Magister Artium (Sport, Recreation and Exercise Science) - MA(SRES) / In the last few years, women’s rugby has experienced unprecedented growth globally and is the fastest growing sport among women and girls. Owing to increasing support and expo-sure, the sport has grown exponentially. However, women’s rugby programmes face signif-icant obstacles globally and locally. Women’s rugby is not well researched, and there is a lack of relevant literature on existing programmes, in particular, the perspectives and expe-riences of those involved in the programmes. Consequently, the purpose of the study was to offer insight into stakeholders and their lived experiences, thoughts and views on the management and implementation of development programmes for women’s rugby in the Western Cape Province.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This study investigates the relevance of quality measurement indicators at higher education libraries for faculty academics, librarians, and students. The study followed a mixed-method design with a mixture of quantitative and qualitative data collection. Faculty academics, librarians and students ranked the existing quality measurement indicators for South African higher education libraries. The findings revealed that for library quality measures to meet the needs of faculty academics, librarians, and students, the resources must be accessible both physically and virtually, and staff should be accountable and willing to offer services responsive to the users' needs and expectations of a safe, secure, and comfortable library space, be it physical or virtual. The qualitative data highlighted the importance of adequate resources and the adoption of new developments as measures for quality. Quality measurement indicators must include elements such as adequate funding; relevant resources aligned with teaching and learning programmes; programmes that are integrated into teaching plans; effective supplier collaboration with respect to the process of acquiring relevant learning materials; effective student training; communication of the value of library services and alignment with the student learning outcomes; research support in a digital environment with e-tools and website navigability; research data management; and open access, which is a prominent role of the library. Based on the data, there was a quality measure (process) that was commendable even though it did not form part of the existing quality measures nor a service whose relevance was assessed. The separation of undergraduate and postgraduate learning spaces was amongst those services that ranked quite high from the students' responses (qualitative data). Even though there were differences emphasized on each indicator by either faculty academics or students, there were also discrepancies in the interpretation of what each quality indicator means to each study population group. As the study of this nature has recommendations and gaps identified in terms of research findings, it is quite important to record that there was a series of gaps that were identified in terms of library expectations and perceptions. These gaps were suggested as part of further research that must be conducted to fill the void in terms of library users’ voices in the development of higher education library measurement indicators.

Bakgrund Barn som genomgår vaccination enligt allmänt vaccinationsprogram upplever smärta under injektioner. Smärtlindrande metoder som bedövningskräm och sötningsmedel finns, men används inte rutinmässigt. Detta utgör ett onödigt lidande för dessa barn. Syfte Syftet är att undersöka om bedövningskräm alternativt sötningsmedel, ensamt eller i kombination med andra interventioner, kan minska smärtresponsen hos barn mellan 0–6 år i samband med vaccination enligt allmänt vaccinationsprogram. Metod För att besvara studiens syfte gjordes en deskriptiv litteraturöversikt med kvantitativ ansats. Artiklar med RCT som metod kvalitetsgranskades, analyserades och syntetiserades till ett resultat. Resultat Resultatet visar att bedövningskräm respektive sötningsmedel minskar smärtresponsen hos barn som vaccineras enligt allmänt vaccinationsprogram. Bedövningskräm i kombination med amning var ännu mer effektivt än att använda antingen bara bedövningskräm eller bara amning. Vid jämförelse av sötningsmedel och amning pekar forskningen i olika riktningar. Slutsats Resultatet från denna litteraturöversikt visade att bedövningskräm och sötningsmedel kunde minska smärtresponsen hos barn vid rutinmässiga vaccinationer. Även amning kunde minska smärtan, och en kombination av bedövningskräm och amning minskade smärtan ytterligare. Andra interventioner som kunde minska smärtan var fysiskt tröstande metoder, kylspray ochatt suga på napp eller finger. Resultatet skulle kunna leda till ett ökat användande av dessasmärtlindrande metoder på BVC. / Background Children undergoing vaccination according to general immunization programs experience pain during injections. Analgesic methods such as anesthetic cream and sweetening agents are available but are not used routinely. This is an unnecessary suffering for these children. Aim The aim is to investigate whether anesthetic cream or sweetening agents, alone or in combination with other interventions, can reduce pain response in children between 0-6 years of age, during vaccination according to general immunization programs. Method To answer the purpose of the study, a descriptive literature review was done with a quantitative approach. Articles with RCT as a method were quality reviewed, analyzed and synthesized to a result. Results The results show that anesthetic cream and sweetener respectively reduce the pain response in children during vaccination according to general immunization programs. Anesthetic cream in combination with breastfeeding was even more effective than using either just anesthetic cream or just breastfeeding. When comparing sweeteners and breastfeeding, research points in different directions. Conclusion The results from this literature review showed that anesthetic cream and sweeteners could reduce the pain response in children during routine vaccinations. Breastfeeding could also reduce the pain, and a combination of anesthetic cream and breastfeeding could further reduce the pain. Other interventions that could reduce the pain were physically comforting methods, cooling spray and sucking on a pacifier or finger. The result could lead to an increased use of these painrelief methods at childcare centers.

