Introduction: South Africa has embarked on a massive roll out of ARVs to more than 1.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS. Provision of ARVs to people living with HIV/AIDS encounters many challenges associated with adherence. Properly taken ARVs have been shown to reduce viral loads to undetectable levels and increase the CD4 count. This in turn leads to a drop in opportunistic infections and better health outcomes but the requirements for adherence are high. Several patient-related factors have been reported to affect adherence rates. Nonadherence on the other hand has been reported to lead to the development of drug resistant strains of HIV. It recognised that the resistance to ARVs can quickly lead to build up of highly resistant strains in the blood due to one week of missed medication. Aims and objectives: This study set out to identify factors which affect adherence to HAART among adults on HAART in two health facilities in Gauteng province in 2006.The main objectives were to assess the patient adherence using viral load response and self-report data. Secondly, the study was to determine factors that facilitate adherence and finally barriers to adherence at the two sites. Materials and methods: A cross sectional study was done at the two ARV facilities in Gauteng from July to November 2006. Two physiological methods -CD4 counts and plasma viral load, and one subjective-3 day recall self- report methods were used to asses adherence. Exit interviews and record reviews were done to collect data. Virologic outcome was the preferred surrogate marker for adherence. Univariate and bivariate analyses were done to determine measures of association. Measures of association (Chi square) at a 95% significance level for factors affecting adherence were then determined and results obtained. Results: The mean age was 36.9 years (range 18-70 years) and 73.5% were women. Self-report data (n=343) indicated 98.4% in the higher adherence category (taken 100% of their doses). Viral load data (n=343) showed that 88.8% were in the adherence lower category (<400 RNA copies). Viral load outcome (“adherence”) was significantly associated with the length on treatment (p<0.05) and patients who had been on treatment for 12-24 months had lower viral load than those who had been treatment for a shorter time (<12 months) or longer (>24months). However, gender (p=1.000), age (p=0.223), level of education (p=0.697) and access to social grants (p=0.057) were not associated with “adherence”. Socio-economic status was significantly associated with viral load outcome (p<0.01) as well as cost (n=185; p<0.05). Individuals who incurred the highest costs (>R25) were the least likely to adhere followed by those facing average costs (R15-25) compared to the reference group (< R15). Conclusion: Adherence rates of 88.8% suggest that respondents from both facilities can optimally adhere to their medication when they have been on ARVs for longer than a year. These are minimum adherence rates. There were factors that still hinder adherence at both the individual patient level. There is still a need for more targeted interventions especially towards men who were noted to have a relatively low uptake of HAART within the two sites.

Aim: The overall aim of the study was to determine the extent of general knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and practices of Gauteng adolescents towards cancer. Objectives: The specific objectives were to: 1) ascertain cancer¬related knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and practices of school-going adolescents; 2) obtain previous information on cancer and reported family history of cancer; 3) investigate the relationships among knowledge, attitudes and behaviour; 4) investigate the effects of gender and of type of schools on cancer knowledge. Population and Method: This study was a cross-sectional survey of Knowledge, Attitudes, Beliefs and Practices (KABP), personal health behaviours and of demographic and psychological characteristics of a specific group of adolescents in Gauteng. A questionnaire survey was conducted, and a total of 2278 pupils in Grade 10, from 681 schools in Gauteng, participated. The questionnaire was designed to obtain information from the pupils on the following: gender, list of known cancers, family cancer history, previously received information on cancer, true and false statements regarding the aetiology, signs and symptoms of skin cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer, head and neck cancer and lung cancer. It also consisted of 10 statements regarding pupils' attitude towards cancer and questions on practices related to risks of developing cancer (smoking, sunblock use and breast-feeding) to which pupils were asked to respond. Descriptive statistics were the first step in data analysis. Thereafter, integrated multivariate statistical procedures (e.g. analysis of co¬variance and factor analysis) were used to analyse the data further. Results: Demographic Information: There were 2278 pupils who completed the questionnaire of those who indicated their gender 1267 (55.6%) were females and 958 (42.1%) males. The pupils' age ranged from 13 to 24 years (average age = 16.5 years, standard deviation (sd) = 1.5). Pupils were from different types of schools formerly known as the Department of Education and Training (DET = 1120); Transvaal Education Department (TED = 663); House of Representatives (HOR = 53); House of Delegates (HOD = 40); and Independent Ordinary (10 = 340). Some pupils had previously received cancer information (48.6%) while others indicated that they had a family related history of cancer (23.6%). Significantly more females reported having received cancer information or having a history of cancer in the family than males (p < 0.001). Television (34.8%) and parents (19.2%) appeared to be the main sources of cancer information. Knowledge About Signs, Symptoms and Aetiology of Cancer: Average knowledge scores among the pupils were low. Females were more knowledgeable than males with regard to breast cancer (p < 0.001). Pupils who received cancer information or who reported a family history of cancer were more knowledgeable than those who did not (p < 0.001). The knowledge scores were significantly different between different types of schools; Transvaal Education Department (TED), also known today as public schools, tended to have better knowledge of the signs, symptoms and aetiology of the five cancers included in the questionnaire. Attitudes Towards Cancer Risks: Pupils indicated a favourable attitude towards possible cancer risks, meaning that they would avoid doing things that were seen as possible cancer risk factors. Factor Analysis demonstrated a negative correlation between Factor I (socially acceptable behaviour) and Factor II (socially unacceptable behaviour), meaning that pupils were able to identify the risk factors associated with cancer development even if they were stated in a positive way in the questionnaire. Pupils separated the attitudes into two groups either socially acceptable behaviour or socially unacceptable behaviour. Practices: Smoking - More males (26.9%) than females (10.9%) indicated that they smoke (p < 0.001). The number of pupils who indicated that smoking was important to them was 27%. Sunblock - More females (41.7%) used sunblock than males (34%) (p < 0.001). The amount of pupils who used sunblock were 38.2%. Pupils who used sunblock demonstrated higher knowledge scores regarding the signs, symptoms and aetiology of cancer. Conclusions: Pupils in grade 10 living in Gauteng are not well informed on the aetiology, signs and symptoms of cancer or cancer risks. Females are more informed than males with regards to cancer. Types of schools types differ with regards to cancer knowledge. School from the public sector (TED schools) showed higher knowledge scores than private schools (10 schools). Pupils who received cancer information previously or who reported a family history of cancer were more knowledgeable than other pupils. Recommendations: The implementation of Cancer Educational programmes should be considered by the Gauteng Education Department. Future development of educational programmes are needed to include cancer education into the current 'life-skills' training programmes. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / School of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH) / Unrestricted

