43867 research outputs found
Sort by
Utilisation of monitoring and evaluation data at gender-based violence non-profit organisation in South Africa
Get PDFAbstract: Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) holds an important place in the functioning of an organisation. It provides vital information to enable an organisation to assess, improve, ensure accountability as well as influence organisational policies. However, M&E is relevant only if the findings generated are utilised. This study establishes that non-profit organisations (NPOs) often do not use M&E data, and even when they do, it is not coherent. The few NPOs that utilise M&E data, often do so as part of donors’ requirements for funding and accountability to funding agencies and not for internal learning, improvement and decision-making. Furthermore, these NPOs lack a comprehensive M&E system to enable them to identify programme challenges and track progress towards the achievement of set goals. This study used an exploratory qualitative inquiry, and a before-and-after study design, to understand how the utilisation of M&E data by a gender-based violence (GBV) NPO can be enhanced by incorporating feminist evaluation (FE) into a theory-of-change-informed logic model to guide organisational decision-making processes. Data was collected using in-depth interviews and documentary review. A thematic analysis was applied to the collected data. This study found that, first, POWA (People Opposing Women Abuse) used M&E data to inform management decisions only to a limited extent. Data collection was irregular and inconsistent before the implementation of the intervention. POWA implemented evaluation only to demonstrate accountability, on behalf of or by the donor. Second, although POWA branded itself as a feminist organisation before the intervention and its management understood feminist values well, staff had little knowledge of these key elements of its mission. Third, the FE approach selected to test at the NPO was too theoretical and abstract for participants to engage with at a practical level. This led to the intervention whereby I introduced the reframed feminist principles in a one-day conversation to staff and management. In addition, as part of the intervention, I facilitated the design of a ToC (Theory of Change) and a logic model in a two-day workshop as well as redesigned POWA’s data collection tools. Fourth, after the intervention, POWA used the FE-informed ToC, logic model and redesigned data collection tools to collect relevant and useful data. It used the data collected to improve organisational learning, increase accountability, increase ownership of data, increase iii commitment and promote shared understanding. Therefore, this study concluded that the implementation of the FE, a ToC and a logic model was relevant for this NPO.Ph.D. (Development Studies
Machinability studies and charaterization of aluminium matrix reinforced with fly-ash and carbonized eggshells
Get PDFD.Phil. (Mechanical Engineering Science)Abstract: Metal-matrix composites have received attention, owing to their attractive properties, including their good strength-to-weight ratio, adequate wear-and-corrosion resistance, amongst others. The introduction of Metal matrix composites has been very beneficial to the material-selection process. Among the identified base metals for metal-matrix composite applications, aluminium is attractive, owing to its reduced weight, adequate stiffness and corrosion resistance. These improvements have led to its incorporation into several applications, particularly in aerospace, marine, and in other structures. The reinforcing phases of metal-matrix composites are responsible for improving the properties of the monolithic material through several mechanisms, including load transfer, resistance to local application of the load, strong interfacial bonding and adequate wettability between the reinforcing phases and the matrix. The need for costreduction and environmental sustainability has led to the consideration of certain waste materials for the reinforcement of metal-matrix composites. The waste material currently incorporated into the production of aluminium-matrix composites are classified under agricultural and industrial waste. This work presents the use of fly-ash and eggshells, as reinforcements for the fabrication of binary and ternary aluminium-matrix composites. This investigation analysed the effect of the stand-alone reinforcements on the properties, including the microstructure, density, porosity, tensile strength, compressive strength, microhardness, and the corrosion resistance of aluminium. The second phase of the analysis studied the effect of both reinforcements on the aluminium-alloy matrix. This part of the study considered the effect of the hybrid reinforcements on the mechanical properties, the microstructure, vi corrosion resistance and wear resistance. The machinability studies of the fabricated cast composite were also considered. The machinability studies analysed the effect of the hybrid reinforcements on indicators, including surface roughness, tool wear, materialremoval rate, cutting temperature, built-up edges and chip morphology. Experiments were designed via the L9 and L16 orthogonal array, which selected the cutting speed, feed and depth-of-cut, as the input parameters for the machinability