La criticité des programmes dépasse constamment de nouvelles frontières car ils sont de plus en plus utilisés dans la prise de décision (voitures autonomes, robots chirurgiens, etc.). Le besoin de développer des programmes sûrs et de vérifier les programmes existants émerge donc naturellement.Pour prouver formellement la correction d'un programme, il faut faire face aux défis de la mise à l'échelle et de la décidabilité. Programmes composés de millions de lignes de code, complexité de l'algorithme, concurrence, et même de simples expressions polynomiales font partis des problèmes que la vérification formelle doit savoir gérer. Pour y arriver, les méthodes formelles travaillent sur des abstractions des états des programmes étudiés afin d'analyser des approximations de leur comportement. L'analyse des boucles est un axe entier de la vérification formelle car elles sont encore aujourd'hui peu comprises. Bien que certaines d'entre elles peuvent facilement être traitées, il existe des exemples apparemment très simples mais dont le comportement n'a encore aujourd'hui pas été résolu (par exemple, on ne sait toujours pas pourquoi la suite de Syracuse, simple boucle linéaire, converge toujours vers 1).L'approche la plus commune pour gérer les boucles est l'utilisation d'invariants de boucle, c'est à dire de relations sur les variables manipulées par une boucle qui sont vraies à chaque fois que la boucle recommence. En général, les invariants utilisent les mêmes expressions que celles utilisées dans la boucle : si elle manipule explicitement la mémoire par exemple, on s'attend à utiliser des invariants portant sur la mémoire. Cependant, il existe des boucles contenant uniquement des affectations linéaires qui n'admettent pas d'invariants linéaires, mais polynomiaux.Les boucles linéaires sont elles plus expressives que ce qu'il paraîtrait ?Cette thèse présente de nouvelles propriétés sur les boucles linéaires et polynomiales. Il est déjà connu que les boucles linéaires sont polynomialement expressives, au sens ou si plusieurs variables évoluent linéairement dans une boucle, alors n'importe quel monôme de ces variables évolue linéairement. La première contribution de cette thèse est la caractérisation d'une sous classe de boucles polynomiales exactement aussi expressives que des boucles linéaires, au sens où il existe une boucle linéaire avec le même comportement. Ensuite, deux nouvelles méthodes de génération d'invariants sont présentées.La première méthode est basée sur l'interprétation abstraite et s'intéresse aux filtres linéaires convergents. Ces filtres jouent un rôle important dans de nombreux systèmes embarqués (dans l'avionique par exemple) et requièrent l'utilisation de flottants, un type de valeurs qui peut mener à des erreurs d'imprécision s'ils sont mal utilisés. Aussi, la présence d'affectations aléatoires dans ces filtres rend leur analyse encore plus complexe.La seconde méthode traite d'une approche différente basée sur la génération d'invariants pour n'importe quel type de boucles linéaires. Elle part d'un nouveau théorème présenté dans cette thèse qui caractérise les invariants comme étant les vecteurs propres de la transformation linéaire traitée. Cette méthode est généralisée pour prendre en compte les conditions, les boucles imbriquées et le non déterminisme dans les affectations.La génération d'invariants n'est pas un but en soi, mais un moyen. Cette thèse s'intéresse au genre de problèmes que peut résoudre les invariants générés par la seconde méthode. Le premier problème traité est problème de l'orbite (Kannan-Lipton Orbit problem), dont il est possible de générer des certificats de non accessibilité en utilisant les vecteurs propres de la transformation considerée. En