the other reveals meanings, one is hypothetico-deductive, the other inductive, one enables generalization, the other explores singular depth, among others, have been repeatedly undermined (e.g. Hammersley 1992). Indeed, the death of the divide is frequently declared. Calls for ‘transcending’ (Salomon 1991) or ‘getting over’ (Howe 1992) the quantitative-qualitative debate and arguments for mixed-methods research (Brannen 2005; Johnson and Onwuegbuzie 2004) are recurrent. These calls highlight how the methodologies offer complementary insights for research and demonstrate that eschewing either methodology on principle is unnecessarily renouncing potential explanatory power. However, the call to mixed-methods research remains more breached than honoured. Methodological monotheism remains dominant – studies of education and society typically adopt either quantitative or qualitative methods. As we shall discuss, the former is typically associated with the influence of psychology and the latter is often claimed as emblematic of sociology. Studies utilizing the sociological frameworks on which Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) builds have echoed this pattern by overwhelmingly adopting qualitative methods. Accordingly, Part I of this volume begins by exploring how LCT concepts can be enacted in qualitative research (Chapter 2). However, LCT is not limited to one methodology and a growing body of mixed-methods research is engaging with both qualitative and quantitative data. In this chapter we illustrate how this research works and the gains it offers. For resolutely qualitative researchers, the prospect of reading anything quantitative, even in mixed-methods research, may be unenticing. However, it would be a mistake to pass over this chapter, for several reasons. First, we offer insights into research practice that might surprise such scholars. As Bourdieu argued, ‘methodological indictments are too often no more than a disguised way of making a virtue out of necessity, of feigning to dismiss, to ignore in an active way, what one is ignorant of in fact’ (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992: 226). Our aim is to contribute towards removing this reason for one-sidedness. We show, for example, how quantitative methods confound their common portrayal as neat, straightforward and procedural; they are complex and involved and require craft work and judgement. Our focus is, therefore, more practical than metaphysical. We shall not enter seemingly endless debates over whether the ‘quantitative-qualitative divide’ refers to paradigms, epistemologies or methods and whether these are complementary or incommensurable. Rather, we discuss the development of an instrument for enacting LCT concepts in quantitative methods and ground this account in real examples of mixed-methods research. Specifically, we trace the evolution of an instrument for embedding specialization codes within questionnaires through its creation for research into school music and then its development within studies of educational technology. Given that mathematics can be off-putting to the noviciate, we minimize discussion of statistics and explain measures in lay terms. Second, this is much more than a story of quantitative methods. The evolution of the instrument both shaped qualitative methods and was shaped by the data they generated, offering insights into how qualitative research can more fully engage with LCT. Its development also involved intimate dialogue with theory that shed fresh light on LCT itself, making explicit the ‘gaze’ embodied by the framework (Chapter 1, this volume). We shall highlight wider lessons learned about the craft of enacting LCT in research, lessons of direct relevance for studies using any methods. Third, we shall illustrate the explanatory power offered by using quantitative and qualitative methods together, such as providing a robust basis for detailed findings, identifying wider-scale trends typically inaccessible to qualitative methods that provide a context for their data, and facilitating knowledge-building through greater replicability across contexts and over time. For example, the technology studies built directly on the music studies to cumulatively develop the instrument and generated probably the largest data set in code sociology: 97,386 responses (83,937 student and 13,449 staff surveys) on the organizing principles of academic subjects, alongside 20 in-depth qualitative case studies of secondary schools. This offers a foundation of substantial breadth and depth for making claims about knowledge practices across the disciplinary map and a firm basis on which future research into disciplinary differences can build. Moreover, the quantitative instrument itself can be adopted or adapted in new studies, further enabling cumulative knowledge-building. Given these substantive, methodological and theoretical gains, it is perhaps surprising there exists any temptation to skip past discussion of mixed-methods research. This reflects the methodological character of the fields in which LCT emerged. We thus begin by briefly illustrating how the sociological frameworks on which the theory builds have become distanced from quantitative methods.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
The influence of photoperiod on the reproductive physiology of the greater red musk shrew: Crocidura flavescens
- Hoole, C, McKechnie, Andrew E, Parker, Daniel M, Bennett, Nigel C
- Authors: Hoole, C , McKechnie, Andrew E , Parker, Daniel M , Bennett, Nigel C
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70136 , vital:29624 , https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2015-0128
- Description: Photoperiodism involves the use of both absolute measures of day length and the direction in which day length is changing as a cue for regulating seasonal changes in physiology and behaviour so that birth and lactation coincide with optimal resource availability, increasing offspring survival. Induced ovulation and opportunistic breeding is often found in species that are predominantly solitary and territorial. In this study, the photoperiodic reproductive responses of male greater red musk shrews (Crocidura flavescens (I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1827)) were investigated in the laboratory. The presence of spermatozoa regardless of the light cycle, suggest that although the shrews are photoresponsive, they may be capable of breeding throughout the year. Significantly greater testicular volume and eminiferous tubule diameter following exposure to a short day-light cycle suggests that these animals may have breeding peaks that correspond to short days. The presence of epidermal spines on the penis indicates that the shrew is likely also an induced ovulator. Flexible breeding patterns combined with induced ovulation affords this solitary species the greatest chance of reproductive success.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Hoole, C , McKechnie, Andrew E , Parker, Daniel M , Bennett, Nigel C
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70136 , vital:29624 , https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2015-0128
