The study focussed on the effectiveness of control measures for dealing with absenteeism of educators with specific reference to selected schools at Libode District in the Province of the Eastern Cape. It identified the policy framework including rules and regulations relating to the absenteeism of educators. It assessed the effectiveness of control measures which are currently at the disposal of the selected schools and it also investigated the challenges faced by school principals in addressing the challenge of absenteeism of educators in the selected schools. A qualitative research methodology was used in undertaking the study. Purposive sampling was used to select the schools and participants for the study. Participants were comprised of school principals and Education Development Officers. Data was collected through structured and semi-structured interviews. Literature study showed that the management of educator absenteeism is an important aspect of Human Resource Management in schools. Furthermore, the study found that control measures for dealing with absenteeism are not properly applied in many schools and there is no consistency in the manner in which they are utilised by school principals. The study also found that school principals are struggling to manage absenteeism to the extent that some of them are not sure how to deal with educators who abuse leave. The study recommends that school principals should be empowered on leave management through various forms of training which include workshops.

Using a Parents Support Group run in Cape Town, South Africa, the study aims to illustrate how the psychodynamic model is inadequate in providing an understanding of the gender dynamics within this group. The study takes on an interpretive approach to explore this research problem and employs qualitative techniques, which were found to be most suitable. Data were collected through the use of field notes that documented the process of the Parents Support Group. This group consisted of ten females and one male participant, ranging from 34 to 45 years of age and who come from a lower socio-economic stratum. Furthermore, to elicit additional data and to capture the multi-layered experienees of participants, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five female and one male participant who were selected from the Parent Support Group. The field notes and the data acquired from the interviews were analyzed through the method of textual analysis, which elicited five key themes. It was found that although the psychoanalytic model was inadequate in explaining certain dynamics within the Parents Support Group, feminism and social constructionism models were able to highlight how gender was key in the dynamics at play within the group. This finding was vital in making recommendations about gender sensitivity and training concerning therapeutic interventions.

Salsola L. is one of the largest genera within the Chenopodiaceae. It has been suggested that almost 90 species occur in southern Africa where the plants are most conspicuous in karroid areas. Members of Salsola are of considerable importance as pasture plants in the Karoo, especially during winter and periods of prolonged drought. Some species also have medicinal and other valuable properties. However, not all Salsola species are beneficial; some may cause diseases and deficiencies in livestock, leading to high mortalities and severe financial loss. Because of the occurrence of harmful and beneficial species within the same area, correct identification of the different species is of extreme importance. Correct identification is, however, rendered problematic by the great morphological similarity of almost all southern African Salsola species and uncertainties concerning the infrageneric classification of the group. There is a great need for a system of easy identification that can be used in the herbarium as well as in the field. This is especially so since available keys to the group cannot be used to identify sterile specimens. There also exists great uncertainty as to the exact identity of most of the 69 new species described by V.P. Botschantzev (Komarov Botanical Institute, St Petersburg) between 1972 and 1983. For this reason many of the names have hardly been taken up and used by South African botanists. A clear delimitation of the different character states within the genus would greatly facilitate and enhance the process of solving the systematic problems that exist within the genus. A comparative anatomical study of the leaves of southern African Salsola species was conducted using LM and SEM techniques. Leaf anatomy proved to be very useful for delimiting groups within the genus. Of particular importance is the structure of the leaf in transverse section and the type of the indumentum. The investigated species can be primarily divided into two main leaf types, according to the presence or absence of a uniseriate hypodermis underlying the adaxial epidermis. A secondary division can be made by indumentum types. Four main indumentum types have been identified based on the appearance of the abaxial leaf surface. One of these indumentum types can be further subdivided according to the area of the leaf covered by trichomes and the number of elongated cells in the trichomes. There is a weak association between leaf type and subsection, as well as between leaf type and indumentum type. No obvious association could be found between leaf or indumentum type and fruit type or any other macromorphological character. Further investigation in this respect is required. In general the species possessing an adaxial hypodermis tend to have a denser covering of trichomes than those species lacking one. This denser indumentum probably provides the plants with better insulation to help prevent excessive water loss and to protect subtending tissues from extreme heat in their arid environment. When studied in combination with other anatomical and ecological evidence these characteristics might prove to be very useful to help establish a classification system whereby Salsola species can be more easily identified. / Dissertation (MSc (Botany))--University of Pretoria, 2000. / Plant Science / unrestricted

This diploma thesis is focused on optimalization and employing the PCR-RFLP method, based on the molecular biology principles, for an identification and taxonomy of the yeasts which colonize the leaf surfaces. Simultaneously the yeasts identification techniques based on physiological and morfphological attributes are compared and replaced. PCR-RFLP takes advantage of thermostable polymerases´ ability to amplify the specific segment in the rDNA, which can be split by restriction endonucleases to characteristical polymorphical fragments. Comparing these fragments and restriction´s positions which are for each species unique, demanded results were obtained. They´re summarized in the conclusion part. The theoretical part describes the morphology and cytology of the yeasts, taxonomy as a science, genuses of examined yeasts Cryptococcus, Rhodotorula a Saccharomyces are covered more thoroughly and the method of PCR-RFLP is described in detail.

