11613 research outputs found
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Turning a new page
No full textWelcome to a new look Perspectives in Education. Not only did the cover of Perspectives in Education change, but also its Editor in Chief, Managing Editor, Editorial Board and a new reviewer team. In addition, we have moved online to offer our authors and reviewers a much better system of tracking the progress of articles and an ease of communication with the editorial team. May I use this opportunity to thank everyone who was part of this turning a new page. I trust that we will be able to offer our authors a much better system as we move towards the ideal of providing authors with an outcome on their articles submitted within six months. You are always welcome to provide us with your ideas to improve and better our service to the education fraternity. In line with all the technological changes and advances that PiE adopted, it also found a new home at the University’s technological hub and campus for Open Distance Learning, the South Campus in Bloemfontein.Publisher's versio
Aquatic Science Park: an interactive architecture in marine environment
No full textThis dissertation is a design exploration for the development of an aquatic science park that is simultaneously functioning as a ferry terminal, at the water's edge of Maputo bay, in Mozambique. The project primarily seeks to redefine the edge as a space of interaction between humans and marine environments.
The dissertation addresses the needs of researchers from different institutions around the country for a research facility catering for marine environment issues. The proposal also intends to re-establish a ferry that was discontinued due to construction of a suspension bridge across Maputo bay linking two districts namely Maputo and Katembe. The new bridge is not pedestrian friendly, therefore the need for an alternative link. The research facility will be a place where visitors can experience the marine world and learn about species from waters around the world.
The dissertation presents the researcher’s attitude toward the creation of "in-between" place by blurring the lines between distinct realms, such as manmade and nature, public and private sectors, activities on land and in water, etc. The blurring process is the subject of this thesis; its development responds to the conditions and needs within the existing context and is stated in the programmed requirements.
The dissertation will prove that the re-establishment of the ferry coupled with a new research facility could improve connectivity between the Katembe district and Maputo city and also transform the area into a more integrated ecological system to protect and conserve water
Transactional ethics and "damage-centred" research: of banality and oblivion
No full textThe recent article by Nieuwoudt, Dickie, Coetsee, Engelbrecht and
Terblanche (2019) entitled “Age- and education-related effects on cognitive functioning in Colored South African women” published in the journal Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, attracted considerable negative attention, leading to its official withdrawal from circulation. While it may be argued that this unfortunate piece of “scholarship” had “slipped through the cracks”, there is certainly a need for a more nuanced analysis of what constitutes ethical social research practice. In this article, the issue of intentionality and (un)witting Othering is contemplated by invoking Tuck’s notion of “damage-centred” research, an approach that continues to frame contemporary investigations in the name of social justice. It is argued that there is a need to reconsider the practice of transactional ethics. Arendt’s concept of the banality (of evil) has resonance, as it speaks to the notion of “blissful oblivion of complicity”, even in the context of a widespread contemporary discourse of social transformation and decolonisation in South African higher education.Publisher's versio
Factors affecting household water security in Thlabanello informal settlement in the City of Windhoek
No full textWater security is defined as “reliable access to water of sufficient quantity and quality for basic human needs, small-scale livelihoods and local ecosystem services, coupled with a wellmanaged risk of water-related disasters.” Conversely, water insecurity is described as limited or lack of access to affordable, safe, and acceptable quality water, which is regarded a substantial threat to public health and overall well-being of people. Although it is a global challenge, many developing countries particularly find it difficult to sustain adequate water supplies necessary for basic use by humans at household level as well as for national economic and social advancements, which leaves large populations water insecure. This challenge is particularly grave in poor urban households residing in informal settlements where provision of basic services is not guaranteed mainly due to the illegal status of these settlements and uncontrolled population growth. This research study therefore focused on analysing the underlying factors that affect household water security in the Thlabanello informal settlement in Windhoek, Namibia. This was done through qualitative research methodology situated in an interpretive paradigm. Data was collected through various data collection methods, namely, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, secondary data review and direct observation of the study area after which the qualitative data was analysed to formulate the study findings. The study found that household water security in Thlabanello is affected negatively by multiple interlinked factors including, amongst others, high population growth, illegality of the settlement, low household incomes, Lack of public health information, and poor sanitation and hygiene practices at household level. Thus, the study confirms that there is a degree of household water insecurity at the settlement. To improve household water security in Thlabanello, the study recommends that the City of Windhoek should adopt pro-active service planning strategies and approaches in addressing the water security challenges at the settlement. In conclusion, the study also recommends the formalisation of the Thlabanello settlement, involvement of the community in water supply design of the settlement, and cordoning off of the Goreangab Dam to restrict access to the public, as means to promote household water security.Department of Veterans Affairs of Namibi
