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What is the most effective problem solving method at the environmental policy table in the context of a radical diversity of worldviews? I answer the question in the dissertation by developing a theory that accommodates diversity in policymaking. My line of reasoning is as follows. In Chapter One, I survey the diverse discourse about Global Climate Models in detail. I demonstrate that a radical diversity of worldviews is expressed in the discourse. In Chapter Two, I advance a model of language that is an accurate foundation for discourse in policymaking. In Chapter Three, I consider the best policymaking strategy in view of the language model: idea-based policymaking. I then demonstrate that the policymaking strategy is weakly theorized. I introduce a theory of its operation at the end of Chapter Three, and develop it in detail in Chapters Four and Five. Because there is not currently a model, I consider an analogue model in play and explain the analogy in Chapter Four. I apply the analogue to the policy table in Chapter Five and fully develop an operational theory to explicate the problem solving method in policymaking. The force of the dissertation's contribution is made in Chapters Three to Five. Chapters One and Two are a ground of the argument. In Chapters Three to Five, I argue that idea-based policymaking is a promising form of policymaking practice because social learning is the operative problem-solving mechanism. In social learning: (1) the worldviews of the actors are leveraged in discourse and (2) power relations are dynamically distributed among actors (Hajer). The result is a fortified problem solving operation. This is because in (1) the heterogeneous problem solving resources of the group members are distributed and in (2) social learning shifts power relations by dislodging, mediating, and subsuming a new power regime. In summary, the dissertation is a contribution in applied philosophy. I comprehensively demonstrate that an effective policymaking method will manage the incommensurability of worldview and stipulate a problem solving method that engages the basic condition of policymaking--radical diversity--rather than denies it. / Philosophy

Yes / Background: The importance of optimal and/or superior vision for participation in high-level sport remains the subject of considerable clinical research interest. Here we examine the vision and visual history of elite/near-elite cricketers and rugby-league players. Methods: Stereoacuity (TNO), colour vision, and distance (with/without pinhole) and near visual acuity (VA) were measured in two cricket squads (elite/international-level, female, n=16; near-elite, male, n=23) and one professional rugby-league squad (male, n=20). Refractive error was determined, and details of any correction worn and visual history were recorded. Results: Overall, 63% had their last eye-examination within 2 years. However, some had not had an eye examination for 5 years, or had never had one (near-elite-cricketers: 30%; rugby-league players: 15%; elite-cricketers: 6%). Comparing our results for all participants to published data for young, optimally-corrected, non-sporting adults, distance VA was ~1 line of letters worse than expected. Adopting α=0.01, the deficit in distance-VA deficit was significant, but only for elite-cricketers (p<0.001) (near-elite cricketers, p=0.02; rugby-league players, p=0.03). Near-VA did not differ between subgroups or relative to published norms for young adults (p>0.02 for all comparisons). On average, stereoacuity was better than in young adults, but only in elite-cricketers (p<0.001; p=0.03, near-elite-cricketers; p=0.47, rugby-league -players). On-field visual issues were present in 27% of participants, and mostly (in 75% of cases) comprised uncorrected ametropia. Some cricketers (near-elite: 17.4%; elite: 38%) wore refractive correction during play but no rugby-league player did. Some individuals with prescribed correction choose not to wear it when playing. Conclusion: Aside from near stereoacuity in elite-cricketers, these basic visual abilities were not better than equivalent, published data for optimally-corrected adults. 20-25% exhibited sub-optimal vision, suggesting that the clearest possible vision might not be critical for participation at the highest levels in the sports of cricket or rugby-league. Although vision could be improved in a sizeable proportion of our sample, the impact of correcting these, mostly subtle, refractive anomalies on playing performance is unknown. / Funded by the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) grants BB/J018163/1, BB/J016365/1 and BB/J018872/1.