Cape Peninsula University of Technology
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Ouerbetrokkenheid van leerders met leergestremdhede in skole in ’n arm landelike gebied in die Wes-Kaap
No full textThesis (MEd)--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017.Poverty and a lack of parental involvement have a dual negative effect on the academic performance of learners with learning disabilities, and are prevalent in rural areas. While parental involvement in schools in impoverished rural communities is very low, research also indicates parental involvement is key in addressing barriers to learning and associated learning disabilities. This study sought to explore the nature and extent of parental involvement of learners with learning disabilities at schools in impoverished rural communities. The study targeted a specific impoverished rural community in the Western Cape where the combination of learning disability and a lack of parental involvement negatively affects the literacy and numeracy skills, resulting in learning outputs that are below standard. The study drew on Epstein’s theory of parental involvement. Thematic data analysis was used in employing a constant comparative method. By applying Epstein’s model, this study not only contributes to understanding the nature and dynamics of parental involvement in impoverished rural schools as well as factors contributing towards the improvement of parental involvement; it also contributes towards an understanding of Epstein by applying her model to a rural setting
Retention strategies for doctors and nurses in Lesotho : an implementation framework
No full textThesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017.This paper reviews retention strategies for Lesotho’s doctors and nurses and presented an implementation framework to support and promote staff retention. . Based on the increasing necessity to retain doctors and nurses, the implementation framework becomes an essential element of retention strategy. A qualitative and quantitative research design technique using a self-managed questionnaire and interviews was adopted to gather data. The 120 doctors and nurses make up a sample. The information was statistically analysed using SPSS and grounded theory. Results identified that the current implementation strategy has failed to increase the retention rate of doctors and nurses. It is hoped that the implementation framework presented in this paper would help to achieve increased retention rate for doctors and nurses
Markers of chronic immune activation and T-cell function in hyperglycaemia
No full textThesis (MTech (Biomedical Sciences))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017.Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic inflammatory condition characterised by hyperglycaemia; continuous activation of T-lymphocytes and immune dysregulation. Although the exact mechanisms of these phenomena are not fully understood, there is strong evidence suggesting the involvement of T-cells in the chronic inflammatory environment which could predispose diabetics to infections and thrombotic events. The effect of hyperglycaemia on cells of the innate immune system in T2DM has been well described and implicated in the progression of the disorder and the development of its complications. However, studies investigating the adaptive immune response still remain scarce and controversial. Thus, investigating T-cells in hyperglycaemic conditions could provide further insight into the immune dysfunction observed in T2DM and assist in identifying pathways which could be targeted in the disease management and treatment. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate chronic immune activation by measuring the expression of T-cell activation markers in hyperglycaemia and compare the results to those in the normoglycaemic group
Development of a palladium based membrane reactor system for production of ultra-pure hydrogen from liquefied petroleum gas
No full textThesis (MTech (Chemical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017.Hydrogen is widely regarded as the clean energy carrier for future use in both transportation and electricity sectors. It has become an important new focus as an alternative fuel for cleaner energy technologies especially in the Polymer Exchange Membranes (PEM) fuel cells. However, specific technical and marketing demands must be met by a fuel processor for ultra-pure hydrogen production and at a very competitive cost. Liquid Petroleum gas (LPG) is seen as a potential source for low cost hydrogen production due to its relatively high energy density, easy storage and well-established infrastructure for fuel. There is a growing interest in the use of membrane in reaction engineering with the selective separation of the products from the reaction mixture provided opportunities to achieve higher conversion. Membrane separation technologies have potential to reduce operating costs, minimise unit operations and lower energy consumption. The overall goal of this project is to investigate the engineering feasibility associated performance of employing a palladium or palladium alloy membrane reactor for the production of ultra-pure hydrogen from the products of a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) pre-reformer in determining the optimal process conditions for the production of high purity hydrogen from the LPG feedstock and evaluating of the performance of a Pd-based membrane in relation to maximizing the yield of hydrogen from the feedstock as well as minimizing the CO content of the reformate
Youth perception of service quality of large food retailers in the Cape Metropolis
No full textThesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017.Retailers (including food retailers) are facing challenging times due to the dynamic business environment. Increasing competition, uncertain economic environment. The sophistication of consumers has prompted retailers to improve not only their product offering but service quality too. Some food retailers, however, have gained a reputation for poor service quality. On the other hand, those food retailers providing high levels of service quality, warrant customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, and minimise customer defection, ultimately affecting positive profitability.