Kenyan doctoral students' success: roles of motivation and self-efficacy
No full textDoctor of philosophy (PhD) degree holders are highly regarded in Kenya, especially in academia, and the Kenyan economy needs them to undertake administrative, research and innovation roles in academia and industry. However, attaining this qualification is arduous and Kenyan PhD programmes are characterised by low enrolment numbers, long degree completion times and low graduation rates. In other countries, PhD students’ success has been linked to motivation and self-efficacy. This cross-sectional study explores the extents to which motivation and self-efficacy relate to PhD student success in Kenya and to which this relationship differs across background and programme characteristics. Using multiple linear regression, the authors analyse data from an online
questionnaire administered to 628 PhD students enrolled between 2010 and 2018. The findings indicate that extrinsic motivation does not predict PhD students’ pace. Intrinsic motivation positively predicts students’ pace in the Medical Sciences programme cluster and for those aged 51 years or older. Self-efficacy negatively predicts students’ pace in the Medical Sciences programme cluster.Publisher's versio
Impact of processing methods on bovine pericardial tissue integrity
No full textIntroduction: The use of cardiac patches remains one of the main therapeutic solutions for surgical treatment. Cardiovascular patches are either synthetic or biological. Synthetic materials have become less popular over the years because they are rigid, have poor flexibility, are surgically difficult to handle, are prone to endocarditis and local inflammatory reactions that contributes to fibrosis and calcification, and have no regeneration potential. Autologous pericardium tends to retract, thicken, become aneurysmal and develop fibrosis once implanted. Therefore, xenogeneic transplanted tissue dominated by bovine pericardium has become an attractive alternative. Glutaraldehyde (GA)-fixation was introduced to overcome the aggressive recipient graft-specific rejection response, ensure sterility and to increase durability and mechanical stability. However, the residual GA toxicity and host immune responses seen in GA-preserved bovine pericardium causes degenerative processes that involves structural changes causing rigidity, shrinkage, calcium deposition and subsequent failure of the pericardial patch. Furthermore, GA limits host cell infiltration, remodeling and fails to remove or mask all animal specific antigens that contributes to chronic rejection. This resulted in several strategies to reduce the side-effects of GA-fixation and to provide alternatives to GA as a crosslinking agent but with mixed results. Therefore, nowadays basic research is focused to produce a scaffold with reduced antigenicity while maintaining structural integrity and create recellularization potential. Attempts to reduce antigenicity included decellularization (e.g., sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), Triton X-100 (TX), trypsin), enzymatic or gene knockout removal of epitopes, and solubilization-based antigen removal. The Frater Cardiovascular Research Centre developed a proprietary decellularization protocol. The aim of the study was to evaluate the potential application of this technology by comparing the structural and morphological performance of decellularized scaffolds with and without GA-fixation and detoxification with two (2) commercially available patches, the Glycar® and Cardiocel® bovine pericardial patches after being implanted in a juvenile ovine model for 180-days. Methodology: A prospective analytical cohort design was followed. Four (4) groups of bovine pericardial patches were evaluated in vitro and in vivo namely; (i) Glycar® bovine pericardial patches (GA-fixated and detoxified), (ii) CardioCel® bovine pericardial patches (decellularized, GA-fixed and detoxified), (iii) a proprietary decellularized bovine pericardial scaffold (BPS) and (iv) a proprietary decellularized GA-fixed and detoxified (D-GAD) bovine pericardial patch. The patches/scaffolds of each group were implanted in the descending aorta and main pulmonary artery of six (6) juvenile whether sheep per group for a minimum of 180-days. The clinical and mechanical integrity, tissue morphology and pericardial thickness were evaluated and compared between the four (4) bovine pericardial groups prior to implantation and after explantation. Results: The impact of glutaraldehyde-fixation and detoxification (GAD) technology on tissue seems to be constant, irrespective whether the tissue was decellularized or not. The Glycar®, CardioCel® and D-GAD tissues handled well, had excellent clinical outcomes and did not calcify. The tensile strength (TS) decreased from preimplantation to explantation in all three (3) groups but still exceeded the strength of the native human aorta (1.8 ± 0.24 MPa). The pericardial tissue was more pliable in all three groups after explantation compared to their pre-implantation counterparts. A fibrous encapsulation developed on all these explants, explaining the thickening of the pericardial patches. The collagen of the GAD groups was compact and dense which reduces the pore sizes to promote host cell infiltration. Host cell infiltration of fibroblast-like cells was