- Description: Photoperiodism involves the use of both absolute measures of day length and the direction in which day length is changing as a cue for regulating seasonal changes in physiology and behaviour so that birth and lactation coincide with optimal resource availability, increasing offspring survival. Induced ovulation and opportunistic breeding is often found in species that are predominantly solitary and territorial. In this study, the photoperiodic reproductive responses of male greater red musk shrews (Crocidura flavescens (I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1827)) were investigated in the laboratory. The presence of spermatozoa regardless of the light cycle, suggest that although the shrews are photoresponsive, they may be capable of breeding throughout the year. Significantly greater testicular volume and eminiferous tubule diameter following exposure to a short day-light cycle suggests that these animals may have breeding peaks that correspond to short days. The presence of epidermal spines on the penis indicates that the shrew is likely also an induced ovulator. Flexible breeding patterns combined with induced ovulation affords this solitary species the greatest chance of reproductive success.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
A River of Blood Flows: Lerato Shadi’s ‘Noka Ya Bokamoso’
- Authors: Makandula, Sikhumbuzo
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147258 , vital:38609 , https://artthrob.co.za/2016/07/13/a-river-of-blood-flows-lerato-shadis-noka-ya-bokamoso/
- Description: The title of Lerato Shadi’s show, ‘Noka Ya Bokamoso,’ which opened at National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, translates from Setswana to ‘a river of tomorrow.’ In the Albany gallery you encounter Shadi performing Mosako Wa Nako. She sits silently crocheting a ball of red wool into a scroll which unfurls with indecipherable writing. Shadi’s isolation from the rest of the artworks on the exhibition draws you closer, emphasising the rhythmic movement of her hands.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Makandula, Sikhumbuzo
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147258 , vital:38609 , https://artthrob.co.za/2016/07/13/a-river-of-blood-flows-lerato-shadis-noka-ya-bokamoso/
- Description: The title of Lerato Shadi’s show, ‘Noka Ya Bokamoso,’ which opened at National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, translates from Setswana to ‘a river of tomorrow.’ In the Albany gallery you encounter Shadi performing Mosako Wa Nako. She sits silently crocheting a ball of red wool into a scroll which unfurls with indecipherable writing. Shadi’s isolation from the rest of the artworks on the exhibition draws you closer, emphasising the rhythmic movement of her hands.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
“Turn on” fluorescence enhancement of Zn octacarboxyphthaloyanine-graphene oxide conjugates by hydrogen peroxide
- Shumba, Munyaradzi, Mashazi, Philani N, Nyokong, Tebello
- Authors: Shumba, Munyaradzi , Mashazi, Philani N , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/240875 , vital:50881 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlumin.2015.11.001"
- Description: Zn octacarboxy phthalocyanine-reduced graphene oxide or graphene oxide conjugates were characterized by absorption spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermo gravimetric analysis and X-ray photon spectroscopy. The presence of reduced graphene oxide or graphene oxide resulted in the quenching (turn on) of Zn octacarboxy phthalocyanine fluorescence which can be explained by photoinduced electron transfer. Zn octacarboxy phthalocyanine-reduced graphene oxide or graphene oxide conjugates “turned on” fluorescence showed a linear response to hydrogen peroxide hence their potential to be used as sensors. The nanoprobe developed showed high selectivity towards hydrogen peroxide in the presence of physiological interferences.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Shumba, Munyaradzi , Mashazi, Philani N , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/240875 , vital:50881 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlumin.2015.11.001"
- Description: Zn octacarboxy phthalocyanine-reduced graphene oxide or graphene oxide conjugates were characterized by absorption spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermo gravimetric analysis and X-ray photon spectroscopy. The presence of reduced graphene oxide or graphene oxide resulted in the quenching (turn on) of Zn octacarboxy phthalocyanine fluorescence which can be explained by photoinduced electron transfer. Zn octacarboxy phthalocyanine-reduced graphene oxide or graphene oxide conjugates “turned on” fluorescence showed a linear response to hydrogen peroxide hence their potential to be used as sensors. The nanoprobe developed showed high selectivity towards hydrogen peroxide in the presence of physiological interferences.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Investigating the role of the South African Schools Choral Eisteddfod in introducing learners to music career
- Authors: Sibene, Vuyelwa
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Choral music -- South Africa , Choral singing -- Instruction and study -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/26382 , vital:65298
- Description: This research investigates the role of South African Schools Choral Eisteddfod (SASCE) in introducing learners in high schools to music career. It attempts to identify learners in grade 12 who want to study music at university and students who were involved in SASCE and are now in university. These learners and students have limited music background and are/were involved in the South African Schools Choral Eisteddfod (SASCE) program. Within the study, I felt to also include a graduated music student to validate the study. The study proceeds with the investigation by exploring numerous areas such as SASCE as a music program, music education, music careers, national curriculum, music literacy etc. Also, I write about the background to the study in which I share my motivation and experiences about the SASCE programme and how it influenced me and other former SASCE participants’ decisions about musical careers. Data collection is executed through the involvement of the sampled learner and students through participating in semi-structured interview, document analysis and personal observations. Four interviews which were in qualitative method were conducted with 4 participants, one interview each participant was in a semi-structure form. Interviews were aimed in recognizing the current status of the learner/students in music literacy and are they coping in their respected places of study. The data is analyzed using a qualitative analyses technique. Further, the study outlines problems and one research question of the investigation, 'To which extent do University music students with limited music background succeed or fail to obtain their music degrees?’. , Thesis (BMUS) -- Faculty of Humanities, 2016
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Sibene, Vuyelwa
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: Choral music -- South Africa , Choral singing -- Instruction and study -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/26382 , vital:65298