The youth is a significant market to target for any retailer. Retailers that can attract and muster support from the youth can build long term relationships that result in strong customer loyalty. For this study, second and third year retail students enrolled at a university of technology were deemed as the target population following the rationale that these students would be familiar with retail concepts and be conscious of service quality issues. The study aimed to measure youth perceptions of service quality of large food retailers in line with the dimensions of the Retail Service Quality Scale (RSQS). An online survey was employed via the university’s intranet to where the youth customers were requested to rate their service quality perceptions of a large food retailer they frequented the most and to highlight areas of service quality that required attention.
The results were generally neutral, large food retailers were generally perceived as fairly providing quality service in some areas, though in other areas not so successful. The findings reveal that youth significantly felt personal interaction and physical aspects of the retailer was the most important service quality determinant. In particular, convenient shopping was paramount; and thereafter quality goods and services offered by the retailer. The study further showed that youth favoured service quality offered by retailers over the price of goods and services. Therefore, youth would remain loyal to their food retailers that provide satisfactory levels of service quality even if their prices were higher than their competitors’ prices. Retailers that want to attract youth would need to improve the reliability dimension, which includes stock availability, and the service process relating to paying. The literature and the data collected provided the researcher with the opportunity to explore youth perceptions of service quality of food retailers in the Cape Metropolis
Treatment of poultry slaughterhouse wastewater using an expanded granular sludge bed anaerobic digester coupled with anoxic/aerobic hybrid side stream ultrafiltration membrane bioreactor
No full textThesis (Master of Engineering in Chemical Engineering)--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017.For more than a decade, poultry product consumption increased in developed and developing countries, with more than 470 new slaughterhouses being constructed in South Africa (SA). Customer demand for poultry products resulted in a rapidly growing poultry industry, with consequential increases in the quantity of organic solid and liquid waste being produced from the poultry slaughterhouses. Annually, the productivity and profitability within the livestock production sector has increased, an evaluation based on the number of slaughtered and sold animals. Potable water is required for these animals, resulting in the generation of high strength wastewaters. Instantaneous disposal of such wastewaters into the environment is concerning as it results in odour and the spreading of diseases in local rivers and freshwater sources. The generated poultry slaughterhouse wastewater (PSW) contains a high quantity of biodegradable organic, suspended and colloidal matter in the form of proteins, fats, oil and grease (FOG), protein from meat, blood, skin, and feathers, resulting in high Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), which can contribute to environmental deterioration if not treated adequately before discharge. On average, PSW contains a high concentration of BOD, COD, nitrogen, pathogenic and non-pathogenic viruses, bacteria and parasites, including their eggs. These characteristics make PSW highly polluted with a large quantity of bird carcass debris including FOG. Due to the high concentration of organic matter and suspended solids in the wastewater, it is necessary to pre-treat the PSW prior to sequential anaerobic treatment. Most of the contaminants present in the PSW can be reduced by means of numerous treatment steps, i.e. physical, chemical and biological treatment.
For this study, biological treatment methods, physical separation methods, and a membrane bioreactor system, were used to treat PSW. The biological treatment methods used were an anaerobic digester (AD) followed by a single stage nitrification/denitrification reactor and then a third stage in which an ultrafiltration (UF) and Microfiltration (MF) membrane bioreactor (MBR) was used. The AD used was an Expanded Granular sludge Bed Reactor (EGSB) as anaerobic digestion is one of the most effective biological wastewater treatment methods used, as it reduces the organic matter to even produce biogas as a renewable energy source. The basis of anaerobic treatment method relies on suitable bacteria cultivated in the absence of dissolved oxygen, facilitating decomposition of organic matter into a renewable source such as biogas. Similarly, biological nitrification/denitrification processes for the removal of total nitrogen (TN) in wastewater has become one of the most commonly used processes within the wastewater treatment sector. Nitrification and denitrification processes can be performed by some microorganisms within the wastewater in Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) The PSW used was collected at different times from a local poultry slaughterhouse in the Western Cape (South Africa) and stored in a refrigerator at 4°C until it was fed to the first stage of the treatment which was the EGSB. Before being fed to the EGSB, the PSW was filtered with a sieve to remove feathers and agglomerated FOG to avoid clogging of the tubing. The EGSB was inoculated with 0.747 L anaerobic granular sludge, had a working volume of 2.7 L, an inner diameter of 0.065 m and a height of 0.872 m respectively. Ceramic marbles with an average diameter of 0.0157m were placed at the bottom of the bioreactor as packing for the underdrain and to maintain the granular sludge within the heated section of the bioreactor. The EGSB was fed with three types of PSW: 50% (v/v), 70% (v/v), which was diluted with distilled water. Thereafter once the system stabilised the reactor was fed with undiluted PSW (100%). Each dilution was operated at different Hydraulic Retention Times (HRTs) and Organic Loading Rates (OLRs), with average HRTs used being 62.5, 57.5 and 49.65 h. Furthermore, the average OLRs were 1, 2 and 3 g tCOD/L.day respectively. The performance of the EGSB was determined using tCOD, Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and FOG, with overall averaged removal rates for these constituents being 69%, 98% and 92% respectively. The highest tCOD removal of 93 % (optimal efficiency) was obtained at an average HRT of 57.5 h with a corresponding average OLR of 2 g tCOD/L.day