insignificant in the explanted aorta and pulmonary Glycar® patches and limited in the CardioCel® and D-GAD patches. None of the patches in the three (3) groups remodelled after implantation. Only the Glycar® patches demonstrated endothelial cells prior to implantation although severely dehydrated. However, at explantation all three (3) groups demonstrated a monolayer of endothelial cells on the pericardial surface. The fibrous encapsulation caused thickening of both the aortic and pulmonary patches in the Glycar® and CardioCel® groups but in the D-GAD group only the pulmonary patch increased in thickness. The surgical handling of the decellularized BPS was satisfactory however, surgeons did comment that it was slippery. Furthermore, it had excellent clinical outcomes and did not calcify, disintegrate or developed aneurysms. The TS decreased from pre implantation to explantation but still exceeded the strength of the native human aorta (1.8 ± 0.24 MPa). The pericardial tissue was more pliable at explantation compared to its pre-implantation counterpart. No fibrous encapsulation developed, and the pericardial patches did not thicken over time. The collagen of the BGS groups was wavy and well-separated providing large pore sizes to promote host cell infiltration. Significant host cell infiltration of fibroblast-like cells was demonstrated in both the explanted aorta and pulmonary scaffolds. The scaffold completely remodelled after implantation. Endothelial cells were absent prior to implantation but at explantation a monolayer of endothelial cells were visible on the pericardial surface. Conclusion: All four (4) pericardial groups demonstrated excellent clinical, structural and morphological results when implanted in a juvenile ovine model for 180-days. Adding decellularization to the processing process benefits the collagen matrix, by making the collagen less dense/compact thus allowing for larger pore sizes. This may allow for better recellularization, especially in the absence of cells or cellular debris, invoking an immunological reaction. The long-term benefit of the limited recellularization seen in both D-GAD products remains to be clearly demonstrated. However, the decellularized BPS should be considered as an alternative to GA-fixed pericardial patches for it demonstrated excellent remodeling and growth potential. The importance of remodelling may be beneficial to the long-term outcomes especially in the younger age group recipients
The meaning of African Traditional Religion for modern society: Zimbabwe as a case study
No full textIn contemporary times, religion has dominated the African studies. This study is an effort to contribute to the theme of the meaning of religion in African context. Basing on fieldwork in Buhera District, this work provided a qualitative interpretive study of the meaning of African Traditional Religion (ATR) in modern society of Zimbabwe. Afrocentrism and Symbolic Interactionism were the two theoretical frameworks found to be ideal for this study. Using a phenomenological approach, interviews and observations, the research took the functional, substantive and affective meanings as the modus operandi in the postulation of the meaning of African traditional religious practices in Zimbabwe. It challenges in a special way the idea of fashioning the meaning of ATR pre-occupied with the indigenous Supreme Being-talk, but also with the praxis of ATR in the modern human society. Inadequacy of studying ATR in the modern society of Zimbabwe with foreign nomenclatures was highlighted since English monikers like ATR are hardly used by the Shona people in their daily language. Rather, they commonly use Chivanhu, a vernacular term which is closely equivalent to religion. The thesis creates an awareness to discover rich values of Shona cultural values and belief systems and their place in the meaning of ATR. So in this study ATR and Chivanhu are used interchangeably. During the study, it was noted that there are various matrices of forces that determine the meanings of ATR in the modern society of Zimbabwe, which include: transcendental power, architectural power, traditional power, family power and modernity power. Whether the meaning of ATR is substantivist, affective or functionalist, it was found to be never entirely neutral and objective for it holds various hidden assumptions. Sometimes the meanings attached to ATR in the modern society are ideological or tactical designations. In a bid to search for its meaning, it has proved to be debatable whether ATR is essentially a private and individual matter or fundamentally communal and national. In a Zimbabwean multi-religious society, the issue of the meaning of ATR has been characterised by some problems especially when it gives in to the dictates of the country‘s constitution to avoid clashes. The profundity of the emancipation of women in the modern society has also contributed towards a gendered outlook of ATR in modern Zimbabwe. These kind of imports are often explanations advanced in support of an overriding view of traditional religion, summarised in aphorisms and or epigrams such as: Chivanhu chedu chinoti (our Chivanhu says) ichi ndicho Chivanhu chedu (this is our Chivanhu), musha mukadzi (the key person in a home is a woman). Thus the use of clichés in modern society has impacted the meaning of ATR in Zimbabwe. To this end, the conceptualisation of ATR in modern society of Zimbabwe is characterised by dynamics of alterisation processes that condition the contemplation between this religion and western religions (especially Christianity). These processes of alterisation are characterised by representing and treating ATR through synecdochisation, exoticisation, undervaluation, overvaluation, misunderstanding and exclusion. Though use of a substantivist, affective and functionalist perspective was handy in construing the meanings of ATR in the modern society of Zimbabwe, the same schemes of meaning for religion in various ways explained away ATR
