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    VERWOERD. LEN Inventory of documents

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    COVERAGE 1966-1981; 5 Files; 0.10 metrePrivate papers of L. Verwoerd, lecturer in Botony at the University of Stellenbosch; brother of Prime Minister H.F. Verwoerd

    Physical activity and lifestyle habits of male undergraduate students

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    Introduction: Irrefutable evidence exists that unacceptably low levels of physical activity (PA) exist worldwide in spite of an extensive body of empirical evidence, which demonstrates the physical and psychological health benefits of physical activity. Physical activity is associated with a lower mortality rate for both younger and older male generations. Young male adults attending universities gain increased control over their lifestyles. However, they may not necessarily develop positive behaviours like regular participation in physical activity. Aims: The main aim of the study was to investigate the PA levels, lifestyle habits and body composition among male students at a university in South Africa. Three objectives were set out for this research: to determine the physical activity levels of male undergraduate students at the University of the Free State, to establish the lifestyle profile and body composition of undergraduate male students at the University of the Free State and to determine the impact of ethnicity on physical activity levels, lifestyle habits and body composition of male students at the University of the Free State. Methods: A quantitative approach was followed, using a one-time non-randomized cross-sectional study approach. Quantitative methods such as questionnaires and assessments were used. After obtaining ethical clearance, participants were asked to complete the Belloc and Breslow’s lifestyle questionnaire. The IPAQ was also completed to determine self-reported fitness levels. Anthropometry testing was then conducted on the participants. Results: The physical activity levels of the students was determined with 91% participating in PA. However there was a decline in the participation in physical activity through first year (90%) to third year (87.5%). This decline was also evident in the mean MET minutes/week from first year through to third year. The majority of the students were considered to be moderately healthy. There was however no statistically significant associations (p<0.05) between ethnicity and year groups and the physical activity and lifestyle habits of male university students. Conclusion: The students demonstrated high levels of physical activity and are knowledgeable to the health benefits, however there was a decline in the physical activity frequency as well as the mean MET minutes/week from first year through to third year. An interesting finding was a shift in the health categories from low to healthy. There was a slight increase in the body fat percentage of the students which could be attributed to the decline in the mean MET minutes/week

    DU PLESSIS, Wentzel Christoffel [Wennie] Inventory

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    COVERAGE 1938-1972; 96 Files; 5,56 metres.AUDIO CASSETTES IN ARCA COLLECTION = 11Private papers of W.C. du Plessis, Private Secretary of Genl. J.B.M. Hertzog [1931-1934], National Party MP Standerton [1948-1954], High Commissioner in Cananda, permanent representative at the United Nations, Ambasssador Washington [1956-1960], Secretary of Information [1961-1963], Administrator of SWA [1963-1968]

    VAN DER WESTHUIZEN, P.R. Minute book

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    COVERAGE: 1906-1914Meeting minutes book National Party Lindley; transferred to NP OFS collection, PV 2

    CRONJE, Geoffrey Inventory of documents

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    COVERAGE 1970; 2 Files; 0.11 metrePrivate papers of G. Cronje, Professor in Sociology at the University of Pretoria [1934-1966]

