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Paul and ethnicity : a socio-historical study of Romans / Misheck Mutua MbeviMbevi, Misheck Mutua January 2013 (has links)
Despite the fact that the majority of scholars agree that Paul’s letter to the Romans was
written to address the Judean-Gentile ethnic divide in Rome, there is still a continued failure
to follow through with the avenues that this position opens up for the study of Romans.
Traditionally, Paul’s letter to the Romans has been read as a theological tractate, a reading
that assumes an ideational or theological interpretation of the letter to the exclusion of Paul’s
ethnic rhetoric present in the letter and how it might have related and even addressed the
tangible relations between real-world Judeans and Gentiles in first century antiquity. This
study investigates just that: how might Paul’s ethnic rhetoric have addressed the Judean-
Gentile ethnic divide in Rome. After the introduction, the study reviews the current state of
scholarship with regard to Paul and ethnicity in Romans. This then is followed by an
elaborate socio-historical exploration of Judean-Gentile ethnicities and relations in ancient
antiquity and the specific Roman context into which Paul’s letter was addressed. The impact
of those relations to the origins of the early Christian movement in Rome and significant
points of coherence between the socio-historical context and Paul’s letter are also
established. Having established the socio-historical context, Paul’s ethnic rhetoric in Romans
1-4 is probed for how it might have addressed the Judean-Gentile ethnic divide and realised
unity among them. / MA (New Testament), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014
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Remedies for human right abuses by multinational corporations / Caiphas Brewsters SoyapiSoyapi, Caiphas Brewsters January 2014 (has links)
Internationally, the debate on business and human rights has evolved within the last
decade, with more efforts being made to address the issue of what role corporations
play in the human rights domain. The latest international effort to address the issue
was the adoption of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights:
Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy Framework” by the
United Nations Human Rights Council in 2011. In brief, the Guiding Principles
observe that the state must protect human rights, that businesses must respect
human rights, and that there should be effective remedies for human rights
violations.
Locally, the Constitutional Court of South Africa ruled that mineworkers who are
eligible to get compensation under the Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works
Act had a common law right to sue the employer for injuries sustained at work. This
was despite the fact that legislation was put in place to replace the common law
liability of an employer for injuries or death sustained at work. On a broader scale,
the Guiding Principles then formed the yardstick for the determination of whether
there are adequate and effective remedies for human rights violations in the South
African mining industry.
The investigation essentially leads to the conclusion that the South African state has
not fallen short of its duty to protect and to provide sufficient remedies for businessrelated
human rights violations in the mining industry. The forums are in place and
there is legislation that also provides for compensation as remedies for either injuries
or death at work. Some issues of concern are the accessibility of the structures in
place to address human rights violations, the disparity between compensation
provided for in different legislation, and the lack of a more proactive approach by the
Human Rights Commission. / LLM (Import and export Law), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014
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Nonparametric estimation of the off-pulse interval(s) of a pulsar light curve / Willem Daniël SchutteSchutte, Willem Daniël January 2014 (has links)
The main objective of this thesis is the development of a nonparametric sequential estimation
technique for the off-pulse interval(s) of a source function originating from a pulsar. It is important
to identify the off-pulse interval of each pulsar accurately, since the properties of the off-pulse
emissions are further researched by astrophysicists in an attempt to detect potential emissions
from the associated pulsar wind nebula (PWN). The identification technique currently used in the
literature is subjective in nature, since it is based on the visual inspection of the histogram estimate
of the pulsar light curve. The developed nonparametric estimation technique is not only objective
in nature, but also accurate in the estimation of the off-pulse interval of a pulsar, as evident from
the simulation study and the application of the developed technique to observed pulsar data.