Representation of the Zimbabwean 2015-2022 social studies curriculum: teachers' perspectives on challenges and "ubuntulising" curriculum change and implementation
No full textThe new 2015–2022 Zimbabwean curriculum in which Social Studies is engrained was driven by the need among others to transform the Zimbabweans’ demeanour and etiquette by employing Ubuntu as its philosophical base. Through the Ubuntu lens, this qualitative case study explores how Ubuntu values could be applied to mollify challenges of curriculum reform and implementation. We purposively sampled 12 teachers who participated in semistructured interviews, observations and a focus group discussion (FGD) to generate data for this study. The findings established that employing the top-down approach in the dissemination of the Zimbabwean curriculum, devoid of the teachers’ consultations and participation, catalyses the manifestation of acerbic and
innumerable challenges that included inadequate resources, lack of consultation, lack of training for teachers and poor public relations, which led to poor implementation of the Social Studies curriculum. The study discovered that the basis of Ubuntu, which the Zimbabwean curriculum claims to hinge on, is merely a paper exercise but practically it is not applied. The study recommends the rekindling of the Ubuntu values that capture the traditional African customs, work ethics and beliefs and applies them to curriculum reform and implementation in order to inform educational policy and practice as uncovered from the fieldwork undertaken for this study. This study is a contribution to the current topical issue about decolonisation globally.Publisher's versio
Genetics of stem rust resistance in South African winter wheat varieties
No full textStem rust, caused by the fungus Puccinia graminis Pers. f. sp. tritici Eriks. and E. Henn (Pgt), is an important disease of wheat worldwide. Although resistant varieties have been utilised as an effective and efficient way of managing wheat stem rust, the emergence of new and virulent stem rust races threatens wheat cultivation. There is thus a continuous need to search for new sources of stem rust resistance. This study was conducted to elucidate the genetics of stem rust resistance in South African winter wheat varieties. To understand the origin and inheritance of all stage resistance (ASR) to Pgt race PTKST, four resistant varieties Komati, Koonap, Limpopo and SST 387 were crossed with the stem rust susceptible wheat parent Line 37-07. Seedling phenotyping of the F2 and F3 offspring showed that a single dominant gene conferred stem rust resistance in each of the four populations. Allelism tests indicated that either the same gene or closely linked alleles confer resistance in the four wheat varieties. However, allelism tests with Norin 40 (Sr42) and CnsSrTmp (SrTmp) indicated that it is either a closely linked gene, Sr42 or SrTmp that confers resistance to Pgt race PTKST. Multi-race phenotyping ruled out the involvement of Sr42, but suggested the likely presence of SrTmp among South African winter wheat varieties. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker genotyping using bulk segregant analysis (BSA) in four F2 mapping populations identified marker loci on chromosome 6DS linked to stem rust resistance in all four varieties. Linkage mapping identified two flanking SSR markers, and barc183 and wms4862 as closely linked [≤2.0 centiMorgan (cM)] to resistance gene(s) in two mapping populations (SST387/Line37-07 and Line37-07/Koonap). In the Line37-07/Komati mapping population, SSR markers psp3200 and barc183 were closely linked (≤2.9 cM). In the Line37-07/Limpopo mapping population, SSR markers wms4528 and barc183 were closely linked (≤0.9 cM). Two single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers, BS00085929 and BS00085937, detecting different alleles in the resistant parents, mapped distally to stem rust resistance gene(s) at an average of 8.4 and 9.2 cM, respectively. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis indicated that psp3200, wms4528, barc183 and wms4862 flanked the stem rust resistance gene(s). Major QTL detected in Komati, SST 387, Koonap and Limpopo explained 73.0, 96.2, 71.4 and 85.2% of phenotypic variation for stem rust resistance to race PTKST, respectively. Flanking SSR markers, wms4862 and barc183, were predictive of stem rust resistance in advanced winter wheat lines, hence confirming the chromosome location and their usefulness in marker-assisted selection (MAS). This study represents the first report of markers developed for stem rust resistance genes in South African winter wheat varieties. Resistant genotypes tested negative for diagnostic SNP markers linked to Sr42, SrTmp and SrCad on chromosome 6DS. From the marker data it can be concluded that the mapped resistance gene(s) are possibly novel or allele(s) of Sr42, SrTmp and/or SrCad. Identification and mapping of an adult plant resistance (APR) gene in the South African winter wheat variety PAN 3161 were conducted by field screening a F2 population and F3 families against Pgt race PTKST. SSR marker genotyping combined with BSA on 128 F2 plants identified markers on the short arm of chromosome 4D as linked to a stem rust resistance gene. SSR marker wmc720 flanked the APR gene SrPan3161 distally at 1.8 cM. Another set of four co-segregating SSR markers gpw7414, gpw8038, wmc52 and cfd23 flanked the APR gene proximally at 1.8 cM. QTL analysis identified a single major QTL explaining 71.5% of the phenotypic variation for resistance to Pgt race PTKST. The flanking markers wmc52, cfd23 and wmc720 were predictive of SrPan3161 in F3 families thus validating the chromosome location and their effectiveness in MAS.National Research Foundation (NRF)Intra-African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) mobility scheme to train crop scientists for African agriculture (CSSA