    A survey of venous ulcer care in wound care practices in Gauteng

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    Background: Venous leg ulcers are the most common type of leg ulceration, and prevalence seems to be increasing as the population ages and co-morbidities increase. Venous lower leg ulcers seem to be an underestimated and misdiagnosed chronic disease that has a significant socio-economic impact on the individual, as well as on the community and the health care system. Evidence-based care improves outcomes for patients suffering from this debilitating disease. Objective: The objective was to describe the current level of care within wound care practices in Gauteng according to the Donabedian structure-process-outcome quality improvement model. Method: Forty-eight facilities were selected randomly from wound care practices (both public and private) in Gauteng. Trained fieldworkers conducted structured interviews with care providers to assess infrastructure, human recourses, level of education, equipment available, policies and protocols. Within these facilities, patient files were randomly selected from patients who had previously presented with venous lower leg ulcers. One hundred and sixty files were audited by using a checklist to assess processes implemented and outcomes reached. Results: A lack of proper record-keeping made data collection challenging. A few important findings were deduced from this study. The facilities lack the necessary equipment to perform vital assessments. Hand-held Dopplers were available in 60% (n=48) of the facilities. Patients were attended to by clinicians with no formal wound care training, as 61% (n=48) of the personnel at the facilities indicated no formal wound care training. Although the majority of files (92%, n=160) indicated that an assessment tool was used, many of the elements thereof were not comprehensively done according to best available evidence. Pain, presence of varicose veins, previous treatment, and functioning of the calf muscle were assessed in more than 70% of the files. However, aspects such as smoking, body mass index and anaemia, which all play a major role in wound healing, were assessed in fewer than 30% of files. Distinguishing between superficial infection and deep infection seems to be a challenge, together with the overutilization of antimicrobials and antibiotics. Furthermore, 71% received compression therapy while the Ankle Brachial Pressure Index (ABPI) of only 30% was known. Outcomes were recorded fairly well at three weeks but declined towards completion of treatment. Conclusion: Quality of care could be measured by measuring structures, processes and outcomes. Accurate record-keeping is vital to obtain a view of the processes being followed and the outcomes being reached. From this survey, it was evident that clinicians providing wound care are not all trained in wound care, that best practice guidelines are not being fully implemented, and that the consequences may be detrimental to the patients, as a high number of amputations were reported

    A critical interpretation of the temporal impact of landscape, space and power on the built environment of Church Square, Pretoria

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    Thesis (Ph.D. (Architecture))--University of the Free State, 2018This thesis critically interprets the temporal impact of landscape, space and power on the built environment of Church Square, Pretoria. It proposes to reveal, through critical analysis and comparison, the powers behind the processes of the making of Church Square as urban space, as well as the social and spatial relationships embedded in it. Four distinct periods or episodes can be identified in the history of Church Square and certain seminal moments caused the change from one episode to another. During each episode the physical composition of the space represented and reflected the powers that were the driving forces behind change. A two-dimensional representation of Pretoria in the middle of the nineteenth century shows that the landscape had been shaped by forces of nature and human dominance. The first aim is to determine the powers through which Pretoria was established and then to describe the advent of the philosophy of change, to identify the change from movement to settlement and to determine how the powers of law, state and church formed the Boer worldview. The authority of the state through which the beacons of the first Boer farms were erected is determined and the influence of the prevailing geography on primary settlement is explored. The change in landscape from agricultural settlement to town for the purpose of establishing a … ¹ is documented. The reason for setting out Pretoria according to a grid pattern is described as both a sign of human dominance over landscape and of water management. Once the wider historical context has been established, the focus moves to the historical area in an around the Square. Although data collection from