studies. In addition to conducting the experiments, single and multi-objective optimization processes, using Taguchi and Taguchi-based grey relational analysis, respectively was conducted on the tool wear, surface roughness, material-removal rate and the cutting temperature. The effect of fly-ash and carbonized eggshells on AA 1050 fabricated via stir-casting was conducted. The investigation of the density, tensile strength, micro-hardness, showed that the reinforcements improved these properties in comparison to that of the base metal. The corrosion-resistance analysis also investigated the two reinforcements, improved by reinforcing the aluminium alloy. The application of fly-ash and carbonized eggshells, as hybrid reinforcements on LM6, improved its tensile strength, compressive strength and micro-hardness, while the wear-and-corrosion resistance investigation also indicated that reinforcing the aluminium alloy with the hybrid reinforcement is beneficial in both regards. The machinability studies of the hybrid reinforcements on AA 6082 revealed that the cutting speed was the most influential factor in the surface roughness and on the tool wear, while machining the cast composite. It was also indicated that the increased surface roughness and tool wear were due to the presence of the hard-reinforcing particles in the aluminium matrix. The analysis of the material-removal rate and the cutting temperature showed that the depth-of-cut was the most influenced factor in both responses. The builtvii up edge formation during the machining of the cast aluminium-matrix composites was at a maximum at the lowest cutting speed and at the highest depth-of-cut. The analysis of the chip morphology indicates that the turning of the cast composites resulted in the formation of c- shaped chips, helically shaped chips and ribbon-shaped chips. From the study, it was concluded that reinforcing aluminium and its variants with fly-ash and carbonized eggshell – either as single reinforcements, or as a hybrid – is capable of improving its overall properties; and this could find a use in a variety of applications and highly recommended
Epistemic injustice and data mining
Get PDFAbstract: Please refer to full text to view abstract.M.A. (Philosophy
Development of sustainable housing project: A case of the South Hill residential development project, Johannesburg
No full textAbstract: Access to housing that is adequate is one issue that is mostly debated about in democratic South Africa. The government is in a continuous battle with the existing housing provision backlog in which the demand has seemingly increased over the years. In the process of this, the urban population takes to the streets while registering their frustration and rage at the slow advancement of the delivery of services as a whole, which also includes housing as well as the provision of other basic services. This is clearly a vital issue in the country which has greatly driven serious public argument and additional engagement between the people and the state. Particularly, this displeasure endures regardless of the fact that South Africa’s post-apartheid government discourse on state-society relations is centred on greater participation, especially that at the level of local government, as replicated in the obligation to participatory democracy in the constitution of South Africa. The dissertation is an evaluation of the sustainability of the development of housing by the City of Johannesburg, using the South Hills Integrated Residential Housing Project as a case study to try to empirically measure the sustainability. The study attempts to establish how the City of Johannesburg has simultaneously planned for and executed sustainability measures and what the outcome is in the South Hills Integrated Residential Development Project. The objectives of this study contain the outlining of an analytical and theoretical framework for sustainable development as prearranged in the Local, Provincial and National Government legislation and policies that are relevant. The South Hills housing project was chosen due to it being one of the few integrated large-scale sustainable housing development projects in South Africa. The research methodology involves an extensive analysis of relevant and appropriate legislation, policies, literature and project design documentation. Additionally, the field work made use of questionnaires and individual interviews with a sample of residents. The research found that the City of Johannesburg has followed the sustainability guidelines as far as their means allowed it. The level of satisfaction of the residents is average, and it was found that though the people received houses that were designed and constructed to take full advantage of the measures set out by sustainable development, the residents lack the familiarity to maintain all aspects of sustainable living. This indicates that sustainability in housing is very complex and is not only a matter of technology and designing, but also of imparting a specific behaviour among the beneficiaries.M.Phil. (Urban and Regional Planning
The McDonaldization of charismatic church culture : a multimodal social semiotic analysis of global and local church websites
