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Public Theology as a Theology of Resilience in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Public Pastoral Care Contribution
Get PDFJournal Article, The Unit for Reformational Theology and the Development of the South African Society, Faculty of Theology, North-West University, PotchefstroomThe negative impacts of COVID-19, the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, political unrest, and natural disasters in sub-Saharan Africa have caused widespread suffering. In light of these crises, many have questioned the relevance of theology in addressing such complex challenges. This article tackles critical questions such as: How can public theology effectively engage with the socio-political and economic issues facing sub-Saharan Africa? What role does public pastoral care play in fostering resilience within these communities? Can theology provide tangible support in the face of widespread suffering, and if so, how? The article argues that public theology offers a resilient framework to guide communities through these difficult times, particularly when integrated with public pastoral care. Public theology can provide hope, support, and a sense of purpose to those affected by engaging both spiritual and social dimensions. The article further explores how public pastoral care, as a practical expression of public theology, can address individuals’ and communities’ emotional, psychological, and spiritual needs. Ultimately, it demonstrates that public theology is relevant and essential in fostering resilience and promoting human flourishing in the face of adversity
Bibliometric Analysis of Mixed Text Using Transformer-Based Architecture in Africa
Get PDFDeep learning techniques based on neural networks have been developed for text creation, a critical sub-task of natural
language generation that aims to create human-readable content. Natural language processing (NLP) tasks are utilized to
recognize speech in code-mixed comments on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, which enable users to
interact and exchange ideas, views, status updates, pictures, and videos with people all over the world. Although NLP is
widely investigated in the world and Africa is home to approximately 3,000 languages, many of which are derived from
significant language families, in this regard, there are challenges that Africa faces in Natural Language Processing (NLP),
especially mixed text using transformer-based architecture. The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence of
mixed text using transformer-based architecture in Africa. Bibliometric analysis was used to assess natural language and
mixed text in Africa, utilizing transformer-based architecture. show that sentiment analysis is the holistic tool that is used
for mixed text using transformers, where social media, deep learning, codes, computational linguistics, and social
networking are critical tools in generating human-like quality text. Therefore, this study proposes artificial intelligence,
artificial neutral networks, and neural networks, as well as a prediction to estimate the technique or fluctuation as the
method for mixed text using transformer-based architecture in Africa. This research sets the path for future studies that use
mixed text using transformer-based architecture in Africa
A Toeplitz-like operator with rational matrix symbol having poles on the unit circle: Fredholm characteristics
No full textJournal Article. Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Science, North--West University-PotchefstroomIn a recent paper (Groenewald et al. 2021 [9]) we considered an unbounded Toeplitz-like operator TΩ generated by a rational matrix function Ω that has poles on the unit circle T of the complex plane. A Wiener-Hopf type factorization was proved and this factorization was used to determine some Fredholm properties of the operator TΩ, including the Fredholm index.