Surveyor-General diagrams (SG diagrams) and title deeds is rarely seen as part of the creative process, it forms an essential part of any architect’s design methodology and the findings from these legal documents finally find a proud, albeit understated, place in the visual, architectural design outcome. The same is true of an historical architectural study. Any attempt at reconstructing the past of the built environment in context will inevitably refer to land parcels, -ownership and -use, which often provide more insight into the powers that shaped and reshaped the landscape over time, than the buildings themselves. A visual record[ing] of surveyed change over time confirms the notion that landscapes are always temporal, of the moment and in process, that they reflect human agency and action, and that they provoke memory and facilitate or impede action. The study proposes to reveal both the dimension of historical time and the dimension of historical space, therefore including both meanings of temporality: as the real physical world and as one being limited by time. It aims to offer a new focus and approach to historiography of the area and to reveal the significance that the temporal relationship gives to data gathered in architectural history writing. The establishment and development history of Pretoria and Church Square hinted on the frequent change in dynamic between Boer and Brit and the sixth chapter aims to elaborate on this dynamic. It attempts to determine how the built environment in and around Church Square reflected change. It identifies four distinct periods or episodes in the history of the town that can be linked directly to the changed dynamic between Boer and Brit. It proposes to describe the seminal moments that caused change and to determine the powers that were the driving forces behind the change that was made visible in the physical composition of Church Square during each episode. Although the Boer-Brit dynamic visibly influenced the built environment of Pretoria right at its establishment in 1855, the strife between Boer and Brit can be traced back to the first conflict of 1795, when the British occupied the Dutch-owned Cape of Good Hope. A summary of the historical context is followed by a description of the run-up to the tragic Anglo-Boer Wars that were waged at the end of the nineteenth century in the (the ZAR or the South African Republic). The aftermath of the War is investigated and the opposing worldviews of the two cultures are presented. The aim is to critically interpret the impact that the changed Boer-Brit dynamic had on the built environment in and around Church Square. The struggle between the desire to preserve memories and the desire to suppress them has been a global topic of discourse since the middle of the twentieth century. On Church Square the presence and absence of memories can best be illustrated in the name of the Square. The name “Church Square” has prevailed even though the central church was demolished over 114 years ago. Recent political protests proved that the Square is still loaded with political meaning and the trauma associated with colonialism and apartheid. As some oppose the offensive idea of Church Square and attempt to destroy the images of past powers, others try to protect their cultural heritage and memory. Since apartheid was introduced as a political system in 1948, the physical composition of the space has remained more or less the same. There has only been one significant change, namely the insertion during apartheid of Paul Kruger’s monumental ensemble in the centre of the Square in 1954, where it remained through the transition into democracy in 1994, up until the present post-apartheid condition. The ambiguous term post-apartheid is used to denote the current South African period as a definitive break from apartheid. Although apartheid and post-apartheid seem on the surface to be two very distinct political and social systems they are inextricably intertwined and the different and opposing discourses on Church Square during these two time periods are presented in one chapter under different discursive headings or topical foci. These include the Afrikaner worldview that led up to apartheid, commemoration of traumatic events during apartheid, the Rivonia trial, modernisation and development proposals. Despite the relative stagnation of the physical appearance of Church Square, there has been a significant shift in the ideologies of the powers behind change. The activities in and around the Square during this time were thus not manifested in the physical, but in the rhetorical. Change was not structural but ideological and the debates surrounding the Square reflected the turbulence of the discourse. The topical foci confirm that even if the built environment does not change significantly, its landscape is always temporal, of the moment and in process. The urban landscape still reflects human agency and action and provokes memory and facilitates or impedes action

