Pinus oocarpa is one of the most widely cultivated non-native tree species growing on plantations in Zambia. This thesis deals with repeatedly measured data of the growing dynamic of Pinus oocarpa that is then compared to two other forest stands under two different management approaches: one site regularly used controlled fires to regulate the removal of old grass while the other was untouched by fire. Furthermore, two other main objectives will be covered in this paper. The first will be to compare the height and diameter increment of the forest that was exposed to controlled burning. The second goal will be to conduct a dendrochronology analysis by obtaining tree core samples. These samples will aid in determining the annual growth pattern from mature forest stands throughout various parts of the district. The results obtained through the dendrochronology analysis will help to identify the impact of fire on the growth of trees. This data will then be compared to the results gathered from other locations. In essence, this thesis will identify the growth pattern of the Pinus oocarpa and the method of evaluation chosen in this area will serve to either confirm or refute the assumption that controlled forest fires in Choma can have negative impacts on the further growth and development of the Pinus oocarpa stands.

Foundational cultural theorist Antonio Gramsci noted in his theory of cultural hegemony that the subaltern class must develop and document their culture as it exists because this history counters the dominating message of the ruling class. My digitally recorded music album Ballads of Makanda: a Modern Folklore serves this idea through capturing the modern stories of the rural midwestern village of Makanda, Illinois and recreating them through American roots music. Using ethnographic and auto- ethnographic approaches to compose the music, these compositions, lyrically created from written and oral histories of residents and visitors of the village, speak to the identity of the community. It reveals several perspectives addressing untold, unexpected yet culturally significant narratives relating to gender, laws, myths, survival, and legacy. Not only do I address lyrical content, but the use of melody which has historically served as a tool for collective memory. My work explores the culture of small communities and my own experiences within, and synthesizes these stories into artistic practice to culminate into a music performance of the entire album featuring all the musicians, in order to fill in the narrative gaps of the human condition. Ultimately, I have created a cross-platform media, modern folklore to counter the established media representations that exist around small towns claiming they are culturally bereft, nondescript, uneducated, and poverty stricken due to financial irresponsibility. These messages have aided in the rural diaspora of younger generations seeking economic opportunity and culture in urban areas. These false ideas also create a history which informs an identity that people will assume. As a Southern Illinois local and Makanda resident, I see this project as a service to dispel stereotypes and celebrate the small town culture of Makanda. This is an attempt to preserve history and identity, and fill in the narrative gaps in the vernacular of the culture which inherently is an act of resistance from subjugation.

Ostracods were obtained from two cores in the southern North Sea area: the Sand Hole and Swarte Bank Formations of Tappin (1991) in BGS borehole 81/52A, cored from the Inner Silver Pit, southern North Sea, and a core from Shoeburyness in Essex, borehole S 1. The faunal assemblages in 131-181/52A were dominated by Sarsicytheridea punctillata, Elo/sonella concinna and Acanthocvthereis clunelmnensis. The assemblages recovered reflect a transition from glacio-marine conditions in the Swarte Bank Formation up into a cold-temperate marine environment in the Sand Hole Formation with deteriorating temperatures indicated at the top of the interval studied. In BHSI a freshwater to brackish transition occurred in the core, the freshwater section being dominated by Darwinula slevensoni and llyocypris spp., and the brackish section by Cyprideis torosa and C ytheromor pha fiiscata. The palaeoecology of the ostracod assemblages recovered is compared to other palaeoecological data from the same sections in each core and to ostracod data from other Hoxnian/l lolsteinian sites in north western Europe. These data are also discussed in the light of evidence indicating that there was a barrier across the southern North Sea when the sediments examined were deposited. Sarsicytheridea spp. and (yprideis terosa were used for trace element (Mg: Ca, Sr: Ca) and stable isotope (cS'"O, ö'3C) analyses. A calibration equation for the calculation of temperature from Mg: Ca ratio was successfully established from analysis of modern Sarsicytheridea. Modern Sr: Ca data could not be used to establish a calibration for salinity since there was too much scatter in the data. (' prideis torosa has been used for trace element and stable isotope work by other authors who have published relationships between ('yprideis and the water chemistry. Ostracods were also analysed down core to examine the changing ratios of Mg and Sr as a proxy for temperature and salinity changes in the I-loxnian of the southern North Sea. In BH81/52A, Mg: Ca data indicated a deterioration in temperature from 36.20 m to the top of the section studied of 9°C. Oxygen stable isotopic analyses from the same species, measured through the same core intervals, did not exhibit a trend, but their values were indicative of normal marine salinities. Carbon stable isotope analyses, performed at the same time as the oxygen analyses, indicate that there may have been high productivity in the region of deposition of the Sand Hole Formation, implying deposition in a region of freshwater influence. However, C/N analyses indicated that the sediments in the Inner Silver Pit were deposited under fully marine conditions. In III ISI, both the Mg: Ca and Sr: Ca data suggested that salinity had increased upcore. Ilowever, there was a lot of scatter in the data, indicating that the estuarine environment, under which the palaeoecology suggests the sediments were deposited, was a highly fluctuating one. These data compare favourably with previously published records. Published partition coefficients were used to compare the trace element data obtained to mean river and seawater values.

