11613 research outputs found
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The value and effectiveness of contemporary commercial music syllabi in the development of vocal technique
No full textContemporary Commercial Music (CCM) vocal training has become increasingly popular since I began teaching in the early 2000s. In general, my clients; comprising of high school students and adults from my private teaching practice, have a preference for CCM voice training over Classical training. For the Further Education and Training (FET) phase in the South African school system, there are currently two primary syllabi available for teachers of CCM practical instruments; these are the Trinity Rock & Pop syllabus and the Rockschool syllabus. Since CCM vocal instructors are compelled to use the syllabi mentioned above, they have naturally become a guideline for voice teachers in the development of CCM vocal technique.
Previous studies of CCM syllabi and vocal technique for the CCM singer are incomplete and do not definitively address the developmental value of the CCM syllabi for singers of CCM genres. The dissertation investigates vocal requirements for the CCM singer, focusing on CCM vocal development, vocal idioms, styles, pedagogy and pedagogues, and the use of these elements in the syllabi. The study uses a descriptive qualitative research design, and recruits for interviews ten FET phase vocal instructors familiar with Trinity Rock & Pop and Rockschool syllabi. Interview data collection uses semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions.
Alongside this, an in-depth analysis of both syllabi is conducted. The syllabi investigation measures each syllabus against their own criteria in conjunction with CCM vocal idiomatic requirements and the physical capabilities of the adolescent singer. The study found that both syllabi have areas of value, but these are not
sufficient for the development of vocal technical ability. Vocal instructors prefer the Rockschool syllabus, feeling that it has more substance. However, the research shows that the Trinity Rock & Pop syllabus is more systematic in its progression of difficulty and graded content. The study established that the syllabi alone are not effectual in developing the technical abilities of the CCM singer, and the education and experience of the vocal trainer must be reasonably advanced to implement the requirements of the syllabi
A performance management approach for provincial office-based educators
No full textThe aim of the study was to suggest an approach to the implementation of Performance Management and Development (PMDS) for office based educators in the Northern Cape, South Africa. There seems to be dissatisfaction with public employee performance management systems in the Northern Cape. Poor implementation of employee performance management and development systems can be attributed to flaws in the systems itself or to the human implementers. Lack of understanding of the system, unfair and inconsistent implementation, manipulation of the system and low commitment are cited as the most common reasons why public employee performance management fail. The research was designed to derive interpretive schemes through a literature study on concepts central to employee performance management, and through a document analysis of public performance management systems and frameworks (PMDS, EPMDS and government planning, monitoring and evaluation frameworks). Literature reviews and document analysis provided a framework from which semi-structured interviews could be conducted with office-based educators and participants that resort under another public employee performance management system (EPMDS). Employee Performance management ultimately aims to reward excellent performance and offer development opportunities for underperformance. It is specifically the reward aspect that leaves PMDS open to abuse as supervisors may use the system to victimise subordinates. Emancipation from abusive power relations is a key aspect of the critical community psychology approach which also served as theoretical framework for the study. Key findings of the study include that, despite good intention (motivation), reward for good performance seems to have adverse effect in that it threatens the very harmonious relationships between staff that it hopes to promote. The subjective aspects of performance ratings provide opportunity for bias and power relations, which bedevils the noble intentions of public performance management systems. Development opportunities provided by the system also do not serve its intended purposes, and is often thwarted by the budget constraints and poor planning. Furthermore, the critical aim of enhancing organisational performance is missed because of a disjuncture between employee performance management and organizational planning, monitoring and evaluation. Through a triangulation of the findings from literature reviews, document analysis and semi-structured interviews, this study aimed to produce new knowledge in the form of a suggested approach to a performance management system that seemingly did not serve its purpose. The suggested approach should give credibility to the performance management system for office-based educators and reduce dissatisfaction with it
The influence of teacher pedagogical practices on learner transitions in English medium classrooms from grades 3 - 4
No full textDecades of research investigations have linked a drop in the levels of academic performance to the transition from Foundation Phase to Intermediate Phase (Grades 3-4). The aim of this study is to investigate what precisely affects learners during the period of transition, and to establish whether the move from Grade 3-4 creates learning challenges. Understanding that these challenges do not only stem from a lack of basic coping skills, the current study examines South African schools focusing on the teachers’ pedagogical practices concerning English as LOLT from Foundation Phase to Intermediate Phase (Grades 3-4). This has led to the discovery of a certain type of comparative pedagogy between Grade 3 and 4 teachers.