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: There can be little doubt about the ability of major international sporting events to capture the aspirations and hopes of nations. These events have an uncanny ability of seemingly effortlessly doing what a hundred speeches and mass rallies by politicians could only hope to achieve. Therefore, it is no surprise that they are commonly understood to be able to bring nations and people together and provide a focus for national identity and unity. The 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa is an obvious proponent of such a claim, whereby South Africa was emerging from a long and arduous political transition and needed something more than going to the polling booths to unite the nation. Major international sporting events are also said to be able to provide a catalyst or incentive for democratization and human rights enhancement in authoritarian or semi-authoritarian regimes. The 1988 Olympics in South Korea is a landmark of such claims whereby the South Korean government was said to bow to the democratizing pressures exerted on it due to its hosting of the event. Many have argued that China’s hosting of the Olympics in 2008 will have a similar effect. However, equally potent, major international sporting events can have various unintended consequences in terms of identity formation, democratization prospects and human rights for the host nations. An analysis of South Africa and Zimbabwe’s co-hosting of the 2003 Cricket World Cup demonstrates this point. The outcomes of the study suggest that whilst it is normally the intention for the host nations to use the games to bring nations and people together, the Cricket World Cup opened up a rift between races, both within the race contours of the cricket playing Commonwealth world and within South Africa's domestic politics. It was also established that much like the 1995 Rugby World Cup had sought to reconcile blacks and whites domestically under the “Rainbow Nation” during Mandela's presidency, the 2003 Cricket World Cup, with its more regional focus and under Mbeki’s presidency, presented an excellent opportunity for transnational reconciliation between Africa and the Anglo-Saxon world. However, the 2003 Cricket World Cup, as a project in racial reconciliation, was essentially a failure. This was predominantly due to the choice by South Africa of Zimbabwe as co-host and due to the shift of South Africa's national identity from that of the “Rainbow Nation” under Mandela, to that of “Africanism” under Mbeki. President Mbeki’s drive towards “Africanism” proved divisive both transnationally and domestically. Symbolically, the Cricket World Cup, when compared with the 1995 Rugby World Cup, had served to highlight the decline of the “Rainbow Nation”. Zimbabwe's co-hosting of the event had served to further entrench the authoritarian regime. Instead of the regime opening up due to its co-hosting of the event, a broad clampdown on civil and political liberties was experienced. The Zimbabwean government felt the need to tighten its grip during the lead up to the event and throughout the tournament itself. The aim was to project a sanitized view of Zimbabwe to the rest of the world. Thus, the event presented an opportunity for the government to shore up its credibility and produce political propaganda. South Africa’s stance of “quiet diplomacy” also indirectly helped to further entrench the regime through the World Cup. Zimbabwe's co-hosting also impacted negatively on the opposition, the MDC. In addition to this, the various pressures which major events are said to exert on a host nation to reform politically and which result from boycott campaigns, pressure from the media, stimulation of civil society and protests, were not very effective in enhancing democratization prospects and human rights in Zimbabwe. This study reaches the overall conclusion that the claims that major events bring nations and people together and provide a catalyst or incentive for democratization and human rights enhancement in authoritarian regimes, need further revision. South Africa and Zimbabwe's co-hosting of the event did indeed have unintended consequences. Policy implications are also assessed. Future areas for research are also identified. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Daar bestaan min twyfel dat groot internasionele sportgebeurtenisse die strewes en verwagtinge van nasies aanwakker. Hierdie gebeutenisse het die vermoë om op ‘n oënskylike moeitelose wyse meer te bereik as wat ‘n honderd toesprake en massavergaderings deur politici kan hoop om te bereik. Daarom is dit geen verrassing nie dat daar vry algemeen aanvaar word dat hierdie gebeurtenisse oor die vermoë beskik om nasies en mense by mekaar te bring en ‘n fokus vir nasionale identiteit en eenheid kan verskaf. Die 1995 Rugby Wêreldbeker in Suid-Afrika, is ‘n ooglopende voorbeeld: Suid Afrika het uit ‘n lang en moeilike politieke oorgang gekom en het meer as ‘n blote verkiesing nodig gehad ten einde die nasie te verenig. Voorts is dit ook so dat groot internasionale sportgebeurtenisse ‘n katalisator of aansporing is vir demokratisering en die bevordering van mensregte in outoritêre en semi-outoritêre regerings. Die 1988 Olimpiese Spele in Suid-Korea ondersteun hierdie aanspraak. As gasheerland van hierdie spele, het die Suid-Koreaanse regering onder toenemende druk gekom om aan die vereistes van demokrasie te voldoen. Daar word verwag dat die Olimpiese Spele van 2008 dieselfde impak op China, die gasheerland, sal hê. Terselfdertyd is dit egter ook so dat groot internasionale sportgebeurtenisse vir die gasheerlande onverwagte negatiewe gevolge ten opsigte van identiteitsvorming, demokratiseringsvooruitsigte en bevordering van menseregte kan hê. n’ Ontleiding van Sui-Afrika en Zimbabwe se mede-aanbieding van die 2003 Krieket Wêreldbeker staaf hierdie stelling. Die resultate van die studie toon aan dat alhoewel gasheerlande normaalweg groot sportgebeurtenisse gebruik om nasies en mense byeen te bring, het die 2003 Krieket Wêreldbeker ‘n kloof tussen rasse veroorsaak – binne die krieketspelende Statebondswêreld sowel as die Suid- Afrikaanse huishoudelike politiek. Daar is ook vasgestel dat net soos die 1995 Rugby Wêreldbeker aan Suid-Afrika tydens die presidentskap van Mandela en onder die vaandel van die “Reënboognasie” ‘n plaaslike versoeningsgeleentheid tussen swart en wit gebied het, net so het die 2003 Krieket Wêreldbeker, met sy regionale fokus en onder presidentskap van Mbeki, ook ‘n uitstekende geleentheid vir trans-nasionale versoening tussen Afrika en die Anglo-Saksiese wêreld gebied. As versoeningsprojek was die 2003 Krieket Wêreldbeker egter in wese ‘n mislukking, hoofsaaklik as gevolg van Suid-Afrika se besluit dat Zimbabwe ‘n mede-gasheer moes wees en weens die feit dat Suid-Afrika se nasionale identiteit ‘n klemverskuiwing van “Reënboognasie” onder Mandela tot “Afrikanisme” onder Mbeki, ondergaan het. President Mbeki se beklemtoning van “Afrikanisme” was ook huishoudelik en trans-nasionaal verdelend. Simbolies gesproke, het die Krieket Wêreldbeker – in teenstelling met die Rugby Wêreldbeker – die “Reënboognasie” se verkwyning beklemtoon. Daar is ook vasgestel dat Zimbabwe se mede-aanbieding van die Krieket Wêreldbeker inderdaad hierdie outoritêre regering versterk het. In plaas daarvan die Zimbabwiese regering sy outoritêre greep as gevolg van sy mede-aanbieding verslap het, was daar inderdaad ‘n verdere breë onderdrukking van burgerlike en politieke regte. Die Zimbabwiese regering het in die aanloop tot en in die loop van die toernooi sy outoritêre greep verstewig ten einde ‘n gesaniteerde beeld van Zimbabwe aan die res van die wêreld te kon voorhou. Die Zimbabwiese regering het die geleentheid misbruik om geloofwaardigheid te probeer wen en politieke propaganda uit te stuur. Suid-Afrika se standpunt van “stille diplomasie” het ook die hand van Zimbabwiese regering versterk; en Zimbabwe se mede-aanbieding van die toernooi het ‘n negatiewe impak op die opposisie, die MDC, gehad. Die dwang wat op gasheerlande deur middel van boikotte, die media en proteste uitgeoefen kan word om polities te hervorm, was in die geval van Zimbabwe nie effektief nie. In hierdie studie word tot die slotsom gekom dat die aansprake dat groot sportgebeurtenisse nasies en mense saambring en ‘n aansporing vir demokratisering van outoritêre regerings is, verdere hersiening verg. Suid-Afrika en Zimbabwe se mede-aanbieding van die toernooi het onbeoogde gevolge gehad – en in sommige gevalle was hierdie gevolge selfs direk die teenoorgestelde van wat verwag is. Beleidsimplikasies word ook evalueer. Voorts word toekomstige navorsingsareas ook identifiseer.