The first two chapters of this thesis are devoted to a literature study that provides background
information on the pulsar environment and -ray astronomy, together with an explanation of the
on-pulse and off-pulse interval of a pulsar and the importance thereof for the present study. This
is followed by a discussion on some fundamental circular statistical ideas, as well as an overview
of kernel density estimation techniques. These two statistical topics are then united in order to
illustrate kernel density estimation techniques applied to circular data, since this concept is the
starting point of the developed nonparametric sequential estimation technique.
Once the basic theoretical background of the pulsar environment and circular kernel density
estimation has been established, the new sequential off-pulse interval estimator is formulated. The
estimation technique will be referred to as `SOPIE'. A number of tuning parameters form part
of SOPIE, and therefore the performed simulation study not only serves as an evaluation of the
performance of SOPIE, but also as a mechanism to establish which tuning parameter configurations
consistently perform better than some other configurations.
In conclusion, the optimal parameter configurations are utilised in the application of SOPIE to
pulsar data. For several pulsars, the sequential off-pulse interval estimators are compared to the
off-pulse intervals published in research papers, which were identified with the subjective \eye-ball"
technique. It is found that the sequential off-pulse interval estimators are closely related to the
off-pulse intervals identified with subjective visual inspection, with the benefit that the estimated
intervals are objectively obtained with a nonparametric estimation technique. / PhD (Statistics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014
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Participatory communication for social change and stakeholder relationships : challenges faced by social development NPOs and their corporate donors in South Africa / Louise Isabel van DykVan Dyk, Louise Isabel January 2014 (has links)
In recent years the ideas of good governance and the responsibility of corporate South Africa to contribute to the society in which they operate have become an undeniable part of organisational conception. Indeed, South Africa is considered to be a leader in the field of corporate governance internationally. Forming part of governance practices is Corporate Social Investment (CSI) whereby corporate organisations contribute to causes and societal groupings in need of financial and other assistance. Among these societal groupings that receive support from CSI activities are non-profit organisations (NPOs) that rely on funding from their corporate donors for survival. Based on the exchange of funding and a shared attempt at social development, a relationship between the two parties emerges. From the perspective of the stakeholder theory, corporate organisations, through their CSI activities, and NPOs are stakeholders of each other and a positive relationship between them could strengthen their individual and collective goals.
This study explored and described the relationship between corporate donors and recipient NPOs in order to understand the state of the relationship and to critically consider the way in which the relationship is defined, described and measured. First, the relationship was explored by means of partially structured interviews based on well-known relationship indicators where it appeared that the relationship is not only fraught with negative perceptions from both sides, but also where the relationship indicators used to explore the relationship were not entirely suited for the specific context of this relationship. The negative perceptions and inappropriate relationship indicators formed the basis of a theoretical inquiry of literature on CSI, stakeholder relationships and participatory development communication. Subsequently, the partially structured interviews and the literature review informed the design of two corresponding survey questionnaires that could test both findings quantitatively. The results of validity and reliability testing confirmed the qualitative finding that a contextualised measurement is suited for this relationship. A mix of existing and newly formulated items grouped in contextual elements and redefined relationship indicators was used to describe the relationship. A combined analysis of qualitative and quantitative results indicated that the relationship is not as negative as the qualitative research might have suggested (possibly a result of contextualised measurement); but that very specific relational challenges are present and it is suggested that these challenges need a realistic approach of which accurate description is a starting point.
The research contributes twofold with the first contribution being a clearer understanding of the relationship between corporate donors and recipient NPOs and the second being a set of redefined and contextualised relationship indicators with which to define and measure this relationship. / PhD (Communication Studies), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014
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A legal framework for the promotion of renewable energy in South Africa through fiscal instruments / Michél CoetzerCoetzer, Michél January 2014 (has links)
South Africa‟s current energy sector places undue reliance on fossil fuels to fulfil the
country‟s energy requirements. The use of these non-renewable energy resources
are unsustainable, as millions of tonnes of harmful emissions are released and
estimates are made that these resources will be depleted within the next 100 years.
