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Selected medicinal plants leaves identification: a computer vision approach
Get PDFIdentifying and classifying medicinal plants are valuable and essential skills during drug manufacturing because several active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) are sourced from medicinal plants. For many years, identifying and classifying medicinal plants have been exclusively done by experts in the domain, such as botanists, and herbarium curators. Recently, powerful computer vision technologies, using machine learning and deep convolutional neural networks, have been developed for classifying or identifying objects on images. A convolutional neural network is a deep learning architecture that outperforms previous advanced approaches in image classification and object detection based on its efficient features extraction on images. In this thesis, we investigate different convolutional neural networks and machine learning algorithms for identifying and classifying leaves of three species of the genus Brachylaena. The three species considered are Brachylaena discolor, Brachylaena ilicifolia and Brachylaena elliptica. All three species are used medicinally by people in South Africa to treat diseases like diabetes. From 1259 labelled images of those plants species (at least 400 for each species) split into training, evaluation and test sets, we trained and evaluated different deep convolutional neural networks and machine learning models. The VGG model achieved the best results with 98.26% accuracy from cross-validation.Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Mathematics, 202
Isidla segqwalashu
No full textA traditional ceremonial garment worn by young men, the penis sheath is crafted from the skin of a wild cat and adorned with flowing grey fur streamers. This unique attire holds deep cultural significance, symbolising the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Worn with pride by young men, the process of creating the sheath involves hunting the wild cat and crafting the garment as part of a rite of passage.Purchased from Mrs Joan BrosterForms part of: Walter Sisulu University Beadwork Collectio
Umgangxo womfazana
No full textThe harness worn by the young woman is a captivating representation of cultural tradition and individual expression. It is meticulously crafted from flat bead strips and delicate chains and adorned with bead streamers that culminate in charming pink wool pompoms. This ensemble is not just an accessory; it reflects her vibrant spirit and deep connection to her heritage. As she partakes in Entlombeni celebration, each movement sends the bead streamers and pompoms swaying, creating a mesmerising spectacle of colour and movement. The intricate craftsmanship of the beadwork speaks to the skill and artistry of her community, while the pink wool pompoms add a playful and whimsical touch, symbolizing joy and vitality. With each step, she pays homage to the traditions of her culture and celebrates her own identity, weaving together the past and present in a vibrant tapestry of expression and belonging.Purchased from Mrs Joan BrosterForms part of: Walter Sisulu University Beadwork Collectio
Isiyeye samaMpondomise
No full textThis intricately crafted bead strip neckband features a captivating design of white beads adorned with a navy river motif, complemented by a vibrant yellow fringe. Six elegant navy and white streamers cascade gracefully from the back of the neckband, secured with two pearl buttons, creating a striking ensemble. Worn with pride by adult men and women of the Mpondomise cultural group, this neckband symbolises their heritage and identity. Each bead and streamer carries the essence of their traditions and values, embodying the richness of their cultural tapestry. As they adorn themselves with these neckbands, individuals honour their ancestors and affirm their connection to their community and the land they call home. With its intricate design and vibrant colours, this bead strip neckband becomes more than just an accessory; it becomes a testament to the resilience, beauty, and spirit of the Mpondomise people.Purchased from Mrs Joan BrosterForms part of: Walter Sisulu University Beadwork Collectio
Field facilitation in open and distance learning in resource-constrained environments: a case of Mzuzu University, Malawi
Get PDFAs part of the drive to enhance students’ learning experiences and success for students pursuing the B.Ed Science programme through distance education at Mzuzu University (Mzuni), the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) Steering Committee of Mzuni introduced the field facilitation strategy in 2014 to provide additional academic support to such students off campus. There have been questions, though, regarding the effectiveness of this strategy in terms of enhancement of student learning and success. This study, therefore, sought to examine the current field facilitation strategy in the B.Ed Science programme under the ODL mode of delivery, with a view to proposing improvements that would be made to the field facilitation strategy so that it enables enhanced learning and success in Science and Mathematics at Mzuni. Efforts to improve the current field facilitation strategy have been informed by an empirically based understanding of the shortfalls and strengths of the existing field facilitation strategy for ODL students in the B.Ed Science programme. To enhance students’ learning and success for ODL students in resource-constrained contexts such as Mzuni and similar contexts, the study adopted a qualitative case study design guided by