    MARTINS, Theodorus Francois Inventory of documents

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    COVERAGE 1936-1974; 28 Files; 1,00 Metres.Private papers of T.F. Martins, National Party MPC Transvaal [1952-1966]

    Vertaalbesluite onder toestande van onsekerheid

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    English: In view of globalisation, the development of technology and media, and contemporary demands made of cross-cultural knowledge transfer and communication, translation is, today more than ever before, an important activity. On a basic level translation involves the transfer of a message from one language to another; however, the process is neither simple nor straightforward. Translation is a specific example of human interaction, an activity characterised by series of decisions influenced by a variety of factors. The purpose of this study was to investigate how translators make decisions when they are confronted by uncertainty in a complex environment. The origins of complexity that causes uncertainty were investigated by means of a literature study. Data, in the form of autoethnographic narratives relating to examples of translation, text editing and interpreting briefs, were analysed with reference to the literature and two theoretical paradigms, namely, functionalism (skopos) and complexity thinking. Five characteristics of complex adaptive systems as proposed by the philosophy of complexity thinking were applied to the data, namely, the idea that complex adaptive systems, a) comprise heterogenous elements; b) are dynamic; c) do not behave in a linear fashion; d) are open systems; and e) are adaptive and characterised by emergence. The first conclusion arising from this analysis is that the contribution that functionalism can make to eliminating uncertainty is limited. Information about the purpose of a translation can reduce some of the translator's uncertainty, but could also cause other uncertainty. All the characteristics of complex adaptive systems, jointly and separately, can cause the translator to experience uncertainty. Because the source of the uncertainty is multidimensional, and due to the dynamic, emerging nature of the systems, translators have to adapt their strategies continuously as the environment changes. Another conclusion is that the role of translators is much more comprehensive, and the environment within which translators work, is much more complicated than people realise. If translators want to manage uncertainty in complex situations, they must be able to live with dynamic interaction, relative uncertainty, flexibility, paradox and alternating chaos and stability – the characteristics of complex adaptive systems.Afrikaans: Gesien in die lig van globalisering, die ontwikkeling van tegnologie en die media, en hedendaagse eise wat aan kruiskulturele kennisoordrag en kommunikasie gestel word, is vertaling vandag, meer as ooit, ʼn belangrike aktiwiteit. Op ʼn basiese vlak behels vertaling die oordrag van ʼn boodskap in een taal na ʼn ander, maar die proses waardeur dit gebeur is allermins eenvoudig of voor die hand liggend. Vertaling, as ʼn spesifieke voorbeeld van menslike interaksie, is ʼn handeling wat deur ʼn reeks besluite gekenmerk word, en wat deur ʼn verskeidenheid faktore beïnvloed word. Die doel van hierdie studie was om te ondersoek hoe vertalers besluite neem wanneer hulle in ʼn komplekse omgewing deur onsekerheid gekonfronteer word. Die bronne van kompleksiteit wat onsekerheid veroorsaak, is deur middel van ʼn literatuurstudie ondersoek. Data, in die vorm van voorbeelde van vertaal-, teksredigerings- en tolkopdragte, is deur middel van outo-etnografiese narratiewe aan die hand van die literatuur en elemente van twee teoretiese paradigmas, naamlik, funksionalisme (skopos) en kompleksiteitsdenke, ontleed. Vyf eienskappe van komplekse adaptiewe sisteme, soos deur die filosofie van kompleksiteitsdenke voorgestel, is op die data toegepas, naamlik, dat komplekse adaptiewe sisteme: a) bestaan uit heterogene elemente; b) dinamies is; c) se gedrag nie liniêr is nie; d) oop sisteme is; en e) adaptief is en deur ontspringing gekenmerk word. Die gevolgtrekkings van dié analise is, eerstens, dat die bydrae wat die funksionalistiese benadering kan maak om onsekerheid uit te skakel, beperk is. Inligting oor die vertalingsdoel kan wel sekere onsekerheid wat die vertaler ervaar, verminder, maar kan ook ander onsekerheid veroorsaak. Op hul beurt, veroorsaak elkeen van die eienskappe van komplekse adaptiewe sisteme gesamentlik en afsonderlik onsekerheid by die vertaler. Omdat die oorsprong van die onsekerheid veeldimensioneel is, en weens die dinamiese, ontspringende aard van die sisteme, moet vertalers voortdurend hulle strategieë aanpas namate die omgewing verander. Ek kom ook tot die gevolgtrekking dat die rol van vertalers baie meer omvattend is, en dat die omgewing waarbinne vertalers werk baie meer ingewikkeld is, as wat ʼn mens besef. Indien vertalers die onsekerheid in komplekse situasies wil bestuur, moet hulle met dinamiese interaksie, relatiewe onsekerheid, vloeibaarheid, paradoks en variasie tussen chaos en stabiliteit – die kenmerke van komplekse adaptiewe sisteme – kan saamleef.Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kun

    Diatom community composition and ecological gradients on selected rivers in the Eastern and Western Cape, South Africa