- Description: This research investigates the role of South African Schools Choral Eisteddfod (SASCE) in introducing learners in high schools to music career. It attempts to identify learners in grade 12 who want to study music at university and students who were involved in SASCE and are now in university. These learners and students have limited music background and are/were involved in the South African Schools Choral Eisteddfod (SASCE) program. Within the study, I felt to also include a graduated music student to validate the study. The study proceeds with the investigation by exploring numerous areas such as SASCE as a music program, music education, music careers, national curriculum, music literacy etc. Also, I write about the background to the study in which I share my motivation and experiences about the SASCE programme and how it influenced me and other former SASCE participants’ decisions about musical careers. Data collection is executed through the involvement of the sampled learner and students through participating in semi-structured interview, document analysis and personal observations. Four interviews which were in qualitative method were conducted with 4 participants, one interview each participant was in a semi-structure form. Interviews were aimed in recognizing the current status of the learner/students in music literacy and are they coping in their respected places of study. The data is analyzed using a qualitative analyses technique. Further, the study outlines problems and one research question of the investigation, 'To which extent do University music students with limited music background succeed or fail to obtain their music degrees?’. , Thesis (BMUS) -- Faculty of Humanities, 2016
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
“Turn on” fluorescence enhancement of Zn octacarboxyphthaloyanine-graphene oxide conjugates by hydrogen peroxide
- Shumba, Munyaradzi, Mashazi, Philani N, Nyokong, Tebello
- Authors: Shumba, Munyaradzi , Mashazi, Philani N , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190438 , vital:44994 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlumin.2015.11.001"
- Description: Zn octacarboxy phthalocyanine-reduced graphene oxide or graphene oxide conjugates were characterized by absorption spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermo gravimetric analysis and X-ray photon spectroscopy. The presence of reduced graphene oxide or graphene oxide resulted in the quenching (turn on) of Zn octacarboxy phthalocyanine fluorescence which can be explained by photoinduced electron transfer. Zn octacarboxy phthalocyaninereduced graphene oxide or graphene oxide conjugates “turned on” fluorescence showed a linear response to hydrogen peroxide hence their potential to be used as sensors. The nanoprobe developed showed high selectivity towards hydrogen peroxide in the presence of physiological interferences.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Shumba, Munyaradzi , Mashazi, Philani N , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/190438 , vital:44994 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlumin.2015.11.001"
- Description: Zn octacarboxy phthalocyanine-reduced graphene oxide or graphene oxide conjugates were characterized by absorption spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermo gravimetric analysis and X-ray photon spectroscopy. The presence of reduced graphene oxide or graphene oxide resulted in the quenching (turn on) of Zn octacarboxy phthalocyanine fluorescence which can be explained by photoinduced electron transfer. Zn octacarboxy phthalocyaninereduced graphene oxide or graphene oxide conjugates “turned on” fluorescence showed a linear response to hydrogen peroxide hence their potential to be used as sensors. The nanoprobe developed showed high selectivity towards hydrogen peroxide in the presence of physiological interferences.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Designing writing groups to support postgraduate students’ academic writing: a case study from a South African university
- Authors: Wilmot, Kirstin
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66267 , vital:28926 , https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2016.1238775
- Description: publisher version , This paper reports on a writing group pilot programme implemented at a South African university. Drawing on literature, anonymous student evaluations and facilitator observations, it discusses the use of writing groups for supporting postgraduate academic writing practices. Developed within a broader postgraduate academic writing support programme, the paper discusses a case study of two pilot writing groups: a multidisciplinary long-term group and a disciplinary short-term ‘writing-intensive’ group. The findings indicate that the overall experience of the writing group was a positive one, with each group presenting varied ‘success’ aspects as well as challenges. Insights gleaned may contribute to our understanding of how these groups can be utilised to support postgraduate students and how different kinds of groups can be developed to serve particular student needs. The paper concludes with a discussion of the inclusion of a disciplinary expert, which proved particularly useful in this pilot.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2018
- Authors: Wilmot, Kirstin
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66267 , vital:28926 , https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2016.1238775
- Description: publisher version , This paper reports on a writing group pilot programme implemented at a South African university. Drawing on literature, anonymous student evaluations and facilitator observations, it discusses the use of writing groups for supporting postgraduate academic writing practices. Developed within a broader postgraduate academic writing support programme, the paper discusses a case study of two pilot writing groups: a multidisciplinary long-term group and a disciplinary short-term ‘writing-intensive’ group. The findings indicate that the overall experience of the writing group was a positive one, with each group presenting varied ‘success’ aspects as well as challenges. Insights gleaned may contribute to our understanding of how these groups can be utilised to support postgraduate students and how different kinds of groups can be developed to serve particular student needs. The paper concludes with a discussion of the inclusion of a disciplinary expert, which proved particularly useful in this pilot.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2018
Art investment in South Africa: portfolio diversification and art market efficiency
- Botha, Ferdi, Snowball, Jeanette D, Scott, Brett
- Authors: Botha, Ferdi , Snowball, Jeanette D , Scott, Brett
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64794 , vital:28601 , http://www.dx.doi.org/10.17159/2222-3436/2016/v19n3a4