outre, les vecteurs propres sont mis à l'épreuve en pratique par leur utilisation dans le model-checker CaFE basé sur la verification de propriétés temporelles sur des programmes C. / The criticality of programs constantly reaches new boundaries as they are relied on to take decisions in place of the user (autonomous cars, robot surgeon, etc.). This raised the need to develop safe programs and to verify the already existing ones.Anyone willing to formally prove the soundness of a program faces the two challenges of scalability and undecidability. Million of lines of code, complexity of the algorithm, concurrency, and even simple polynomial expressions are part of the issues formal verification have to deal with. In order to succeed, formal methods rely on state abstraction to analyze approximations of the behavior of the analyzed program.The analysis of loops is a full axis of formal verification, as this construction is still today not well understood. Though some of them can be easily handled when they perform simple operations, there still exist some seemingly basic loops whose behavior has not been solved yet (the Syracuse sequence for example is suspected to be undecidable).The most common approach for the treatment of loops is the use of loop invariants, i.e. relations on variables that are true at the beginning of the loop and after every step. In general, invariants are expected to use the same set of expressions used in the loop: if a loop manipulates the memory on a structure for example, invariants will naturally use expressions involving memory operations. However, there exist loops containing only linear instructions that admit only polynomial invariants (for example, the sum on integers $sumlimits_{i=0}^n i$ can be computed by a linear loop and is a degree 2 polynomial in n), hence using expressions that are syntacticallyabsent of the loop. Is the previous remark wrong then ?This thesis presents new insights on loops containing linear and polynomial instructions. It is already known that linear loops are polynomially expressive, in the sense that if a variable evolves linearly, then any monomial of this variable evolves linearly. The first contribution of this thesis is the extraction of a class of polynomial loops that is exactly as expressive as linear loops, in the sense that there exist a linear loop with the exact same behavior. Then, two new methods for generating invariants are presented.The first method is based on abstract interpretation and is focused on a specific kind of linear loops called linear filters. Linear filters play a role in many embedded systems (plane sensors for example) and require the use of floating point operations, that may be imprecise and lead to errors if they are badly handled. Also, the presence of non deterministic assignments makes their analysis even more complex.The second method treats of a more generic subject by finding a complete set of linear invariants of linear loops that is easily computable. This technique is based on the linear algebra concept of eigenspace. It is extended to deal with conditions, nested loops and non determinism in assignments.Generating invariants is an interesting topic, but it is not an end in itself, it must serve a purpose. This thesis investigates the expressivity of invariantsgenerated by the second method by generating counter examples for the Kannan-Lipton Orbit problem.It also presents the tool PILAT implementing this technique and compares its efficiency technique with other state-of-the-art invariant synthesizers. The effective usefulness of the invariants generated by PILAT is demonstrated by using the tool in concert with CaFE, a model-checker for C programs based on temporal logics.

