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The fourth industrial revolution as a focus of research and innovation at NUST: Should we stay, or is it time to move on?
No full textJane Gold
Department of Architecture, Construction and Planning• While the Industrial Revolution and associated research focuses on the technology, is there more to development than this?
• Can we really move forward with development without acknowledging the people power
Spatial Modelling of Malaria Incidence and its Risk Factors in Namibia
No full textA thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Applied Statistics in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences
Namibia University of Science and Technology.Malaria distribution is known to be geographical and temporal heterogeneous, with
cases fluctuating across space and time, and climatic conditions are largely connected
with regard to malaria occurrence, both temporally and spatially. Millions
of dollars have been spent on malaria control in Namibia to achieve the goal of
reducing malaria incidence from 13 to less than 1 malaria case per 1000 population
in 2016 and becoming malaria free by 2020. However, malaria still remains a major
public health challenge in Namibia, primarily in the KavangoWest and East, Ohangwena,
and Zambezi regions. The primary purpose of this research was to fit a spatial
model to profile spatial variation in malaria incidence (MoHSS) and to investigate
possible associations between disease risk and environmental factors in these areas.
To explain disease trends, identify malaria risk factors, and locate malaria hotspots,
the INLA package in R software was used to fit a range of models, including nonspatial,
spatial, and spatio-temporal models. Malaria data for 2018 to 2020 were
obtained from the Ministry of Health and Social Services, while monthly weather
data for 2018 to 2020 were obtained from SASSCAL, and population estimates for
each constituency were used to project the population for 2018 to 2020. Since more
than 96% of the 2018-2019 reported malaria cases were from the Kavango East and
West, Zambezi, and Ohangwena regions, and more than 80% in 2020, this study was
restricted to those areas. A hierarchical Bayesian CAR model was fitted to these
datasets to investigate climatic and other related factors that could explain the spatial/
temporal variation of malaria infection in Namibia. Average rainfall received on
an annual basis and maximum temperature were found to have a significant spatial
and temporal variation on malaria infection. Every mm increase in annual rainfall
in a specific constituency in each year increases annual mean malaria cases by 0.6%
in that constituency. Also, for every one ◦C increase in annual maximum temperature
in a certain constituency, it will increase the annual mean cases of malaria by
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0.6%. The posterior means of the time main effect (year t) showed a visible slightly
increasing global trend from 2018 to 2020. Constituencies in the Kavango outskirts
East andWest regions revealed a high spatial risk and posterior relative risk (RR: 1.57
to 1.78). Both unstructured random effects (spatial and temporal) as well as temporal
structured random effects revealed a significant variation of malaria. Future studies
should consider examining all possible putative sources of malaria transmission including
travel histories and networks, and treatment seeking behavior and should
mostly focus on finding and mapping potential anopheles mosquito habitat that
was missed in this study due to a lack of information in the datasets on anopheles
mosquito breeding locations (e.g., irrigated agriculture).
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WATER EVALUATION AND PLANNING SYSTEM MODEL ASSESSMENT FOR OPERATION OF HARDAP DAM AND WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN ITS CATCHMENT, NAMIBIA
No full textThesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Integrated
Water Resources Management at the Namibian University of Science and TechnologyManagement of water supply and demand remains a major challenge in most developing countries, especially in a semi-arid country like Namibia, where surface water supplies are limited mostly during drought periods. Given the extremities, the Hardap catchment is exposed to, water supply and demand management is a challenge. This results in water resource allocation problems, which threaten the sustainable water resource management in the catchment. A baseline study was conducted to develop and assess a calibrated WEAP model for the Hardap Dam operation and water resource management strategies. Water demand and supply availability were evaluated for three water use sectors, namely, domestic (tourism and livestock included), aquaculture, and irrigation.
The WEAP model was structured according to four scenarios with a current account (1999) and reference period (2000-2021). These scenarios are as follows: Scenario 1: 10% demand saving management for Mariental Town and improved irrigation efficiency by changing from the current flood irrigation method to the drip irrigation method. Scenario 2: increased irrigation area for the Hardap Irrigation Scheme. Scenario 3: hydrological seasons for high and low flows which evaluated the change in the hydrological regime; very wet, wet, normal, dry and very dry years. Scenario 4: the discharge of water made from Hardap Dam in 2017 for the downstream demand, Neckartal Dam.