The study assessed the readiness of the adoption of transformational leadership for South African academic libraries in the Gauteng province. Available literature shows no evidence that assessment has been conducted by academic libraries before the adoption of this leadership style. Academic libraries nationally and internationally are faced with generic challenges like evolutionary technological changes, reduced budget allocations, leadership challenges, and human resources challenges. They are pressured to prove their value to the university due to changing user needs and most academic libraries are faced with a challenge of having to continuously redefine themselves to survive the changing environment. Academic libraries are constantly challenged and must ensure that they have strong leadership that is equipped to face and deal with never-ending challenges. The study surveyed the leadership of the academic libraries in Gauteng. It mainly adopted a descriptive research design. The survey took an exploratory approach to get quality information. The study used a transformative theoretical framework because of its immediate applicability and its focus on the tensions that arise due to unequal power relations. The study is primarily a quantitative study with some qualitative elements as a follow-up to the issues raised in the questionnaire. Quantitative data were analysed with the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS v25) statistical tool, and descriptive data were coded by assigning labels to codes and using Atlas.ti 8. The study results found that history, politics, and different dynamics related to academic universities influence the leadership style adopted at academic libraries. Several leadership characteristics influence and guide the leadership preference of academic libraries. Two academic libraries indicated that they adopted a participative and transformational leadership style. The libraries have clearly-defined communication channels between the management and staff. However, the creativity and innovation of the staff were affected by other issues. The results also showed that academic libraries must focus more on empowerment, skills development, delegating, and mentoring of their staff to prepare staff for managerial and leadership positions.

The issue of urban sprawl has been discussed extensively in planning circles over the past two decades. The result of sprawled cities is far-reaching. Some see it is a major contributor to air pollution and traffic congestion and it encourages development on prime agricultural land and floodplains. Others discuss the monetary implications of sprawl calculating costs of infrastructure, fuel and the time spent traveling. In South Africa, major urban areas have one important feature in common with this North American, Australian and British phenomenon- that urban growth has taken the form of dispersed residential accretion at the city edge, however, the reasons for sprawling urban areas in South Africa can be attributed to an intricate and complicated cultural and political history. Following a unique situation in South African urban areas, the Gauteng Provincial Government recognised the growing pressure to rectify the situation in order to achieve a more equitable urban environment to all its citizens. One of the initiatives proposed was the containment of urban growth inside the Province. The idea of a more compact urban environment held the promise of increased accessibility to urban opportunities, greater viability of public transport, as well as environmental advantages. Together with its three metropolitan municipalities, Gauteng province proved to be pioneer in initiating and implementing an “Urban Growth Management” approach (The Gauteng Urban Edge) in its urban areas, however, this approach remains widely debated and controversial throughout planning circles in South Africa. The study explores the reasons and rationales underpinning the implementation of a growth management approach as gathered from international literature, and whether these reasons were in fact informing the Gauteng Provincial government’s reasons for initiating an urban edge. It also considers the different tools and mechanisms available for urban growth management and how these tools and mechanisms and their respective objectives informed the idea behind an urban edge specifically. The study further reviews the opinions and ideas of role-players who were involved in delineating and implementing the urban edge and based on these factors, attempts to draw some conclusions on what could possibly have improved the process of initiating and implementing the Gauteng Urban Edge. Copyright / Dissertation (MT&RP)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Town and Regional Planning / unrestricted