tools from the second generation of the Cultural Historical Activity Theory. Qualitative data was obtained in two phases, a contextual profiling phase and a modified Change Laboratory Workshop phase. The modified Change Laboratory Workshops were conducted through the social media application ‘WhatsApp’ rather than in person as is usually done. Qualitative data in the contextual profiling phase was obtained from three categories of participants, namely, Science and Mathematics lecturers, Science and Mathematics field facilitators, and Science and Mathematics students. The contextual profiling phase included surveys, focus group interviews, individual interviews with lecturers at Mzuni and the field facilitators from the five satellite learning centres of Mzuni, and document analysis. The contextual profiling data acted as the mirror data for the next phase of data generation (Change Laboratory Workshop phase). The findings indicated that the support currently rendered by field facilitators to ODL Science and Mathematics students was inadequate and consisted of a shallow mode of instruction focusing on v traditional ways of teaching and learning. This meant that the field facilitators focused on lecturing as a pedagogical strategy for supporting the learning of Science and Mathematics. This was largely because the support offered to field facilitators by Mzuni was inadequate and did not empower them to generate their own strategies of conducting field facilitation innovatively and creatively, which would in turn empower the students to engage actively and reflectively in their own learning activities. This was due to structural, historical and cultural tensions that existed in the larger system (the university system). The implementation of the field facilitation strategy was challenged by such conflicts in the university structure which manifested themselves in the smaller activity system (the field facilitation activity system) which is the focus of this study. Thematically, such conflicts included students’ attributes, institutional policies, institutional pedagogy and the material and digital divide which Mzuni has not harnessed to support field facilitation. The study further established that institutional sensitivity to the conflicts raised above would result in an improved field facilitation strategy as the conflicts at the higher level (university level) have an impact on what happens in the smaller systems, for example the ODL in general and the field facilitation activity system in particular. The improved field facilitation strategy was supposed to recognise ODL students as students in transit from the traditional face-to-face learning context to the novel ODL learning context. As such, the transitional period of study from secondary school to university, particularly to year one, required an intensive field facilitation support strategy, and thus greater institutional support for both field facilitators and students for enhanced learning experiences and success that would eventually result in improved students’ retention and throughput. The findings of this study will therefore inform all those involved in ODL, particularly those in resource-constrained contexts, to be conscious when implementing ODL innovations. Serious consideration of the contexts in which the innovations are to be implemented is critical.Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Education, Primary and Early Childhood Education, 202
Characters in space, Characters as space: an analysis of ‘Bluebeard’ by Charles Perrault and revisions by Tahar Ben Jelloun and Amélie Nothomb
Get PDFDans un couple, la négociation de l’espace domestique est contesté. Dans le conte « La Barbe Bleue » (1697) de Charles Perrault, cette négociation de l’espace est particulièrement dangereuse. Le mari a un espace privé à lui, interdite à sa femme, dans lequel il cache un secret sinistre : il a tué toutes les épouses précédentes. L’existence de cette pièce menace l’équilibre du foyer, mettant en question le droit à un espace privé, et révélant le danger de garder un secret quand on vit en couple. Quand l’épouse franchit le seuil de la pièce interdite, son mari se met en colère et s’apprête à la tuer. Il s’ensuit une lutte acharnée entre homme et femme, devenus adversaires. Puisque la chambre interdite joue un rôle capital dans ce récit, cela suggère que les éléments spatiaux jouent un rôle significatif au sein du couple. Alors, on vise à analyser le cadre domestique et son rôle dans le rapport entre les personnages. Avant leur mariage, l’épouse avait déjà une idée que Barbe Bleue n’était pas honorable, ce qui remet en question sa décision d’épouser cet homme. Au même temps, on se demande pourquoi l’époux aurait tué toutes les épouses précédentes. Cela incite le lecteur à chercher à mieux comprendre les personnages. A cette fin, on vise à considérer les personnages comme des espaces, eux aussi, ce qui permettra une analyse approfondie de leur caractère et de leurs rapports personnels. Nous ferons la comparaison du conte perraultien avec les versions contemporaines de notre époque de Tahar Ben Jelloun et d’Amélie Nothomb. Dans la version jellounienne, l’intrigue se déroule dans un cadre musulman et maghrébin, tandis que le récit nothombien se situe à Paris. Ces ouvrages présentent donc des perspectives neuves sur Barbe Bleue et sa dernière épouse, et sur le cadre dans lequel ils se trouvent.For a couple, negotiating the spatial dynamics of their home can be a challenging feat. In the story of “Bluebeard” (1697) by Charles Perrault, this negotiation is presented in an even more grim light. The husband sets aside a