This study explored the influence of teacher pedagogical practices between Grade 3 and 4 learners regarding the relationship between transition and linguistic challenges at the commencement of Grade 4. The study is foregrounded in theoretical frameworks and methods that are derived from the British sociolinguist, Basil Bernstein (1924-2000) complemented by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory. Both theories contain a sociological message. From Bernstein’s models of pedagogic discourse, the theories of classification and framing are highlighted as encompassing the genres of visible and invisible pedagogies.
This study used qualitative data collection methods drawn from the interpretivist paradigm. Firstly, the researcher distributed questionnaires to gather teachers’ biographical data. Secondly, the study observed lessons of ten Grade 3 teachers and ten Grade 4 teachers. Lesson-observation assisted in comparing and evaluating Grade 3 learners and Grade 4 learners concerning English LOLT pedagogical approaches in different subjects. Thirdly, interviews with ten Grade 3 teachers and ten Grade 4 teachers were carried out. In addition, data was triangulated to see whether observed evidence and questionnaire data corroborated.
The findings of the study indicated a different pedagogical approach between Grade 3 and Grade 4 whereby Grade 3 teachers’ positional relationship was more personal, thus weakly framed. In addition, the teachers were very interactive and gave co-extension in lessons. Grade 4 teachers had a more distant relationship in their lessons using a one- size-fits-all pedagogic approach. The Grade 4 teachers did not satisfactorily respond to the diversity of children’s learning characteristics; instead, they expected the learners to fit automatically into their Grade 4 contexts. In many ways, it is not the transition itself that can cause social discomfort and stress, but the factors in the environment. The study concludes that transitioning (which is a process, not an event) challenges, result from distributional injustice in learning since learning is a language-based semiotic activity that is influenced by structure through power and control. This study indicates that it’s not only learners who are engaged in the transitioning process in Grade 4, but the teachers also as they are faced with challenges in adapting their approach to suit the environment to be able to create cohesion between their strategies and learner-needs
Mutualistic association between Num-num (Carissa bispinosa) and mounds of Snouted harvester termites (Trinervitermes trinervoides) in a semi-arid savanna
No full textIn many ecosystems, one individual, or species, may often alter the environmental conditions in such a way that a stressful habitat becomes more hospitable for other individuals. Mutualism is a relationship between two organisms of either the same species or different species that enhances their survival or growth. Mutualism drives selection for traits through evolution, leading to diversity.. However, very few of these mutual associations have been documented in the semi-arid savanna region. Due to their close association yet no report of mutualism, I studied whether there was a mutualistic association between Carissa bispinosa, a fast-growing medium sized evergreen shrub, and Trinervitermes trinervoides, a mostly nocturnal termite species, at Nylsvley Nature Reserve, Limpopo province. There was a significant benefit accrued to both species from the plant-insect association. Plants on mounds were larger, greener and fruited more in the dry season compared to stand-alone plants. Mounds under shrubs were significantly less damaged compared to exposed mounds. Certain soil macro- and micronutrients that contribute to plant growth and health were enriched in mounds relative to the matrix. Overall, internal temperature changes were fairly constant in active mounds during the 24-hour period in both seasons, while temperature changes in inactive mounds varied more. Activity and season (including their interactions), were important in determining the internal mound temperature profiles. Shade and mound size did not have any significant effect in determining the internal temperatures profiles of mounds. To my best knowledge, my study has revealed a previously undocumented survival mechanism that this species of termites uses to escape predation in semi-arid savannas.National Research Foundation (NRF)University of the Free Stat
Validation of the Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) Module of the Siemens ADVIA® 2120i for Automated Cell Counts of Cerebrospinal Fluid