Magister Public Health - MPH / Approximately 1.75 million adolescents (10-19 years old) globally were living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in 2020, with the Eastern and Southern African regions the most affected by HIV. Progress has been made to increase access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV) to improve their survival. However, ALHIV still have worse treatment adherence and viral suppression compared to adults and children. This is in part because routine monitoring of HIV treatment programmes does not report for ALHIV; thus making their lack of progress in ART not visible. It is imperative to determine viral suppression and the factors that are associated with viral suppression among adolescents to assess treatment outcomes at local service levels.

Magister Pharmaceuticae - MPharm / Regulatory Affairs (RA), within the pharmaceutical business, could be a profession that covers different registration parameters of a pharmaceutical product. This is a profession that was developed to protect the public by providing smart, quality, safe and efficacious pharmaceutical products. However, it is not clear if the personnel possess the fundamental education and training required to perform the roles and responsibilities in this profession. The study aimed to explore the educational training and role of RA associates/officers in pharmaceutical corporations in Gauteng, South Africa. The study was a cross-sectional survey, which utilized Google forms with both open and closed-ended questions. Using descriptive statistics, it was found that the majority of the participants (78.3%) (RA assistants, officers, and scientists) indicated that the knowledge for most of the responsibilities they carry out was acquired through informal training (i.e., learning on the job).

Thesis (Ph.D. (Animal Production)) --University of Limpopo, 2018 / Pigs are of high economic importance, especially among the smallholder pig farmers as they contribute to human nutrition, food security, poverty alleviation, enhanced livelihood and creation of employment for the rural community. However, reproductive inefficiency is the main limiting factor due to inaccessibility to superior germplasm. Therefore, advances in reproductive technologies such as oestrus synchronization and artificial insemination (AI) offers unprecedented opportunities for livestock improvement for smallholder pig farmers. The first objective determined the status of pig productivity in smallholder farms of Gauteng Province prior to the introduction of advanced reproductive technologies (ARTs). The population was divided into four strata, namely West Rand, Ekurhuleni, Tshwane and Sedibeng district municipalities. A proportional stratified random sampling procedure was used to select 71 smallholder pig farmers with the assistance of extension officers from Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (GDARD). The majority of the respondents were males (67%) and were above 50 years of age (67%), whilst 56% of the respondents had high school education. Majority of the respondents privately owned the farms (62%) and the farm infrastructure had facilities with low cost housing and modern facilities. Additionally, 47% of the respondents fed their pigs with feed swill. A large proportion of the respondents did not vaccinate their pigs (81%). Majority of respondents did not identify their pig herds (63%). Interestingly, majority of the respondents did not have breeding boars (73%) and sold their pigs at auctions (70%). The second objective determined semen characteristics evaluated by a Computer Aided Sperm Analyser® (CASA®) as a measure of boar fertility to be used for artificial insemination (AI). Sixteen ejaculates were collected from three Large White boars that are routinely used for semen collection purposes using the gloved-hand technique. The semen was extended with a commercial semen extender; Beltsville Thawing Solution, and the AI dose used consisted of 80mL semen sample (3×109 spermatozoa/mL). Aliquots of diluted semen were evaluated for spermatozoa motility using CASA®. Spermatozoa viability was evaluated using Synthetic Binding CD-14 (SYBR+)/Propidium Iodide (PI-), whereas spermatozoa morphology was evaluated using Eosin Nigrosin stain. The average semen volume, concentration and pH were 210 mL, 264.8 x 106 spermatozoa/mL and 7.1, respectively. The average values for total spermatozoa motility was 95.1%, ranging from 82.7 and 98.5%. However, XIX there were lower values found for progressive spermatozoa motility, ranging from 13.6 to 39.0%. The mean values for morphologically normal spermatozoa ranged from 47.8-60.9% and live spermatozoa ranged from 71.8-77.7%. The third objective determined sow fertility following AI at smallholder farms A total of 73 multiparous sows were artificially inseminated. Conception rates, farrowing rates, litter size and number born alive were recorded. The average conception and farrowing rates were 78.1 and 57.5%, respectively. Furthermore, AI resulted in acceptable fecundity (i.e., 11.8 litter size and 10.0 number of piglets born alive). The fourth objective determined the relationship between spermatozoa quality characteristics and sow fertility at smallholder farms in Gauteng Province. Of all fertility characteristics studied, conception rate was significantly related to total spermatozoa motility rate (r= 0.37, P<0.01), progressive motility (r= 0.31, P<0.01) and rapid motility (r= 0.40, P<0.01), although relatively low. There was a low negative relationship between spermatozoa morphological characteristics and fertility (P>0.05). The fifth objective determined the pre-weaning growth performance of piglets born following AI at smallholder farms of Gauteng province. Individual piglets were weighed using an electronic weighing scale. Litter size, number of piglets born alive, number of piglets weaned, the average piglet birth weight and average piglet weaned weight were recorded. The average litter size was 11.8 ± 0.2. The average birth weight and weaning weights were 1.9 and 6.2 kg, respectively. No significant differences were found between male and female piglets for all the growth performance characteristics. Piglets born during winter had a significantly higher (P<0.05) birth and weaning weight as compared to autumn and summer months. Season had a significant effect on birth and weaning weight (P<0.01). However, sex of piglets had no effect on all the characteristics recorded (P>0.05). The interaction between sex and season was only observed on the total number of weaned piglets (P<0.01). A highly significant positive correlation was found between litter size and number of piglets born alive (r= 0.86) and total number of piglets weaned (r= 0.50). A highly significant correlation was found between total number of piglets born alive and total number of piglets weaned (r= 0.55). In conclusion, the study demonstrated the potential benefit of adopting AI technology under smallholder production systems to disseminate superior genetic material to smallholder pig farmers in Gauteng Province. The total spermatozoa motility, progressive and rapid spermatozoa motility were the only spermatozoa motility characteristics significantly correlated XX with conception rate. Conversely, litter size and number born alive were not correlated with CASA® spermatozoa motility attributes. No relationships existed between spermatozoa morphological characteristics and fertility. The sex ratio percentage of piglets born following AI was 52:48% (females: males). The number of piglets born alive was 10.2 and 9.5 for number piglets weaned. Season influenced birth to weaning weight. However, sex had no significant influence at birth and weaning weight. Litter size affects the number of piglets born alive and weaned. The study showed that the introduction of advanced reproductive technologies improved productivity of pigs at smallholder pig farms in Gauteng Province. / Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (GDARD) and Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (SASSCAL

