The 1883 discovery, research into generic life histories and taxonomic investigations into the aphytophagous butterfly Thestor brachycerus brachycerus (the Knysna Skolly) from Knysna, South Africa are described. Its slide towards extinction through loss and degradation of habitat in the late 20th century left only one known colony by 2009 leading to it being assessed as Critically Endangered in the 2013 South African Red List and Atlas. During searches for more populations in 2011, a second T. b. brachycerus colony was found which differed markedly with respect to aspect, altitude and vegetation. Study areas were defined around the original colony on the Pezula Golf Estate (Pezula) and the newly discovered coastal colony east of Coney Glen (Coastal site). An assessment is made of the ecological differences and similarities between the two sites. The extent and size of the two known populations was measured; the Extent of Occupancy was found to be 7.5 km2 and the Area of Occupancy as 1.05 x 10-3 km2. During observations over 5 seasons in December and January 2009 – 2014 the average number of butterflies observed at the original Pezula colony varied from 1 – 8 males and 0 – 3 females per survey, compared with 1 – 6 males and 1 – 3 females observed over 3 seasons from 2011 to 2014 at the Coastal colony. The mating, territoriality, oviposition and predation avoidance behaviour of the adult T. b. brachycerus butterflies was studied by direct observation. Males were found to exhibit territorial behaviour, spending long periods of time perched in one spot, particularly in areas where the vegetation was open or low. Oviposition was rapid and no preference was shown by females for any particular plant. Between the two colonies, oviposition was observed on a total of 16 different plants. The vegetation composition at the two study sites was analysed using Braun–Blanquet methodology. Only one plant, Tarchonanthus littoralis, was found to be common to both. There appeared to be no correlation between floristic composition and the occurrence of T. b. brachycerus. All the Thestor species so far studied by other workers have been found to be myrmecophilous, having an association with the pugnacious ant Anoplolepis custodiens. Ant communities were sampled by employing pitfall traps and direct sampling by hand. At both the Pezula and Coastal sites A. custodiens was the most ubiquitous ant species. The insights gained have enabled implementation of a habitat management plan. Experimental management methods are recommended at the Pezula site which include small scale burning and selective cutting of vegetation. Search for more colonies is ongoing, using the improved ecological knowledge of the butterfly. / MSc (Environmental Sciences), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The 1883 discovery, research into generic life histories and taxonomic investigations into the aphytophagous butterfly Thestor brachycerus brachycerus (the Knysna Skolly) from Knysna, South Africa are described. Its slide towards extinction through loss and degradation of habitat in the late 20th century left only one known colony by 2009 leading to it being assessed as Critically Endangered in the 2013 South African Red List and Atlas. During searches for more populations in 2011, a second T. b. brachycerus colony was found which differed markedly with respect to aspect, altitude and vegetation. Study areas were defined around the original colony on the Pezula Golf Estate (Pezula) and the newly discovered coastal colony east of Coney Glen (Coastal site). An assessment is made of the ecological differences and similarities between the two sites. The extent and size of the two known populations was measured; the Extent of Occupancy was found to be 7.5 km2 and the Area of Occupancy as 1.05 x 10-3 km2. During observations over 5 seasons in December and January 2009 – 2014 the average number of butterflies observed at the original Pezula colony varied from 1 – 8 males and 0 – 3 females per survey, compared with 1 – 6 males and 1 – 3 females observed over 3 seasons from 2011 to 2014 at the Coastal colony. The mating, territoriality, oviposition and predation avoidance behaviour of the adult T. b. brachycerus butterflies was studied by direct observation. Males were found to exhibit territorial behaviour, spending long periods of time perched in one spot, particularly in areas where the vegetation was open or low. Oviposition was rapid and no preference was shown by females for any particular plant. Between the two colonies, oviposition was observed on a total of 16 different plants. The vegetation composition at the two study sites was analysed using Braun–Blanquet methodology. Only one plant, Tarchonanthus littoralis, was found to be common to both. There appeared to be no correlation between floristic composition and the occurrence of T. b. brachycerus. All the Thestor species so far studied by other workers have been found to be myrmecophilous, having an association with the pugnacious ant Anoplolepis custodiens. Ant communities were sampled by employing pitfall traps and direct sampling by hand. At both the Pezula and Coastal sites A. custodiens was the most ubiquitous ant species. The insights gained have enabled implementation of a habitat management plan. Experimental management methods are recommended at the Pezula site which include small scale burning and selective cutting of vegetation. Search for more colonies is ongoing, using the improved ecological knowledge of the butterfly. / MSc (Environmental Sciences), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

ITC/USA 2010 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-Sixth Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 25-28, 2010 / Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, California / Telemetry receivers must typically be located so that obstacles do not block the signal path. This can be challenging in geometrically complex indoor environments, such as factories, health care facilities, or offices. An accurate method for estimating the paths followed by typical telemetry transmitters in these environments can assist in system planning. It may be acceptable to provide marginal coverage to areas which are rarely visited, or areas which transmitters quickly transit. This paper discusses the use of the ant colony optimization and its application to the telemetry system planning problem.

