South East Academic Libraries System (SEALS)
Not a member yet
69550 research outputs found
Sort by
A model to predict the development of preeclampsia in South African women
Get PDFPreeclampsia is the new onset of hypertension and is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in South Africa and the world. Preeclampsia is usually diagnosed after 20 weeks’ gestation. Due to South Africa’s poor level of antenatal care, the prediction of pregnant women at risk of developing preeclampsia can be an essential component of improving the level of antenatal. This study used an antenatal care dataset from a South African obstetrician. A review of the literature and existing systems was conducted to identify the eight risk factors. These risk factors are systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, maternal age, body mass index, diabetes status, hypertension history, nulliparity, and maternal disease. This study used antenatal care datasets from a South African obstetrician. Two models were developed that could accurately predict the development of preeclampsia, one before 16 weeks’ gestation and the other within three check-ups. The model was evaluated using five evaluation metrics: classification accuracy, area under the curve, precision, recall and F-Score. The results of this study show a promising future for the use of machine learning models in health care. To the researcher’s knowledge, this model is the first machine learning model for predicting preeclampsia using a South African dataset. Future work will revolve around validating the model on data collected from field studies in hospitals and clinics around South AfricaThesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, School of Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and Statistics, 202
Urban space production and sustainable development: a case of waterfall city in Gauteng, South Africa
Get PDFThe year 1994 marked the dawn of the new, democratic South Africa. It also brought its own sets of challenges to the country. One such challenge was urban space. Regrettably, the new dispensation inherited still very much race-based urban areas. Urban space is understood to be a social outcome, the result of an historical process, an unequal accumulation of time, a presupposition, and a milieu of social production (Balbim, 2016). The distinguishing feature of urban space in South Africa is the phenomenon of exclusion, which causes deformity, and disappearance of urban structure. Exclusion has become a permanent visual reality in cities in which walled and gated communities divide the urban tissue and take up a large part of the urban space. The social action and struggle against the exclusionary process of globalisation such as the commodification and privatisation of urban space have always been on the international urban agenda. The study’s literature review suggests that government attitudes towards human settlements should change, particularly in terms of policymaking to combat the contemporary urban disparities such as fragmentation (also known as “enclave urbanism”). Fragmented cities do not function as a system but more and more as juxtaposed and uncoordinated fragments drifting apart (Bénit-Gbaffou, 2008). This has an immense impact on several sustainability influencing variables. Urban fragmentation can also have profound effects on human social dynamics and well-being by reducing the number of green spaces in cities. As loss of biodiversity continues, total core area and habitat cohesion decrease while edge density and shape complexity increase. Cities are required to be more sustainable, more accessible, and equal. Cities are now witnessing the emergence of real estate products that are far from achieving the previously mentioned goals, particularly inclusivity. Inclusivity in cities can be achieved by a contemporary urban development approach referred to as ‘inclusive urban space production’. Inclusive urban space production is a pro-poor approach that equally values and incorporates the contributions of all city stakeholders in addressing development issues, including the marginalised groups. The aim of this inquiry was, therefore, to examine factors that influence urban space production to generate a responsive urban space production model, referred to in this study as the “IUSP model”. The study also aimed at examining the role of the state and xx other stakeholders involved in the production of urban space, including the private sector and the community. Participation by all of them is essential to enhance inclusive urban space production for sustainability. A theoretical model for inclusive urban space production was developed based on an intensive literature review. Also, a concurrent partially mixed method design was employed in this inquiry. A study of Waterfall City was conducted to understand exclusive developments and their effect on the larger urban system. And a survey questionnaire was disseminated using random sampling. This was to measure the postulated model. Results from these two concurrent approaches were merged to yield the final model. The findings from the case study were analysed using ATLAS.ti and the findings from the survey questionnaire were analysed using several analyses techniques including EFA, correlation and regression. Both sets of results indicated that the intention to promote inclusive developments is predicted by seventeen dependent variables categorically presented under urban development characteristics, exclusive development enablers, inclusive development barriers, and sustainability criteria. The results of this inquiry are significant because they bring together the interdisciplinary perspectives to discern comprehensively the idea of inclusivity and sustainability in urban space production. The responsive model developed as a key product of this study aims to assist policymakers, planners, designers, landscapers, and developers as a guideline for facilitating inclusive and sustainable urban development.Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 202
