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Photo-induced Intercalation of Cobalt(II) Tellurium Oxide asan Oxygen Evolution (Photo)electrocatalyst
Get PDFJournal Article, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Science, North--West University- PotchefstroomHerein, we report on (a) the application of cobalt(II) tellurium oxide (Co3TeO6) as a photo-electrocatalyst, to enhance the photo-electrocatalytic (PEC) oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline media, compared to the electrocatalytic (EC) OER (in the absence of light), and (b) to store charge upon illumination and release charge upon the termination of illumination under OER potential bias conditions. These nanomaterials were synthesized employing the sol-gel method and calcined at temperatures ranging from 400 to 1100 °C. They were physically characterized and tested for their capacity to (i) act as a catalyst towards the OER, under EC and PEC conditions, and (ii) to convert and store light-energy as chemical-energy. Under PEC conditions CTO-900, which predominantly consisted of Co3TeO6, exhibited a five-fold increase in activity compared to EC conditions as current density increased from 0.58 mA cm−2 (EC) to 3.10 mA cm−2 (PEC) at 1.8 V (vs. RHE). Additionally, CTO-900 displayed the ability to not only store charge (upon illumination), but to also release this stored charge (after the termination of illumination), realising a current density of 2.07 mA cm−2 in the dark (under OER potential bias conditions). Photo-induced charge storage is due to the intercalation of potassium ions into Co3TeO6
The impact of exchange rate and exchange rate volatility on tourism demand using disaggregated data
Get PDFJournal Article, North-West UniversityThe present study investigates the impacts of exchange rate and exchange rate volatility on inbound tourism demand in Mauritius, using annual data covering the period 1999–2019 and a panel autoregressive distributed lag model. In particular, we consider 17 major tourism markets for Mauritius. The sample is further divided into Eurozone (7 countries) and non-Eurozone (10 countries) for additional insights. The results show that in the long run, both the exchange rate and its volatility have negative and significant impacts on tourism demand across the three samples considered, while income in the home country has a positive and significant effect on tourism demand. On the other hand, relative price is found to have a significant and negative effect on tourism demand only for the overall sample of 17 countries, while for both the Eurozone and non-Eurozone, the impact is insignificant. The empirical results suggest that policymakers should give consideration to stronger monetary and fiscal regulations to increase tourism demand
Determinants of intention to abort among married women in a metropolitan city in South-west, Nigeria
Get PDFJournal Article. Population Health and Research Entity, North-West University, MafikengThis cross-sectional study assessed prior, future, and overall intention to abort among 739 married women aged 15-49 years in Ibadan, South-west, Nigeria. Data were obtained using an interviewer-administered questionnaire, and analyzed using logistic regression model (α0.05). The women’s mean age was 35.8±7.4 years. Overall, 15.8% women had prior intention, 16.9% had future intention, while 26.7% had overall intention to abort. Determinants of prior intention to abort included desire for more children, media access, wealth status, and woman’s autonomy. The odds of prior intention to abort was highest among unemployed women (aOR=1.699, p=0.472), and those with low autonomy (aOR=1.675, p=0.019). Odds of future intention to abort was lower among women with good media access (aOR=0.603, p=0.032), but higher among those whose husbands had completed secondary education (aOR=1.995, p=0.034). Future intention to abort can be minimised if organisations implementing sexual and reproductive health programmes provide media literacy tools for women and promote men’s education to increase their earnings. (Afr J Reprod Health 2024; 28 [3s]: 80-92)
The use of technology to preserve indigenous languages of South Africa
Get PDFArticle, Faculty of Humanities (SA Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLar)--Northwest University, Potchefstroom CampusIndigenous languages in South Africa must be preserved to ensure that they do not lose their identity and become extinct. The four indigenous languages with the fewest speakers among South Africa’s 12 official languages are: Xitsonga, Siswati, Tshivenḓa and isiNdebele. The preservation of these languages in South Africa has been a long-standing challenge because ofvarious social and economic factors. With the advancement of technology, opportunities have arisen to preserve and promote the use of these languages. Therefore, this study explores various technological strategies that can be used to preserve the South African indigenous languages. These languages can be preserved by making them widely accessible to users through various strategies such as localisation of daily used technology, translation through crowdsourcing, digitisation and archiving. Digital learning tools such as machine translation (MT) and creating online dictionaries can also contribute to preserving these languages. Each of these strategies offers benefits on how technology could be employed effectively and facilitate the preservation of indigenous languages. This study demonstrates the significance of technology in preserving indigenous languages and promoting their use around the world.