This thesis proposes different approaches to address routing and security of MANETs using swarm technology. The mobility and infrastructure-less of MANET as well as nodes misbehavior compose great challenges to routing and security protocols of such a network. The first approach addresses the problem of channel assignment in multichannel ad hoc networks with limited number of interfaces, where stable route are more preferred to be selected. The channel selection is based on link quality between the nodes. Geographical information is used with mapping algorithm in order to estimate and predict the links’ quality and routes life time, which is combined with Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm to find most stable route with high data rate. As a result, a better utilization of the channels is performed where the throughput increased up to 74% over ASAR protocol. A new smart data packet routing protocol is developed based on the River Formation Dynamics (RFD) algorithm. The RFD algorithm is a subset of swarm intelligence which mimics how rivers are created in nature. The protocol is a distributed swarm learning approach where data packets are smart enough to guide themselves through best available route in the network. The learning information is distributed throughout the nodes of the network. This information can be used and updated by successive data packets in order to maintain and find better routes. Data packets act like swarm agents (drops) where they carry their path information and update routing information without the need for backward agents. These data packets modify the routing information based on different network metrics. As a result, data packet can guide themselves through better routes. In the second approach, a hybrid ACO and RFD smart data packet routing protocol is developed where the protocol tries to find shortest path that is less congested to the destination. Simulation results show throughput improvement by 30% over AODV protocol and 13% over AntHocNet. Both delay and jitter have been improved more than 96% over AODV protocol. In order to overcome the problem of source routing introduced due to the use of the ACO algorithm, a solely RFD based distance vector protocol has been developed as a third approach. Moreover, the protocol separates reactive learned information from proactive learned information to add more reliability to data routing. To minimize the power consumption introduced due to the hybrid nature of the RFD routing protocol, a forth approach has been developed. This protocol tackles the problem of power consumption and adds packets delivery power minimization to the protocol based on RFD algorithm. Finally, a security model based on reputation and trust is added to the smart data packet protocol in order to detect misbehaving nodes. A trust system has been built based on the privilege offered by the RFD algorithm, where drops are always moving from higher altitude to lower one. Moreover, the distributed and undefined nature of the ad hoc network forces the nodes to obligate to cooperative behaviour in order not to be exposed. This system can easily and quickly detect misbehaving nodes according to altitude difference between active intermediate nodes.

Idén om de mänskliga rättigheterna och alla människors lika värde är en idé om hur världen är eller bör vara konstruerad, och på vilket sätt vi människor bör leva i den. Men vad händer då begreppet värdighet färdas i tid och rum och vilka effekter får begreppet för materialitet och den byggda miljön? Uppsatsen undersöker de maktrelationer som iscensätter det ’värdiga boendet’ som en del av målet att upprätthålla människans värdighet i en asylprocess. Vidare analyseras vilka effekter som det ”värdiga” får med fokus på rumslig organisering, materialitet och människor samt hur det rumsliga och materiella påverkar, motverkar och iscensätter makt. För att förstå effekterna av begrepp som värdighet måste de studeras i praktiken, d.v.s. hur de ’görs’. I vår uppsats handlar det om asylboendet – dess lokalisering, rumsliga organisering, dess materiella konfiguration och människor. Genom att följa de kopplingar och relationer som etablerats i syfte att upprätthålla människans värdighet visar denna uppsats att då begreppet värdigt färdas i tid och rum översätts det på olika sätt vilket gör att dess innebörd också förskjuts. Studien visar att utsagor om ’alla människors lika värde’ och att asylsökande ska ’behandlas så förmånligt som möjligt’ har förskjutits och omförhandlats mot att vissa människor (icke-medborgare) ses ett hot mot den rådande samhällsordningen och därmed anses kunna behandlas mindre förmånligt, rimligt, tillräckligt eller kostnadseffektivt. Genom ’görandet’ ett intrikat nätverk av upphandlingskrav, policydokument, byggnader, objekt, människor, rutiner etc.  är den byggda miljön både en del och en effekt av en kunskaps- och maktordning. Studien visar också att de boende genom sina handlingar också handlar och ger egen definition åt det värdiga och att de även påverkar den miljö de lever i. Makten kan därför inte ses som hierarkisk utan något som sker i alla kopplingar och på alla nivåer.  Studien visar att det värdighet inte är något statiskt eller universellt - något som likvärdigt omfattar alla, alltid på alla platser - utan något som ständigt förändras, omförhandlas och omformas. Vi har visat att vad som i en tid och i ett rum är ’värdigt’ eller ett ’värdigt boendet’ diskursivt, materiellt och organisatoriskt, översätts i andra tider och andra rum varigenom begreppets innebörd och praktik förändras.