- Description: Art has been suggested as a good way to diversify investment portfolios during times of financial uncertainty. The argument is that art exhibits different risk and return characteristics to conventional investments in other asset classes. The new Citadel art price index offered the opportunity to test this theory in the South African context. Moreover, this paper tests whether art prices are efficient. The Citadel index uses the hedonic regression method with observations drawn from the top 100, 50 and 20 artists by sales volume, giving approximately 29 503 total auction observations. The Index consists of quarterly data from the period 2000Q1 to 2013Q3. A vector autoregression of the art price index, Johannesburg stock exchange all-share index, house price index, and South African government bond index were used. Results show that, when there are increased returns on the stock market in a preceding period and wealth increases, there is a change in the Citadel art price index in the same direction. No significant difference was found between the house price index and the art price index, or between the art and government bond price indices. The art market is also found to be inefficient, thereby exacerbating the risk of investing in art. Overall, the South African art market does not offer the opportunity to diversify portfolios dominated by either property, bonds, or shares.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Botha, Ferdi , Snowball, Jeanette D , Scott, Brett
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/64794 , vital:28601 , http://www.dx.doi.org/10.17159/2222-3436/2016/v19n3a4
- Description: Art has been suggested as a good way to diversify investment portfolios during times of financial uncertainty. The argument is that art exhibits different risk and return characteristics to conventional investments in other asset classes. The new Citadel art price index offered the opportunity to test this theory in the South African context. Moreover, this paper tests whether art prices are efficient. The Citadel index uses the hedonic regression method with observations drawn from the top 100, 50 and 20 artists by sales volume, giving approximately 29 503 total auction observations. The Index consists of quarterly data from the period 2000Q1 to 2013Q3. A vector autoregression of the art price index, Johannesburg stock exchange all-share index, house price index, and South African government bond index were used. Results show that, when there are increased returns on the stock market in a preceding period and wealth increases, there is a change in the Citadel art price index in the same direction. No significant difference was found between the house price index and the art price index, or between the art and government bond price indices. The art market is also found to be inefficient, thereby exacerbating the risk of investing in art. Overall, the South African art market does not offer the opportunity to diversify portfolios dominated by either property, bonds, or shares.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Reimagining curriculum through a Bernsteinian lens: rethinking the canon in Political Science
- Authors: Clarence, Sherran
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , conference publication
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66961 , vital:29006
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Clarence, Sherran
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , conference publication
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66961 , vital:29006
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
SASO and Black Consciousness, and the shift to congress politics
- Authors: Badat, Saleem
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: book chapter , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59755 , vital:27645 , http://witspress.co.za/catalogue/students-must-rise/
- Description: Students Must Rise 98 Chapter 8 SASO and Black Consciousness, and the shift to congress politics I n 1960, demonstrators protesting against pass laws were killed and injured by police at Sharpeville. Soon afterwards, the apartheid government declared a state of emergency. Over 11 000 political activists were detained, and repressive new laws, police raids, arrests, bannings, and torture were used to crush political opposition to apartheid. The African National Congress (ANC) and Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) were banned, and many leaders of the ANC and PAC were arrested and imprisoned , and hundreds fled into exile. For many white South Africans, the rest of the 1960s were a time of economic boom, political calm, prosperity, and rising living standards. Some blacks took the opportunity to accumulate wealth, power, and privilege through the Bantustans that the apartheid government established as part of its separate development programme. For most blacks, it was a period of great economic exploitation, extensive political and social control, fear, and demoralisation. It was difficult to see how there could be any political challenge to white minority rule. Anti-apartheid organisations faced immediate repression. They also had to overcome black people’s fear and demoralisation, which stood in the way of mobilising opposition against apartheid. The emergence of the South African Students’ Organisation and Black Consciousness Despite many problems, the South African Students’ Organisation (SASO) was formed as an exclusively black university and college student organisation in 1968. It escaped immediate state repression, and developed a following among students at the Saleem Badat SASO and Black Consciousness, and the shift to congress politics 99 universities reserved for blacks. Thereafter, the ideology of Black Consciousness (BC) was developed and other BC organisations were formed, resulting in the BC movement. SASO saw its challenge as the ‘assertion, manifestation and development of a sense of awareness politically, socially and economically among the black community’.1 It emphasised black ‘group cohesion and solidarity’ as ‘important facets of Black Consciousness’, the need for ‘the totality of involvement of the oppressed people’, and for BC ‘to be spread to reach all sections of the black community’.2 SASO began community development, literacy, education, media, culture, and sports projects, which aimed to help black communities to determine and realise their own needs. They were seen as a means to win the trust of people and to educate and mobilise them.3 Projects instilled the idea of self-reliance, seen as important for achieving freedom, in members and communities. SASO created a favourable political climate for various organisations to emerge.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Badat, Saleem
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: book chapter , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59755 , vital:27645 , http://witspress.co.za/catalogue/students-must-rise/