The modelling results show that the operation of the Hardap Dam is challenging and the change from 100% to 70% operation rule of full supply capacity has greatly reduced the availability of water supply. The water management strategy results indicate that the 10% demand saving management for Mariental Town has reduced the domestic water demand by 10% hence no impact on the water availability of the Hardap Dam. Improved irrigation efficiency has a positive impact of about 30% reduction in water demand and 13% increase in water availability, with a significant impact of improvements during the drought seasons. Under the increased irrigation area scenario, the irrigation demands are increased by 3.8 Mm3/m for an area of 213 ha and little impact is observed on the storage volumes during dry years. However, the model forecasted a critical and an extreme threshold of 300 and 1000 ha respectively. This has a major impact on demand coverage which was reduced to 90% for the 300 ha. While the 1000 ha has a significant impact on the water supply which depleted the dam levels to below the dead zone. The hydrological seasons were evaluated and the results show that there is a major effect during drought years, due to an increase in storage volumes. The forecasted inflows of 2015 and 2016 were within the observed water year type of dry and very dry. The result of the discharge of 10.7 Mm3 for Neckartal Dam from Hardap Dam in 2017 showed no threat to the water demands and supply as both demands are met
Entwined identities: A comparative study of Americanah, The Book of Not, and We Need New Names
No full textTHESIS PRESENTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ENGLISH AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS AT THE NAMIBIA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
SUPERVISOR: DR MAX MHENE
31 OCTOBER 2022Africa is a continent made up of numerous sovereign nations and different kinds of people. African identities, which are multiple, while acting as the root or stable core for the fluid and in-transit identities, are frequently misconstrued for being a single identity. Misconstruing identities thus becomes a problem. It is for this reason that this study sought to conduct a comparative analysis of three selected African authored texts, namely Americanah (Adichie, 2013), The Book of Not (Dangarembga, 2006) and We Need New Names (Bulawayo, 2013). The Postcolonial Hybridity theory was applied to the study as a framework that guides the study. A qualitative method of data collection and analysis was used in the study. Data with similar themes that respond to the research objectives were thematically grouped and organised and then analysed. Text selection criterion was used to select these three texts from a collection of texts that were written by each of the three authors. The study findings revealed that the Orient, including the African states and the African identities, are genuine people who have been researched and represented through Orientalism. Despite the fact that colonialism has long since ceased, Africanism outside Orientalism is impossible because African states are monuments of the colonial systems. It was further revealed that although identities, as conceptualised by Hall, are inherently fluid, they are nonetheless characterised by a sense of a core identity and a sense of belonging or a state of rootedness. As a result, a human subject is identifiable because of the consciousness and coherence of their fundamental identity, which for Africans, should be viewed as existing outside the boundaries of the binary constructed by the West. African identity is being rebuilt from personhood, nationalism, racial identification, ethnic identity or cultural identity. As a central assertion drawn from a variety of assertions made about a single human subject, therefore, the study recommends a collective identity as a label type that is transitory, ephemeral, and periodic. The study recommends an analysis of the significance of identities developed throughout a subject's childhood in Africa. It further recommends the evaluation of the importance of parents and their function in forming modern African identities
Language and gender in My Heart in Your Hands: Poems from Namibia: A feminist stylistic approach
No full textTHESIS PRESENTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ENGLISH AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS AT THE NAMIBIA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
