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Mediated Settlement Agreements in South Africa: A Judicial Review
Get PDFThe research question of this thesis is a simple one: when should a court review a settlement agreement? In South Africa, mediation as an alternative dispute resolution tool is a popular mechanism for aggrieved parties in commercial disputes, where litigation may be limited or inappropriate in the circumstances. Where a mediation concludes with a settlement agreement, and one of the parties then regrets his or her acceptance of the agreement, he or she may approach a court of law for legal review. However, when dealing with a mediated settlement that is primed for legal review, there is uncertainty in the law. There are no fixed rules to guide a court in determining when the legal review of the mediated settlement agreement is appropriate. Judicial review raises complex questions that sit at the intersection of public policy and the constitutional freedom to contract in South Africa, yet the law provides no coherent framework for assessing when judicial review of a settlement agreement is appropriate. Examining the law of legal privilege; confidentiality and without prejudice settlements, and how these principles might affect the legitimacy of the legal review of a mediated settlement agreement, this research reveals that there are no legal tests to be used by the courts, and, that this is an area of the law of mediation that is in need of urgent reform.
Searching for a new fount of knowledge in terms of alternative dispute resolution, this research plumbs South African labour law to ask whether we can use labour law principles to supplement our understanding of the legal review of mediated settlement agreements. This thesis contends that by using principles from South African labour law cases and related legislation, the law of mediation in South Africa can be supplemented and developed. This thesis will show that individual labour law principles, public policy and overarching constitutional norms can provide useful contributions to private, voluntary mediation. It will be argued, by way of doctrinal analysis, that South African labour law has the capacity to augment the jurisprudence of mediation in South Africa, specifically where the suitability of judicial review of a mediated settlement agreement needs to be assessed. Building on this analysis of labour law, the thesis develops the concept of variables as a novel theoretical framework for indicating whether judicial review of the settlement agreement is likely.
Further developing this framework, suggestions are offered as to how such variables might be used to inform reform in this area of law. These reforms, should they be adopted by the South African legislature, would provide the courts and legal practitioners with a cogent and well-articulated framework to use when assessing whether the legal review of a mediated settlement agreement is apt
Algal biopolymers: Diversity of charophytic and chlorophytic cell walls
Get PDFCharophytic green algae are an under-explored, widely diverse division of the streptophytes.
Exploring their polysaccharides’ properties could shine light on new under-exploited
biomaterial sources. Initial experiments were performed on both early and late-diverging
charophytic species; plus a bryophyte (Anthoceros caucasicus) and a chlorophyte (Ulva
linza). They aimed at extracting and analysing, via classical ‘land-plant methods’, the
different polysaccharide fractions (conventionally described as pectin, hemicellulose, and
cellulose) present in algal cell walls. The bryophyte and the late-diverging charophytes
(Chara vulgaris, Charales and Coleochaete scutata, Coleochaetales) showed similar features,
both in terms of extractability and sugar residue compositions, to land plants. All the species
were screened for the presence of the land-plant-specific polymers xyloglucan and
rhamnogalacturonan-II, alongside species from the late-diverging charophytic order
Zygnematales, via in vivo 14CO2 labelling followed by enzymatic hydrolysis of their cell walls.
Xyloglucan-like oligomers were visible in zygnemataleans, but the key dimer isoprimeverose
could not be conclusively detected. An RG-II-like polymer was present in the cell walls of
axenic Chara (Charales). During the initial experiment, early-diverging charophytes
presented distinctive characteristics. Upon further characterisation, the extractability of the
uronic acid-free ‘pectic’ polysaccharide in Klebsormidium was described. Some sections of
the polymers were characterised, namely rhamnoxylan and galactoxylan. The basal species
Chlorokybus showed the presence of the previously unknown dimer β-D-GlcpA-(1→4)-L-Gal.
Its ‘pectic’ fraction was found to be sulphated, contained L-Gal but not D-Gal, and was made
up of two distinct polymers, different by their ionisation degree, sulphation degree, and
susceptibility to hydrolysis. Finally, an investigation on the seaweed Ulva was conducted. In
particular, the ‘hemicellulosic’ fraction was characterised using biochemical and
spectroscopic methods: phyco-xyloglucan was found to be a linear β-(1,4)-polymer of
glucose and xylose, featuring xylose stretches up to four residues long, and with a much
greater affinity for cellulose than that of many well-known land-plant-specific polymers.