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    English: This study sought to assess diatom community composition across ecological gradients on selected rivers in the Eastern and Western Cape Provinces, South Africa, as well as in the lowland section of the Okavango River. For South Africa data were collected over a one-year period with three-monthly or seasonal sampling conducted between spring 2014 and winter 2015. Five to ten cobbles were scrubbed and diatoms fixed with 70% ethanol to produce an end product of >20% alcohol content. In Botswana samples were collected during July and August 2014. A phytoplankton net with a mesh size of 25 m and introduced substrate were sampled in the panhandle, Nxamaseri Floodplain and the Thamalakane River. The Hot HCl method was used to clean samples of organic material. Permanent slides were made using Pleurax as mounting agent. All information was added to the National Diatom Collection since one of the main objectives of this study was to fill the current information gap on these regions. A minimum of 400 individuals was identified per slide to produce a community composition. Multivariate statistics showed that diatom communities responded geospatially more strongly than seasonally. In South Africa the diatom communities responded at an Ecoregion Level 1. At Ecoregion Level II, catchment signatures were not strictly followed as would have been expected. Instead more localised impacts and natural fluctuations in physico-chemical changes were found to drive group formation. The influence of flow modification, such as the inter-basin transfer schemes in the Drought Corridor ecoregion, was indicated in diatom community composition. While diatoms are extremely useful as small-scale impact specific indicators and assessment tools, the results produced in this study showed that the use of diatom information for larger scale climate change impact monitoring initiatives towards sustainable freshwater resource management in future, remains untapped. Further research on the relationship between diatom community composition and more detailed environmental drivers of landscape scale ecosystem changes would greatly improve our understanding of the role diatoms play in the resilience of natural freshwater ecosystems to large-scale changes and impacts. The diatom data proved to be very robust and reliable in this study, suggesting that there exists a great resilience at the base of the food web in the highly volatile and dynamic African freshwater ecosystems. Properly functioning diatom communities could be a more important component of ecosystem resilience than currently recognised. This study also found that the exclusion of certain low abundance diatom information does not contribute to a more accurate result but instead removes valuable biodiversity information in a time when it should be promoted, protected and well documented. It is clear that in a country expected to experience severe and direct climate change induced impacts, the exclusion of diatoms when managing freshwater sustainability and continued optimal ecosystem functioning for the delivery of associated good and services, is rather reckless. This study has provided the foundation of updated diatom information for a majority of the major rivers in the Eastern Cape in particular and some of the smaller coastal rivers in the Western Cape. This method should be applied in other regions of the country to produce diatom reference conditions, which speak directly to Ecological Reserve scale approaches in order to contribute to a more holistic approach to ecosystem management in future. In Botswana a significant difference between the community compositions of the Thamalakane River, Nxamaseri Floodplain and the Okavango Panhandle was found to be present. These differences are suspected to be caused by micro-environments with differences in nutrient load and associated water quality. These micro-habitats allowed for some species, that are more tolerant to higher nutrient loads, to be found but did not interfere with the larger scale diatom community composition in a specific geographic region. The difference between diatom communities in the panhandle and other areas in the system highlights the importance of upstream conservation in the Okavango River for continued optimal ecological functioning of the downstream Okavango Delta and its associated systems. Diatoms are able to make a considerable contribution to our current understanding of freshwater resource functioning and the consequent conservation, monitoring and management of sustainable water security for all.Afrikaans: Hierdie studie was daarop gemik om die samestelling van diatoom gemeenskappe oor ekologiese gradiënte van geselekteerde riviere in die Oos- en Wes-Kaap Provinsies, Suid-Afrika, asook die laagliggende gedeelte van die Okavango Rivier te