SUPERVISOR: PROF. HAILELEUL ZELEKE WOLDERMARIAMThis thesis provides a feminist stylistic analysis of fifteen (15) selected poems: Mother by Bronwen A Beukes, There’s depth in mother’s strength by Anne-Marrie Issa Brown Garises, Unconditional Love (a letter to my mother) by Gloria Ndilula What’s wrong? By Saara Kadhikwa, Stir not my dear one by Anneli Nghikembua, You broke me, Daddy by Jane Mungabwa, Domestic worker by Ina-Maria Shikongo, Dear perpetrator by Tulipomwene Kalunduka, Violence by Kina Indongo, Let me be by Saara Kalumbu, It never happened by Veripuami Nandeekua Kangumine, Perm blues by Maria-Oo Haihambo, Hail to the queen by Zemha Gawachas, Darkness by Tuli Phoenix, and This is not a Poem by Omaano Itana, from one anthology titled : My Heart In Your Hands: Poems from Namibia. The purpose of conducting this study was to examine language and gender in My Heart In Your Hands: Poems from Namibia from a feminist stylistics perspective. The research sought to achieve the following objectives: To examine how lexis is used to represent women in the selected poems; to analyse how syntax is used to show roles of women in the society and to evaluate how gender issues are communicated at discourse level. The female poets disclosed the subjugation of women by the patriarchal system. Women characters were represented as second to men, wicked, weak and victims of sexual, verbal and physical abuse at the hand of their loved ones. In the poems, women are represented as emotional, and worthless. Furthermore, the poets used linguistic devices to show the roles of women in the society. Women are portrayed as domestic workers, care takers, and child bearers. They are given household duties as their roles throughout the selected poems. Finally, the poets used discourse level to communicate the gender issues faced by women such as oppression, discrimination, exploitation and they are voiceless as men shut them through abuse when they speak up. The study concluded that women writers/poets of the selected poems used language to represent women in the negative way and give them the stereotyped roles based on their gender and brought gender issues faced by women through discourse and feminist stylistics approach was successful in bringing these presentations to light
An investigation into predictors of hepatitis e virus (HEV) and its preventative strategies in Walvis Bay, Erongo Region, Namibia.
No full textReport presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Health
Science in the Faculty of Health and Applied Science.Hepatitis E Virus (HEV), which is a viral liver infection was declared an epidemic in the year
2017 in Namibia. Subsequent to this declaration, the Ministry of Health and Social Services
(MoHSS) called for a behavioural change effort in six affected regions in Namibia. Therefore,
through this study, predictors such as cultural beliefs, demographics and socioeconomic
factors of Hepatitis E virus and its preventative strategies among the Walvis Bay informal
settlement residents was determined. The study helped in understanding and identifying
perceptions on the predictors of the Hepatitis E virus outbreak among residents in Walvis
Bay.
The study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods using an exploratory
descriptive design. In-depth interviews (n = 20 health care workers and Hepatitis E virus
sufferers) guided by an interview guide was conducted with key informants, structured selfadministered
questionnaires were distributed to 264 households, and records were reviewed
from the Ministry of Health and Social Services, in the Walvis Bay State Hospital’s Health
Information System (HIS). Quantitative data were analysed using Microsoft Excel of 2016
and Statistical Package for Services Solutions (SPSS) version 26, whereas content analysis
was done for qualitative data illustrated through codes and verbatim quotes using ATLAS.ti 9.
The correlation of dependent and independent variables was determined using Chi-square
tests and one-way Multivariate Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).
The study identified complex cultural beliefs such as eating food with own hands (mean
=0.93), washing hands in one bucket (mean =0.67), shaking hands when greeting
(mean=0.66) and the use of traditional medicine (mean=0.45). As indicated in the Walvis Bay
epidemiological curve, the fluctuation of confirmed cases in each week was observed with the
total of 206 cases, majority (57%) being male. Positive associations (p value =3.841) between
the identified complex cultural beliefs and the population’s socio-demographic characteristics
were determined. Finally, the use of traditional medicine, lack of HEV interventions to the
affected communities and the socio-demographic factors were identified as the main obstacles
to the health care management of HEV in Otweya informal settlement, Walvis Bay.