Overall, this work indicates the presence of previously unidentified polysaccharides in algal
cell walls, making the harnessing of such widely available biomass possible and desirable
Quantising Geoeconomics: Pluralistic Reconciliation Between Security Protection and Economic Liberalisation Through a Quantum Worldview
No full textThe international economic order is transitioning from neoliberalism, in which deeper economic integration was seen as contributing to mitigating conflicts, to a new geoeconomic order, in which economic interdependence is regarded as a security risk. Geoeconomics is represented by the resurgence of security protection in economic-security disputes. Due to its ambiguous definition, negative assertions, and inadequate response to criticism, the geoeconomic implications of international economic law remain unclear. Inspired by quantum international relations, in which quantum theories are integrated into social science, this thesis seeks to comprehend geoeconomics for the intensified economic-security irreconciliation through the theoretical framework of ‘quantising geoeconomics’.
Quantising geoeconomics is established by using quantum measurement and holism theories. Quantum measurement theory highlights probabilities. Using as an analogy, this thesis argues that geoeconomics has cooperative and competitive probabilities, as evidenced by the practices of China and the US. Quantum holism theory establishes that an object is part of the whole while simultaneously containing the whole. Applying as an ontology, this thesis illustrates the holographic characteristic of geoeconomics and argues that challenges caused by the emerging geoeconomics shall be systematically addressed at international, regional, and national levels. Quantising geoeconomics is applied through the quantising postcritique course. An ideal-typical taxonomy is used to analyse the dualistic classification of scholarship on cybersecurity governance. It advances pragmatism scholarship through quantising geoeconomics and proposes a pluralistic governance model, identifying national autonomy as the governance anchor and attaining homeostasis via regulatory coordination. The thesis further investigates the bifurcated jurisprudence on energy security, attributing the deficiencies to the binary perception of balancing competing interests. It concludes that quantising geoeconomics opposes a coherent programme for the global order and encourages pluralistic reconciliation in what appears irreconcilable. It recognises the geoeconomic basis of security-related concerns to provide an inclusive deference to national autonomy where applicable
Early Identification of Dropout Students in Massive Open Online Courses
Get PDFLearning analytics (LA) provides the ability to understand the patterns of students' behaviour and improve their educational outcomes. Today, the capacity to retain more data has contributed significantly to the rapid growth of the field of LA. For instance, Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platforms offer free courses for millions of students worldwide. Therefore, students who cannot afford the expense of higher education may benefit significantly from the available knowledge in MOOCs. This opens a door for educators and academic researchers with a fascinating variety of learning behaviour data that could be used to analyse students' activities and improve their outcomes.
While MOOCs platforms provide knowledge in a new and unique way, the very high number of dropouts is a significant drawback. Several variables are considered to contribute towards learner attrition or lack of interest, which may lead to disengagement or total dropout. In the past decade, many researchers have sought to explore the reasons behind learner’s attrition in MOOCs. The jury is still out on which factors are the most appropriate predictors; nevertheless, the literature agrees that early prediction is vital to allow for a timely intervention.
This thesis aims to investigate the early prevention of dropout phenomenon in MOOCs by analysing the gaps in the current literature, identifying the under-researched areas, and developing continuous predictive models that can be used in real-time to identify students at risk of dropingout out of MOOCs. The current thesis explores a light-weight approach based on as little data as possible – since different MOOCs store different data on their users – and thus strive to create a truly generalisable method. Several features (e.g., registration date, students' jumping activities, and the times spent on every single task) have been proposed to predict at-risk students from an early stage. This goal was successfully achieved using different approaches such as statistical data analysis, machine learning and data visualisation.