No full textIntroduction: The majority of haematology analysers routinely utilised for whole blood specimens are now equipped with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and/or body fluid modules. These automated cell counters are steadily replacing manual microscopy for CSF cell counts. This switch is attributed to the automated analysers’ higher throughput, improved turnaround times, superior precision and higher accuracy compared to manual microscopy. Methods: 46 routine CSF samples were analysed using the ADVIA2120i CSF Module to acquire a red cell count (RCC), white cell count (WCC) and a four-part WCC differential. Results were compared against the mean of two CSF cell counts performed by manual microscopy using the Improved Neubauer chamber haemocytometer. Quantitative method comparison was performed using EP Evaluator® software version 8.0.0 and Microsoft Excel®. The ADVIA2120i was, furthermore, assessed for precision, linearity and carryover. Results: The ADVIA 2120i meets all acceptable claims in terms of precision, and demonstrated acceptable accuracy for RCC, mononuclear and polymorphonuclear cells, compared with the reference method. Linearity results showed that the ADVIA2120i produced results that were proportional after serial dilutions. All parameters were deemed to have acceptable carryover. Conclusions: The ADVIA2120i offers rapid, precise and accurate RCC and WCC for both normal and abnormal cell counts. Our results show that the ADVIA2120i is a suitable alternative to manual microscopy for CSF cell counts and is deemed fit for purpose
Agricultural market access for South African fruit product exports in the EU under tariff rate quotas (TRQs)
No full textThe study analysed the access of South African fruit and fruit products into the EU market under tariff rate quotas (TRQs), as granted through the trade agreement between South Africa and the European Union (EU) termed the Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA). The TDCA trade chapter was implemented from 1999 and replaced by the Southern African Development Community-EU-Economic Partnership Agreement (SADC-EUEPA) at the end of 2016. The TDCA provided a trade liberalisation framework for the promotion of export market access improvements among other development initiatives. The usefulness of TRQs as a trade policy tool in trade agreements – to further the goal of improving market access – forms the primary focus of the questions answered in this research. Fruit and fruit products TRQs of the TDCA have generally not been filled. The extent of influence among tariff and non-tariff factors preventing TRQ fill and the consequential trade and welfare impacts specific to fruit and fruit products TRQ liberalisation concessions of the TDCA are not well understood. This information gap has motivated this study. Four objectives have been analysed in an attempt to establish the impacts of TRQs on the access of South African fruit products to the EU market. The main study objective was to modify the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model sectors and to innovate the model inputs, to enable an analysis of the market access that the TRQs of the fruit products allow under the TDCA. The publicly available GTAP version 9 database contains complete bilateral trade data and protection linkages among multiple countries and commodities for a single year (2011). Data sourced from various secondary sources, such as the GTAP, TARif Intégré Communautaire/Integrated Tariff of the European Communities (TARIC) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) databases, as well as the primary data sourced through a survey of fruit/fruit products exporting establishments was used. The data analysis methods comprise descriptive analysis, Likert score analysis and CGE analysis of TRQ liberalisation scenarios in a GTAP static model. Three main scenarios containing 10 sub-simulations were simulated based on the assumptions of full tariff liberalisation, quota expansion and NTMs reduction. The study has argued that a number of tariff and non-tariff influential factors prevent TRQ fill. This study has identified that non-tariff measures (NTMs) exhibit the greatest intensity of influence in preventing quota fill amongst tariff, TRQ administration as well as supply and demand influential factors. The GTAP model analysis shows that partial TRQ liberalisation in which tariff removal is not coupled with TRQ expansion or the removal of some NTMs, weakens South Africa’s potential gains in export market access to the EU market. In addition, the analysis of trade liberalisation scenarios indicates that when some NTMs are removed in 2011 pre full implementation of the TDCA in 2012, welfare measured in equivalent variation (EV) improves (US221 834) was achieved through a combined full tariff liberalisation and some NTMs removal. In the frozen orange juice case, welfare improvements would have been greater for South Africa if TRQ policy (in-quota tariff) distortions had been completely removed in 2011 (US4517). Additional welfare loss not accounted for in the EV measure was found to result from uncaptured quota rents that arise when TRQs are not filled. The conclusion is that a delay in concluding and implementing negotiated outcomes as well as a failure to fill TRQs leads to unrecoverable trade and welfare losses. This study recommends other support policies, such as export expansion, to be actively implemented to support the provisions of a trade agreement, such as the fruit and fruit products TRQs of the TDCA. In addition, the quota expansion provision should simultaneously be implemented – with full tariff liberalisation and NTMs removal – in order to improve market access and welfare. The study has contributed a methodological approach to analyse TRQ fill factors through adaptations and innovations of the GTAP model and database to suit TDCA fruit products TRQ analysis. In addition the study has contributed in the welfare findings of the TDCA assessed in terms of uncaptured quota rents from unfilled TRQs.National Research Foundation (NRF)University of the Free State (UFS