The objective of this study is to assess the role that succession planning plays in family businesses in the Sedibeng region of the Gauteng province in South Africa. According to Netsiande (2008:1) family businesses should anticipate, recognise, understand and work pro-actively on issues, learn from other businesses and find their own unique solution.to ensure sustainability. Management succession and succession planning is very important and it has a significant impact on family members, society and the business and economic sectors. This research study was conducted by means of a literature and empirical study. The aim of the literature studies was to gain insight into family businesses and the importance of succession planning. Topics covered in the literature study on family businesses includes a definition of family businesses, family business success, uniqueness of family businesses, characteristics of successful family businesses, advantages and disadvantages of family businesses, challenges facing family businesses. Topics covered in the literature study on succession planning includes a definition of succession, the importance of succession in family businesses, factors that influence succession, succession planning, selecting and choosing a successor as well as mentoring and preparation of the successor(s). The study was concluded on the basis of the findings of the empirical study, that the aspects that needs more attention to help with successful succession planning in family businesses in the Sedibeng district of the Gauteng province in South Africa, are the relationship between owner-manager and successor(s), willingness of the successor(s) to take over the business, willingness of the successor(s) to hand over the business and the preparation level of the successor(s). Lastly practical recommendations were suggested to support the family and the business to effectively manage succession planning in family businesses. / MBA (Business Administration), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The objective of this study is to assess the role that succession planning plays in family businesses in the Sedibeng region of the Gauteng province in South Africa. According to Netsiande (2008:1) family businesses should anticipate, recognise, understand and work pro-actively on issues, learn from other businesses and find their own unique solution.to ensure sustainability. Management succession and succession planning is very important and it has a significant impact on family members, society and the business and economic sectors. This research study was conducted by means of a literature and empirical study. The aim of the literature studies was to gain insight into family businesses and the importance of succession planning. Topics covered in the literature study on family businesses includes a definition of family businesses, family business success, uniqueness of family businesses, characteristics of successful family businesses, advantages and disadvantages of family businesses, challenges facing family businesses. Topics covered in the literature study on succession planning includes a definition of succession, the importance of succession in family businesses, factors that influence succession, succession planning, selecting and choosing a successor as well as mentoring and preparation of the successor(s). The study was concluded on the basis of the findings of the empirical study, that the aspects that needs more attention to help with successful succession planning in family businesses in the Sedibeng district of the Gauteng province in South Africa, are the relationship between owner-manager and successor(s), willingness of the successor(s) to take over the business, willingness of the successor(s) to hand over the business and the preparation level of the successor(s). Lastly practical recommendations were suggested to support the family and the business to effectively manage succession planning in family businesses. / MBA (Business Administration), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Thesis (MScEng (Process Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / Please refer to full text for abstracts