Contribution: This study fills the practical gap in the use of technology to adequately preserve minority indigenous languages of South Africa, namely, Xitsonga, Siswati, Tshivenḓa and isiNdebele. These languages do not receive much attention in terms of preservation using technology in South Africa. Therefore, the study provides practical technological strategies that need to be implemented to preserve the indigenous minority languages. The insight of this study into the use of technology to preserve South African languages fits well within the scope of Literator, which is to publish studies in linguistics and literature with a special focus on South African languages. This publication will bring solutions to how minority languages could be preserved in the context of South Africa
Effectiveness of Self-Management Programs Among Athletes with Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome: Protocol for a Systematic review
Get PDFJournal Article, Lifestyle Diseases Research Entity, Faculty of Health Sciences, North West University, MafikengBackground:
Patellofemoral pain syndrome is a highly prevalent overuse knee injury in athletic populations associated with pain and functional limitations, exacerbated by activities such as running, pivoting, cycling, and jumping. Self-management programs empowering athletes to take an active role in controlling their symptoms for chronic musculoskeletal conditions such as patellofemoral pain syndrome have grown in popularity. However, the efficacy of self-management programs specifically for athletes with patellofemoral pain syndrome is unclear due to limited and heterogeneous evidence.
Objective:
The systematic review study will evaluate the effectiveness of self-management programs on pain and function, in athletes with patellofemoral pain syndrome.
Methods:
PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature), and PsycINFO databases will be systematically searched using terms related to “patellofemoral pain syndrome,” “self-management,” and “athletes.” Interventional studies that are randomized and nonrandomized controlled trials will be included, comparing self-management programs to other treatments or control conditions among athletes with patellofemoral pain syndrome. Four reviewers will independently screen studies, extract data using the COVIDENCE software, and assess the quality of the study and evidence using the Pedro scale of risk of bias tool and GRADE approach, respectively. If feasible, a meta-analysis will be performed using the RevMan (version 5.4; the Cochrane Collaboration).
Results:
The systematic review is currently in the search phase, with the authors refining search strings for the selected databases. The final search strings are expected to be ready by March 2024, and the review is projected to be completed by July 2024.
Conclusions:
This systematic review protocol outlines a rigorous methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of self-management programs among athletes with patellofemoral pain syndrome. The findings will inform clinical practice and guide the development of tailored interventions to optimize outcomes for athletes with patellofemoral pain syndrome
Inclusion of Kalahari melon (Citrullus lanatus) meal in lamb diets: Effects on growth and meat quality
Get PDFMaster of Science in Animal Science, North-West University, MafikengThe study was carried out to evaluate the effect of substituting SBM with KMOC on growth performance, economic evaluation, protein utilization efficiency, blood parameters, carcass characteristics, meat quality and internal organs of lambs. Forty Meatmaster lambs were used in the experiment. Lambs were randomly assigned to five dietary treatments in a completely randomized block design and fed in individual pens for 54 days. Animals were allocated five dietary treatment groups with inclusion levels of KMOC: 0% (control), 25 %, 50%, 75%, and 100%. Each treatment was replicated 8 times. Lambs in the different dietary treatment groups had initial weights (IW) of 27.6± 3.21Kg.There were significant differences (P < 0.05) in overall FW, ADFI, ABWG, ADG , FCR fed KMOC in between treatment groups The lambs fed a 50% KMOC diet had the highest (P< 0.05) BWG, ADFI and ADG.ADFI increased with the increasing levels of KMOC in the diet but decreased at 75% and 100% KMOC inclusion levelsDiet significantly affected PC and PER. Lambs fed a 50% KMOC diet had the highest overall PC (162.05 ± 5.16) whilst a 100% diet had the lowest overall PC value (118.34± 5.16). Diet did not affect SGR and GE SGR and GE declined with increasing levels of KMOC in diets. Diet significantly affected the RBC, haemoglobin, MCV, WBC, platelets, neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, neutrophils and lymphocytes. The RBC was lowest (14.73±0.85) in
the lambs fed the 50% KMOC diet and the highest (16.81±1.04) in the diet containing 75% KMOC. Generally, the lambs fed the 25% KMOC-containing diets had the lowest values (8.55±1.79) for the WBC compared to other treatment groups. However, diet did not affect haematocrit value and MCH. Diets did not significantly (P 0.05) was observed from diets containing 100% KMOC (12.19 N). The findings of the study suggest that KMOC can partially substitute SBM up to 50% without compromising the health of lambs
The Influence of the Pandemic on the Affective States of School Principals and Teachers: A Comparative Study between South Africa and Latvia
Get PDFJournal Article. Faculty of Education, North-West University, PotchefstroomThis study explores the extensive influence of COVID-19 on the affective states of school principals and teachers. A comparative, qualitative study was conducted on Latvian and South African participants’ experiences during the pandemic, with a focus on leadership, change, extra workload, ICT, and uncertainty. A total of 59 participants from rural, urban, and private schools in both countries took part in this study. Data were collected by conducting interviews with open-ended questions after which themes were identified and grouped. The results demonstrated that the states of mind of Latvian school principals and teachers were more affected than those of South Africans for whom vaccination was not compulsory. Furthermore, it was found that technological adaptation was easier for Latvian than for South African educators. The role of the Department of Education has