Due to the lower triangular structure (rather than diagonal) of the middle term in the Wiener-Hopf type factorization and the lack of uniqueness, it is not straightforward to determine the dimension of the kernel of TΩ from this factorization, and hence of the co-kernel, even when TΩ is Fredholm. In the current paper we provide a formula for the dimension of the
kernel of TΩ under an additional assumption on the WienerHopf type factorization. In the case that Ω is a 2 × 2 matrix function, a characterization of the kernel of the middle factor of the Wiener-Hopf type factorization is given and in many cases a formula for the dimension of the kernel is obtained. The characterization of the kernel of the middle factor for the
2×2 case is partially extended to the case of matrix functions of arbitrary siz
Distribution, habitat and vulnerability to climate change of the Endangered Leptopelis xenodactylus
Get PDFJournal Articles, Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University, PotchefstroomLeptopelis xenodactylus is a little-known, Endangered species of frog that is thought to be endemic to the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa. In an effort to determine the distribution of this species more accurately, a working species distribution model was created for use in searching for more populations over a period of three breeding seasons. Twenty-one more wetlands containing the frog were discovered and a second species distribution model was created for use in spatial planning applications. Leptopelis xenodactylus occurs primarily in temperate, alluvial hummock wetlands in U-shaped valleys at mid-altitudes in southwestern KwaZulu-Natal. The extent of occurrence and area of occupancy of L. xenodactylus were recalculated including the new records and have increased by 9% and 429%, respectively. The known localities for L. xenodactylus were analysed in relation to the predictions of two downscaled climate change models and a vulnerability framework. Climate change was found to be a potentially significant threat to L. xenodactylus according to the downscaled HadMC2 model and the vulnerability framework, potentially affecting up to 80.5% of the geographic range, but not according to the downscaled GFDL2.1 model and the vulnerability framework which indicated that up to 22% of the geographic range might be affected. The better understanding of the distribution and habitat of L. xenodactylus and of the potential combined impact of climate change and land transformation on the species gained through this study will assist in improving its conservation management
Elastic overtaking collisions of large-amplitude ion-acoustic solitons
Get PDFJournal Article. Pure and Applied Analytics, School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, North-West University,Overtaking collisions of large-amplitude solitons are investigated via fluid simulations for a plasma consisting of cold ions and Boltzmann-distributed electrons. To achieve this, a new fluid simulation code is presented. In addition, a novel approach to construct soliton initial conditions is developed. Using these ideas, initial conditions are combined that allows the simulation of overtaking collisions. It is shown that, in the small-amplitude regime, simulation results agree well with the two-soliton solution obtained from reductive perturbation theory. Interestingly, in the large amplitude regime, both the slow and fast solitons re-emerge after the collision with no significant change, showing that the collisions remain elastic. A comparison between reductive perturbation analysis and the simulations show that the only significant effect of higher order nonlinearities on overtaking collisions is a reduction in the magnitude of the phase shifts of both solitons
The Study Demands and Resources Scale: Psychometric properties, longitudinal invariance and criterion validity
Get PDFOptentia Research Unit, North-West University (Vaal Triangle Campus), VanderbijlparkThe Study Demands and Resources Scale (SDRS) has shown promise as a valid
and reliable measure for measuring students’ specific study demands and
-resources. However, there is no evidence as to its psychometric properties
outside of the original context in which it was developed. This study aimed to
assess the psychometric properties of the SDRS in a cross-national student
population through examining its longitudinal factorial validity, internal
consistency, and temporal invariance as well as criterion validity through its
association with study engagement and task performance over time. Results
showed that a Bifactor Exploratory Structural Equation Model (ESEM) with one
general factor (overall study characteristics) and five specific factors (workload,
growth opportunities, lecturer support, peer support, information availability)
fitted the data, showed strong measurement invariance over time, and was
reliable at different time points. The study further established criterion validity
for the overall study characteristics factor through its concurrent and predictive
associations with study engagement and task performance. However, the specific
factors’ concurrent and predictive capacity could only partially be established
when controlling for the general study characteristics factor. These findings
suggest that study characteristics should be measured as a dynamic interaction
between study demands and resources, rather than a hierarchical model
Assessing the Irrelevance of Relativism in African Philosophy in Contemporary Africa
