UCT Open Access Journals (Univ. of Cape Town)
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Notes on African Rock Pipit Anthus crenatus biometrics
Get PDFAfrican Rock Pipits Anthus crenatus occur in mountainous terrain with steep slopes, and as a result are not easily captured. This is borne out by the South African Bird Ringing Unit (SAFRING) data, which lists fewer than 20 individuals of this species ever having been caught and ringed. As a result of this, there are also limited biometric data available for this species. In this paper, I collated biometric data from ringed birds (n = 12) as well as museum study skins housed in the National Museum, Bloemfontein (n = 22), Durban Natural Science Museum (n = 2) and East London Museum (n = 17). Biometric data were taken from sexes and included culmen, tarsus, hind claw, wing and tail lengths and body mass. Male African Rock Pipits were significantly longer-winged and had longer tails than females (wing: t = 5.239; df = 50; P < 0.05; tail: t = 2.310; df = 50; P < 0.05). Mean wing lengths were 86.5 mm for males and 82.7 mm for females, while tail lengths were 67.0 mm for males and 64.3 mm for females. Hind claw lengths also differed significantly between the sexes (t = -2.227; df = 29; P < 0.05), although this metric is probably biased owing to the small female sample size. No significant differences were evident in culmen and tarsus lengths or body mass between the sexes. The only previous study that reported the morphometrics of this species used a much smaller sample size than the present study, and only reported details for culmen, wing and tail lengths and body mass. This study represents the first detailed biometric dataset for African Rock Pipits based on limited bird ringing data and supplementary biometric data obtained from museum study skins. The value of museum specimens to obtain biometric data is again highlighted
Contributing Elements and Issues to Strategic Management in the Construction Industry Among Small and Medium Enterprises: A Case Study in South Africa's eThekwini Region: Strategic management in construction firms with focus on small and medium enterprises: A case study eThekwini, South Africa
No full textSmall and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are vital to the economy and have helped it grow, but they still have a high failure rate. Many businesses fail within the first few months of operation due to a lack of strategic planning. This study aimed to identify persuading factors that contribute to strategic management to improve performance and categorise challenges faced by SMEs in implementing a strategic plan in the eThekwini region of South Africa. The study adopted a quantitative research approach, and the population of interest for the research includes small and medium construction companies, which were sourced via the Construction Industry Development Board (cidb) registry. An online survey tool was used to distribute the questionnaire to 145 small and medium businesses. The data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical tools and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The study's findings reveal that most eThekwini-based SMEs in the construction industry use strategic management practices to improve their business performance. The key factors for strategic management in SMEs, such as improving decision-making processes, increasing productivity, and gaining a competitive advantage, demonstrated high levels of agreement among participants regarding improving business performance. This study also found widespread agreement on the challenges of implementing a strategic plan in an organisation. Therefore, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) must develop procedures and policies to deal with the difficulties that arise when drafting a strategic plan. This will ensure that strategic planning works in their operations. This can be accomplished by implementing strategic management into SMEs training programs offered by government and tertiary institutions that support SMEs. The government should also improve education and broaden its business skills curriculum.
Keywords: Business, Construction, Performance, Planning, Strategy, South Africa
A case of a four-year-old with helminthiasis complicated by intestinal obstruction and atrial trigeminy
Get PDFA child presented with a 4-day history of abdominal pain and distension, constipation, and bilious vomiting. The diagnosis of intestinal obstruction secondary to multiple worm boluses in the intestinal lumen was established during laparotomy. Intraoperatively, he suffered a cardiac arrest which was preceded by an episode of near-fatal arrhythmia. The arrythmia was thought to be a complication of eosinophilic myocarditis which had hitherto not been widely documented in children with heavy worm infestation. As children bear a significant burden of helminthiasis, there is a need to intensify public deworming programme
Routine investigations used in the diagnosis of childhood tuberculosis
Get PDFWorld Health Organization approved the use of Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra (Ultra) in children due to quick turn-around time, improved yield over smear microscopy, and ability to detect rifampicin resistance despite culture being the gold standard. This study reviewed published literature on childhood tuberculosis diagnostic modalities.
For childhood tuberculosis (TB) diagnostic modalities, PubMed was searched using Boolean terms OR/AND between childhood tuberculosis and words such as diagnosis, polymerase chain reaction, molecular, histology, imaging, and cultures. All abstracts were read, after which selected articles that met this article's objectives were thoroughly reviewed and referenced appropriately.
Ultra is an important diagnostic method for confirming TB in children even though mycobacterial culture, other molecular, and histology tests are used in the diagnosis of pulmonary and extrapulmonary TB. Modalities such as imaging and immunologic testing support the diagnosis of microbiologically unconfirmed TB.