An assessment of the management of odour at the Athlone wastewater treatment works, Cape Town
No full textThesis (MTech (Environmental Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017.¹Odour nuisance is increasingly becoming one of the major environmental problems in various countries across the world, especially odour associated with wastewater (Alfonsin et al., 2015; Schlegelmilch et al., 2005; Gostelow et al., 2001). As a result, the management of odour from Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW) has become one of the environmental challenges besetting these facilities in recent times. The dispersion of odour across the physical boundary of wastewater treatment facilities presents not only negative environmental impacts to the natural environment, but also constitute a nuisance to surrounding populations. The Athlone (WWTW) located in the urban City of Cape Town with high demographics and adjacent to sensitive communities is thus not immune to poor air quality associated with WWTW activities (Walton, 2005). The population growth due to rural-urban migration has further put severe pressure on the facility and thus worsening the odour problem in the area. As a result, complaints have been received by the City Council from the surrounding communities over the last 20 years. In response to these complaints, the management of the WWTW introduced an odour management system with a particular focus on the use of a biotrickling filter coupled with the use of odour masking sprays. This management intervention was adopted in order to control the odour emitted to the atmosphere from the facility (WWTW). While these measures are said to reduce the prevalence of odour to the surrounding environment, it was, however, not clear whether or not such management interventions have reduced odour emitted from the treatment plant. This research was premised on two postulations as an approach to analyse the effect of the odour management plan adopted by the Athlone WWTW’s management and these are: 1) the perceived experience of odour by the adjacent neighbouring communities and, 2) the understanding of the inherent atmospheric dynamics (such as wind velocity, atmospheric stability, inversion layer and ventilation) which influence odour dispersal in the area. The research project argues that these two factors should be taken into account to ensure that the management of odour is sustainable. It is within this background that the research aimed at assessing the management of odour at the Athlone WWTW and to find out, if at all, the inherent local atmospheric conditions in the area and views of the surrounding communities are incorporated into the management of odour from the plant. The methodological design adopted in the study was case study approach. However, the atmospheric data (wind speed and direction) was obtained from the South African Weather Service (SAWS). These variables were analysed qualitatively and experimentally by the use of wind diagrams to provide insight on 2atmospheric stability conditions, surface inversion and topographical properties, and how these phenomenon influences odour dispersion. The study also reviewed previous odour management reports produced by the Althone WWTW management. This type of data was finally supported by data collected from the community by means of a community survey, face-to-face in-depth interviews and qualitative observation. Some major findings from the study revealed that the local weather of Athlone influences the dispersion of odour – facilitating dispersion in the summer through high wind velocities, while impeding dispersion during winter due to the presence of atmospheric stability conditions. Prevailing odours in this community has led to a general feeling of displeasure amongst community members especially since the management of the treatment plan does not include the local community in the decision-making process. In spite of these, the facility’s management approach was found to be more of a response driven nature even though it is ranked as a high-risk facility
Contract procurement strategies for project delivery towards enhancement of housing sustainability in South Africa
No full textThesis (MTech (Construction Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017.The supply of housing products that is durable, obtained at optimum cost and available within the shortest time possible describes the term sustainable housing. Findings derived from the reviewed literature concerning the ever-increasing quest of construction clients for ‘best value for money’ on construction projects brought about the emergence of alternative contract procurement strategies. Essentially, literature revealed that it is vital to adopt an appropriate contract procurement strategy, one that best addresses particular project needs and objectives, as the adoption of an inappropriate procurement system would result in excessive project cost and time overrun, low project quality standards and the dissatisfaction of involved construction stakeholders.
The quest for the supply of sustainable housing in the Western Cape, South Africa, prompted the need to establish an effective contract procurement strategy for housing project delivery. Noteworthy, this study identified five (5) objectives directed towards establishing an effective contract procurement strategy to enhance sustainable housing delivery: 1) the first objective examined the effectiveness of contract procurement strategies used for housing projects; 2) the second objective identified the factors influencing the selection of a suitable contract procurement strategy for housing projects; 3) the third objective analysed the influence of contract procurement strategies on project cost, time and quality; 4) the fourth objective examined the benefits and shortfalls associated with various contract procurement strategies on housing project resources – construction materials, machinery and manpower; 5) and the last objective was to establish the contract procurement strategy that is most effective for the delivery of sustainable housing.