- Description: Students Must Rise 98 Chapter 8 SASO and Black Consciousness, and the shift to congress politics I n 1960, demonstrators protesting against pass laws were killed and injured by police at Sharpeville. Soon afterwards, the apartheid government declared a state of emergency. Over 11 000 political activists were detained, and repressive new laws, police raids, arrests, bannings, and torture were used to crush political opposition to apartheid. The African National Congress (ANC) and Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) were banned, and many leaders of the ANC and PAC were arrested and imprisoned , and hundreds fled into exile. For many white South Africans, the rest of the 1960s were a time of economic boom, political calm, prosperity, and rising living standards. Some blacks took the opportunity to accumulate wealth, power, and privilege through the Bantustans that the apartheid government established as part of its separate development programme. For most blacks, it was a period of great economic exploitation, extensive political and social control, fear, and demoralisation. It was difficult to see how there could be any political challenge to white minority rule. Anti-apartheid organisations faced immediate repression. They also had to overcome black people’s fear and demoralisation, which stood in the way of mobilising opposition against apartheid. The emergence of the South African Students’ Organisation and Black Consciousness Despite many problems, the South African Students’ Organisation (SASO) was formed as an exclusively black university and college student organisation in 1968. It escaped immediate state repression, and developed a following among students at the Saleem Badat SASO and Black Consciousness, and the shift to congress politics 99 universities reserved for blacks. Thereafter, the ideology of Black Consciousness (BC) was developed and other BC organisations were formed, resulting in the BC movement. SASO saw its challenge as the ‘assertion, manifestation and development of a sense of awareness politically, socially and economically among the black community’.1 It emphasised black ‘group cohesion and solidarity’ as ‘important facets of Black Consciousness’, the need for ‘the totality of involvement of the oppressed people’, and for BC ‘to be spread to reach all sections of the black community’.2 SASO began community development, literacy, education, media, culture, and sports projects, which aimed to help black communities to determine and realise their own needs. They were seen as a means to win the trust of people and to educate and mobilise them.3 Projects instilled the idea of self-reliance, seen as important for achieving freedom, in members and communities. SASO created a favourable political climate for various organisations to emerge.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
Influence of argon-implantation on conventional and phototransferred thermoluminescence of synthetic quartz
- Nsengiyumva, S, Chithambo, Makaiko L, Pichon, L
- Authors: Nsengiyumva, S , Chithambo, Makaiko L , Pichon, L
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124732 , vital:35656 , DOI: 10.1080/10420150.2016.1194412
- Description: Conventional and phototransferred thermoluminescence of crystalline synthetic quartz implanted with 70 keV Ar ions at fluences in the range 1 × 1014–5 × 1015 ions/cm2 is reported. The glow curves, recorded at 5°C/s from beta-irradiated samples of similar mass, show a prominent peak between 100°C and 120°C. The thermoluminescence intensity of all implanted samples was greater than that of the unimplanted one. The increase in sensitivity is attributed to a corresponding increase in the concentration of point defects, as a result of the implantation, which act as electron traps or recombination centres. Kinetic analysis carried out using the peak shape, whole glow-peak and curve-fitting methods produced values of the activation energy, frequency factor and order of kinetics that are generally independent of implantation fluence. This result suggests that implantation did not necessarily affect the nature of the electron traps. With respect to phototransferred thermoluminescence, it was observed that it only appeared in the sample implanted at the highest fluence of 5 × 1015 ions/cm2. This may be so because the concentration of deep traps produced as a result of implantation at low fluence is too low to give rise to phototransferred thermoluminescence. The intensity of the phototransferred thermoluminescence goes through a peak with illumination time. We attribute this behaviour to the relative concentration of holes at recombination centres and phototransferred electrons at shallow traps.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Nsengiyumva, S , Chithambo, Makaiko L , Pichon, L
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124732 , vital:35656 , DOI: 10.1080/10420150.2016.1194412
- Description: Conventional and phototransferred thermoluminescence of crystalline synthetic quartz implanted with 70 keV Ar ions at fluences in the range 1 × 1014–5 × 1015 ions/cm2 is reported. The glow curves, recorded at 5°C/s from beta-irradiated samples of similar mass, show a prominent peak between 100°C and 120°C. The thermoluminescence intensity of all implanted samples was greater than that of the unimplanted one. The increase in sensitivity is attributed to a corresponding increase in the concentration of point defects, as a result of the implantation, which act as electron traps or recombination centres. Kinetic analysis carried out using the peak shape, whole glow-peak and curve-fitting methods produced values of the activation energy, frequency factor and order of kinetics that are generally independent of implantation fluence. This result suggests that implantation did not necessarily affect the nature of the electron traps. With respect to phototransferred thermoluminescence, it was observed that it only appeared in the sample implanted at the highest fluence of 5 × 1015 ions/cm2. This may be so because the concentration of deep traps produced as a result of implantation at low fluence is too low to give rise to phototransferred thermoluminescence. The intensity of the phototransferred thermoluminescence goes through a peak with illumination time. We attribute this behaviour to the relative concentration of holes at recombination centres and phototransferred electrons at shallow traps.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2016
Colonised minds?: post-development theory and the desirability of development in Africa
- Authors: Matthews, Sally
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142213 , vital:38059 , DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2017.1279540
- Description: While post-development theory is very concerned with the ways in which development has impacted upon the countries of the Global South, there has been relatively little written on post-development theory from an African perspective. This paper identifies some of the ways in which post-development theory fails to adequately understand the African experience of development. In particular, I explore the difficulty that post-development theory confronts when faced with the continued desire on the part of many people in Africa for development.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Matthews, Sally
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142213 , vital:38059 , DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2017.1279540