The results of this current study showed that there are different traditional and cultural
practices such as the use of traditional medicine (Oukoreb, Kamaku, Nara !Nomab) and hand
hygiene practices (Shaking hands when greeting, washing hands in one bucket of water,
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eating with hands without cutlery and eating together in one plate) act as predictors of HEV
prevalence in Otweya informal settlement of Walvis Bay. HEV cases were high in the
informal settlements and there were positive associations between the socio-demographic of
the population and cultural beliefs that would lead to the prevalence of HEV. Based on the
results of this study, it is recommended to understand and identify shared main cultural beliefs
of the community with health needs for effective interventions to curb and prevent diseases
such as HEV at the informal settlements of Namibia. Recommendations were made to assist
policy makers to design effective integrated primary health care strategies to serve the
communities in informal settlements in Namibia
Efficient hybrid deep reinforcement learning mechanism for distributed denial of service attack detection in software defined networks
No full textThe Internet architecture remains fixed since its invention but the Software Defined
Network (SDN) comes with more flexibility, innovation, and programmability aspects being a very
promising network architecture. However, the centralized control architecture in SDN represents a
single point of failure. This vulnerability is prone to Distributed Denial of Service attack (DDoS) which
remains a common and sophisticated attack on computer networks. With the controller faced with
DDoS attacks while already overloaded with decision making, it raises a major security concern for
SDN and therefore necessitates an efficient DDoS attack detection mechanism. This study aimed at
designing a mechanism that accurately detects DDoS attacks while using minimum computational
resources. We introduced a Hybrid Deep Reinforcement Learning Mechanism (HDRLM) for the SDN
at the controller. An evaluation of literature was conducted to identify DRL algorithms that are
accurate at the same time efficient. Double Deep Q-Network and Deep Q Network (DQN) were
identified, and Deep Q-Network (DQN) was adopted in the study. To confirm the performance,
simulated experimentation was used. Using the Design Science approach, a hybrid mechanism using
the Deep Q Network algorithm that combines two different Deep Learning Neural networks for
value approximation was designed. The HDRLM was demonstrated through experimentation in
which the CICIDS2017 dataset was used to train and evaluate its performance. Detection accuracy of
98.16% was obtained and an 8% on CPU usage during detection, an improvement of the resource
usage of the state-of-the-art detection mechanism. A positive upward trajectory of the accumulated
rewards demonstrated that the mechanism was able to learn the environment by itself. Despite not
achieving the highest accuracy, the HDRLM achieved a reasonably higher detection rate without
consuming more computational resources compared to available mechanisms. This study provides a
mechanism and an approach to designing mechanisms that reduce the cost of detectio
Modelling poverty in Namibia using beta distribution.
No full textA thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Applied Statistics
in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences Namibia University of Science and Technology.Modelling poverty is important as it helps to pinpoint human development areas that are
most affected by poverty. Also, modelling poverty helps in understanding the patterns and
levels of poverty, which helps policy makers to plan and make targeted interventions to reduce
poverty. The traditional methods of estimating poverty such as the cost of basic needs
approach or the poverty line approach are surrounded by a lot of controversies as they are
said to underestimate or overestimate poverty. These methods are uni-dimensional as they
only estimate poverty in one dimension (e.g consumption, income and expenditure) which
neglects the humanistic needs side of poverty such as access to health or education. On the
other hand, methods that include the Alkire and Santos (2011) method measure poverty in
more than one dimension (e.g living standards, health, and education) but are faced with
prejudice as the weighting method used is based on experts’ opinion or the consensus of
different stakeholders. Thus, this type of weighting method may result in biased weights
and consequently result in inaccurate estimates of Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)
values. This study focused on developing a multidimensional poverty model using beta
distribution capable of estimating poverty for Namibia on regional and national levels. In
addition, the study aimed at assessing the impact of weighting methods on MPI.
The first specific objective was to develop a multidimensional poverty model using beta distribution
that could be used to model poverty for Namibia. The developed model showed
that the MPI is equivalent to the expected value of the left-truncated beta distribution. The
uncertainty surrounding the MPI was measured through the specification of the variance.
The second specific objective was to assess the impact of weighting methods on MPI. Two
weighting methods (equal and entropy weighting) were adopted and their effect was assessed
on the MPI obtained using the Alkire and Santos (2011) and the beta distribution
approaches. The results revealed that the MPI values obtained when using entropy were
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slightly bigger than the MPI values obtained using equal weighting under the Alkire and
Santos (2011) approach compared to the beta distribution approach where the MPI values
obtained when using equal weighting were bigger than the ones obtained using the entropy
weighting method. Moreover, the entropy weighting method was found to be better than
equal weighting as it is a mathematical based approach and is not affected by a change in
the number of indicators compared to equal weighting which is subjective and sensible to
the number of indicators.
The third specific objective was to identify more potential indicators that could be used in
computing MPI which were not used in the initial computation of MPI by fitting a beta regression
model. Using the NHIES 2015/2016 data, we fitted a beta regression model and
identified the indicators that were left out in the initial computation of MPI.