I have explored spaces, where negotiations of border transgressions take place and where issues of technology and politics mingle. We meet a diversity of actors in the world of information technology (IT): political texts, people and technology participating in numerous sociomaterial relations. Time is the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the new millennium, 2000. Years, when IT occupied the western world and created its own fuzzy discourse. Years, when IT stole the biggest newspaper headlines and years, when IT became a mundane everyday part of our work practices. Years, when we learned to live in heterogeneous worlds. Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and Actor-Network Theory and After (ANTa) provide analytical and methodological perspectives when working with the empirical material. I present a chronological exposé of some of the key concepts of ANT and ANTa. I also discuss how the classical ANT perspective has changed during the last few years from being a theory of networks to become a methodological and analytical approach to other kinds of spaces such as fluid and fire. The heart of the thesis consists of six empirical cases. My aim of writing stories of information technology has been to investigate the black box of information technology. Investigating includes also efforts of opening. Concepts that are taken for granted, such as the very notion of information technology in my case, can be explored, questioned, transgressed, blurred and opened up. Each of the diffracted stories is specific and unique, with its own actors, context, location and situatedness. But the stories are also connected through ANT, and feminist technology and technoscience studies. Case number one, ‘Discourses and Cracks – A Case Study of Information Technology and Writing Women in a Regional Context ’, is about a project, where questions concerning discourses of information society with a special focus on citizenship are discussed and where global and national politics are translated to local and situated practices. Case number two, ‘Translating and Negotiating Information Technology ’, consists of two main parts. The fi rst one is about a regional library project. The analysis of the project is based on the classical Actor Network Theory (ANT) approach that invites the study of the heterogeneous and negotiable shaping of IT. The second part is about librarians developing web-based services. The analysis is inspired by the later development of ANT (called ANTa in the thesis) in order to include more invisible actors, relations and negotiations. Case number three, ‘Negotiating Information Technology: Politics and Practices of The Public Sector Web Production’, is about work practices of a municipal web developer, through which creation of sociotechnical relations of everyday information technology practices is analysed and also mirrored to national and local IT politics. Case number four, ‘Making e-Government Happen – Everyday Co-Development of Services, Citizenship and Technology’, is presenting the same web developer as in the third case, but now his everyday practices are connected with an expanded and wider circuit of co-constructors of information technology. The text is a co-production of a multidisciplinary research group aiming to describe, analyse and problematise connections when creating practices, where technology and society collaborate. Case number fi ve, ‘Citizenship at the Crossroads of Multiple Layers of Sociotechnical Relations’, enrols technology as an active actor in the construction of citizenship in an IT context in Sweden. The perspective emphasising the active agency of non-humans both enhances and challenges the Scandinavian approach of systems development by suggesting a direction towards a cyborgian approach towards technology design. Case number six, ‘Between Stability and Instability – a Project about e-Democracy ’, takes its point of departure from a small-scale project having as its goal the development of e-democracy in a municipal context. In the text the focus is on the stabilisation processes in shaping the technology (‘e’) and democracy parts of the project. I also discuss what kinds of spaces exist in between (the hyphen in e-democracy) and ask if integration between technology and democracy is possible as a whole. Finally, my intention is to step further into stories and practices not yet existing. Inspired by the French philosopher Michel Serres, I introduce the fi guration of an angel as a cartographer, intermediator and (co-) constructor of sociomaterial relations. Angels are needed to sew the separate fi elds of technology, politics and everyday practices to a rich seamless tapestry. They are the ‘artful integrators’ (Suchman).