The impact of Taxation and corruption on economic growth in South Africa
Get PDFDeveloping countries, such as South Africa, have been on a mission to reduce corruption, particularly in the public sector, and to collect as much revenue as possible through taxation to fund the government expenditures. Low levels of corruption, preferable zero and higher tax collections, can boost a country's economic growth and development by creating jobs and increasing economic activity, which leads to economic growth. South Africa is one of the economies that are characterised by high levels of corruption. For South Africa to attract more foreign investors in the country, it should ensure that resources are used efficiently and that any act of corruption is punished. This study looked at the effects of taxation and corruption on economic growth from 1975 to 2019. An econometric analysis technique was used in the study to test the impact of taxation and corruption on economic growth. The augmented Dickey–Fuller method was used to test for unit root. According to the results of the tests, unit root l(1) is rejected in favour of the stationarity alternative. The empirical analysis used the Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL) bounds testing approach of cointegration advocated by Pesaran, Shin, and Smith (2001) to examine for the longrun equilibrium among taxation and corruption on economic growth. The Wald causality test was also used to investigate the causal relationship between taxation, corruption, and economic growth. According to the Bounds test results, there is long-run co-integrating positive relationship between trade openness and GDP, gross capital formation, Corruption, and income taxation. Furthermore, when dependent variable was tested for longrun impact, the results confirmed that taxation and corruption have insignificant impact on economic growth. Trade openness, as a percentage of GDP, has insignificant positive relationship with economic growth in South Africa. Gross Capital Formation, as a percentage of GDP, is positively related to economic growth. Furthermore, short-run findings suggest a positive significant relationship between trade openness as a percentage of Gross domestic product. Corruption and income taxation have negative and insignificant effect on GDP in the short term. Furthermore, GDP and gross capital formation have negative relationship. V Government should also encourage the culture of transparency and accountability as far as corruption is concerned to stimulate economic growth. This will also create a culture where government officials are called upon to explain their government expenditure patterns and be held accountable for any misuse of any funds flowing into the country.Thesis (MCom)-- Faculty of Business and Economic Science, 202
Development of a crumb rubber adsorbent for the sorption of lead and copper from waste water: Optimization of sorption in a binary component system
Get PDFWaste tyre is becoming a global environmental problem due to challenges in its disposal management and the fact that it poses fire hazards and metal leaching risk. Waste tyre can also breed mosquitos if it traps water thereby becoming an environmental health problem. There is also a portion of unused tyre in a waste tyre that is valuable and should be recycled. In South Africa waste tyre recycling is in three industries, one of which is crumb rubber where waste tyre is applied into various sized particles called crumb rubber. Crumb rubber can be applied in environmental remediation as an organic and inorganic pollutants’ adsorbent. Considering the fact that South Africa’s environment is loaded with heavy metal pollutants due to contributions by mining and agriculture as examples, it is postulated that crumb rubber produced in South Africa could be used to remediate the environment of these toxic metals. In this study adsorption of Pb (II) and Cu (II) from the synthetic waste water using waste tyre crumb rubber produced in South Africa was studied. Crumb rubber was activated using aqueous NaOH (0.02%) to make crumb rubber wettable followed by it being treated with 0.02 % acidified KMnO4 for modification of its ability to sorp positively charged metal species. Trial sorption experiments on 50 mg / L Cu (II) were successful with sorption of over 70% in 250 minutes. Final optimization of the sorption of combined Pb (II) and Cu (II) was studied using a full factorial design and optimum conditions of sorption were found to be pH 5.4; [metal] 0.617 mmol / L for Pb (II); and pH 5.4; the optimization of Cu (II) was found to be pH 5.4; [metal] 0.777 mmol / L. In Pb (II) sorptions the mechanism of adsorption on the activated crumb rubber was found to be following the Freundlich model indicating that the adsorption seemed to occur on a multilayer adsorbent, while the mechanism of copper(II) adsorption on to the activated crumb rubber was found to be following Langmuir model, indicating that the adsorption seemed to occur on a monolayer. With adsorption percentages ranging from 98.2 % to 100.0 %, for Pb (II), the crumb rubber produced under the conditions of this study, can be used in South Africa for selective removal of Pb (II).Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, School of Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences, 202