private room for himself, off-limits to his wife, in which he conceals a deadly secret, that he has murdered his previous wives. The very existence of this forbidden chamber threatens the stability of the household and raises the question about whether secret unshared spaces between partners are tenable, and indeed whether spouses have the right to keep secrets. When the wife enters this forbidden room and discovers the corpses of his previous wives she provokes the anger of her husband, who then attempts to kill her as punishment. A fierce struggle ensues between husband and wife, who have now become adversaries. Because the forbidden chamber plays a key role in this story, this tells us that space is very important to the relationship between the couple. Thus, we intend to explore the domestic sphere and its role in the relationship between the characters. Prior to their marriage, the wife already has an indication as to her husband’s dubious character, which calls into question her decision to marry him. We also wonder why Bluebeard might have murdered his previous wives. To understand them better, the characters will be considered as spaces, an approach which has the potential to offer a deeper and more holistic analysis of their characters and their personal relationships. We will be comparing Perrault’s tale to two revisions by Tahar Ben Jelloun and Amélie Nothomb, which place the story into different contexts: the Islamic world and modern-day Paris respectively. These two revisions provide interesting and new perspectives on the couple in the domestic space and the ways in which the characters are represented.Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Languages and Literatures, 202
Literary Byways in Duncan Brown’s Finding My Way: A Review Essay
No full textThe poetics of Duncan Brown’s Finding My Way: Reflections on South African Literature (2020) is intimated in the title of the book, where the infinitude of ‘finding’ and the provisionality of ‘reflections’ anticipate what, in the introductory chapter “Finding My Way”, is described as an avoidance of the “monumentalising study” in favour of a more “mobile, tentative, suggestive scholarship” that is comfortable with “paradox and open-endedness” (12). The chapters that follow explore ways in which the notion of South African literature and the notion of the literary may be reimagined, and explicate a mode of reading ‘with’ the text, showing how this may be applied to ways of reading belief. They also examine the notion of creative non-fiction, revisit orality in South African literature, describe an autobiographical history with a book, and end with a reflection on postapartheid South African literature as “a place of radical newness and obsessive return” (175). What the book omits in its coverage, but which is nevertheless present in its ways of thinking, is Brown’s environmental concern with ‘wildness’ and ‘rewilding’, described in his book Wilder Lives: Humans and Our Environments (2019), published a year earlier. As is the case with the essays in the earlier book, the essays in Finding My Way speak to one another, disclosing of a way of thinking, of finding one’s way, that is recursive in style and attentive to the thing under scrutiny
Year-end oversight in Local Government: a case study of water and sanitation service delivery at Amathole District Municipality
Get PDFPoor service delivery is a challenge that has continued to plague the constitutional democracy of South Africa. Legislation has, in response, been passed to ensure efficient service delivery. Despite this legislation, municipal service delivery has been alarmingly poor, and reports on municipal performance and newspaper articles have corroborated this. On the causes of poor service delivery, the existing literature appears to have focused on financial mismanagement, corruption, and the incapacity of officials. Absent from existing literature are discussions on how municipal service delivery is affected by the lack of interrelatedness between municipal public resource management processes (such as revenue collection, expenditure management and oversight). This dissertation addresses this gap by examining the municipal public resource management processes from an oversight perspective. The study sought to analyse the effectiveness of year-end oversight at Amathole District Municipality (ADM) over water and sanitation services. This research aimed to study the year-end oversight over service delivery with reference to the Municipal Public Resource Management (MPRM) model. According to the model, effective service delivery includes inter alia effective oversight, as oversight forms part of the entire system of the municipal resource management cycle. Thus, for the MPRM model, oversight should be exercised on all these processes. The research was a desktop analysis that used both a qualitative and quantitative research methodology. The primary document analysed was the ADM Oversight Report (OR). This report is produced by the Municipal Public Accounts Committee (MPAC) and reflects the year-end oversight conducted by the MPAC on the municipality's activities. In the analysis of the OR, it was concluded that the ADM MPAC had failed to conduct effective year-end oversight of W&S services. The efficacy of the ADM MPAC's year-end oversight was measured against guidelines for effective year-end oversight from the National Treasury and the MPRM model. The findings suggested that there were inefficiencies in the manner that the ADM MPAC exercised its year-end oversight.Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Sociology, 202