Thesis (MScAgric)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Invasion by the notorious tramp species, the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile Mayr) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) has caused major concern around the globe, owing to its displacement of native ant species and other invertebrates where it invades. This species was first recorded in South Africa in 1901 in Stellenbosch, Western Cape Province (WCP), and has now become a significant pest in most urban and agricultural areas in the country. The Argentine ant has received relatively little attention in South Africa compared to other countries (e.g. California, North America). To date the extent of invasion by this species countrywide, as well as its impact on the local ant fauna inside protected areas, has not been quantified. In this study, the impact of the Argentine ant on native ant fauna inside three protected areas in the WCP (Helderberg Nature Reserve (HNR), Jonkershoek Nature Reserve (JNR) and Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve KBR)) was assessed. Species richness and diversity were compared between invaded and uninvaded bait stations at each protected area. Several native ant species were found to be displaced by the Argentine ant from all three protected areas, although three species: Meranoplus peringueyi, Monomorium sp. 8 and Tetramorium quadrispinosum, were found coexisting with it. Invaded bait stations had significantly lower ant species richness and species turnover than uninvaded bait stations. Uninvaded bait stations contained eight times more native ant species than invaded bait stations. Thus, the invasion of protected areas by the Argentine ant has severe negative consequences for the species richness and assemblage structure of native ants, leading to the biotic homogenization of these local ant communities. The distribution range of the Argentine ant inside the three protected areas (HNR, JNR, KBR), as well as microhabitat preferences that may facilitate the spread of this species inside these reserves, was also assessed. Helderberg Nature Reserve was the most invaded protected area, with the highest level of the Argentine ant occupancy, while JNR and KBR had lower occupancy levels. At all the three protected areas, this species was dominant at lower altitudinal areas, and also showed a clear preference for areas with high anthropogenic disturbances, i.e. around buildings and on lawns (picnic areas). In this study, there was no evidence that moisture availability facilitates the distribution and spread of the Argentine ant inside these reserves. Finally, a combination of published literature records, museum records and records collected in the current study was used to quantify the current distributional extent of the Argentine ant throughout urban South Africa. This is the first study quantifying the distribution and extent of invasion by the Argentine ant throughout the country. The Argentine ant was found in six of the nine South African Provinces, and its extent of occurrence includes approximately half of the country’s land surface area. Discontinuities in the distribution of the Argentine ant across the country revealed that range expansion of the Argentine ant in South Africa is occurring predominantly via human-mediated jump dispersal, rather than naturally via nest diffusion. This study clearly demonstrated that the Argentine ant is well established across South Africa as well as inside protected areas. The Argentine ant invasion was influenced by the presence of human modified landscapes (i.e. buildings) both at low and high altitude, and this was associated with higher rates of native ant species displacement at these areas. Therefore, limiting the development of recreational areas, such as buildings and picnic sites inside protected areas will result in the lower rate of spread of the Argentine ant. This will in turn lower the extent of displacement of native ant species. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Indringing deur die Argentynse mier (Linepithema humile Mayr) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) is ‘n bron van groot kommer regoor die wêreld, as gevolg van sy vermoë om inheemse mier spesies en ander ongewerweldes te verplaas. Hierdie spesie is vir die eerste keer aangeteken in Suid-Afrika in 1901, in Stellenbosch, Weskaap Provinsie (WCP), en het ‘n belangrike pes geword in die meeste stedelike en landelike gebiede in die land. Die Argentynse mier het betreklik min aandag gekry in Suid-Afrika, in vergelyking met ander lande (bv. California, Noord Amerika). Tans is die omvang van die landwye indringing van hierdie spesie, sowel as sy impak op die plaaslike mier fauna binne beskermde areas, nog nie bepaal nie. In hierdie studie word die impak van die Argentynse mier op die inheemse mier fauna binne drie beskermde areas in die WCP (Helderberg Natuurreservaat (HNR), Jonkershoek Natuurreservaat (JNR) en Kogelberg Biosfeerreservaat (KBR)) bepaal. Spesierykheid en diversiteit was vergelyk tussen ingedringde en oningedringde lokaas stasies in elke beskermde area. Verskeie inheemse mier spesies was deur die Argentynse mier verplaas in al drie beskermde areas, alhoewel drie spesies: Meranoplus peringueyi, Monomorium sp. 8 en Tetramorium quadrispinosum het saam met dit voorgekom. Ingedringde lokaas stasies het beduidend laer mier spesierykheid en spesies omset gehad as oningedringde lokaas stasies. Dus, die indringing van beskermde areas