Beauty from Ashes:short term postfire regeneration of dune fynbos -thicket vegetation in the South Eastern Cape floristic region
Get PDFAim This study aims to provide an understanding and a description of the short-term postfire regeneration and ecology of the fynbos-thicket vegetation on a coastal dune system in the southeastern Cape Floristic Region. Another aim is to assess the recovery of the vegetation community by assessing the growth forms and the disturbance response across a range of species from thicket and fynbos communities and to provide a belowground bud bank classification for each of these species in the coastal dune systems. Location The study site was the Mandela University Reserve and the Noordhoek dune fields, situated in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, which is part of the south-eastern Cape Floristic Region. The study site hosts thicket-fynbos mosaic vegetation type that occurs in a Mediterranean-Climate Ecosystem (MCE). Methods Firstly, field observations and photographs of plant species were taken weekly to assess and identify the species that were emerging and persisting in the dune system in the first 12 months postfire. Phenological events of the species that emerged (e.g., flowering, fruiting, leaf growth, leaf yellowing, and leaf abscission) were also observed and reported on. Secondly, an excavation of 21 species (e.g., Jamesbrittenia microphylla, Euclea racemosa, Olea exasperata, Searsia laevigata) was conducted to classify the species into their belowground bud bank types. Results There was a rapid emergence of resprouters (facultative resprouters and obligate resprouters) in the first 12 months postfire. This was followed by their growth; primarily occurring after the rainfall events. The dominant resprouting species (facultative resprouters and obligate resprouters) entered the system two weeks after the fire. There was a significant difference in the time to the first emergence of the different regeneration groups postfire (P < 0.001): on average, obligate sprouters (OS) appeared 1 month after fire – two months earlier than facultative sprouters (FS) and four months earlier than non-sprouters (NS). There was no statistical evidence to suggest that the FS and non-sprouters NS emerged at different times postfire; however, most NS species were observed in the system 5 months after fire. 4 Exceptions were the NS species Pelargonium grossularoides and Mesembryanthemum aitonis, both annuals that emerged 1 month after fire. A wide range of OS species that appeared earlier in the system (e.g., Euclea racemosa, Olea exasperata, Searsia laevigata, and Lauridia tetragona) exhibit underground lateral growth with belowground bud banks (BBBs) from which they recover after disturbance. In total, six BBB types were recorded in this study, namely: bud-bearing root, rhizome, rhizophore, woody rhizome, stem tuber, and corms. The bud-bearing root from woody species was the dominant BBB in this system. Main conclusion The return of species that occurs in the first year after fire occurs rapidly in the first 2 months as resprouting species (primarily OS) appear in the system. Following this, the rate of return of species decreases as reseeding species (primarily NS) gradually reestablish and occupy the gaps in the dune fynbos-thicket vegetation. This study has shown that plant species in this ecosystem are adapted to fire disturbance as their populations are able to reestablish through various regeneration strategies, including resprouting from different types of BBB.Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, School of Environmental Sciences, 202
A comparative study of multiculturalism in South Africa and Canada: evaluating successes and failures.
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the successes and failures of multiculturalism in South Africa and Canada through the lens of critical multiculturalism as its theoretical frame. As Canada is widely-acknowledged as having one of the best multiculturalism policy and implementation programmes in the world, this study aimed to draw lessons from the Canadian model of multiculturalism in order to make recommendations to improve multicultural practices in South Africa. It is worth noting that multiculturalism in Canada is not perfect as government still struggles to implement inclusive and reconciliatory programmes for the previously colonised Indigenous communities. This study used a qualitative thematic analysis to enable a comparison of multiculturalism in these two countries. The findings of this study suggest that having a comprehensive multiculturalism policy is fundamental to ensure that aspirations of a socially cohesive multiculturalism are not merely philosophical, but are formulated into government policies, with guidelines for implementation through the guidance of critical multiculturalism theory. The findings of this study also suggest that the persistent racialised socio-economic inequalities in South Africa continue to undermine multiculturalism and nation-building efforts.Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Governmental and Social Sciences, 202
‘They do not understand us’: a psychosocial analysis of the everyday lived experiences of a CYCC care worker in semi-rural South Africa