- Description: While post-development theory is very concerned with the ways in which development has impacted upon the countries of the Global South, there has been relatively little written on post-development theory from an African perspective. This paper identifies some of the ways in which post-development theory fails to adequately understand the African experience of development. In particular, I explore the difficulty that post-development theory confronts when faced with the continued desire on the part of many people in Africa for development.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Aggregation control of robust water-soluble zinc (II) phthalocyanine-based photosensitizers
- Ikeuchi, Takuro, Mack, John, Nyokong, Tebello, Kobayashi, Nagao, Kimura, Mutsumi
- Authors: Ikeuchi, Takuro , Mack, John , Nyokong, Tebello , Kobayashi, Nagao , Kimura, Mutsumi
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/239709 , vital:50757 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.6b03552"
- Description: A water-soluble zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) complex with four negatively charged electron-withdrawing sulfonic acid substituents at the nonperipheral positions (α-ZnTSPc) is found to have a high singlet oxygen (1O2) quantum yield and exhibits high photostability. The formation of aggregates is hindered and the highest occupied molecular orbital is significantly stabilized, making α-ZnTSPc potentially suitable for its use as a photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy and photoimmunotherapy. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) reveals that mixtures of the negatively charged α-ZnTSPc complex with a similar positively charged ZnPc were found to result in the self-assembly of one-dimensional accordion-like fibers. Supramolecular fibers can be formed in aqueous solutions through intermolecular electrostatic and donor–acceptor interactions between the two water-soluble ZnPcs.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Ikeuchi, Takuro , Mack, John , Nyokong, Tebello , Kobayashi, Nagao , Kimura, Mutsumi
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/239709 , vital:50757 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.6b03552"
- Description: A water-soluble zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) complex with four negatively charged electron-withdrawing sulfonic acid substituents at the nonperipheral positions (α-ZnTSPc) is found to have a high singlet oxygen (1O2) quantum yield and exhibits high photostability. The formation of aggregates is hindered and the highest occupied molecular orbital is significantly stabilized, making α-ZnTSPc potentially suitable for its use as a photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy and photoimmunotherapy. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) reveals that mixtures of the negatively charged α-ZnTSPc complex with a similar positively charged ZnPc were found to result in the self-assembly of one-dimensional accordion-like fibers. Supramolecular fibers can be formed in aqueous solutions through intermolecular electrostatic and donor–acceptor interactions between the two water-soluble ZnPcs.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Preference for C4 shade grasses increases hatchling performance in the butterfly, Bicyclus safitza
- Nokelainen, Ossi, Ripley, Bradford Sherman, Van Bergen, Erik, Osborne, Colin P, Brakefield, Paul M
- Authors: Nokelainen, Ossi , Ripley, Bradford Sherman , Van Bergen, Erik , Osborne, Colin P , Brakefield, Paul M
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61424 , vital:28025 , http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.2235/full
- Description: The Miocene radiation of C4 grasses under high-temperature and low ambient CO2 levels occurred alongside the transformation of a largely forested landscape into savanna. This inevitably changed the host plant regime of herbivores, and the simultaneous diversification of many consumer lineages, including Bicyclus butterflies in Africa, suggests that the radiations of grasses and grazers may be evolutionary linked. We examined mechanisms for this plant–herbivore interaction with the grass-feeding Bicyclus safitza in South Africa. In a controlled environment, we tested oviposition preference and hatchling performance on local grasses with C3 or C4 photosynthetic pathways that grow either in open or shaded habitats. We predicted preference for C3 plants due to a hypothesized lower processing cost and higher palatability to herbivores. In contrast, we found that females preferred C4 shade grasses rather than either C4 grasses from open habitats or C3 grasses. The oviposition preference broadly followed hatchling performance, although hatchling survival was equally good on C4 or C3 shade grasses. This finding was explained by leaf toughness; shade grasses were softer than grasses from open habitats. Field monitoring revealed a preference of adults for shaded habitats, and stable isotope analysis of field-sampled individuals confirmed their preference for C4 grasses as host plants. Our findings suggest that plant–herbivore interactions can influence the direction of selection in a grass-feeding butterfly. Based on this work, we postulate future research to test whether these interactions more generally contribute to radiations in herbivorous insects via expansions into new, unexploited ecological niches.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Nokelainen, Ossi , Ripley, Bradford Sherman , Van Bergen, Erik , Osborne, Colin P , Brakefield, Paul M
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: article , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/61424 , vital:28025 , http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.2235/full
- Description: The Miocene radiation of C4 grasses under high-temperature and low ambient CO2 levels occurred alongside the transformation of a largely forested landscape into savanna. This inevitably changed the host plant regime of herbivores, and the simultaneous diversification of many consumer lineages, including Bicyclus butterflies in Africa, suggests that the radiations of grasses and grazers may be evolutionary linked. We examined mechanisms for this plant–herbivore interaction with the grass-feeding Bicyclus safitza in South Africa. In a controlled environment, we tested oviposition preference and hatchling performance on local grasses with C3 or C4 photosynthetic pathways that grow either in open or shaded habitats. We predicted preference for C3 plants due to a hypothesized lower processing cost and higher palatability to herbivores. In contrast, we found that females preferred C4 shade grasses rather than either C4 grasses from open habitats or C3 grasses. The oviposition preference broadly followed hatchling performance, although hatchling survival was equally good on C4 or C3 shade grasses. This finding was explained by leaf toughness; shade grasses were softer than grasses from open habitats. Field monitoring revealed a preference of adults for shaded habitats, and stable isotope analysis of field-sampled individuals confirmed their preference for C4 grasses as host plants. Our findings suggest that plant–herbivore interactions can influence the direction of selection in a grass-feeding butterfly. Based on this work, we postulate future research to test whether these interactions more generally contribute to radiations in herbivorous insects via expansions into new, unexploited ecological niches.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Interaction of graphene quantum dots with 4-acetamido-2, 2, 6, 6-tetramethylpiperidine-oxyl free radicals