Get PDFAbstract: McDonaldization is the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant (efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control) are coming to dominate more and more sectors of society. This study analyses how McDonaldization appears in both global and local websites. Charismatic Christian churches are megachurches who are among the fastest growing religious groups in the world due to globalisation. These megachurches are mechanized like a business to reach potential members who are now available online. Websites are the organisations’ front door in an online world, and so it represents the identity of the organisation in the online space, because an organization’s flagship website serves to educate potential members on who they are, what they do, and why they do it. McDonaldization can show up in both global and local churches due to the scripting and routines within global churches like Hillsong. The local churches that were selected for this study are: Bridge Church, Grace Bible Church and Rhema South Bible Church. Hillsong Church was selected as the global forerunner of the megachurch model. The data for this study was collected through internet research and has been analysed using Kress’s Multimodal Social Semiotic model. Findings indicate that the principles of McDonaldization are found in organisations that promote a growth focused trajectory. It is for this reason that charismatic church culture is spread across the world due to McDonaldization. Keywords: Globalization, McDonaldization, Charismatic, Church, Culture, Multimodal, Social Semiotics, Websites.M.A. (Communication Studies
International Students’ Perceptions of the Study Abroad Programme and its Influence on Possible Change of Attitudes
Get PDFAbstract: The key research question guiding the study interrogated perceptions of the Study Abroad Programme (SAP) and probed the shifting and reshaping of international students’ attitudes towards South Africa. Specifically, the study explored whether, and in what ways, the SAP can be argued to have contributed to changing perceptions of South Africa. The minor dissertation argues that international students have important roles to play and (as alumni) could become important partners and associates of the institution. However, international students often encounter several difficulties throughout their integration process in South African universities and in the broader public environment. It is argued that universities should provide more initiatives to highlight relevant information and insights about South Africa and help international students make friends, participate, and adapt successfully. South African higher education institutions must provide a facilitating educational environment for international students and help to ensure that they promptly solve their issues and problems, as well as encourage them to tap into the potential and skills that they possess. Improving international students' wellbeing will guarantee that they learn better, address and fulfil their academic goals, and grow holistically at South African higher education institutions. In so doing, the host university contributes to personal growth and development – and possible mindset shifts.M.A. (Sociology
Integration of African Indigenous and Formal Social Protection Systems in Uganda : experiences of elderly widows
Get PDFAbstract: Globally, social protection systems are crucial at preventing and reducing poverty. In Uganda, social protection is provided by both the African Indigenous Social Protection system (AISPS) and Formal Social Protection Systems (FSPS). However, the majority of Ugandans benefit from indigenous social protection systems. This is because the formal social protection system is limited in coverage, scope, and adequacy. Despite the positive and enormous contribution that indigenous social protection systems play in providing safety nets to vulnerable people, they remain largely underdeveloped and not supported by government in terms of policy, legislation, financial assistance, and intervention strategies. Underscored by the Afrocentric perspective, this study used qualitative case study design, and employed face-to-face in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with elderly widows and key informants. It explored the different types of African indigenous social protection systems utilised by elderly widows in Kamuli district who are beneficiaries of the formal Social Assistance Grant for Empowerment (SAGE) programme and provides insight into how they can be integrated with the formal SAGE social protection. Four important findings emerged from the study. First, there are three main AISPS that are utilised by elderly widows in Kamuli district in Uganda: extended family and kinship ties, neighbourhood and community support networks and spirituality and faith-based organisations. The findings also revealed that AISPS and formal SAGE programme are interlinked and complement each other. Empirical evidence show that the formal SAGE programme uses AISPS to reach out to beneficiaries while the beneficiaries of the formal SAGE programme use the SAGE cash to strengthen their social support networks. The central premise of this study is that despite AISPS playing an important role in the provision of social protection to elderly widows, AISPS are not included in the design and implementation of The Uganda National Social Protection Policy. Although AISPS are mentioned in the National Social Protection Policy as key providers of social protection, there is not enough support in terms of funding and capacity building rendered to them. This study’s findings have underscored the importance of integration of AISPS with the formal SAGE programme in the provision of social protection for the elderly. The study concludes with some considerations for harnessing the valuable contributions made by elderly widows in society and calls for the need to incorporate AISPS in the design and implementation of social protection policy. In addition, recommendations are made to improve the capacity of AISPS to address local risks, and further research into indigenous models and how they can be incorporated into mainstream social work curriculum and practice for a positive social change.D.Phil. (Social Work