Jazz pedagogical strategies: an A/R/Tographic investigation into the implementation of the South African jazz CAPS syllabus
Get PDFThe Jazz stream of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement Further Education and Training music curriculum was introduced in South Africa in 2012 (DBE, 2011a). Despite the intentions of the government to promote diversity, social transformation, and inclusion, subject music is still weighted towards Western Art Music, perpetuating past biases of a Eurocentric model for music education. This study, which uses a mixed-method approach, seeks to create strategies to advance Jazz education in South Africa through an a/r/tographic analysis of the author’s Jazz pedagogical methods at Durban High School in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. Key approaches include curriculum theory, currere, a/r/tography, among others. After reviewing Jazz pedagogy in the U.S.A. and South Africa as a starting point, using Pinar’s (1994) method of currere, the author demonstrates how past personal music educational processes have led to present Jazz pedagogical methods. Six original compositions were written that outline the influences that infused these methods and added to the creative output related to this research. Interviews were conducted with key stakeholders in the Jazz community to gain perspective about the current state of Jazz education, and with students to provide insight into their reactions to the Jazz stream of CAPS. This presents new information about the curriculum from a learners’ perspective. Ethical clearance for research with children was sought and received (Appendix A). Findings show that the ability of learners to recognise the value in, and identity relating to, their African culture through Jazz points to a pivotal departure from previous Eurocentric music education models. However, despite South Africa being positioned as one of the only countries offering Jazz as a subject choice to high school learners, the selection of Jazz in the subject of Music remains underutilised. This study concludes that for Jazz education to advance in South African high schools, there needs to be intentional engagement with Jazz professionals at the high school level.Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 202
Expression, partial characterisation and utilization of a GH11 xylanase (Xyn2A) from Trichoderma viride as an additive in monogastric animal feeds
Get PDFEndo-xylanases (shortly called xylanases) are a group of glycoside hydrolase enzymes that target β-D-1,4-linkages in the xylan backbone, leading to the production of xylooligosaccharides (XOS) of varying degree of polymerization (DP). Xylan is an indigestible non-starch polysaccharide present in monogastric animal feeds which in high amounts leads to increased digesta viscosity, slow movement of digesta in the intestines, malabsorption of nutrients among other challenges. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of xylanase 2A (Xyn2A) from Trichoderma viride on broiler chicken feeds, particularly the hydrolysis of the xylan content, reduction of feed viscosity and the effect of produced XOS on eliciting the growth of gut associated probiotic bacteria. Xyn2AE was successfully induced with 0.8 mM isopropyl β-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) and produced in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) and Xyn2AC was expressed in tobacco mosaic plants. For the purification of Xyn2AE, an immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) column and diafiltration using a 3kDa cut-off Amicon filter membranes were used. Xyn2AE and Xyn2AC showed a xylanase active band at a relative weight of 21 kDa. Both enzymes showed high specificity towards soluble wheat arabinoxylan (WAX), with specific activities of 7.61 U/mg for Xyn2AE and 536.5 U/mg for Xyn2AC. Xyn2A kinetic parameters (Vmax and Km) were determined by Michaelis-Menten plots on soluble and insoluble WAX. The Vmax and Km values of Xyn2AC were 1003.01 U/mg and 9.25 mg/mL, 302.89 U/mg and 13.54 mg/mL, respectively. The Vmax and Km values of Xyn2AE for soluble and insoluble WAX were 20.45 U/mg and 12.95 mg/mL, and 8.31 U/mg and 13.15 mg/mL. Xyn2A enzymes displayed optimum activity at pH and temperature parameters of 5.0 and 50°C, respectively, and stability in temperatures ranging between 50 and 80°C and pH 4.0-9.0. Broiler chicken feeds were hydrolysed using Xyn2AE over a 24 h period and analysed using the dinitrosalicylic (DNS) assay, thin layer chromatography (TLC), viscometry and visualized using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results showed a release of release of XOS xylotriose, xylopentose and xylohexose; enzyme’s ability to decrease the viscosity of the feeds and punched holes of feed surface, which was indicative of xylanase action. XOS produced during hydrolysis was used to study prebiotic effect on selected few bacteria and released short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) were measured. Additionally, SCFAs formation was detected in the presence of XOS as a carbon source for S. thermophilus and L. bulgaricus, whereas B. subtilis formed fewer organic acids in the presence of XOS. The results obtained from this study demonstrated that the supplementation of Xyn2A on broiler feeds has ii a positive effect in decreasing feed viscosity. Furthermore, the results of this investigation will assist the South African poultry farming sector to increase profitability in poultry farming and gain stability in the global trade as far as poultry feed is concerned.Thesis (MSc) -- Faculty of Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology, 202