Workplace romances (WRs) have become a common occurrence and growing trend in today’s work-oriented culture. People are spending more time at work and in close proximity to their work colleagues which provides the ideal stage for romantic relationships to develop. Whilst on the one hand, WRs could have beneficial consequences for the individuals or organisations involved, they could also on the other hand be a problematic occurrence for some employers. The reason is that WRs have the risk of ending badly and that could open a field of possible complicated legal, emotional, ethical or productivity consequences. In the light of this problem, the general objective of this study is to explore the effects of dissolved romances on the psychosocial functioning and productivity of involved employees at an industrial clothing factory in Cape Town in 2012/13 and also to explore the consequent need for appropriate intervention through the existing employee assistance programmes (EAP). The study followed a qualitative research approach in that it covered detailed descriptions of involved employees’ experiences of their psychosocial functioning and productivity in the workplace amidst a relationship breakdown. A collective case study design was utilised because of its aims to understand a social issue, namely the breakdown of romantic relationships in the workplace, and studied the experiences and perceptions of a group of individuals affected by this phenomenon. The researcher conducted a word and concept analysis and an extensive literature study. This enabled the researcher to draw up a framework for the semi-structured interview schedule which was used to collect data. / Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / lmchunu2014 / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

The public’s demand for competent and safe health care obligates the profession to meet the challenges of high quality care with current knowledge and skills. The maintenance of competence and the participation in continuous professional development (CPD) has firmly been established as a professional standard with the purpose of ensuring the safety of the public. The enhancement and maintenance of knowledge and skills can be obtained through participation in CPD programmes. Despite the importance of CPD, not many critical care nurse practitioners avail themselves of the opportunity to attend CPD programmes. The overall aim of this research was to reach consensus regarding the reasons for the unsatisfactory attendance of a CPD programme developed for critical care units in a private hospital in Gauteng. A consensus methodology was used to involve the critical care nurse practitioners in planning and prioritising strategies for a future continuous professional development programme. Using the nominal group technique the critical care nurse practitioners reflected on their experience related to the current CPD programme and provided inputs and ranked priorities. Fourteen critical care nurse practitioners participated in the nominal group session. Consensus was reached regarding five priorities that should be implemented as strategies to enhance attendance of future CPD programmes. In rank order these priorities were communication, continuous professional development, clinical training, time constraints and financial implications. A central theme “attitude” was included as attitude has a powerful effect on all of the above mentioned priorities. In conclusion the study focussed on identifying and discussing the reasons for unsatisfactory attendance of a CPD programme. Based on the reasons identified priorities were set and strategies were collaboratively developed to enhance future attendance of a CPD programme. / Dissertation (MCur)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2015 / Nursing Science / MCur / Unrestricted

The Cognitive theory was utilised in an attempt to understand the HIV and AIDS practice needs of peer educators in the Department of Social Development in the Free State province. The absence of guidelines affects the utilisation of peer educators and thus leads to the under-utilisation of programmes. The practice needs were therefore identified and recommendations were submitted with a view to address existing gaps Applied research was utilised as findings were used to make suggestions on the development of practice guidelines for programmes used by peer educators. As the researcher was interested in the rich data from peer educators‟ explanations about their HIV and AIDS practice needs, the most suitable research design for the study was the qualitative design with a collective case study. Purposive sampling was selected as the most appropriate sampling method within non-probability sampling, as the researcher‟s own knowledge and judgment of the population, its elements and the nature and purpose of the study, guided him. Within purposive sampling the researcher implemented volunteer sampling by issuing invitations to targeted participants who met specific criteria. Data collection was conducted through the implementation of two focus groups sessions consisting of 11 participants and eight participants respectively in each group for the duration of 90 minutes. Data collected was analysed using Creswell‟s analytical spiral. The planned research was expected to address issues of gaps and practice needs, as well as guidelines necessary for the implementation of the HIV and AIDS workplace prevention programme. / Dissertation (MSocial Work)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Social Work and Criminology / MSocial Work / Unrestricted