The chiropractic attitude and utilization of evi-dence based practice in Kwa-Zulu Natal
Get PDFM.Tech. (Chiropractic)Abstract: Background: As of now there is little to no knowledge on the level of utilization, skills, and attitudes of evidence-based practice by chiropractors in Kwa-Zulu Natal. Aim: The aim of this study is to identify what the level of utilization is, what skills level there is, and what attitudes chiropractors in the province of Kwa-Zulu Natal as well as other factors that may hinder or aid these things. Method: This was an exploratory and quantitative study in the form of a survey that used an online medium to be distributed and completed. The survey was facilitated using google forms. This survey consisted of 7 different parts from part A to part G. The Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa provided the distribution of the survey by means of a bulk email to those participants who were qualified chiropractors and registered with the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa. Procedure: There was a bulk mail sent from the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa that had a link to a google forms which is where the participants had been presented with an information letter, then a consent form, the survey and finally a page where they could claim continuing profession education points from. Results: The results showed that EBP was seen as very necessary in the chiropractic profession with a total of 52.6% strongly agreeing to it being necessary. The same number of participants had identified that they are interested in learning more about EBP and most significantly Part A received only 1 question that had a number greater than 0% (n=0) for strongly disagreed. The results identified that majority of the participants had a moderate level of skills in EBP. It was seen that on the scale of 1-5 the mean value never exceeded 4, it had a lowest value that was 2.21 and majority of the mean values were withing 3-4. The level of education in EBP had shown that 47.4% (n=9) of the participants had a lot of EBP knowledge that was learnt as a major part of their chiropractic education. It identified that the percentage of practise that participants conduct EBP was seen as a moderate level of 51%-75% by 47.4% (n=9) of the participants. 26.3% (n=5) participants, which was the highest value, identified that the most important source of EBP was published clinical evidence. The barriers of EBP were also seen to be very positive in that the mean values of the scale..
Immune inspired face recognition utilizing anomaly detection and symbiotic agents
Get PDFAbstract: Face recognition is a biometric measure that identifies a person through images of their face. Generally, a complete face recognition system must first detect the faces in a given image. The detected faces must then be represented in a format that allows a similarity metric to be calculated that can be compared to known faces stored in a database. Eigenfaces is a common face recognition method that represents faces through a weighted set of eigenvectors while measuring the similarity between two faces as the Euclidean distance between two weight vectors. Immune inspired anomaly detection identifies samples that do not conform to normal behaviour using methods inspired by the immune system’s ability to detect and react to antigens. The objective of this dissertation is to identify the potential advantages of applying immune inspired anomaly detection to the problem of face recognition. To this end, an environment simulator component provides input to the proposed model that mimics common face recognition scenarios. The proposed model is called the Immune Inspired Symbiotic Face Recognition Agents Model (IISFRAM). A proof of concept prototype called the Immune Inspired Symbiotic Face Recognition Agents Prototype (IISFRAP), will be implemented. The conceptual model and the proof of concept prototype consist of three intelligent agents that work together to provide a complete face recognition solution. The relationships between the agents are inspired by symbiotic relationships in nature. Each agent’s role in the IISFRAM is inspired by a component of the humoral immune system. Two scenarios that showcase the advantages of the proposed model are social media applications and physical access control. In both cases, the proposed model maintains an updated detector set, provides distributed processing, and modular components that allow any specific algorithm to be easily replaced. Testing the IISFRAP showed that a small detector set (26 detector agents) can completely cover a larger training set (90 samples) while successfully differentiating between new self-samples and non-self-samples. The IISFRAP had improved accuracy compared to similar systems with the immune inspired detector agents allowing for precision and recall metrics to be increased...M.Sc. (Information Technology