assesseer. Die data is oor 'n tydperk van een jaar versamel met drie-maandelikse of seisoenale steekproefnemings wat tussen lente 2014 en winter 2015 uitgevoer is. Vyf tot tien klippe is geskrop en diatome is met 70% etanol gefiskeer om 'n eindproduk van minstens 20% te lewer. In Botswana is data versamel gedurende Julie en Augustus van 2014. ‘n Plankton net met n deurlatings ruimte van 25 m en kunsmatige substraat is gebruik om monsters mee te versamel in die Okavango Panhandle, Nxamaseri Vloedvlakte en die Thamalakane Rivier. Die Warm HCl-metode is gebruik om organiese materiaal in monsters te verwyder. Permanente mikroskoop-skyfies is gemaak deur van Pleurax gebruik te maak as monteermiddel. Alle inligting is by die Nasionale Diatoom Versameling gevoeg aangesien een van die hoof doelstellings van hierdie studie was om die huidige inligtingsgaping oor hierdie areas te vul. ‘n Minimum van 400 individue is per skyfie geïdentifiseer om die gemeenskapsamestelling te gee. Meerveranderlike statistiese analise het getoon dat diatoom gemeenskappe in Suid Afrika eerder op ‘n Ekostreek Vlak I reageer as wat hulle seisoenaal differensieer. In teenstelling met wat verwag is het gemeeskappe op Ekostreek Vlak II is geen opvangsgebied uniekheid geopenbaar nie. In plaas daarvan is gevind dat gelokaliseerde impakte en natuurlike fluktuasies in fisies-chemiese veranderinge groepvorming bestuur. Die invloed van interbekken-waterverplasings skemas op natuurlike vloeipatrone, soos gesien is met die monsters in the Droogte Gang ekostreek was sigbaar in die diatoom gemeenskaps samestelling. Hierdie studie het daarin geslaag om diatoom gemeenskappe met Ekostreek Vlak I verbind. Gevolglik kon die studie ‘n verwysingsvoorwaarde beskrywing vir beide Vlak I en II lewer. Terwyl diatome uiters nuttig is as kleinskaalse impakspesifieke aanwysers en assesseringsinstrumente, het die resultate in hierdie studie getoon dat die gebruik van diatoom inligting vir die monitering van grootskaalse klimaatsverandering en volhoubare bestuur van varswaterhulpbronne tans grootliks onbenut bly. Verdere navorsing oor die verhouding tussen die samestelling van diatoom gemeenskappe en meer spesifieke besonderhede rakende omgewingsfaktore sal ons begrip rondom die rol van diatome in veerkragtigheid van varswater-ekosisteme baie kan bevorder. Die data was baie robuust en betroubaar in hierdie studie, wat daarop dui dat daar 'n goeie veerkragtigheid aan die basis van die voedselweb tans bestaan. Selfs met natuurlike versteurings in Afrika se hoogs dinamiese varswater-ekosisteme. Behoorlik funksionerende diatoom gemeenskappe kan 'n belangriker komponent van varswater-ekosisteem veerkragtigheid wees as wat tans bekend is of erken word. Hierdie studie het ook bevind dat die uitsluiting van sekere laer digtheid diatoom inligting nie bydra tot 'n meer akkurate resultaat nie, maar eerder waardevolle inligting oor biodiversiteit verwyder. Suider Afrika gaan in die nabye toekoms al ernstiger en meer direkte klimaatsverandering-geïnduseerde impakte ervaar. Dit is daarom taamlik roekeloos om diatoom inligting uit varswater volhoubaarheids waarnemings te laat. Hierdie studie het die grondslag gegee vir volgehoue opdatering van diatoom inligting op verkeie riviere in die Oos- en Wes-Kaap Provinsies. Hierdie metode moet in ander streke van die land ook toegepas word sodat diatoom verwysingsvoorwaardes produseer kan word vir ander Ekostreek Vlak I en II gebiede. Sodoende kan verseker word dat diatoom inligting ingesluit word by Ekologiese Reserwe studies en in die toekoms kan bydra tot 'n meer holistiese benadering tot varswater ekostelselbestuur. In Botswana is daar gevind dat n noemenswaardige verskil in gemeenskaps samestelling bestaan tussen the Thamalakane Rivier, Nxamaseri Vloedvlakte en die Okavango Panhandle. Die verskil word toegeskryf aan die teenwoordigheid van mikro-habitats wat ‘n verskil in nutrient lading het en dus ‘n invloed om die lokale water kwaliteit het. Hierdie mikro-habits bevorder tollerante spesies wat bestand en aangepas is teen die hoër nutrient lading. Ondanks hierdie kleinskaalse veranderinge in gemeeskaps samestelling was daar nie ‘n invloed op die groterskaalse ekostreeks vlak groepering nie. ‘n Duidelike verskil tussen die verskillende streke van die Okavango Rivier en geassosieerde stelses kon nogtans waargeneem word. Hierdie geografiese stratifikasie beklemtoon die belangrike rol wat die stroom-op ekostelsel speel in die laer gedeeltes van die Okavango Rivier, veral die delta wat ‘n bewarings area van internationale belang is. Diatome kan 'n aansienlike bydrae lewer tot ons huidige begrip van varswaterhulpbron funksionering, handhawing van ekosisteem integriteit en die gevolglike bio-assessering, monitering en bestuur van volhoubare watersekuriteit vir almal.National Research Foundation (NRF

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