Exploring economic reintegration in Namibia: individual trajectories of PLAN ex-fighters and SWAPO exiles, 1989 – 2018
No full textThis thesis draws from life histories to present constraints and possibilities that have shaped former SWAPO exiles’ economic reintegration in post-colonial Namibia. The thesis advances three arguments each of which pushes beyond existing scholarship on Namibia and/or reintegration broadly. Collectively, these arguments challenge dominant narratives that have generalised former SWAPO exiles’ reintegration experiences, highlighting that there is no single narrative that can describe their unique life stories of reintegration in the post-colony. First, for almost three decades, patriotic history has shaped and influenced Namibia’s post-colonial reintegration discourses and policies, delineating who fought on the ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ side of the liberation struggle. However, for the majority of former SWAPO exiles (including PLAN ex-fighters) whom patriotic history has designated as having fought on the ‘right side’, their glorification in liberation histories has not always translated to tangible benefits in their actual lives. Consequently, former SWAPO exiles have often exploited their ‘hero’ status to push for various benefits. Nevertheless, they have profited unevenly from these initiatives, with benefits often being skewed in favour of direct participants of the armed struggle/violent resistance. Moreover, patriotic history distinguishes between the patriotic credentials of a range of people with differing relationships to the armed struggle as defined by the ruling Swapo Party elites. Its social impact, therefore, is quite complex and requires a nuanced understanding of Namibians’ experiences in exile that can best be accessed through tracing the details of individual life stories. Beyond highlighting the complex repercussions of patriotic history, former SWAPO exiles’ personal stories also reveal how UNTAG’s limited role in Namibia’s transition had lasting effects that shaped former SWAPO exiles’ reintegration processes in the post-colony. These life stories invite the reader to consider the prospect of UNTAG’s mandate as having been limited and its humanitarian support to returning SWAPO exiles as being overrated. This then brings the spotlight back to the Cold War and how it dictated UNTAG’s minimalist security centred approach that had far-reaching consequences for economically vulnerable former SWAPO exiles in the aftermath of repatriation. Finally, life histories show how former SWAPO exiles’ human and social capital originated in exile where differing access to skills and networks were instrumental in class formations that manifested in the post-colony. These forms of capital have contributed to the economic inequality amongst former SWAPO exiles in post Independence Namibia. Nevertheless, some life stories highlight how some former SWAPO exiles who have found themselves in difficult positions in postcolonial Namibia, have built decent lives for themselves in spite of these circumstances. These former SWAPO exiles highlight the limitations of reintegration programming and the broader DDR framework, which privileges its own measures of analysis at the expense of understanding how people make lives in the aftermath of war with or without assistance from programming. Thus, they suggest that successful reintegration hinges, to a great extent, on one’s ability to adapt and not necessarily on benefits from reintegration programming
Genomic investigation of the faecal RNA virome in children from Oukasie clinic, North West Province, South Africa
No full textThe advancements in high-throughput sequencing (HTS) and improvements in bioinformatics tools have enabled partial description of the human gut microbiome and continue to receive increasing attention. Novel enteric eukaryotic viruses have been associated with severe childhood diarrhoea in low-income areas worldwide. New virome data has shown that childhood diarrhoea contains higher abundance of viruses most of which were previously non-pathogenic such as those within the families Adenoviridae, Picornaviridae and Reoviridae. Nevertheless, a huge knowledge gap exists about the composition and diversity of the viruses colonizing the gastrointestinal tract of asymptomatic humans, which may be of clinical importance, especially in low-income countries. A