- Achadu, Ojodomo John, Nyokong, Tebello
- Authors: Achadu, Ojodomo John , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/189031 , vital:44810 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-015-1712-0"
- Description: We report on the interaction of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) with 4-acetamido-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidineoxyl (4-acetamido-TEMPO) free radicals. The GQDs were N and S, N doped. The fluorescence quantum yields were higher for the doped GQDs compared to the undoped. The interaction is assessed by spectrofluorimetric, steady state/time resolved fluorescence and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) techniques. Fluorescence quenching was observed upon the addition of 4-acetamido-TEMPO to the GQDs. Photoinduced electron transfer (PET) mechanism was suggested as the plausible mechanism involved in the fluorescence quenching in which 4-acetamido-TEMPO acted as the electron acceptor.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Achadu, Ojodomo John , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/189031 , vital:44810 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-015-1712-0"
- Description: We report on the interaction of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) with 4-acetamido-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidineoxyl (4-acetamido-TEMPO) free radicals. The GQDs were N and S, N doped. The fluorescence quantum yields were higher for the doped GQDs compared to the undoped. The interaction is assessed by spectrofluorimetric, steady state/time resolved fluorescence and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) techniques. Fluorescence quenching was observed upon the addition of 4-acetamido-TEMPO to the GQDs. Photoinduced electron transfer (PET) mechanism was suggested as the plausible mechanism involved in the fluorescence quenching in which 4-acetamido-TEMPO acted as the electron acceptor.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Alzheimer’s disease: making sense of the stress
- Authors: Whiteley, Chris G
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67072 , vital:29029 , http://www.smgebooks.com/alzheimers-disease/chapters/ALZD-16-08.pdf
- Description: publisher version , To facilitate a deep understanding of the mechanisms involved in neurodegeneration and Alzheimer’s disease fundamental knowledge is required about the action and function of enzymes in the brain that not only metabolise arginine (neuronal nitric oxide synthase) but are closely associated with oxidative (superoxide dismutase; catalase; glutathione peroxidase) and/or nitrosative stress. In particular the focus extends towards enzymes that contribute to amyloid peptide aggregation and senile plaquedeposits (fibrillogenesis). Of special importance are the glycine zipper regions within these amyloid peptides, especially Aβ25-29 and Aβ29-33 (that contains two isoleucine residues) and the pentapeptide Aβ17-21 (that contains two phenylalanines), each generated by enzymatic cleavage of the intramembrane amyloid precursor protein. Use of antisense-sense technology has identified regions in each enzyme that are capable of binding with the amyloid peptides. After an initial inhibition of each enzyme there is an oligomerisation into soluble fibrils which accumulate and eventually precipitate. The use of nanoparticles do not just prevent but reverse the formation of these fibrils either by disrupting the binary adduct – enzyme-Aβ-peptide- or by reaction with, and therefore deplete, Aβ-monomers in solution and so block potential aggregation sites on the enzyme itself. Future therapy towards Alzheimer’s disease should target the C-terminal region of the amyloid precursor protein and substitute hydrophobic residues for the glycine amino acids within the glycine zipper region.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Whiteley, Chris G
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67072 , vital:29029 , http://www.smgebooks.com/alzheimers-disease/chapters/ALZD-16-08.pdf
- Description: publisher version , To facilitate a deep understanding of the mechanisms involved in neurodegeneration and Alzheimer’s disease fundamental knowledge is required about the action and function of enzymes in the brain that not only metabolise arginine (neuronal nitric oxide synthase) but are closely associated with oxidative (superoxide dismutase; catalase; glutathione peroxidase) and/or nitrosative stress. In particular the focus extends towards enzymes that contribute to amyloid peptide aggregation and senile plaquedeposits (fibrillogenesis). Of special importance are the glycine zipper regions within these amyloid peptides, especially Aβ25-29 and Aβ29-33 (that contains two isoleucine residues) and the pentapeptide Aβ17-21 (that contains two phenylalanines), each generated by enzymatic cleavage of the intramembrane amyloid precursor protein. Use of antisense-sense technology has identified regions in each enzyme that are capable of binding with the amyloid peptides. After an initial inhibition of each enzyme there is an oligomerisation into soluble fibrils which accumulate and eventually precipitate. The use of nanoparticles do not just prevent but reverse the formation of these fibrils either by disrupting the binary adduct – enzyme-Aβ-peptide- or by reaction with, and therefore deplete, Aβ-monomers in solution and so block potential aggregation sites on the enzyme itself. Future therapy towards Alzheimer’s disease should target the C-terminal region of the amyloid precursor protein and substitute hydrophobic residues for the glycine amino acids within the glycine zipper region.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Heterogeneity in virulence relationships between Cryptophlebia leucotreta granulovirus isolates and geographically distinct host populations: Lessons from codling moth resistance to CpGV-M
- Opoku-Debrah, John K, Hill, Martin P, Knox, Caroline M, Moore, Sean D
- Authors: Opoku-Debrah, John K , Hill, Martin P , Knox, Caroline M , Moore, Sean D
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/417998 , vital:71500 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-016-9728-1"
- Description: In South Africa, the baculovirus Cryptophlebia leucotreta granulovirus (CrleGV) is used to control the citrus pest Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). However, the risk associated with continuous application of a single active ingredient is resistance. In order to manage resistance should it occur in field populations of T. leucotreta in South Africa, five new CrleGV genotypes from geographically distinct insect populations which were shown to exhibit some degree of phenotypic variation were recovered and genetically characterized. In droplet bioassays using seven CrleGV isolates against five T. leucotreta populations, some isolates were found to show higher virulence to some host populations than others. There were marked differences in the LD50 values of isolates and the number of occlusion bodies required per larva ranged between 0.79 and 3.12. The significance of these findings with respect to the application of CrleGV biopesticides and the management of resistance is discussed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Opoku-Debrah, John K , Hill, Martin P , Knox, Caroline M , Moore, Sean D