Therefore the country has to source alternative energy resources. Renewable
energy resources (for example solar energy) are considered to release little or no
harmful by-products and have an infinite supply. Therefore the South African
government has to promote the use of renewable energy as part of its commitments
to address climate change and to ensure sustainable energy resources.
Some of the most popular regulatory tools that a state uses to control human
behaviour, is through command-and-control instruments and fiscal instruments. The
latter promotes behavioural changes by rewarding desired behaviour which
ultimately advances the user‟s own best interest. Because of the nature of renewable
energy governance, energy users can not be forced or compelled through commandand-
control instruments to use renewable energy. They should rather be encouraged
or persuaded to use this form of energy through market-based instruments. This is
also the central hypothesis of this dissertation.
The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which the South African legal
regime makes provision to promote the use of renewable energy resources through
fiscal instruments. Therefore the various energy-related white papers, policy papers
and legislation will be analysed. This study found that South Africa‟s legal regime
only partly makes provision to promote the use of renewable energy resources
through fiscal instruments. The policy part of the legal regime is fairly well developed,
but the statutory regime lacks detail and in its current form, environmental/energyrelated
legislation does not fully correspond with the lofty objectives of the policy
framework. / LLM (Environmental Law and Governance), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015
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Cloning and evaluation of expression of the open reading frames of a South African G9P[6] rotavirus strain encoding rotavirus structural proteins VP2 and VP6 in bacteria and yeast / Louisa Aletta NaudéNaudé, Louisa Aletta January 2015 (has links)
Rotavirus infection causes severe gastroenteritis, affecting all children under the age of five
regardless of hygiene or water quality. The currently licensed vaccines succeeded in
reducing diarrhoea worldwide, but they still have shortcomings, especially the efficacy of the
vaccines in developing countries. One of the main reasons for this can be due to the
difference in strains, since the strains used to develop the currently licensed vaccines
(RotaTeq and Rotarix) were selected from strains circulating in the developed world (G1, G2,
G3 and G4), while the main strains present in Africa (G8, G9 and G12) were not included. A
second shortcoming of the currently licensed vaccines is the cost of these vaccines. The
vaccines are very expensive and most developing countries cannot afford the vaccines as
well as the fact that the manufacturing companies cannot produce enough vaccines for all
the countries. An attractive alternative to the currently licensed rotavirus vaccines is the
non-live vaccine candidate, virus-like particles, which can provide a possible cheaper, safer
and efficacious alternative or complement the currently licensed vaccines.
Therefore, in this study a South African G9P[6] rotavirus strain, RVA/Humanwt/
ZAF/GR10924/1999/G9P[6], was used to determine whether or not co-expression of the
structural proteins VP2 (genome segment 2) and VP6 (genome segment 6) was possible in
bacteria and yeast. The South African GR10924 G9P[6] neonatal strain was previously
obtained from a stool sample and the nucleotide consensus sequence was determined for
both genome segment 2 (VP2) and genome segment 6 (VP6). Bacterial codon optimised
coding regions or open reading frames were used in this study. The open reading frames
(ORFs) of the genome segments encoding, VP2 and VP6, were cloned into the expression
vector pETDuet-1, which allows for the simultaneous expression of two genes in bacteria.
The ORF of genome segment 6 was purchased from GeneScript and the ORF of genome
segment 2 was obtained from Dr AC Potgieter (Deltamune (Pty) Ltd R&D, South Africa).
Compatible restriction enzyme sites were used to sub-clone the ORF of the bacterial codon
optimised genome segments into the expression vector. Only the expression of the VP6
protein in bacteria was observed with Coomassie stained SDS-PAGE.
The ORFs encoding VP2 (genome segment 2) and VP6 (genome segment 6) of the wild
type GR10924 G9P[6] strain were cloned into the wide range yeast expression system
vector, pKM173, which allows for the simultaneous expression of more than one gene.