major drawback for this poor characterization of the human gut virome has been attributed to lack of optimised methods to conduct such studies. However, an effective virome enrichment method called NetoVIR, developed by Conceiação-Neto and co-workers in 2015 for preparation of viral metagenomics samples has bridged the gap. In this study, viral metagenomics was employed to characterize the gut RNA virome of children under one-year old from the Oukasie clinic in the North West Province of South Africa. Faecal samples (n=12) were collected from four healthy infants at three time intervals (on average 7, 13 and 25 weeks old), to enable comparison of the changes in virome composition from baseline throughout the collection period. The samples were enriched for viral particles, followed by RNA extraction and RT-PCR. Library construction was done using a Nextera XT library preparation kit. The prepared libraries were sequenced on a MiSeq instrument to generate 251 bp paired-end reads. Using an in-house analysis pipeline, quality control of the generated reads was performed with FASTQc and Prinseq programmes. Quality-filtered reads were de novo assembled using metaSPAdes. Contigs were analysed by BLASTX searched against the NCBI database using DIAMOND, by aligning protein sequences against the NCBI protein database. Lastly, contigs that mapped to viruses were extracted for further statistical analysis. Numerous human enteric viruses were detected in all faecal samples. Reoviridae and in particular rotaviruses were detected in all 12 samples (100 %). However, majority of the viral contigs belonged to Picornaviridae family including viruses such parechoviruses, echoviruses, coxsackieviruses, enteroviruses and polioviruses, making it the most abundant. Astroviridae such as astroviruses and Caliciviridae such as noroviruses were detected at low abundance. Additionally, few sequences matched to plant viruses (pepper mild mottle virus), which was likely introduced through diet. Several viruses of animal origin were also present in gut of two of the participants. This study has proved that viral metagenomics can be an appropriate method in characterization of the human virome, providing insight into viral community structure and diversity of human enteric viruses. Although the faecal samples used in this study were negative by rotavirus screening using ELISA, it is interesting to observe that such high abundance of rotavirus sequences were still detected in the gut of asymptomatic individuals. The detection of polioviruses in one of the participants is a matter of public health concern since polioviruses have been eradicated by vaccination from many countries with only a handful still reporting sporadic cases. However, further analysis revealed that these were oral poliovirus vaccine sequences. It is evident that the infant’s gastrointestinal tract is colonized by different viral populations, irrespective of their health status. Despite the small sample size, this metagenomic study has provided some insight into the composition and diversity of viruses present in the gut of children. Lastly, the obtained data could be useful in the development of prevention strategies, as it provides information on virus species circulating in particular geographic areas, and to some extent can also suggest potential zoonotic transmissions.National Research Foundation (NRF)University of the Free State Postgraduate SchoolSouth African Medical Research Council (SAMRC
Quality of life and academic performance of University of the Free State first-year Health Sciences students
No full textAn in-depth study was carried out to investigate the quality of life of first-year health
sciences students and to determine the correlation between quality of life and academic
performance. The results of this study could be used to address challenges related to quality
of life and academic performance in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the
Free State (UFS) in South Africa.
A few studies have been performed internationally (outside South Africa) to evaluate quality
of life in certain health sciences (mainly medical and nursing) students. A direct relationship
between the quality of life and academic performance of preclinical medical students (first
three study years) was found in a study performed in Saudi Arabia.
First-year students, in general, are a population that faces physical health, psychological
and social challenges, which are caused by the transition from high school to university
learning, and these students need to learn how to balance academic workload and their
personal lives. No studies have been done at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the UFS to
investigate the quality of life of first-year health sciences students using the WHOQOL-BREF
questionnaire. A few studies have been conducted outside South Africa to evaluate
differences in the quality of life of students who reside in either on-campus or off-campus
accommodation, but not at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the UFS.