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/417998 , vital:71500 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10526-016-9728-1"
- Description: In South Africa, the baculovirus Cryptophlebia leucotreta granulovirus (CrleGV) is used to control the citrus pest Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). However, the risk associated with continuous application of a single active ingredient is resistance. In order to manage resistance should it occur in field populations of T. leucotreta in South Africa, five new CrleGV genotypes from geographically distinct insect populations which were shown to exhibit some degree of phenotypic variation were recovered and genetically characterized. In droplet bioassays using seven CrleGV isolates against five T. leucotreta populations, some isolates were found to show higher virulence to some host populations than others. There were marked differences in the LD50 values of isolates and the number of occlusion bodies required per larva ranged between 0.79 and 3.12. The significance of these findings with respect to the application of CrleGV biopesticides and the management of resistance is discussed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Collaborative learning of water conservation practices: cultivation and expansion of a learning network around rainwater harvesting demonstration sites in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Pesanayi, Tichaona V, Weaver, Kim N
- Authors: Pesanayi, Tichaona V , Weaver, Kim N
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/392086 , vital:68720 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajae/article/view/138570"
- Description: Learning together in mediated voluntary networks can mobilise skills and innovations that help to facilitate learning and uptake of rainwater harvesting and conservation practices. It boosts extension capacity while at the same time growing farmer capabilities, tapping on the distributed cognition. These practices help to heal wicked problems of drought and global change challenges affecting marginalised farmers in South Africa. South Africa has water, nutrition and food security challenges, especially the Eastern Cape Province where there is a relatively high level of poverty. These challenges place heavy pressure on the agricultural sector as it is the main user of the allocated water in the country. In this paper, the learning of and agency for rainwater harvesting and conservation practices are explored as responses to these challenges. Despite existing cultural histories of such practices among the amaXhosa people, information on these practices is not readily available to small-scale rural farmers who thus struggle for the want of knowing. This research forms part of a Water Research Commission project, Amanzi for Food, whose intention is to mediate collaborative and co-engaged learning among networked farmers, extension workers, researchers and agricultural educators through course-mediated use of Water Research Commission rainwater harvesting and conservation materials.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Pesanayi, Tichaona V , Weaver, Kim N
- Date: 2016
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/392086 , vital:68720 , xlink:href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajae/article/view/138570"
- Description: Learning together in mediated voluntary networks can mobilise skills and innovations that help to facilitate learning and uptake of rainwater harvesting and conservation practices. It boosts extension capacity while at the same time growing farmer capabilities, tapping on the distributed cognition. These practices help to heal wicked problems of drought and global change challenges affecting marginalised farmers in South Africa. South Africa has water, nutrition and food security challenges, especially the Eastern Cape Province where there is a relatively high level of poverty. These challenges place heavy pressure on the agricultural sector as it is the main user of the allocated water in the country. In this paper, the learning of and agency for rainwater harvesting and conservation practices are explored as responses to these challenges. Despite existing cultural histories of such practices among the amaXhosa people, information on these practices is not readily available to small-scale rural farmers who thus struggle for the want of knowing. This research forms part of a Water Research Commission project, Amanzi for Food, whose intention is to mediate collaborative and co-engaged learning among networked farmers, extension workers, researchers and agricultural educators through course-mediated use of Water Research Commission rainwater harvesting and conservation materials.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
Listening to the ‘Born Frees’: politics and disillusionment in South Africa
- Malila, Vanessa, Garman, Anthea
- Authors: Malila, Vanessa , Garman, Anthea
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/158884 , vital:40237 , https://doi.org/10.1080/23743670.2015.1084587
- Description: In 2014 South Africa celebrated 20 years of democracy, and for many of the ‘Born Frees’ – those who came of age politically after 1996 – this was their first opportunity to vote in national elections. With democracy came the promise for South Africa's marginalised majority of voice and agency, but also the implicit promise that their democratically elected government would listen to them. In addition, the South African media have long championed their role as a voice for the voiceless. This article presents work done with youngsters from South Africa's poorest province, the Eastern Cape, in an effort to listen to their experience of politics and to understand their use of the media – especially whether it enables them to speak out and be heard in the public sphere.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016
- Authors: Malila, Vanessa , Garman, Anthea
- Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/158884 , vital:40237 , https://doi.org/10.1080/23743670.2015.1084587
- Description: In 2014 South Africa celebrated 20 years of democracy, and for many of the ‘Born Frees’ – those who came of age politically after 1996 – this was their first opportunity to vote in national elections. With democracy came the promise for South Africa's marginalised majority of voice and agency, but also the implicit promise that their democratically elected government would listen to them. In addition, the South African media have long championed their role as a voice for the voiceless. This article presents work done with youngsters from South Africa's poorest province, the Eastern Cape, in an effort to listen to their experience of politics and to understand their use of the media – especially whether it enables them to speak out and be heard in the public sphere.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2016