This research adopted a mixed methodological approach involving the administration of close-ended quantitative questionnaires submitted to construction professionals and stakeholders and semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted with construction site managers and supervisors. SPSS version 24 software was used to analyse the quantitative data elicited, and “content analysis” was used to analyse the information obtained through the qualitative interviews. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient reliability test was conducted on scaled research questions to ensure the reliability of the research questionnaire.
The research findings revealed that the traditional and the design and build contract procurement approaches are cost, time and quality effective and therefore satisfactory, while the traditional contract procurement system is also effective regarding construction stakeholder satisfaction. The research identified that the significant factors influencing the selection of a contract procurement strategy include delay and mistakes in producing design documents; client inability to brief and make timely decisions; project type, nature, scope and complexity; lack of communication and feedback; lack of discipline among construction workers; and finally, lack of availability of construction materials.
The study concluded that thorough consideration of these findings by construction stakeholders within the construction industry will enhance the delivery of affordable, sustainable housing. The research study recommends, among other issues, the comparison of effectiveness of contract procurement strategies on project performance on a site-by-site basis, through work study and other available strategies, to further enhance sustainable housing delivery in the South African construction industry
Real-time detection of attendance at a venue using mobile devices
No full textThesis (MTech (Information Technology))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017.The implosion of the mobile phones, mobile applications and social media in recent years has triggered a great interest for more dedicated user-generated contents. Mobile users being the focal point, these modern virtual platforms depend on and live for collecting, structuring and manipulating the very fine-grained details about users' day-to-day activities.
Since every human activity takes place in a geographical context, location information ranks high among the set of data to gather about user's daily life. User's specific location details can help filter content to serve and retrieve from them. Therefore, location-based services have been developed and successfully integrated into most virtual platforms in the quest for these precious data.
However, location-based services do not fulfil all requirements. They depend on a range of positioning systems which show numerous limitations. None of the existing positioning systems is perfectly accurate. Today, it is therefore difficult to pinpoint a user in a venue using location-based services.
Nevertheless, with the set of existing technology and techniques, it is possible to estimate and track users’ whereabouts in real-time. Providing the best possible estimation of user's position within a given venue can help achieve better user engagement. Depending on the gap of accuracy, the end result may actually match the outcome expected from perfectly accurate positioning systems.
In this work, the focus is to develop a prototype positioning system which provides the best estimation of user's position in real-time in relation to a targeted venue or location. Through a series of research and comparison study, the most suited technology and techniques are objectively selected to build the intended prototype.
The challenge of indoor positioning is also addressed in this work – bearing in mind the fact that this prototype is set to work accurately and efficiently in any geographical location and structure. The prototype is evaluated according to a set of predefined standard metrics, and theories are extracted to grow knowledge about this trending topic
Investigation of some scale-up conditions on the synthesis of faujasite zeolites from South African coal fly ash
No full textThesis (MTech (Chemical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017.Coal fly ash waste produced from the coal combustion process is becoming an ever increasing concern. It is produced in such abundance due to not only South Africa, but the whole of the world relying mainly on coal combustion for the main source of energy production. With the growing rate of the human population this energy production is ever increasing. The current methods of disposal of this fly ash is not sustainable, it is being dumped in ash dumps, and poses a risk to the surrounding environment and human population. Therefore, processes need to be developed to take this waste and turn it into useful materials. This would not only solve the problem of its disposal but also create useful products that can be applied to further protect the environment. It was discovered that one of the useful materials that can be synthesised from fly ash are zeolites. These nano-porous structures have a wide variety of uses. Therefore, many studies have been conducted around optimising the synthesis of various zeolites from coal fly ash. More recently these studies have focused on the scale-up conditions needed to synthesise these zeolites on the large industrial scale, regarding the sheer volume of fly ash produced annually. The most robust and widely used technique for zeolite synthesis involves a pre-synthesis fusion of the fly ash with sodium hydroxide at a temperature of 550 0C. This would not be feasible to scale-up to industrial scale because of the energy intensity. Therefore, alternative pre-synthesis techniques have been proposed. One of those techniques involves using a sonochemical treatment as a pre-synthesis. It can be argued that this technique may not be able to be easily scaled. To solve this problem, another alternative technique was investigated within this study. It involves the use of a jet loop pilot plant mixing system, which can be scaled-up very readily to industrial scale