Removal of selected precious metals from e-waste using fabricated mesoporous polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and poly(4-vinylpyridine) (P4VP) monoliths
Get PDFAbstract: The world’s largest growing waste stream is that of electronic waste (e-waste), consisting of discarded electrical and electronic equipment. The global production of e-waste was expected to reach 52.2 million tonnes for the year 2021 alone. This global growth in the production of e-waste is unparalleled and unsustainable in the long-term. The development of efficient and sustainable e-waste recycling strategies is therefore critical. Recovery and subsequent recycling of profitable materials within e-waste has become an attractive approach, such as the extraction of precious metals. Various techniques for the recycling of precious metals from e-waste exist, however they have many drawbacks such as the use of large amounts of chemical additives and energy, the production of unwanted by-products and high cost. The goal of this research is therefore the development and fabrication of mesoporous polymer monolith adsorbents for the selective recovery of precious metals from real PCB leach liquors. The desired outcome is that the adsorbents will provide a more eco-friendly, cheaper, and selective alternative to the current existing metal recovery methods. This research project involved three main stages. The first stage included the successful fabrication and characterisation of mesoporous polymer monoliths using neat polyacrylonitrile (PAN), as well as a combination of PAN and poly-4-vinylpyridine (P4VP), with the use of the non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) method. Various fabrication and operational parameters employed during the NIPS method were evaluated and optimised. The polymer monoliths were characterised using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). The second stage of this project included the application of the polymer monoliths as adsorbents for the recovery of precious metals, Ag(I), Au(III) and Pd(II), from standard solutions. Various adsorption parameters such as pH, contact time, adsorbent type, and monolith mass, were optimised to achieve maximum recovery of the precious metals. Brief desorption studies were carried out to evaluate the reusability of the polymer monoliths as adsorbents. Following optimisation of the adsorption reaction parameters, the monoliths were applied to the recovery of precious metals from simulated e-waste samples, where base metals were also present in solution. The third stage of this project involved the application of the polymer monoliths as adsorbents in real e-waste samples. The polymer monoliths were used for the x removal of precious metals from random access memory (RAM) pins, extracted from a waste printed circuit board (PCB), following hydrometallurgical treatment. The first stage of this research was successfully carried out. The NIPS method was optimised for the fabrication of ten different types of mesoporous polymer monoliths, where six were fabricated from neat PAN and the remaining four from a composite of PAN and P4VP. Analyses carried out with SEM validated the existence of an extensive porous network within all fabricated polymer monoliths. Analyses with TGA showed that the polymer monoliths were thermally stable over an acceptable temperature range and could be reliably used as adsorbents. With regards to the second stage of this project, the polymer monoliths displayed great capacity for precious metal ion adsorption from both standard and simulated e-waste solutions. The optimum adsorption reaction conditions for all three precious metal ions from standard solutions with the use of neat PAN monoliths were found to be as follows: 1) a metal ion solution adjusted to a pH of 4, 2) a contact time of 6 hours, 3) a monolith mass of 0.5 g and 4) the use of neat PAN monolith 480-90 as an adsorbent. Maximum adsorption percentages of 96.8 %, 73.4 % and 98.8 % were achieved for Pd(II), Ag(I) and Au(III) ions, respectively, under the above-mentioned conditions. The composite polymer monoliths were found to achieve complete removal of the precious metal ions. Maximum adsorption percentages of 99.5 %, 97.9 % and 99.6 % of Pd(II), Ag(I) and Au(III) ions, respectively, were achieved. It was therefore concluded that the composite monoliths were the optimal adsorbent for the recovery of precious metals and were therefore used in the subsequent adsorption studies involving simulated and real e-waste samples. The composite monoliths retained a high adsorption capacity for the precious metal ions from simulated e-waste solutions, however low selectivity for the precious metals over the base metals present in solution was seen. All metals in solution were found to be adsorbed by the monoliths...M.Sc. (Chemistry
Data sources:
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage University of Johannesburg Institutional Repository? Access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard!