In the current day and age, South African organisations are faced with many unique challenges in striving to manage an increasingly diverse workforce. The purpose of this study was to develop guidelines for effective diversity management in South African organisations. In order to understand what effective diversity management means in South African organisations as well as the various contextual factors at play, a qualitative approach to the research was utilized through the core methodology of Grounded Theory. In the first stage of the research, relevant literature on the subject was scrutinized. This included an overview of the conceptualization of workforce diversity, theoretical models for the management of diversity, barriers to effective diversity management and best practice methodology in the field of diversity management. After identifying key points from the literature relevant to the study, a semi-structured in depth interview schedule was developed and the elements from literature used to guide the discussions with participants during the data collection phase. Purposive sampling was used to identify participants and criteria defined by which participants were selected. Participants were approached for the purposes of obtaining their inputs to the study in their capacity as subject matter experts within the field of diversity management. Interviews were conducted until a point of data saturation was reached. Data was analyzed according to coding methodology and with the use of a systematic coding tool, ATLAS.ti. Three main themes were identified from the data, namely Diversity philosophy, Contextual factors influencing diversity and Diversity actions. During the discussion of results, findings were compared with the most prominent elements identified from literature. Subsequently, the researcher was able to identify guidelines for effective diversity management in South African organisations. The aim of the guidelines is to assist diversity practitioners in South African organisations in understanding effective diversity management, prioritizing diversity initiatives and making decisions that will enhance the effect of diversity on the business. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

In the past, the response of microbial populations to anthropogenic disturbances was studied using conventional methods based on cultivation of microorganisms and on measurement of their metabolic activities (Fantroussi et al., 1999). However, these culturing methods often account for a small proportion of the total microbial community (Ibekwe and Kennedy, 1998; Hill et al., 2000). To overcome this, molecular techniques were developed and these allowed for the analyses of microorganisms in their natural habitats. Analysis of the 16S rRNA molecule and its corresponding gene (16S rDNA) has been the most widely used approach in the last decade (Amman et al., 1995). Although molecular techniques based on PCR have been used to eliminate the bias of culturing methods, they also have their drawbacks (Wintzingerode et al., 1997; Kirk et al., 2004). As another alternative, Garland and Mills (1991) developed a rapid community-level physiological approach to study microbial communities. The use of the community-level approach to microorganisms provided an accurate and meaningful measure of the heterotrophic microbial community by measuring the community’s metabolic abilities (Garland and Mills, 1991). Zak et al. (1994) used the method to study the functional diversity of microbial communities. The approach has been used to study the soil functional diversities in polluted or disturbed environments. Over the years, the application of gypsum in agriculture has received much attention. The gypsum has been used to ameliorate both acidic and alkali soils with elevated amounts of salinity (Suhayda et al., 1997; Sun et al., 2000). In these studies, the application of gypsum lead to changes in the soil chemical properties by causing a drastic increase in the amount of exchangeable calcium and sulphate and reduced the levels of exchangeable aluminium. It has been noted that high levels of aluminium and/or reduced amounts of calcium restrict root elongation and thus hindered the plants ability to access adequate water (Sun et al., 2000). Also, the replacement of sodium ions with calcium ions resulted in the flocculation of soil particles and improved the porous structure and water permeability of the soil (Suhayda et al., 1997). This study revealed that the application of the gypsiferous mine water did not have any negative impact on the bacterial communities. In fact, on average, the bacterial diversities were found to be higher in the gypsum-irrigated soils. This was most evident in pivot Major and Tweefontein, where the gypsum-irrigated soils were more diverse than the control soils. DGGE results from pivot Major and Tweefontein revealed a high level of bacterial diversity in gypsum-irrigated soils, as estimated by the number of dominant bands. Also, the number of heterotrophic bacteria in the gypsum-irrigated soils was one to two orders of magnitude higher than in the control soils. Principal component analysis performed on BIOLOG data showed that in both pivot Major and Tweefontein, the gypsum-irrigated soils were able to utilise a wider range of carbon sources as compared to their control counterparts. The bacterial communities in pivot Four appeared to be steady in both the gypsum-irrigated soils and the control soils. The number of visible DGGE bands was consistent between the gypsum-irrigated and the control soils. The heterotrophic bacterial counts in the gypsum-irrigated soils had an average of 273x106 cfu g-1 soil and those present in the control soils were slightly higher at 380x106 cfu g-1 soil. Principal component analysis revealed no differences in terms of substrate utilisation capabilities among the gypsum-irrigated soils and the control soils. All three techniques revealed no significant difference in community structures between soil profiles at 0-10 cm and 40-60 cm. The lack of difference could be attributed to the crops planted in all three pivots during sampling. The root system of Zea Maysplants enhanced microbial growth by exuding nutrients such as amino acids and sugars. In conclusion, the application of polyphasic approach proved successful in studying the response of soil bacterial communities to gypsiferous mine water. The use of both culture-dependent and culture-independent methods is recommended as the methods compensate each other’s limitations and therefore provide a more detailed description of the community. In this study, the application of gypsiferous mine water did not have an adverse effect on the soil bacterial communities. In fact, the addition of gypsiferous mine water seemed to ameliorate the soil bacterial communities. However, further comprehensive study is needed to determine the response of bacterial communities to gypsiferous mine water over longer periods of time. 16S rDNA sequencing and analysis of DGGE bands should also be done to identify the bacterial species present in the gypsum-irrigated samples. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Microbiology and Plant Pathology / unrestricted

South Africa is a society of diverse cultures, and the workplace is one of the few places that serve as a melting pot for these varied cultures. If managed well, cultural diversity has numerous benefits that can help an organisation gain a competitive advantage. However, failure to manage it can pose challenges that can have serious consequences for an organisation. The purpose of this study was to analyse the leadership of cultural diversity at Volkswagen South Africa (VWSA) and identify leadership guidelines to both enhance team performance and reduce the challenges faced by the organisation as a result of this cultural diversity. For the purpose of this study, a culturally diverse team was defined as a team of diverse individuals from different cultures or societies working together to achieve organisational success. The research was conducted by the use of questionnaire using a sample of 200 employees of the VWSA Paint Shop. The sample represents 42 percent of the total population of the Paint Shop. The study discusses the relationship of four leadership styles (Classical Leadership, Transactional Leadership, Transformational Leadership, and Visionary Leadership) with Cultural Diversity. Whilst strong cases were made for Transformational and Transactional Leadership style being the most suitable styles for leading culturally diverse teams, the researcher concluded that no single leadership style would be ideal for effectively leading culturally diverse teams at VWSA. The appropriate leadership style will instead be a hybrid of all leadership styles, thus being a leadership approach that works as a sort of “best practices” of various leadership styles.

Antimicrobial resistance is a serious and imminent threat to human health, though its rise may be controlled with improved stewardship strategies that limit the emergence and spread of resistant strains. Motivated by theoretical models from population genetics and ecology, my M.Sc. experimentally evaluates how varying drug availability in either time or space impacts the prevalence of resistance in a population. By experimentally evolving Pseudomonas aeruginosa under different antibiotic selection regimes in vitro, I show that spatial, but not temporal, drug free refuges delay the fixation of resistance by promoting the coexistence of sensitive and resistant genotypes. Second, I establish that this polymorphism is underlain by a trade-off between resistance and growth rate in the absence of antibiotic that underpins the maintenance of diversity through negative frequency dependent selection. Third, I demonstrate that spatially varied drug selection cannot prevent the fixation of resistance because continued selection leads to the evolution of resistant types that pay smaller costs of resistance and gradually displace sensitive strains. These results provide insight into the fate of diversity under long-term selection and highlight the value of incorporating the principles of evolutionary ecology into antimicrobial resistance stewardship.

M.Phil. / In this study, diversity management is introduced as an issue of global concern. Based on the assumption that diversity, if well-managed, can be beneficial to organizations, a positive approach to diversity is strongly supported. Diversity management has an important role to play in South Africa for mainly two reasons. Firstly, because of South Africa's rich cultural history and apartheid legacy, diversity management issues arise as a concern more often than in other countries. Secondly, due to apartheid, South Africa was internationally isolated for many years, which gives issues around global competitiveness even more significance. In the South African context, the engineering sector is regarded as a motor for the country's development, in which the management of diverse workforces is highly relevant. This has to be seen in light of a serious challenge facing the sector, where diversity management requirements have to be reconciled with a skills shortage that seems to afflict the engineering sector in particular. All of these issues are illustrated by a case study. The practice of diversity management in Siemens South Africa serves to demonstrate that diversity management in South Africa is clearly centred on the contexts of race and race relations. Furthermore, the case study presents a comprehensive example of how a diverse workforce can be managed in a South African engineering company.

This thesis analyses the Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) practices in international organizations, especially in the Hilti Group with a special focus on the Czech and Slovak market organizations. The goal is to develop recommendations for the improvement of Hilti's existing practice in gender, generational, global diversity and inclusion. The theoretical part provides an overview of the academic background of D&I, its management, evolution and trends with a special focus on gender and generational diversity. It is followed by best case practices for selected D&I benefits. As a next step, in cooperation with Hilti, a thorough analysis of gender, generational, global diversity and inclusion was conducted with the purpose of comparing global, regional and local outcomes. Moreover, this empirical part aims to get a deeper understanding of the current situation regarding D&I for the market organizations in the Czech and Slovak Republics. The hypothesis that Hilti has developed appropriate initiatives to further implement D&I into its culture, has been confirmed. For further improvement, some suggestions have been proposed. The recommendations for each diversity dimension (gender, generations, global) are based on the literature described in the theoretical part of this paper, best case practices, and also the own ideas of the author.

Background Recurrence and predictability of evolution are thought to reflect the correspondence between genomic and phenotypic dimensions of organisms, and the connectivity in deterministic networks within these dimensions. Direct examination of the correspondence between opportunities for diversification imbedded in such networks and realized diversity is illuminating, but is empirically challenging because both the deterministic networks and phenotypic diversity are modified in the course of evolution. Here we overcome this problem by directly comparing the structure of a “global” carotenoid network – comprising of all known enzymatic reactions among naturally occurring carotenoids – with the patterns of evolutionary diversification in carotenoid-producing metabolic networks utilized by birds. Results We found that phenotypic diversification in carotenoid networks across 250 species was closely associated with enzymatic connectivity of the underlying biochemical network – compounds with greater connectivity occurred the most frequently across species and were the hotspots of metabolic pathway diversification. In contrast, we found no evidence for diversification along the metabolic pathways, corroborating findings that the utilization of the global carotenoid network was not strongly influenced by history in avian evolution. Conclusions The finding that the diversification in species-specific carotenoid networks is qualitatively predictable from the connectivity of the underlying enzymatic network points to significant structural determinism in phenotypic evolution.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / Sea anemones (Order Actinaria) are a diverse order from the Class Anthozoa. They are found in all marine habitats at all depths and their symbiotic relationships play an important role in energy transfers especially in the benthic-pelagic community. The evolutionary background and phylogenetics of the class is poorly understood due to a lack of correspondence between taxonomic and molecular data (Daly et al. 2008). Therefore, a deeper exploration into Cnidarian molecular biology is needed to establish these as an evolutionary model organism. Gene discovery from various marine invertebrates has facilitated the recovery of anti-cancer drugs, antibiotics and reporter genes (Faulkner, 2000; Allen and Jaspars, 2009). The most commercially lucrative products from sea anemones are fluorescent and chromoproteins (FP/CP), which are used as non-invasive real-time reporter genes. The applications for these proteins are extensive and range from monitoring cellular processes such as protein localisation and interactions to imaging (Alieva et al. 2008). Therefore, novel FP and CPs have potential for commercialization. The aims of the project were to analyze basic molecular diversity of the sea anemones Pseudactinia varia, Pseudactina flagellifera and Bunodosoma capensis and evaluate a new screening method to isolate novel FP and CPs. To assess the basic molecular diversity, of the sea anemones and their associated symbionts 16S rRNA and 18S rRNA clone libraries were generated. The sea anemones used in this study clustered together with those of the Family Actiniidae. The bacterial associations observed based on the closest relative BLAST analysis were dominated by Proteobacteria (gamma, alpha and epsilon) as well as Bacteroides. The associate bacterial symbionts possibly produce compounds that range from polyunsaturated fatty acids, polyhydroxyalkanoates to anti-microbial compounds that aid the host in various processes. In order to screen for FPs and CPs from sea anemones three types of cDNA libraries were generated to be screened either by sequence based or activity based approaches. Novel primers were designed which could be applied for the screening of a variety of Anthozoans. A positive control was also designed and synthesised in order to test the capability of the designed primers and optimise the amplification. Although amplicons were generated from gDNA and cDNA libraries from each of the sea anemones they were found to be non-specific products. The detection limit is likely to be the limiting factor. The construction of an activity based library was not achieved due to technical constraints, which highlights the need for new molecular tools in this field or improvements to the existing ones. / National Research Foundation (NRF)

Objetivo: determinar la asociación entre anemia y diversidad en la dieta en niños de 6 a 23 meses de edad, según la ENDES, Perú 2015 - 2016. Materiales y métodos: realizamos un estudio analítico transversal aplicando un análisis secundario de la Encuesta Demográfica y de Salud Familiar (ENDES) 2015 y 2016, en el cual se incluyeron a todos los niños de 6 a 23 meses de edad a quienes se les midió hemoglobina. Se consideró “anemia” cuando los valores de hemoglobina eran menores a 11g/dL y se consideró “dieta diversa” para aquellos niños que recibieron 4 o más grupos alimentarios durante el día anterior a la entrevista. Se realizó un análisis descriptivo, asimismo, el análisis bivariado y multivariado se realizó mediante la prueba de modelos lineales generalizados de la familia Poisson para calcular las razones de prevalencia crudas y ajustadas (RPa) con sus respectivos intervalos de confianza al 95% (IC95%). Para el análisis de datos se usó STATA 12. Resultados: se incluyeron 13 545 niños, de los cuales 51,27% fueron varones. La edad promedio fue de 12,76±5,15 meses. El 57,02% presentó anemia y el 74,90% tuvo una dieta diversa. No se encontró asociación entre anemia y diversidad de la dieta; sin embargo, la anemia fue menor en niños del género masculino (RPa: 0,90; IC95%: 0,84-0,96), de menor edad (RPa: 0,97; IC95%: 0,97-0,98), y mayor riqueza (Quintil intermedio; RPa: 0,89; CI95%: 0,80-0,98; Cuarto quintil; RPa: 0,79; CI95%: 0,70-0,89; Quintil superior; RPa: 0,60; IC95%: 0,51- 0,70); y fue mayor en niños con baja talla para la edad (RPa: 1,11; IC95%: 1,01-1,22) Conclusión: existe una elevada prevalencia de anemia en niños de 6 a 23 meses. No se encontró asociación significativa entre anemia y diversidad de la dieta, más sí con otras variables sociodemográficas y clínicas. / Objective: to determine the association between anemia and diet diversity in children 6 to 23 months of age, according to ENDES, Peru 2015 - 2016. Materials and methods: we conducted a cross-sectional analytical study applying a secondary analysis of the Demographic Survey and Family Health (ENDES) 2015 and 2016, which included all children 6 to 23 months of age who were measured hemoglobin. Anemia was considered when hemoglobin values ​​were lower than 11g / dL and it was considered "diverse diet" for those children who received 4 or more food groups during the day before the interview. A descriptive analysis was also performed, the bivariate and multivariate analysis was performed by testing generalized linear models of the Poisson family to calculate the crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (RPa) with their respective 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). ). For the data analysis, STATA 12 was used. Results: 13 545 children were included, of which 51.27% were boys. The average age was 12.76 ± 5.15 months. 57.02% had anemia and 74.90% had a diverse diet. No association was found between anemia and diet diversity; however, anemia was lower in boys (RPa: 0.90; 95% CI: 0.84-0.96), younger (RPa: 0.97; 95% CI: 0.97-0, 98), and greater wealth (Intermediate quintile; RPa: 0.89; 95% CI: 0.80-0.98; Fourth quintile; RPa: 0.79; 95% CI: 0.70-0.89; Upper quintile; RPa: 0.60; 95% CI: 0.51-0.70); and it was higher in children with short stature for age (RPa: 1.11; 95% CI: 1.01-1.22) Conclusion: there is a high prevalence of anemia in children aged 6 to 23 months. No significant association was found between anemia and diet diversity, but with other sociodemographic and clinical variables. / Tesis

Thesis advisor: Hans de Wit / The current displacement crisis in the German context has focused scholarly attention on refugee student access to higher education. However, much less research has attended to supports at higher education institutions (HEIs) for enrolled migrant and refugee students. In fact, education research in the German setting rarely focuses on students from any migrant background, though these students comprise between 20-25% of all German tertiary enrollment. This study uses Constructivist Grounded Theory (Charmaz, 2014) and a postcolonial lens to analyze “equal opportunity” plans and programs at 32 German HEIs across all 16 federal states. Data sources include the “equal opportunity plan” unique to each HEI (Gleichstellungsplan) and interviews with “equal opportunity office” (Gleichstellungsbüro) faculty and staff. Key findings include a bureaucratization and numerification of diversity in the German case, as well as an almost exclusive focus on diversity as gender. This dissertation offers a potentially transferable theoretical model, which may be relevant in national settings with increasingly diverse student populations, histories of colonial possession or fantasy, or primarily public higher education systems (Bhabha, 1994; El-Tayeb, 2016; Kilomba, 2008; Said, 1979). / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.