Several yeast strains were used in this study namely Kluyveromyces marxianus,
Kluyveromyces lactis, Candida deformans, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Yarrowia lipolytica,
Arxula adeninivorans, Hansenula polymorpha and Debaryomyces hansenii. Expression of
both proteins was not detected in the several yeast strains, as seen with western blot analysis. DNA extractions were done on two colonies of each yeast strain that were used for
western blot analysis to evaluate successful integration into the yeast genomes. Only a few
of the colonies contained either both of the genome segments or only one of the two
genome segments of interest.
To summarise, the simultaneous expression of VP2 and VP6 from rotavirus GR10924
G9P[6] was not successful in bacteria or yeast, but it was possible to soluble express the
bacterial codon optimised GR10924 G9P[6] VP6 in bacteria using the pETDuet-1 as
expression vector. / MSc (Biochemistry), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015
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Towards a brand value model for the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association / Marna LaurensLaurens, Marna January 2013 (has links)
Over recent years, the concept of brand value has increasingly gained prominence in a variety of contexts. This is primarily due to a brand’s ability to increase profits through a promise of value delivered to customers, which makes it a valuable intangible asset to organisations. A brand’s value can, however, only be managed properly if it is measured and understood so as to ensure optimal growth and survival in an ever-changing, volatile marketplace. This realization has prompted investigations into the assessment of the financial value of a brand in both business/marketing research and practice. However, contrary to customary brands such as products or services, the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (SATSA) is a uniquely fused brand, since it operates as a non-profit, member-driven organisation in the private sector of the Southern African inbound tourism industry. This intricate brand structure inevitably necessitates a more specific premise and subsequent measure of brand value, since it cannot be confined to financial value alone. In the light of this, the main purpose of this study was to develop a brand value model for SATSA to examine the value created by this brand and how it is experienced by its members.
To date, the majority of research endeavours have focused on the financial value of a brand. Given the essence of this organisation, brand value ought to encompass a range of aspects other merely financial value. The recent downtrend in membership numbers also highlights the need for determining the value members derive from this specific organisation. Knowledge regarding the brand’s value can serve as a means to improve the current value proposition, thereby enabling an increase in satisfaction and loyalty, growth in membership, and overall organisational sustainability.
However, research in brand value specifically for non-profit, member-driven organisations such as SATSA, and in the South African tourism industry is particularly limited. In addition to the latter, no formal measuring instrument currently exists whereby brand value can be measured in such a unique context. It is therefore essential for an organisation such as SATSA to identify specific dimensions of brand value and, to determine which dimensions are most likely to influence members’ perceptions of value by examining the relationships between dimensions, to enable maximum leverage of the brand. Therefore, to achieve the above mentioned and the goal of this study, a comprehensive review of the marketing and tourism/non-profit literature was performed, subsequent to which the research was conducted in two phases. The first phase focused on the construction of a measuring instrument to identify the key aspects that contribute to brand value. Expert knowledge, opinion and consensus were obtained relating to the appropriateness of items to be included in the questionnaire. Based on the latter and the literature review, a total of 53 items were deemed acceptable to measure brand value in this particular context. These items formulated in phase 1 were then included in the final questionnaire and measured together with questions pertaining to the business profile of members in phase 2. Phase 2 focused on analysing brand value from members’ perspective. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed online to all members included in the SATSA database (n=718). A total of 268 questionnaires were completed.
To address the goal of this study, selected statistical techniques were employed. Two separate factor analyses were performed on the brand value and brand equity dimensions respectively, which revealed reliable and valid factors, and were used as constructs in the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) analysis to develop the model. Other statistical techniques included correlations, ANOVAs, and an independent t-test to examine the influence of selected business profile aspects on brand value. The results of the study confirmed that brand value for organisations such as SATSA is, in fact, multifaceted. Brand value in this context therefore consists of financial value, professional trust value, organisational value, network value, social engagement value, in conjunction with brand equity, which is important for developing and sustaining the brand. Professional trust value was also revealed to be a major facet of SATSA’s brand value that requires attention on various levels.
The contributions of this research are threefold: From a theoretical point of view, this study is one of the first to identify multiple aspects that specifically contribute to brand value for a non-profit member-driven organisation in the context of tourism, and even more so in a South African context. The development of this model is thus a significant contribution to literature and can be further analysed and tested by other researchers. Secondly, from a methodological point of view, this study sets a benchmark in South African tourism brand value research by designing a reliable questionnaire that measures multiple value aspects for the first time in this context; as well as the construction of a model that captures multiple facets of brand value and reveals unique relationships between specific facets of brand value and brand equity. Thirdly, from a practical perspective the research indicated the current status of SATSA’s brand value, and also equips SATSA with a model that enables them to effectively manage brand value and realise what specifically contributes to increased brand value levels for this organisation. This model can also be tested for organisations with similar brand structures, but also for profit-driven organisations. The information obtained from this study can be applied to conduct a comprehensive assessment of brand value for non-profit, member-driven organisations in the South African tourism industry to encourage value-based management and enable a more proficient value offering. This should lead to optimal member satisfaction, growth in membership numbers and the continuous sustainability of such organisations in South Africa given the competitive operational environment. / PhD (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014
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Paul and ethnicity : a socio-historical study of Romans / Misheck Mutua MbeviMbevi, Misheck Mutua January 2013 (has links)
Despite the fact that the majority of scholars agree that Paul’s letter to the Romans was
written to address the Judean-Gentile ethnic divide in Rome, there is still a continued failure
to follow through with the avenues that this position opens up for the study of Romans.
Traditionally, Paul’s letter to the Romans has been read as a theological tractate, a reading
that assumes an ideational or theological interpretation of the letter to the exclusion of Paul’s
ethnic rhetoric present in the letter and how it might have related and even addressed the
tangible relations between real-world Judeans and Gentiles in first century antiquity. This
study investigates just that: how might Paul’s ethnic rhetoric have addressed the Judean-
Gentile ethnic divide in Rome. After the introduction, the study reviews the current state of
scholarship with regard to Paul and ethnicity in Romans. This then is followed by an
elaborate socio-historical exploration of Judean-Gentile ethnicities and relations in ancient
antiquity and the specific Roman context into which Paul’s letter was addressed. The impact
of those relations to the origins of the early Christian movement in Rome and significant
points of coherence between the socio-historical context and Paul’s letter are also
established. Having established the socio-historical context, Paul’s ethnic rhetoric in Romans
1-4 is probed for how it might have addressed the Judean-Gentile ethnic divide and realised
unity among them. / MA (New Testament), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014
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Remedies for human right abuses by multinational corporations / Caiphas Brewsters SoyapiSoyapi, Caiphas Brewsters January 2014 (has links)
Internationally, the debate on business and human rights has evolved within the last
decade, with more efforts being made to address the issue of what role corporations
play in the human rights domain. The latest international effort to address the issue
was the adoption of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights:
Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy Framework” by the
United Nations Human Rights Council in 2011. In brief, the Guiding Principles
observe that the state must protect human rights, that businesses must respect
human rights, and that there should be effective remedies for human rights
violations.
Locally, the Constitutional Court of South Africa ruled that mineworkers who are
eligible to get compensation under the Occupational Diseases in Mines and Works
Act had a common law right to sue the employer for injuries sustained at work. This
was despite the fact that legislation was put in place to replace the common law
liability of an employer for injuries or death sustained at work. On a broader scale,
the Guiding Principles then formed the yardstick for the determination of whether
there are adequate and effective remedies for human rights violations in the South
African mining industry.