Despite advances in the diagnostic tools for tuberculosis in children, the sensitivity and specificity of such tests are still relatively low. Clinical criteria of TB still play a role in deciding whether to treat children for TB
Organisation and implementation of a hospital infection prevention and control protocol
Get PDFThere has been a global rise in antimicrobial resistance and threats from epidemics and pandemics. These threats and the difficulties experienced while managing them have led to a global plan to improve infection prevention and control (IPC) practices, especially in the developing world, thus making them more effective. International health regulations have considered running an effective IPC programme as a critical strategy for dealing with public health threats of international concern. This review aims to survey IPC implementation practices through the global core components of IPC programmes, including monitoring, and then relate them to the practice in a hospital setting of a developing country. Global best practices on IPC from international health organizations were extracted and summarised. This information was then compared to the real-time situation in a developing country's hospital. An effective hospital IPC program is necessary to curb the devastating consequences of uncontrolled pandemics and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). However, the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital in Nnwei, a hospital likened to that of other hospitals in developing countries, has yet to implement the core components of an organized IPC programme fully, and is thus at high risk of an outbreak
Do Ospreys Pandion haliaetus prey on coral reef fish? Observation of an Osprey with an orbicular batfish Platax orbicularis in its talons in Watamu, Kenya
Get PDFDo Ospreys prey on coral reef fish? In short, yes. We report for the first time in scientific literature with photographic proof that Ospreys eat coral reef fish and suggest, based on regular sightings of Osprey hunting over the Watamu Marine National Park lagoon and reef, that coral reef fish form a regular part of their diet while in Kenya
Ecological invasion of the giant African snail Lissachatina fulica (Bowdich, 1822) in a semi-arid forest of western India.: Lissachatina fulica (Bowdich, 1822) is invading Ranthambore national park, semi-arid forest of western India. Semi arid areas are presumed to be be immune from this ecological pest of humid tropical climate. Tourism induced changes in habitat is enabling this pest to colonise this fragile ecosystem.
No full textThe giant African snail Lissachatina fulica (Bowdich, 1822) (also known as Achatina fulica) is indigenous to the coastal region of con-tinental East Africa. It is one of the most invasive ecological pests in the world and threatens native flora, agriculture, human and animal health outside its natural range. While dry and semi-arid climatic re-gions are supposed to be immune to its invasion, our data show that this is not always the case. Ranthambhore National Park is dry, de-ciduous forest located in semi-arid part of western India. We have observed the progressive invasion of L. fulica in this fragile land-scape since its first introduction in 2010. Subsequently, it has spread over a large area at an alarming rate. We discuss the observations on behaviour and the factors responsible for the rapid spread of L. fulica in the park
Emotional Intelligence and its Application to Real Estate Service Quality: A Knowledge Gap Analysis
Get PDFThe demand for quality of service among practicing firms of real estate to achieving customers’ satisfaction has become the major concern of real estate professional bodies. However, customers’ satisfaction is influenced by their emotional needs in decision making. Therefore, this study develops a conceptualized model for measuring service quality among practicing firms of real estate with the application of emotional intelligence. To assess customers’ satisfaction level, the knowledge gap between perception of real estate firms on expectation of customers and the actual customers’ expected service in the Lagos property market in Nigeria were analyzed. A random selection of 100 members of Nigerian Estate Surveyors and Valuers with a total of 400 real estate customers was purposively selected and administered with a structured questionnaire, However, only 85 retrieved questionnaires from real estate firms and a total of 362 real estate customers responded and utilized for analyzing the data. Knowledge gap analysis model with weighted mean score was employed for data analysis. Findings depicted that real estate firms have a basic knowledge barrier on the adoption of emotional intelligence (with more emphasis on self-awareness and social skills determinants) as an instrument of real estate service quality to satisfy customers’ emotional needs in delivery of service among the practitioners. Therefore, practitioners in the real estate firms need to improve on their knowledge of emotional intelligence as an instrument of real estate service quality to enhance customers’ satisfaction on emotional needs
Modelling of Daily Price Volatility of South Africa Property Stock Market Using GARCH Analysis
Get PDFThe study examined the volatility of the daily market price of listed property stocks on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) for a 10year period (2008-2017). The study used daily prices from January 2, 2008 to December 29, 2017 of twelve (12) quoted property companies out of the twenty-seven (27) listed on Johannesburg Stock Exchange (SA REIT Association, 2020). The study computed the average daily price of the selected (12) property stocks and was used as a proxy for the daily market price for the property stock market in the analysis. The study modelled SA-REIT market price volatility using generalised autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH 1, 1). The GARCH model reported that the previous day's information of both the daily market price (ARCH term) and the volatility (GARCH term) have a positive and significant (p<.05) effect on the current day’s daily market price volatility in the property stock market. The result of the model implies that investment in the property stock market is strongly driven by positive news on daily price than a negative shock; meaning that South Africans' investors are more sensitive and exhibit a sharp response to good news on daily market price than bad news when thinking of investing in listed property company shares on Johannesburg Stock Exchange. 
Engineering Education Research for educational change: the possibilities of critical realism for conceptualising causal mechanisms in education
Get PDFEngineering Education Research (EER) grew in prominence from the late 1990s as purposes for this field were espoused in relation to the necessity of change for engineering education in the newly globalising world. Arguments centred on overall challenges with recruitment to engineering, specifically in relation to historically underrepresented populations, as well as with the forms of education (both in terms of quality of teaching and relevance of curricula) offered to students, and the needs of employers as reflected in newly-emerged global accreditation systems. In a field that is at least partly directed towards educational change, there is a need to understand how change typically happens in education systems. This article first draws on findings from the sociology of education to show that causality in relation to educational change is complex. It then turns to the philosophy of critical realism for a way of thinking about change that can inform EER, and concludes by outlining how this might change the research questions that drive the field, and how these might be approached