La drosophile est un excellent modèle pour l’étude des mécanismes moléculaires de l’immunité innée, y compris les virus. Elle a permis la caractérisation de mécanismes de défense immunitaire conservés au cours de l’évolution, tel que les voies Toll et IMD qui régulent l’expression des peptides antimicrobiens induits en réponse aux infections fongiques et bactériennes. Deux types de réponse sont impliqués dans le contrôle des infections virales chez la drosophile : une réponse inductible et l’ARN interférence. Nous avons montré que l’ARN interférence est un mécanisme global de défense antivirale puisqu’il contrôle l’infection par un virus à ADN, en plus des virus à ARN tel que le virus C de la drosophile (DCV). Le virus DCV, apparenté aux Picornaviridae, est un pathogène naturel de la drosophile. Nous avons également observé que la résistance de mouches contrôles à l’infection par le virus DCV est dépendante du fond génétique. Elle est d’ailleurs corrélée à des polymorphismes présents dans un gène porté par le chromosome III : le gène pastrel. Nos expériences de perte et gain de fonction indiquent que ce gène code pour un facteur de restriction viral, bloquant l’infection par le virus DCV mais aussi par le virus de la paralysie du cricket (CrPV). Cette restriction apparait dans les premières heures après infection. La région C-terminale de la protéine Pastrel est nécessaire à son activité antivirale ainsi qu’à sa localisation dans les cellules. La protéine Pastrel co-localise avec le Rouge de Nil, un marqueur des gouttelettes lipidiques. Ainsi, nos résultats suggèrent un lien entre le métabolisme lipidique et le blocage d’une infection virale chez la drosophile. / Since the discovery of the evolutionarily conserved TOLL and IMD pathways, involved in antifungal and antibacterial immune responses, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is used as a model to study the molecular mechanisms of innate immunity. To defend against viral pathogens, Drosophila relies on two main facets: the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway and virus specific inducible responses. We show that the RNAi pathway plays a role in the control of a DNA virus, in addition to RNA viruses. We also observe that the fly genetic background can modulate the resistance to infection by Drosophila C virus (DCV), a natural pathogen of Drosophila. This resistance to DCV infection is correlated with polymorphisms in a gene named pastrel,localized on the left arm of the third chromosome. Our loss- and gain-of-function experiments indicate that pastrel encodes a molecule opposing infection by picorna-like viruses DCV and also Cricket Paralysis virus (CrPV), raising the question of the mechanism involved. This restriction appears early after infection. The Cterminal region of Pastrel protein is important for its antiviral activity and its localization in vesicular structures co-localizing with Nile Red staining, a marker for lipid droplets. Altogether, our data suggest a connection between lipid droplets and restriction of viral infection in Drosophila, as already described in mammals between the restriction factor Viperin, present on lipid droplets, and the replication of the human pathogen Hepatitis C Virus.

Thesis (MA (History))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / South Africa has just celebrated its ten years of democracy. The country’s economic, political and sporting situation is stable. Some would debate this, but for the most part, ten years of democracy has been beneficial for most South Africans. Before 1994, South Africa had endured more than forty years of apartheid. It was a system that governed nearly every facet of life for Black South Africans. Apartheid dictated where one was allowed to live, where one was allowed to go to school and even whom one was allowed to marry. It also used sport to enforce and strengthen the ruling regime. Sport and politics have long been inextricably entangled in South Africa. The history of South African cricket walks alongside that of South Africa’s political history. Sport, and in this case, cricket, reflected South Africa’s political and social processes. South African cricket embraces an ethos that is symbolic of a wider belief system and as such has distinctive political connotations in the region. Sport in South Africa is influenced by forces beyond the sports field, but politics too can be influenced by the social and economic force of sport. This thesis aims to show how cricket not only reflected, but was also able to exert pressure on South Africa’s political situation by focussing on the years 1989-1992. A historical analysis of these years will illustrate how cricket assisted the transformation process in South Africa.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / This investigation is aimed at providing a better understanding of William Milton’s influence on society in southern Africa over a period of more than thirty years. In the absence of any previous detailed work, it will serve to demonstrate Milton’s importance in restructuring the administration, formulating policy and imposing social barriers in early Rhodesia – factors that will contribute to the research undertaken by revisionist writers. It will also go some way towards answering Lord Blake’s call to discover exactly what the Administrator did and how he did it. Milton’s experiences at the Cape are seen as being essential to an understanding of the administration he established in Rhodesia. Through examining this link – referred to by historians but not as yet explored in detail – new knowledge will be provided on Rhodesia’s government in the pre-First World War period. The Cape years will offer insight into Milton’s working relationship with Rhodes and his involvement in the latter’s vision of the region’s social form and future. They will also shed light on Milton’s attitude towards people of colour. Cricket and rugby are key themes running through Milton’s life. The study will illuminate much about the creation of South African sport at a time when the public school games ethic was important in the nature of empire. Milton made an enormous but controversial contribution to the playing of the games, club culture, facilities, administration, international competition and who was eligible to represent South Africa.