The investigation essentially leads to the conclusion that the South African state has
not fallen short of its duty to protect and to provide sufficient remedies for businessrelated
human rights violations in the mining industry. The forums are in place and
there is legislation that also provides for compensation as remedies for either injuries
or death at work. Some issues of concern are the accessibility of the structures in
place to address human rights violations, the disparity between compensation
provided for in different legislation, and the lack of a more proactive approach by the
Human Rights Commission. / LLM (Import and export Law), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014
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Prescribing patterns of antidepressants with known off-label indications among adults / Jan Daniël le RouxLe Roux, Jan Daniël January 2014 (has links)
“Off-label use” is defined as the use of medicine for indications other than recommended or registered for, e.g. the prescribing of a particular active substance for a patient younger than the substance is recommended or indicated for, or different formulations or dosages of a substance (Ekins-Daukes et al., 2004:349; Stedman’s medical dictionary, 2006). Off-label prescribing is common, and fluctuates by physician, patient and drug (Eguale et al., 2012:781). Drug classes most commonly prescribed off-label include anti-asthmatic, cardiovascular drugs and antidepressants. Lee et al. (2012:140) found that 9 out of 10 antidepressants prescribed were associated with unapproved usage of antidepressants. An antidepressant can be defined as a substance that prevents or relieves depression or depressive episodes (Mosby, 2009:115).
There is paucity of information on the off-label prescribing practices of antidepressants in the South African private health sector. According to Eguale et al. (2012:781), the paucity of information on off-label prescribing practices may be, in part, ascribed to the difficulty in the establishment of reasons for treatment.
The objective of this study was to determine the prescribing patterns of antidepressants as well as to identify off-label prescribing of antidepressants among adults in a section of the private health sector of South Africa by using a medicine claims database. A quantitative and observational, descriptive cross-sectional design was followed in this study. Data for a period of a year, from January to December 2010 were obtained for analysis. The data set consisted of medicine claims for a total number of 1 220 289 patients, containing a total of 8 515 428 prescriptions and 20 527 777 medicine items.
The study population (patients receiving antidepressants 18 years and older) accounted for 14.8% (n = 1 220 289) of the total data set. The average age of patients receiving antidepressants was 56.1 ± 16.6 (median = 56.2) (Inter quartile range = 43.3–68.1). Results of the study showed that antidepressant prescriptions accounted for 8.3% (n = 8 515 428) of all prescriptions claimed during 2010.
A total 3.5 % (n = 20 527 777) of antidepressants were claimed during the study period. Using the DU90% method it was established that the majority of antidepressant medicine items were prescribed by general practitioners (i.e. 75.7%, n = 702 285) and psychiatrists (14.9%, n = 702 285). Almost 72% (n = 702 885) of antidepressant medicine items claimed for the study population were for women.
The most prescribed antidepressants (based on the DU90%) were amitriptyline (20.6%, n = 702 885), citalopram (19.2%), escitalopram (14.6%), fluoxetine (11.7%), venlafaxine (5.7%), paroxetine (5.2%), duloxetine (4.4%), sertraline (3.8%), bupropion (3.1%) and mirtazapine (2.6%).
Amitriptyline accounted for 82.4% of off-label prescriptions (n = 2 635), whereas escitalopram and fluoxetine accounted for 4.2% and 3.8%, respectively. The tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) were mostly prescribed off-label for migraine, headache and sleep disorders. The off-label prescribing of selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) included menopause, schizophrenia and headache. The off-label indicated prescriptions of the serotonin and noradrenaline re-uptake inhibitors (SNRIs) were mostly for schizophrenia and other anxiety disorders. Mirtazapine, a serotonin modulator/tetracyclic antidepressant, was mostly prescribed off-label for anxiety disorders. Off-label prescriptions for bupropion, a noradrenaline and dopamine re-uptake inhibitor mainly included other anxiety disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Furthermore, the prescribed daily dose (PDD) of each active antidepressant for all off-label indications was determined.
In conclusion: This study investigated the off-label prescribing patterns of antidepressants among adults a section of the private health sector of a South Africa, using a large medicine claims database. Recommendations for future research were made. / MPham (Pharmacy Practice), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014
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