Get PDFJournal Article, Faculty of Humanities, Social Transformation-- Potchefstroom CampusThe paper focuses on current research that has suggested that Africa is experiencing a moral decline, which has been a fact for several years. The cultural sense of African societies has also been called into doubt in the twentieth century, with many others dismissing its existence and relevance. While society is currently disregarding cultural underpinnings and challenging morality as a reality across groups, relativism is the perspective that morality and knowledge are culturally driven. Similarly, African philosophical ideas such as ubuntu, batho-pele, communalism, and so on, which serve as the cornerstone of African worldviews, have been firmly undermined and ignored by society. The article adopts a qualitative research method, using accredited books, journals, and government publications to achieve the purpose of the study. The study's findings imply that if relativism is abandoned and African philosophy concepts are no longer relevant in society, society will perish. As a result, in the discussion, the study claims that contemporary African society is unrelated to the foundations of relativism and African philosophy, which is not the case. It concludes that to keep relativism relevant in contemporary Africa, there should be a focus on historical relativism as a tool for unity and reconciliation to address potential conflicts and restore harmony among nations
Impact of behavioural intention to adopt climate‑smart agricultural practices on the food and nutrition security of farming households: A microeconomic level evidence
Get PDFJournal Article, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Science (Agricultural Economics and Extension) -- North-West University, Mahikeng CampusThe study examined the behavioural intention to adopt climate-smart agricultural practices (CSA) and its impact on the food-nutrition security (FNS) of farming households in South Africa. We employed a multistage sampling procedure to select rural maize farmers across the selected villages. To determine the impacts of behavioural adoption of CSA on the FNS of farming households, endogenous switching regression model (ESRM) was employed, while household dietary diversity score (HDDS) and household food insecurity access score (HFIAS) were used to determine the FNS status of the households. The findings emphasized the significance of the behavioural intentions of rural maize farmers, assessed through their attitudinal dimensions (measured in terms of perceived social norms, behavioural intentions, and control) in influencing the adoption decision of CSA practices, hence CSA adoption positively impacts FNS in South Africa. The result indicates that households that adopt CSA observe a 27% and 23% increase in HDDS and a decrease in HFIAS compared to those who do not adopt CSA practices, respectively. Thus, the outcome illustrates that the adoption of CSA practices substantially enhances the HDDS and HFIAS of rural maize farming households in South Africa. Following this backdrop, a concerted effort to raise knowledge of CSA practices through disseminating pertinent information will exert influence on the farmers’ adoption behaviour towards CSA practices, which is capable of improving the FNS of rural maize farmers
Enhancing the Oxygen Evolution Reaction Activity of Sputtered Ni, NiO, and NiNiO Thin Films by Incorporating Fe
Get PDFJournal article. Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Science, North--West University- PotchefstroomThe effect of Fe-containing alkaline electrolyte, on the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity of Ni electrocatalysts, has long been of interest as Fe increases the OER activity of Ni electrocatalysts. However, controversy exists as to whether it is surface or bulk Fe that is responsible for the increased activity. In this study, magnetron sputtering was employed to sputter Ni, NiO and NiNiO thin film electrocatalysts to study the effect that different concentrations of Fe in the electrolyte have on their OER activities. It was found that increasing concentrations of Fe increasingly enhanced the OER activity of these thin film electrocatalysts until the electrolyte was saturated with Fe. The lowest overpotential achieved is 279 mV (at 10 mA cm−2) for NiNiO cycled in KOH containing 1 mM Fe, with all three thin film electrocatalysts exhibiting overpotentials within the same range after 30 voltammetry cycles in 0.9 ppm Fe and 1 mM Fe. All Tafel slopes are between 36 and 45 mV dec−1 indicating similar kinetics for the samples cycled in different Fe concentrations. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results show that Fe is found in the top layers of the electrocatalysts after cycling
Demographic and Sociocultural Determinants of Financial Literacy in South Africa
Get PDFArticle, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (Trade and Development (TRADE)--Northwest University, Potchefstroom CampusFinancial literacy is rapidly becoming more important as financial markets continue to evolve and new and more complex financial products are introduced. This study investigates the relationship between demographic and sociocultural variables and the level of financial literacy of individual investors in South Africa. This study is significant as it provides policymakers with target areas to provide incentives towards financial education programmes. Secondary data were obtained from a private domain where a private investment company collected primary data using an electronic quantitative survey. The sample consisted of 1, 059 individual investors. The study found that people over 50 years of age, men, whites, people with common-law spouses, and people who owned homes without a mortgage payment reported the highest degree of financial and investment knowledge. Groups that reported a low degree of financial and investment knowledge were individuals between the ages of 35 and 49, females, coloureds, divorced individuals, and individuals living with relatives. Health status and education were positively correlated with the financial and investment knowledge of individual investors. Policymakers should aim to target the groups identified by the study that show a low degree of financial literacy with financial education to promote wealth creation, which could benefit the economy by promoting investment and economic participation while simultaneously trying to address structural issues such as poverty and inequality