Exquisite visually-guided movements underpin expertise in fast interceptive sports. The assumption that skilled performance relies on superior visual skills has been challenged by studies of sporting expertise which typically advocate vision to be a poor predictor of sporting success. This discordance is addressed in this thesis by examining whether visual degradation (in the form of blur) affects the performance of an interceptive action where successful execution demands precise spatial and temporal visual-motor control. The vision of skilled cricket batters was blurred using contact lenses (four increasing levels: plano, +1.00, +2.00, +3.00) in each of two experimental phases. In the first phase batters faced a bowling-machine and in-situ bowlers to examine the effect of blur on bat-ball interception. The highest level of blur (+3.00) was required to produce a significant decrease in batting performance when facing the bowling-machine at medium-paced ball-velocities (105-115 kph). A similar effect of blur was found when facing in-situ bowlers of comparable ball-velocity, however performance was found to be affected by a lower level of blur (+2.00) for faster-paced ball-velocities (120-130 kph). The +1.00 blur was concluded even at this higher ball-velocity to have no measurable effect on interceptive performance in a natural setting. The second phase sought to investigate the effect of blur on anticipation: a perceptual skill established to be an important component of expertise in many interceptive sports. It was established, using temporal occlusion of a bowling sequence, that optimal anticipation required an opportunity for bat-ball interception (facilitating close coupling between perception and action). Coupled anticipation demonstrated velocity-dependent resilience to blur; +3.00 and +2.00 were required for respective decreases in the anticipation of action-sequences for medium- and fast-paced ball-velocities. Remarkably, results suggest that blur may enhance uncoupled (verbal) anticipation according to the movement velocity of the bowler. Experimental results led to the conclusion that clear vision is not necessarily required for optimal interceptive performance, even when the demanding spatio-temporal task simulates the conditions experienced at the highest levels of competition. Results are interpreted based on the predictions of the dual-pathway theory of vision, including differences in the underlying visual information processed via these pathways.

Exquisite visually-guided movements underpin expertise in fast interceptive sports. The assumption that skilled performance relies on superior visual skills has been challenged by studies of sporting expertise which typically advocate vision to be a poor predictor of sporting success. This discordance is addressed in this thesis by examining whether visual degradation (in the form of blur) affects the performance of an interceptive action where successful execution demands precise spatial and temporal visual-motor control. The vision of skilled cricket batters was blurred using contact lenses (four increasing levels: plano, +1.00, +2.00, +3.00) in each of two experimental phases. In the first phase batters faced a bowling-machine and in-situ bowlers to examine the effect of blur on bat-ball interception. The highest level of blur (+3.00) was required to produce a significant decrease in batting performance when facing the bowling-machine at medium-paced ball-velocities (105-115 kph). A similar effect of blur was found when facing in-situ bowlers of comparable ball-velocity, however performance was found to be affected by a lower level of blur (+2.00) for faster-paced ball-velocities (120-130 kph). The +1.00 blur was concluded even at this higher ball-velocity to have no measurable effect on interceptive performance in a natural setting. The second phase sought to investigate the effect of blur on anticipation: a perceptual skill established to be an important component of expertise in many interceptive sports. It was established, using temporal occlusion of a bowling sequence, that optimal anticipation required an opportunity for bat-ball interception (facilitating close coupling between perception and action). Coupled anticipation demonstrated velocity-dependent resilience to blur; +3.00 and +2.00 were required for respective decreases in the anticipation of action-sequences for medium- and fast-paced ball-velocities. Remarkably, results suggest that blur may enhance uncoupled (verbal) anticipation according to the movement velocity of the bowler. Experimental results led to the conclusion that clear vision is not necessarily required for optimal interceptive performance, even when the demanding spatio-temporal task simulates the conditions experienced at the highest levels of competition. Results are interpreted based on the predictions of the dual-pathway theory of vision, including differences in the underlying visual information processed via these pathways.