The problem that was addressed by this study is the lack of information regarding the
quality of life of first-year students enrolled in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the UFS.
Diverse quality of life factors may impact their academic performance.
The aim of the study was to measure quality of life by means of the WHOQOL-BREF
questionnaire and to determine the correlation of quality of life scores with the academic
performance of UFS first-year health sciences students.
This research study conducted a quantitative descriptive cross-sectional design. A survey
was used to collect the data by means of a questionnaire. The research methods comprised
a literature study, completion of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire, as well as gathering
demographic and academic performance information about the respondents.
The quality of life of students in the various health sciences disciplines, who reside in either
on-campus and off-campus residences, was measured and the correlation between their
quality of life and academic performance was determined. The study revealed that the
overall quality of life and health of students at the Faculty of Health Sciences, UFS, was
good. The quality of life domain score order varied in the schools and academic programmes
of the Faculty of Health Sciences, for on-campus and off-campus students and students
who had lived in either urban or non-urban (rural) areas before attending university. The
10 most prominent facets of the four quality of life domains were the following: sleep and
rest; energy and fatigue; work capacity; thinking, learning, memory and concentration;
negative feelings; bodily image and appearance; sexual activity; freedom, physical safety
and security; participation in and opportunities for recreation/leisure activities and physical
environment.
The findings of the study could make a valuable contribution to the knowledge base about
the quality of life of first-year health sciences students, and could assist the researcher and
other health care professionals to address challenges related to students’ quality of life and
academic performance.Health and Welfare Sector Education and Training Authority (HWSETA
Verification of prostate conformal radiotherapy planning protocol on an XiO treatment planning system
No full textThe evaluation of a prostate three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) treatment plan is based on the aims of the specific treatment. An assessment of the plan is therefore performed to reach a certain class of plan-quality.
Several parameters are, however, available for such assessment. Without a standardised protocol, the assessment of a plan for the same tumour volume may therefore differ between treatment planners and take a considerable length of time to complete. To minimise not only the variation in the assessment of prostate 3D-CRT treatment plans, but also to shorten the time needed to do so, a reduced list of prioritised parameters needs to be used for plan-evaluation. The aim of this study was to find the parameters with the highest covariance within a dataset of prostate 3D-CRT planning parameter-values obtained from several treatment plans. Thereafter the application of these parameters to improve prostate 3D-CRT treatment quality was verified.
To obtain the parameter-data, nineteen different dosimetrists each created a prostate 3D-CRT treatment plan for the target volume and boost volume of the same patient on nineteen XiO treatment planning systems. The data of four physical and eight dosimetric parameters, which are frequently referred to in clinical trials for prostate cancer radiotherapy, were extracted from the plans created. The factor-loadings of each component of the covariance-matrix of the data were calculated using principal component analysis. Varimax-rotation was used to optimise each parameter’s loading. The high loadings (>0,75) not only provided the variables with the highest contribution to variance within the parameter-dataset, but also gave their ranking (prioritisation) in this regard.
The highest contribution to covariance among the dosimetric parameters were shown by the minimum dose, heterogeneity-index, the mean dose and the V65 dose-volume constraint of the rectum. The number of beams, the number of opposing beams and the average field-size displayed the highest relation of variance among the physical parameters. These are the limited list of parameters to be used for plan-evaluation, prioritised in terms of their contribution to treatment plan quality.
As a test for the application of these parameters, four treatment planners made use of these parameters to evaluate and improve twenty prostate 3D-CRT treatment plans which were randomly obtained from various planning sites. The twenty, altered treatment plans were evaluated using eleven dosimetric parameters frequently used in clinical trials.
The use of this list of parameters as an evaluation-protocol for prostate 3D-CRT treatment planning was investigated and verified. The application of these parameters showed that the list can be used as a protocol to evaluate and effectively improve the quality of prostate 3D-CRT treatment plans.Medical Research Council of South Afric