In conclusion, the results revealed that the beta distribution model can be used to estimate
regional and national poverty. The results also revealed that the entropy weighting method
is useful in allocating weights when computing MPI as it eliminates the bias that comes
with allocating weights. Moreover, the model can be used to identify areas that are highly
affected by poverty and thus helping to come up with ways to alleviate the poverty. Finally,
the beta regression model can help to identify indicators to be included in computing MPI
A functional stylistics study of selected Namibian short stories
No full textTHESIS PRESENTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ENGLISH AND APPLIED LINGUISTICS AT THE NAMIBIA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGYThe current study sought to investigate characteristics of functional stylistics in chosen Namibian-authored texts. The study was motivated by a lack of functional stylistic studies on native Namibian written materials, particularly short stories. The study looked at three major areas of functional stylistics: the ideational, interpersonal, and textual functions of language. Six Namibian-authored works were chosen based on their compliance with the text selection criteria. The short stories are titled 1Mother of the Beast and 2The Matron (Schlettwein, 2012), 3Double Exposure and 4Domestic Relations (Morris, 2012), 5A Little Profit and 6The Magic Stone (Morris, 2012). One of the criterion for selection was that the short story be written by a Namibian. Texts that lacked linguistic literary merits that addressed the study objectives were excluded using the text exclusion criteria. This criterion suggested that all of the selected texts would hypothetically reflect throughout the Systemic Function of language in which Namibian society is portrayed. According to the findings of the study, the language used in Namibian short stories is a vehicle for cultural transmission. In a community, this is the process by which a culture is passed down from one generation to the next (Tamariz & Kirby, 2016). It was also discovered that language may be used to not only transfer culture but also to impart spiritual ideas and to connect a society together. Furthermore, the study discovered that ideational aspects are primarily used in short stories to provide extra information and to develop connections. The authors of the short stories in this study employed interpersonal components to represent their own points of view. Finally, the study discovered that textual pieces are used to construct logic and coherence within writings. The study indicates that questioning is a linguistic technique that can be used to elicit clarification or additional information from either the speaker or the hearer. The study suggests that other forms of writings, such as magazines and poetry, be stylistically analysed in order to improve Namibia's literary environment. Such texts depict the use of language in everyday situations
A morphosyntactic interlanguage analysis of grade 12 English second language learners at Mafwila Senior Secondary School
No full textThis thesis was submitted by Sinte Laty Mwiya towards partial fulfillment of the Master of English and Applied Linguistics degree.The study analyses the morphosyntactic interlanguage of grade12 English Second language learners at Mafwila Senior Secondary School. The study is significant for the reason that only a few studies in Namibia had been conducted focusing on the interlanguage of English L2 learners, hence a study on the process of language learning in both the written and oral skill. This thesis brings to light the Morphosyntactic interlanguage practices of English second language learners at Mafwila Senior secondary school, looking at the fact that they all claimed to have Silozi as their first language and having English as their second language. The study therefore covers the influence to interlanguage, the morphosyntactic features, as well as looking at whether these features occur more in written or spoken language.
They were about 110 grade 12 English Second language learners at the school, but only 86 of them were able to participate in the research. Half of the learners took part in the written composition, while the other was involved in the oral test. All the participants claimed that Silozi is their L1, and English is their L2. The study made use of both Qualitative and Quantitative methods. For Qualitative method, the researcher was able to discover the influence of morphosyntactic interlanguage as well as the features of morphosyntactic interlanguage. With Quantitative method, frequent counts of the language mistakes were done from both the oral and written compositions.
The study found that, Interlanguage varies, it may change anyhow over a period of a short time. Secondly, interlanguage is distinct from one learner to the other, even though there may be common routes of development within learners from either different or same language background.
Interlanguage is a process in which each and every L2 learner goes through, it is natural and it helps learners improve in the Target language (TG). Each and every L2 learner have their version of interlanguage depending on different factors, hence it should not be seen as something negative but rather a positive way of learning as it will keep on changing. Interlanguage studies 3 plays a very big role as it can help everyone involved in the field of language to better understand the overall needs of a Second language learners