Get PDFThis paper employs a psychosocial framework to analyse the everyday lived experiences of a child and youth care worker in semi-rural South Africa. The aim is to provide a new perspective of care work by drawing on narrative analysis alongside a psychoanalytic approach to qualitative research. With an emphasis on the socially constructed nature of reality, the researcher aims to elucidate the rich unconscious depths of being a care worker and the dynamics of the intersubjective reality of care work. Employing a free association narrative interview technique allows the researcher to gain understanding of the narratives that the care worker draws on in the construction of his identity as a care worker. The use of a psychosocial approach enables the researcher to pay attention to both the social context that influences the narratives that he draws on, but also the psychological ‘pay offs’ of these constructions. Most notably, the study highlights how the care worker’s identity is mediated by a defended subjectivity and argues that his failures in mentalization might stem from the way he is treated as a care worker by other professionals as a result of their mindblindness. This maintains his narrative of invisibility, and the pervasive feeling of being misunderstood as a professional in his own right. The findings are discussed in terms of their contribution to understanding some of the challenges that CYCC care workers face.Research Article (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 202
Framed photograph of Dr. Brigalia Bam and former South African President Thabo Mbeki
No full textFramed photograph of Dr. Brigalia Bam and former South African President Thabo Mbeki.Donated/gifted to Nelson Mandela University ArchivesForms part of: Brigalia Bam collectio
Inauguration photo of Nelson Mandela in 1994 with the founder of the Centre for women, Dr Mercy Oduyoye, Dr Nita Barrow of Barbados, Archbishop Ted Scott and Dr. Brigalia Bam
No full textInauguration photo of Nelson Mandela in 1994 with the founder of the Centre for Women, Dr Mercy Oduyoye, Dr Nita Barrow of Barbados, Archbishop Ted Scott and Dr. Brigalia Bam.Donated/gifted to Nelson Mandela University ArchivesForms part of: Brigalia Bam collectio
Trace element and sulphur isotope variations of sulphides in the Koperberg Suite, O’okiep Copper District, Namaqualand, South Africa: implications for formation of sulphides and the role of crustal sulphur assimilation
Get PDFThe major economic copper sulphide deposits hosted in the late Mesoproterozoic intrusions of the Koperberg Suite in the O’okiep Copper District immediately overlie sulphur-bearing paragneisses of the Khurisberg Subgroup in an otherwise low-sulphur granitic basement. The dominant sulphide assemblage (chalcopyrite and bornite) hosted in the Koperberg Suite is also atypical of the intermediate solid solution (iss) assemblage (chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite) observed in most Cu-Ni magmatic sulphide deposits. This study presents sulphur isotope and in-situ trace element analysis of sulphides from the Koperberg Suite and the Khurisberg Subgroup with the view of placing constraints on the role of sulphide-bearing supracrustal metasedimentary of the Khurisberg Subgroup as a source of additional sulphur in the genesis of these deposits, and ore-forming (sulphide formation) processes which result in trace element variations registered by sulphides hosted in the Koperberg Suite. The high concentrations (up to 2100 ppm) of monosulphide solid solution (mss)-incompatible trace elements (e.g., Te, Se, Bi, Ag, Pb), and the depletion in Ni and Co (<40 ppm) of sulphides hosted in the Koperberg Suite are instead consistent with the derivation of such sulphides from a Cu-rich sulphide melt which segregated from a Ni-rich sulphide melt prior to magma emplacement in the middle crust, in agreement with one of the petrogenetic models for the Koperberg Suite proposed in the existing literature. The low S/Se ratios ( ̴650-10300) of sulphides hosted in the Koperberg Suite and the high S/Se ratios ( ̴18800-56000) registered by the main sulphide phase (pyrite) in the Khurisberg Subgroup argues against crustal contamination of the Koperberg Suite magmas by the Khurisberg Subgroup. The S/Se and Cu/S ratios of coexisting bornite and chalcopyrite hosted in the Koperberg Suite are positively correlated with the bornite modal abundance in the Koperberg Suite. Such trends are interpreted to be consistent with progressive oxidation of sulphide melt, a process which results in the crystallisation of iss-bornite assemblage and/or replacement of iss with bornite due to the enrichment of Cu and depletion in S of the sulphide melt. The oxidation of sulphide melt is likely to have been effectuated by the fractional crystallisation of mss in a prior sulphide melt segregation event and/or the fractional crystallisation of Fe2+-dominated silicate phases. Fractionation of the Cu-rich melt sulphide melt (segregated from mss) also tends to enrich the residual sulphide melts in Se. Thus, the chalcopyrite-dominated assemblage with S/Se ratios of ̴1300-10200 observed in the less basic rocks in the Koperberg Suite (leucodiorites and leuconorites) is interpreted to have formed from the least evolved sulphide melt, whereas the bornite-dominated assemblage with S/Se ratios of ̴650-5500 observed in the more mafic members of the Koperberg Suite (orthopyroxenites and norites) is interpreted to have formed from the most evolved sulphide melt. The ẟ34S isotopic signatures in sulphides of the Koperberg Suite (-1.4 to +1.91‰) and the proposed contaminant, the Khurisberg Subgroup (-1.2 to +3.5‰), overlap with the those of the Koperberg Suite below the Khurisberg Subgroup (+0.74‰) and typical mantle-derived magmatic rocks (0 ± iv 2‰). Hence, the sulphur isotope variations are inconclusive as an indicator of possible crustal sulphur assimilation into the intruding mantle magma. However, considering the trace element systematics and the sulphur isotope data, the Koperberg magmas likely attained sulphur saturation at deeper crustal levels.Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Geology, 202