deur die Argentynse mier het ernstige negatiewe gevolge vir die spesierykheid en gemeenskap struktuur van inheemse miere, wat lei tot die biotiese verarming van hierdie plaaslike mier gemeenskappe. Die verspreidingsarea van die Argentynse mier binne die drie beskermde areas (HNR, JNR, KBR), en die mikrohabitat voorkeure wat die verspreiding van die spesie binne hierdie reservate kan vergemaklik, was ook vasgestel. Helderberg Natuurreservaat was die mees ingedringde beskermde area, met die hoogste vlak van Argentynse mier besetting, terwyl JNR en KBR laer besettingsvlakke gehad het. By al drie die beskermde areas was hierdie spesie dominant by laer hoogtes bo seevlak en het ‘n duidelike voorkeur getoon vir areas met hoë menslike versteuring d.i. rondom geboue en op grasperke (piekniek areas). In hierdie studie was daar geen bewyse dat vog beskikbaarheid die voorkoms en verspreiding van die Argentynse mier binne die reservate vergemaklik nie. Ten slotte, ‘n kombinasie van gepubliseerde literatuur verslae, museum dokumente en verslae wat in hierdie studie versamel is, was gebruik om die huidige verspreidingsomvang van die Argentynse mier te bepaal. Dit is die eerste studie wat die verspreiding en omvang van indringing in stedelike Suid Afrika van die Argentynse mier dwarsdeur die land bepaal. Die Argentynse mier is gevind in ses van die nege provinsies in Suid-Afrika, en die omvang van sy voorkoms sluit bykans die helfte van die land se landoppervlaksarea in. Onderbrekings in die verspreiding van die Argentynse mier deur die land het blootgelê dat die uitbreiding van die voorkomsgebied van die Argentynse mier in Suid-Afrika hoofsaaklik gebeur deur mens bemiddelde verspreiding eerder as natuurlike nesverspreiding. Hierdie studie het duidelik gedemonstreer dat die Argentynse mier goed gevestig is regoor Suid-Afrika sowel as in beskermde areas. Die Argentynse mier indringing was beïnvloed deur mensgewysigde landskappe (d.i. geboue) by lae en hoë hoogtes bo seevlak, en dit was verwant aan hoër vlakke van verplasing van inheemse mier species in hierdie areas. Dus, die beperking van ontwikkeling van rekreasie areas, soos geboue en piekniekareas, in beskermde gebiede sal lei tot laer vlakke van verspreiding van die Argentynse mier. Dit sal, op sy beurt, die omvang van verplasing van die inheemse mier spesies verminder.

In this work ant colony technologies for image processing are analyzed. Modifications of Max-Min ant system for automatic image pre-processing are proposed. Image segmentation by multiple ant colonies technique based on pheromone competition is proposed. Modified ant system is implemented in FPGA and MicroBlaze core units influence on performance is analyzed. / Darbe nagrinėjamos skruzdžių kolonijų technologijos vaizdams apdoroti. Pasiūlomos max-min skruzdžių sistemos modifikacijos tinkamos automatizuoti pirminį vaizdų apdorojimą. Pristatoma vaizdų segmentavimo metodika grįsta skruzdžių kolonijų varžymusi feromono pagalba. Nagrinėjama, įgyvendintos LPLM įrenginyje, modifikuotos skruzdžių sistemos sparta ir MicroBlaze modulių įtaka spartai.

Darbe nagrinėjamos skruzdžių kolonijų technologijos vaizdams apdoroti. Pasiūlomos max-min skruzdžių sistemos modifikacijos tinkamos automatizuoti pirminį vaizdų apdorojimą. Pristatoma vaizdų segmentavimo metodika grįsta skruzdžių kolonijų varžymusi feromono pagalba. Nagrinėjama, įgyvendintos LPLM įrenginyje, modifikuotos skruzdžių sistemos sparta ir MicroBlaze modulių įtaka spartai. / In this work ant colony technologies for image processing are analyzed. Modifications of Max-Min ant system for automatic image pre-processing are proposed. Image segmentation by multiple ant colonies technique based on pheromone competition is proposed. Modified ant system is implemented in FPGA and MicroBlaze core units influence on performance is analyzed.

The aim of this thesis is to conduct performance investigation of a combined system of Network Coding (NC) technique with Ant-Colony (ACO) routing protocol. This research analyses the impact of several workload characteristics, on system performance. Network coding is a significant key development of information transmission and processing. Network coding enhances the performance of multicast by employing encoding operations at intermediate nodes. Two steps should realize while using network coding in multicast communication: determining appropriate transmission paths from source to multi-receivers and using the suitable coding scheme. Intermediate nodes would combine several packets and relay them as a single packet. Although network coding can make a network achieve the maximum multicast rate, it always brings additional overheads. It is necessary to minimize unneeded overhead by using an optimization technique. On other hand, Ant Colony Optimization can be transformed into useful technique that seeks imitate the ant’s behaviour in finding the shortest path to its destination using quantities of pheromone that is left by former ants as guidance, so by using the same concept of the communication network environment, shorter paths can be formulated. The simulation results show that the resultant system considerably improves the performance of the network, by combining Ant Colony Optimization with network coding. 25% improvement in the bandwidth consumption can be achieved in comparison with conventional routing protocols. Additionally simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithm can decrease the computation time of system by a factor of 20%.