Attachment refers to a strong emotional bond with special people in a person?s life, in whose presence the person experiences pleasure, joy and comfort in times of stress. The first attachment in life is commonly formed between an infant and primary caregiver, which is usually the mother. The caregiving provided by the mother or caregiver will determine whether a secure or insecure attachment pattern is formed. Attachment theory indicates that this first attachment forms the basis for a cognitive representation, the so-called internal working model, which becomes part of the person?s personality and forms the foundation of the person?s perception of the self and the world as well as of all future interpersonal relationships. As infancy is a sensitive period for the development of attachment, the prenatal period could be an appropriate time to educate expecting mothers about the importance of secure attachment and their role in the development thereof. The researcher therefore wished to explore whether antenatal programmes could be used as a platform for teaching expecting mothers about attachment. As a starting point, the goal of this study was to explore the perceptions of antenatal programme presenters on including training on attachment into antenatal programmes. The study was based on a qualitative research approach, and applied research as the type of research. A collective case study research design was adopted and data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews that were conducted with a sample of ten presenters of antenatal programmes in the Tshwane district. The participants were selected by means of purposive sampling. Data was analysed according to methods for qualitative data analysis, and relevant ethical considerations were followed during the study. The research findings indicate that the participants were aware of the importance and benefits of secure attachment and that they had a positive attitude towards the inclusion of training on attachment into antenatal programmes. They were eager to receive training on attachment and to adapt their programmes to include training on attachment. The researcher concludes that it would be feasible and beneficial to include training on attachment into antenatal programmes, and to train antenatal programme presenters for this purpose. The provision of training on attachment to nurses and raising awareness of attachment in the private and public health care sectors could facilitate greater knowledge of attachment for expecting mothers. Further research in diverse settings, such as in private and public clinics and hospitals in different geographical areas, is recommended. / Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Social Work and Criminology / MA / Unrestricted

Orientation: Rapid changes in the workforce, such as increases in working women and dual-earner couples and single parent families, have led to increases for both men and women in their work and household responsibilities. Employees who are unable to fulfil both work and non-work roles efficiently may experience problems with their health and psychological state, have reduced job satisfaction, burnout, higher absenteeism and work tension. In order to assist employees during these turbulent times many organisations have implemented family-friendly programmes to accommodate employees. The specific needs of employees in the South African context in terms of family-friendly programme seem to be unknown. Research purpose: The main purpose of this study was to investigate the receptiveness of South African working mothers towards a family-friendly programme and to determine the desired features of such a programme. Motivation for the study: Research regarding the use and benefits of family-friendly programmes was done in the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom and Asia. However, the specific needs of employees in the South African context in terms of family-friendly programmes seem to be unknown. Therefore, in this study, the focus will be to explore the receptiveness of working mothers towards a family-friendly programme, as well what an effective family-family programme might entail for them in the South African context. Research approach, design and method: The research was conducted using a qualitative research design within the interpretivism paradigm. A combined convenient and purposive non-probability sample (N = 11) was taken from working mothers employed at a printing and bar coding organisation in Gauteng. Data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews and analysed by making use of thematic analysis. Main findings: The results of this study indicate that working mothers experience work-life conflict and they would make use of family-friendly programmes if their organisations could provide these programmes. They would like features such as a day-care facility, transport service, flexible working hours, working from home, career guidance, a support group for parents and a baby room. Practical/Managerial implications: This research identified that there is a need for family-friendly programmes in the South African context. Such programmes can assist employees in reducing work-life conflict and, mostly likely, enhance job satisfaction and work engagement. Contribution/Value-add: This study can possibly create awareness about the need for family-friendly programmes in South Africa and provide management with insight about the desired features of such a programme. This study further adds value to the limited research about the needs and desired features of a family-friendly programme in the South African context. / Mini Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Human Resource Management / MCom / Unrestricted