The field study based on a questionnaire, classroom observation and a range of interviews with government officials and teachers confirmed a deeply negative attitude towards the way SiSwati is being taught, resulting in negative attitudes towards the language itself. Other findings pointed to a resistance to the cultural content of the curriculum as dictated by the power elite in Swaziland, the outdated emphasis on linguistics rather than sociolinguistics as an informing discipline and the absence of social and negative literacy skills embedded in subject content. The field study reflects an overall climate of despondency governing the teaching and learning context.

Latent prints can be used as evidence in crime scenes to connect individuals to the location of a potential crime. In some cases, perpetrators may handle partially eaten fruits at the scene of a crime and leave latent fingerprints on the surface of the fruit. Plant leaves of common household ornamental plants and regional shrubs may also be a potential source of latent prints. Fruits, vegetables, and plant leaves have not been extensively studied as substrates for fingerprint development. In order to assess the feasibility of developing and visualizing latent prints on fruits, vegetable, and plant leaf surfaces, black and white fingerprint powder, bi-chromatic magnetic powder, and LumicyanoTM superglue fuming were utilized on tomato, zucchini, cucumber, acorn squash, carrot, mango, plum, pear, orange, pepper, banana, watermelon, Rhododendron leaf, Philodendron leaf, and Jasmine leaf. An aging study up to sixteen days was also conducted on eight of the fifteen substrates to determine the effects of aging on latent fingerprint impression development. Latent prints were recovered from all surfaces with the three techniques. Using a scoring system of 0-2, in which 2 represents the presence of six or more minutiae and 0 represents the lack of minutiae, impressions developed with fingerprint powder scored the highest average across all substrates. The aging study revealed a general decline in the quality of the latent prints over time with LumicyanoTM fuming performing the best.

Eight fossil leaves identified as Exbucklandia tengchongensis sp. nov. (Hamamelidaceae) were collected from the Pliocene Mangbang Formation in Tengchong, Yunnan Province, Southwest China. The fossil leaves are characterized by the overall rounded lamina with entire margin, actinodromous venation, and cyclocytic stomata, which suggest the affinity within the genus Exbucklandia, particularly with E. populnea. A survey on the cuticles of the sun and shade leaves of modern E. populnea indicates that the shade leaves generally possess more pronounced undulate anticlinal cell walls and a much lower stomatal density than the sun leaves. Two morphotypes, i.e. sun vs. shade types, of the fossil leaves were therefore recognized. The distribution of the modern Exbucklandia suggests that the genus lives under a warm climate with a mean annual temperature (MAT) from 13 °C to 27 °C and a mean annual precipitation (MAP) from 800 mm to 2500 mm. Hence, E. tengchongensis might also live under a similar climatic condition in the Pliocene. Leaf margin analysis on the Tengchong flora supports this result. The little change of Neogene MAT in Southwest China is therefore supported.

Pituitary adenomas account for roughly 12% of all intracranial tumours and are treated either surgically or medically. Due to the prevalence, there have been many articles focusing on their treatment. Recently, a few studies have been published suggesting a link between pituitary tumours, their treatment and cognitive dysfunction. These articles challenge the texts put forward to date, texts that demarcate adenoma treatment effects to the realm of the physicaL The mechanism(s) behind these supposed deficits have not yet been identified, largely because of problematic research designs and sampling. In the South African context, practitioners tend to encounter a greater proportion of macroadenomas than developed countries. Working on the assumption that the effects of adenomas are magnified in macroadenoma patients, the South African situation provides a base of extreme cases in which any potential dysfunction has the best chance to declare itself. This is particularly valuable given the controversy surrounding the presence of these cognitive deficits.

This study investigates the gender trends within psychology since 1990 using a quantitative assessment of enrolments and graduations, professional registrations, academic staff composition, and publication output in psychology in South Africa. Among the current trends, five are noteworthy: the rapid growth of the profession; the disproportionate increase in the number of female psychologists; the disproportionate number of White psychologists; the increasing emphasis on practical aspects of the discipline and the decline of the scientific; and the under-representation of women as authors in psychology publications.

This project was an evaluation of the initial interview as experienced by a sample of six families who utilised the services of the CGC in 2003. Families were given a semi-structured interview schedule which focussed on a number of common experiences of the assessment interview. A thematic analysis was employed to understand this qualitative enquiry into the family's perception of a service sometimes criticised as traditional, elitist and contradictory to the proposal that a broader, more community based intervention be proffered.