evoked mixed feelings. Leadership, and the lack of it, also influenced the affective states of school principals and teachers. Emotional support from society, family, and colleagues was experienced differently in Latvia than in South Africa. The results of this study revealed that a pandemic can be experienced differently by principals and teachers but also that there are similarities in these experiences, as no one is ever completely prepared for the effects of a pandemic
The analytical solutions of squeezing flow and heat transfer in an horizontal filtering channel
Get PDFArticle, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences (Pure and Applied Analytics)--Potchefstroom CampusFlow and heat transfer dynamics inside different industrial chambers play a vital role in understanding momentum and heat transfer during industrial operations. Analysis of such flow and heat transfer helps operators to know how the system works. To better understand the filtration process, the current study analytically investigated the internal flow and heat transfer through a porous horizontal filter channel under the influence of a uniform magnetic field while removing unwanted contaminations from the fluid inside the filter chamber. Thus, the novelty of the current study is to advance the filtration process by investigating how the top moving wall, which aims to minimise filter cake formation, affects permeates outflow (the current design). The partial differential equations (PDEs) model representing the internal flow and heat transfer during filtration is transformed into a system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) using Lie point symmetry reduction without changing the dynamics under investigation. After that, the transformed equations are solved analytically using the perturbation approximation technique. The comparative analysis between the obtained semi-analytical and NDSolve numerical solutions was used to show the correlation of internal flow, temperature, and pressure profiles. The obtained solutions are used to find the best combination of dimensionless parameters that arise from flow and heat transfer dynamics that lead to optimum outflow. Graphical analysis of flow and heat transfer dynamics are used to indicate the combination of parameters that leads to maximum outflow based on scientific evidence. It is observed that, on average, the velocity increases significantly by 122.55% across all cases of ranging from 0 to 3.2 at the top permeable wall = 1. This significant increase is due to the motion of the moving wall and fluid injection happening at = 1. The results show that more chamber volume, small pores size, weak injection, weak magnetic force, and less Joule heating are crucial to increase internal temperature and permeate outflow velocity during filtration
Exploring factors contributing to the successful management of selected public old age homes in the North West Province, South Africa
Get PDFConference Contribution, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (NWU Business School)--Northwest University, Potchefstroom CampusAging is a global phenomenon and a public health concern as life expectancy rises. Public and private leaders continuously consider their responsibilities to society. Thus, non-profit organizations (NPOs) are becoming important community partners, helping solve long-term social issues. South African stakeholders are concerned about NPOs mismanaging donations and old-age funding and neglecting elderly people. Growing numbers of unregistered old-age homes, rising demand, and an aging population exacerbate views of NPOs mismanaging old-age homes. The purpose of this research was to identify and characterize the elements that contribute to the successful management of public old-age homes in the North West Province of South Africa. A qualitative multiple case study and interpretivism research paradigm were used to explore NPOs in three regions in the North West province. Atlas ti.9 was used to analyse data, create categories, and generate themes. The findings of this study revealed that these old age homes provide 24-hour care, food, laundry, room cleaning, social work, and nursing care. The governance style, leadership, planning, execution, quality management, and accountability are crucial to long-term care in these facilities. By mobilizing resources, managing stakeholders, and offering high-quality client-centered services to elders, assures the management team staff performance and service accessibility
Metabolites and Lipoproteins May Predict the Severity of Early Acute Pancreatitis in a South African Cohort
Get PDFJournal Article, HumanMetabolomics, North-West University, PotchefstroomBackground: Acute pancreatitis (AP) can be life-threatening with unpredictable severity. Despite advances in management, its pathogenesis remains unclear. This study investigated metabolites and lipoprotein profiles in AP patients of African descent to understand the underlying pathophysiological conditions so as to inform prognosis and management. Methods: Serum samples were collected from 9 healthy controls (HCs) and 30 AP patients (8 with mild AP, 14 with moderately severe AP, and 8 with severe AP) on days 1, 3, 5, and 7 post epigastric pain and subjected to nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Wilcoxon and Kruskal–Wallis rank-sum tests compared numerical covariates. Lipoprotein characterization was performed using the Liposcale test, and Spearman’s rank test assessed data correlations. The p-values < 0.05 indicated significance. Results: Thirty-eight metabolic signals and information on lipoprotein subclasses were identified from the NMR spectra. The severity of AP correlated with increased levels of 3-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate and decreased levels of ascorbate. Distinct metabolic phenotypes were identified and characterized by unique inflammatory and lipoprotein profiles. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) decreased across all the metabolic phenotypes of AP when compared with the HC, while elevated immediate density lipoprotein cholesterol (IDL-C) and very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) levels were observed. Time-dependent changes in metabolites were indicative of responsiveness to therapy. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that dysregulated metabolites and lipoproteins can be used to differentiate AP disease state and severity. Furthermore, integrating clinical parameters with data on metabolic and lipoprotein perturbations can contribute to a better understanding of the complex pathophysiology of AP.This work is based on research supported in part by the South African National Research Foundation [Grant Number 121277] and the University of the Witwatersrand Faculty Research Committee Individual [Grant Numbers: 001254844110151211055254]