The second aim of this thesis is to employ motivational theories, mapping online student behaviour onto them, to analyse the drives and triggers promoting student engagement. This thesis further contributes by building an Engage Taxonomy of MOOC engagement tracking parameters, mapped over four engagement theories: Self-Determination Theory (SDT), Drive, Engagement Theory (ET), and Process of Engagement. The present thesis shows for the first-time metrics for measurable engagement in MOOCs, including specific measures for Autonomy, Relatedness and Competence. It also evaluates the parameters based on existing (and expanded) measures of success in MOOCs: Completion rate, Correct Answer ratio and Reply ratio
Peer-to-Peer Trading for Enhancing Electric Vehicle Charging with Renewable Energy
Get PDFElectric vehicles (EVs) are rapidly increasing in popularity as greater attention is paid to climate change and decarbonisation, however the environmental benefits that EVs offer can only be fully realised through the use of renewable energy for their charging. Smart charging solutions are essential for managing the impact of EVs and increasing the utilisation of renewable energy, however, questions remain over whether low-voltage distribution networks can accommodate the upcoming increases in EV charging demand.
This thesis addresses both the challenge of increasing the utilisation of renewable energy for EV charging and also the importance of ensuring safe operation of low-voltage distribution networks with the integration of EV charging, distributed renewable energy generation, battery storage and vehicle-to-grid technologies.
Chapter 3 examines a scenario where houses equipped with solar photovoltaic panels and EV charge points endeavour to sell surplus solar energy and the use of their EV charge point to visiting EVs that require charging. A peer-to-peer auction is proposed, with a novel matching mechanism presented to increase the amount of EV charging completed using solar energy without any knowledge about future EV arrivals.
Chapter 4 presents a full peer-to-peer trading model of Network Impact Tokens and Phase Impact Tokens between houses in a low-voltage network. The Impact Tokens guarantee that all EV charging and renewable energy generation does not cause the network to exceed its voltage, current or transformer loading limits, while ensuring each house retains control over its energy usage, requiring no real-time monitoring or sensors in the network, and no privacy issues are encountered.
The Network and Phase Impact Token approach is further verified in Chapter 5, as it forms the basis of a novel approach for Distribution System Operators to evaluate the maximum EV hosting capacity of their networks in conjunction with renewable energy generation and battery storage. The maximum EV capacity results are verified by an alternate Optimisation approach and the maximum EV penetration is evaluated for a number of scenarios
Mitigating Greenwashing: The Role of Audit Committees and Internal Audits in ESG Reporting Assurance
Get PDFGreenwashing refers to businesses making misleading ESG disclosures (Burbano, (2011). In response to rising expectations from regulators, investors, and the public, a growing number of businesses are under pressure to publish ESG reports. Financial losses, damaged brand reputation, and even corporate failure can result from greenwashing behaviour on the part of businesses if their ESG information is inaccurate.
ESG reporting has been a significant area of development in corporate reporting over the last two decades with different names and scopes. However, ESG reporting assurance (hereafter ‘ESG assurance’) is a relatively new area of practice, and there is limited research and understanding of its effectiveness. Existing studies in this field have mainly focused on the external audit role in the assurance process. The aim of this study is to gain an understanding of how the audit committee and internal audit can assist the board in fulfilling its oversight role of mitigating greenwashing by ESG assurance, based on direct evidence from the assurance providers. To achieve this aim, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 47 participants from various countries, representing a diverse range of global perspectives. The interviews lasted an average of 60 minutes, were recorded and transcribed, and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.
Results suggest that competent audit committees should play an active and important role in ESG assurance. Internal audit is perceived to play an important role in ESG assurance. Respondents identified greenwashing as a real and significant risk to both businesses and the environment. They further emphasized that ESG reporting must be credible and well supported in order to gain investors' and the public's trust and meet their sustainability expectations. Results also showed that ESG reporting governance is poorly defined, limiting assurance, and that most boards lack ESG expertise and may underestimate the importance of ESG assurance.
This study provides empirical contributions on ESG assurance to mitigate greenwashing through direct engagement with boards, audit committees and assurance professionals. It also offers a framework to help better understanding some of the causes and consequences of greenwashing. In addition, it provides recommendations to boards, audit committees, internal audit, researchers and other assurance providers confronted with multiple challenges in this rapidly evolving domain
A study into the regulation of root development under osmotic stress
Get PDFThe mechanisms behind the regulation of root development under a lack of water (osmotic stress) is a critical subject for plant biology and global agriculture. Previously osmotic stress has been shown to inhibit root growth via an abscisic acid (ABA)-mediated reduction in auxin transport, independent of ethylene signalling.
This thesis examines the impact of osmotic stress on critical developmental signals: auxin, ABA, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) minutes after encountering osmotic stress and following a longer stress period of 24 hours. The roles of these signals in the root were analysed via loss-of-function mutants, gene expression analysis, and bioimaging in concert with exogenous chemical treatment.
Auxin, ABA, and ROS (represented by level of oxidation) levels were all found to rapidly increase within 10 minutes of osmotic stress leading to downstream responses. ROS and ABA appear to have a strong positive feedback relationship that can develop with minutes. Under the longer stress period of 24 hours, auxin responses were found to decrease while both ROS and ABA responses were shown to increase.
PIN-mediated auxin transport was shown to play a key role in the reduction of auxin in the root tip following 24-hour osmotic stress treatment. PIN3 and PIN7 gene expression and protein distribution were altered under osmotic stress, associated with a reduction of the auxin maximum at the root tip.
ROP2 was found to play a central role in root development under osmotic stress root, along with the decrease of auxin and increase in ABA signalling after 24 hours. It was also shown that several respiratory burst oxidase homologs (RBOHs) play a role in root development under standard conditions as well as under osmotic stress. PERK4 and RBOHC likely play a key role in ROS production under ABA-mediated osmotic stress response, with the loss-of-function of PERK4 significantly improving root growth under osmotic stress
Extraordinary Corporate Decisions and the Psychology of CEOs
No full textFor centuries research has focused on the outcomes of events with the notion that all decisions are executed by rational beings. On the contrary, many of the world’s most pivotal decisions are not executed by Homo Economicus but rather that of Homo Imperfectus. Therefore, it becomes prudent to explore the cognitive biases and irrationalities that exist and to identify the impact they have on decision making. As such, this thesis is made up of three empirical chapters which attempt to bridge the gap between psychology and finance in relation to mergers and acquisitions.
Current literature puts significant emphasis on the influence of overconfidence on the success of mergers and acquisitions whilst giving little attention to the contrary. Therefore, the first empirical chapter aims to explore the transfer mechanism between failure-induced cognitive dissonance and long-term shareholder value. Individuals attribute failure to their capabilities as opposed to external factors therefore - to reduce dissonance - they become more cautious in their decision making, innovate more, and are more receptive to potential risks than their counterparts; namely, overconfident individuals. As a result, cognitively dissonance individuals are shown to increase long-term shareholder value.
An additional aperture within literature is the emphasis of market perception of ESG scores and its impact upon long-term shareholder returns. Therefore, the second empirical chapter explores the impact of ESG scores on market valuation and how this impacts initial market response to M&A, company operations, and long-term shareholder wealth. The results suggest that acquirers with high ESG scores are overvalued and become more overvalued post-M&A despite no material difference in profitability thus destroying long-term shareholder wealth. This shows that companies have become so concerned with the stakeholder than they opt for virtue signalling at the expense of the shareholder.
The final empirical chapter is focused on the recent global COVID-19 pandemic and financial constraint. The findings of this chapter show that market participants do not consider financial constraint as a limiting factor during standard macroeconomic climates. However, when uncertainty increases, markets scrutinise financially constrained deals more thus dampening M&A announcement returns despite having no material impact to shareholder wealth in the medium term. Ultimately, this highlights that an exogenous event alone does not drive investor sentiment but rather increases market perception of uncertainty thus increases risk aversion driving markets to doubt acquirer ability to extract value from M&A.
The findings of this thesis have practical relevance for corporate executives, consultants, organisational psychologists, the corporate industry, and academia. Overall, this thesis provides valuable evidence to support the decision-making fallibility of Homo Economicus and seeks to highlight the cognitive biases of corporate decision makers. More importantly, the findings herein provide suitable evidence that corporate executives can arm themselves with to guard against such biases to preserve their reputation, increase chances of M&A success, and maximise shareholder wealth
‘Do traditional youth work organisations hold the key to sustainability for twenty-first century youth provision? Lessons from The Guide Association.’
Get PDFOrganisational sustainability within the contemporary voluntary youth sector in the UK is a widely debated topic, resulting from the impact of economic austerity policies and the continued decline in youth work. Whilst there is a gap in academic and sector literature, discussion is predominately focused on economic stability connected to neo-liberal values of efficiency, competition, universal quantification, and comparison. Against this backdrop, some youth organisations, such as The Guide Association, have expanded and continue to see growth in demand for their provision. The focus of this research is on the value-based youth work model of The Guide Association (GA) and its ability to evolve, informed by the socio-political context of girls and women. This thesis examines the GA as a potential model for a sustainable twenty-first century youth work organisation. Founded in 1909 to work with girls and young women, it continues today, with a membership of approximately 800,000.
The research is framed within an investigative qualitative paradigm, employing ethnographic methods of participant observation in a Guide Unit, semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, archival studies of GA records and a small peer- researched participatory action research project.
The research identifies elements of the Guide Association model which engender sustainability and draws out implications for contemporary youth provision. The research findings highlight sustainability within a value-based organisational model of youth work. New theoretical insights are offered on the methodological, dynamic praxis of youth work understood as a set of informed values contained within a neo-liberal framework, the impact on organisations to symbiotically evolve aligned with the socio-political position of young people and the overall loss of youth work and experience from the sector. The thesis concludes it is essential for contemporary youth work to reframe and reclaim itself as a value-based praxis in order to maintain sustainability
Strontium isotope variations in the early solar system revealed by calcium-aluminium inclusions (CAIs) and ureilites
Get PDFIsotope variations attributed to nucleosynthetic heterogeneities are preserved in different solar system materials (meteorites and planets) and provide insights into the origin of the elements, and the formation and evolution of the protoplanetary disk. Strontium isotopes are potentially highly sensitive to such nucleosynthetic variations. The three most abundant strontium isotopes 86Sr, 87Sr, and 88Sr are produced by the s- and r-processes nucleosynthesis, in common stellar environments. In contrast, the lightest isotope, 84Sr, is only produced by the p-process, and requires extreme conditions facilitating either proton-capture or photodisintegration. This study presents high-precision Sr isotope data for a range of early solar system materials, including twelve fine- and coarse-grained calcium-aluminium inclusions (CAIs) (considered the first solid material to have condensed in the solar system) separated from Allende (a CV3 meteorite), and fourteen ureilites (differentiated ultramafic meteorites, though to represent residual mantle material from which silicate and metallic melts have been removed).
Nearly all CAIs possess μ84Sr excesses (measured 84Sr/86Sr relative to terrestrial standards), coarse-grained CAIs show variable μ84Sr, ranging from terrestrial values up to +679 ± 113ppm, whereas fine-grained CAIs show a narrower range with a mean of +68 ± 43ppm. Fine-grained CAIs possess relatively radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr isotope compositions suggesting that the initial μ84Sr variability may have been lost due to open-system behaviour subsequent to their formation. Stable isotope δ84/86Sr and δ88/86Sr compositions largely lie to the right of the terrestrial Mass Dependent Fractionation Line (MDFL) consistent with previous studies, although the data here indicate that fine-grained CAIs generally possess light δ88/86Sr and coarse-grained heavy δ88/86Sr. Overall, the μ84Sr data taken with the δ84/86Sr and δ88/86Sr variations suggest the presence of excess 84Sr, attributable to p-process nucleosynthesis.
In contrast, many ureilites (both main group and polymict ureilites) possess μ84Sr deficits, with a mean value of -101.6 ± 69ppm (2.s.d, n = 8), while others possess terrestrial values. The δ84/86Sr and δ88/86Sr isotope compositions of the ureilites yield a slope of -1.206 ± 0.013 (2 s.e.), that is not easily explained by mass dependent fractionation, but rather by mixing between terrestrial like Sr and material with a low δ84/86Sr. Pre-solar SiC grains possess a low δ84/86Sr composition consistent with such s-process enrichment. The broad covariation of δ88/86Sr with Sr concentration may be due to stable isotope fractionation accompanying melt depletion, where in turn at low Sr concentrations the composition of refractory SiC grains dominates the bulk meteorite, yielding the observed variations in δ84/86Sr - δ88/86Sr space
Overall, the Sr isotope variations see in CAIs are consistent with the Sr isotope compositions observed in many carbonaceous chondrites taken as a signature of material in the outer solar system (Charlier et al., 2017). Whereas the ureilites appear to possess a signature consistent with s-process enrichment, in accord with Nd, Mo and Os isotope anomalies (e.g., Burkhardt et al., 2019; Spitzer et al., 2020; Goderis et al., 2015) taken to indicate the presence of s-process enriched material in the inner solar system
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