The goal of the study was to evaluate the content, implementation and applicability of the Soul City social intervention programme (SCI programme) about HIV and AIDS targeted at the youth in the Northern Cape from an ecosystems perspective. The goal of this study was achieved through the realisation of the objectives of the study. The objectives of the study were: To describe the phenomenon of HIV and AIDS among the youth in the Northern Cape, South Africa from an ecosystems perspective; to describe the NSP 2012-2016 and the Provincial Strategic Plan (PSP) for HIV and AIDS in South Africa; to describe and critically analyse the SCI programme's focus on the youth from the ecosystems perspective; to evaluate the content of the SCI programme for the youth with regard to HIV and AIDS in the Northern Cape in the context of the NSP 2012-2016 on HIV and AIDS from the field workers' perspective; to evaluate the implementation of the SCI programme for the youth on HIV and AIDS in the Northern Cape in the context of the NSP 2012-2016 on HIV and AIDS from the perspective of the youth as service users, and lastly, to provide guidelines for the content, applicability, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the SCI programme for the youth with regard to HIV and AIDS in the context of the NSP 2012-2016, in order to enhance efforts to mitigate the impact of HIV and AIDS among the youth in the Northern Cape. Furthermore, a mixed-methods research approach was adopted to achieve the research goal. The quantitative and qualitative findings are described in Chapters 6 and 7 respectively. Triangulation, as mixed-method design, was utilised in this study. This enabled the researcher to produce complete and well-validated conclusions. The method of data collection for the part of the study about the youth was a group-administered questionnaire. For the qualitative part of this study, semi-structured interviews, with an interview schedule, were utilised to collect data related to the contents, applicability, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the SCI programme from trained field workers working in the youth sector and specialising in HIV and AIDS. The quantitative data was analysed using both descriptive and association statistical analyses. In the present study, the researcher strived to ensure a high degree of face validity by allowing experts in the field, for example, social workers practising in the field of HIV and AIDS, to scrutinise the research instrument as part of the pilot test. The questionnaire was piloted with 20 youths to enhance both face and content validity further. In the current study, an acceptable degree of reliability was prioritised and therefore a Cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.70 for all categories of the questionnaire was sought. The qualitative data of the semi-structured interviews with Soul City programme implementers was analysed using thematic analysis. An independent reviewer reviewed the theme generation and analysis to ensure consistency or the interrater reliability of the findings. This aided the researcher to identify patterns or themes from direct quotations and to provide rich data representation. Verbatim quotations from the interviews were used to support the themes. To ensure data trustworthiness, a high premium was placed on credibility, transferability, conformability and dependability. Analyses of three different sources of data, namely the literature review, the youth programme attendees/recipients and interviews with Soul City field workers were undertaken to answer the following research question. "To what extent is the content and implementation of the Soul City social intervention programme applicable to the youth in the Northern Cape?" Subsequently, the sub-question of the study was: "Does the Soul City social intervention programme take the different levels of the ecosystems perspective into account regarding programme content and implementation?" Several key findings were made in the quantitative part of the study, with nine sections of the questionnaire which focussed on: the Biographic details of respondents; Objectives of the Soul City programme for the youth in the Northern Cape; Applicability and relevance of the content of the Soul City Programme; Knowledge gained through attending Soul City; Attitudinal change; Programme delivery; Programme content; Programme facilitation methods and general aspects. Key findings were that there was no statistical association found between any of the variables in most sections of the questionnaire except for combinations of five questions in sections D and G. There was a statistical association found with regard to age where the respondents indicated that the SCP contributed to them achieving their personal life goals. Also in Section D there was a statistical association found where the respondents could see the impact of the SCP on their lives. There was a statistical association found between where respondents indicated that the SCP should focus on ways/strategies to fight poverty in their communities and also when they indicated that the SCP should focus on involving important people/stakeholders such as youth leaders. Lastly, there was a statistical association found between where the respondents indicated that the capacity of the youth in the community to fight the further spread of HIV and AIDS could be built by visiting the community. From an ecosystems perspective, the SCP programme appeared to be influenced by or aligned to micro-, meso-, exo- and macrolevel factors with varying degrees of success and focus areas. The programme's exolevel focus appeared to be more prominent and to a lesser degree the macro- and microlevels. The research found that the SCP is relatively effective regarding programme content and facilitation methods albeit to a limited degree. Furthermore, what was repeatedly clear was a need for the SCP's programme continuation and sustainability, because adequate effort had not been made for this despite the programmes' apparent value when it was operational. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Social Work and Criminology / DPhil / Unrestricted