Miss Carina Van Rooyen

The Rhodes/HartRAO SKYMAP survey is the highest frequency (2326 MHz) and highest resolution (20 arcmin) large-area pencil-beam survey of the celestial radio continuum emission. The survey covers 67 % of the entire sky and is one of only two radio continuum surveys that cover the southern sky. These attributes make the survey eminently suitable for studying the extended radio continuum emission from the Milky Way. This thesis describes the methodology used to produce the SKYMAP survey map and presents an analysis of the galactic radio continuum emission. Mountfort (1989, PhD thesis, Rhodes University) designed and implemented the original SKYMAP observing and data reduction procedures. These original procedures have been modified and extended to accommodate instrumentation upgrades at HartRAO and take advantage of new computer technologies that have become available. A new procedure was developed to perform the merging of the ten individual target-area maps into a self-consistent combined map without discontinuities at the component map boundaries. Calibration and data quality procedures were devised and implemented in order to validate the temperature scale and pointing accuracy of the map data. The uncertainty in the relative full-beam temperature scale is estimated to be 2 % and the RMS pixel noise is less than 30 mK. The uncertainty in the zero-level of the survey map is conservatively estimated to be 80 mK. The RMS pointing accuracy is better than 1.9 arcmin. The diffuse galactic background (DGB) emission is shown to be consistent with four-arm spiral models for the Milky Way. The Gould Belt system and the galactic warp beyond the solar-circle are seen as non-symmetrical distortions in the DGB. An empirical model of the DGB was subtracted from the 2326 MHz map data in order to accentuate faint, extended radio sources. A new technique was devised to discriminate between thermal and non-thermal radio continuum emission on the basis of FIR/radio flux ratios. This procedure was used to reduce the source confusion near the galactic plane. 42 new shell-like radio sources with angular diameters ranging from 1.6 deg to 26 deg are identified in the SKYMAP 2326 MHz map. These sources are probably large-diameter supernova remnants (SNRs) that partially redress the incompleteness in existing SNR catalogues caused by limited surface brightness selection effects. The shells of some of these faint, extended sources are incomplete towards high-latitudes. This morphology suggests that these objects are breaking out of the galactic disk and are releasing hot gas into the halo. There is no evidence for linear worm- and chimney-like features in the non-thermal galactic emission. The spectral index of the diffuse galactic emission is calculated to be beta = 2.72 +/- 0.18 between 408 MHz and 2326 MHz and beta = 2.95 +/- 0.08 between 2326 MHz and 31 GHz, confirming previous work showing that the synchrotron spectrum steepens with increasing frequency. The high frequency spectral index is used to estimate upper limits on the galactic synchrotron foreground contamination of cosmic microwave background radiation measurements. The high-latitude 2326 MHz galactic emission is shown to correlate weakly with the far-infrared galactic cirrus clouds. This correlation is due to thermal free-free radio emission from extended, low-density HII regions associated with the cirrus dust. The RMS level of this thermal signal is estimated to be 1 mK at 2326 MHz. Two further experiments that need to be performed in order to complete the SKYMAP project are discussed: (a) the region of sky near the southern equatorial pole (SEP) needs to be mapped at HartRAO to complete the coverage of the entire southern sky, and (b) independent horn telescope (broad-beam) measurements of the sky temperature are required in order to reduce the baseline uncertainties in the current SKYMAP data.

The attitude of the church school teacher must be improved, and this is the primary purpose of this paper. An attempt was made to study scientifically teacher attitudes as measured by an adaptation of the Purdue Teacher Opinionaire administered to a systematically observed sample chosen from three church school faculties in the three Southern Baptist Churches in Denton, Texas.

This thesis is a study that was originally inspired by the question, "What does it mean to be a Christian in rural Africa today?" While the Church needs to ask this question everywhere in the world, from experience the writer believes it is especially germane to the non-Western cultures of Africa and Asia. That experience is drawn from eight years' work among the Kwanyama tribe of Ovambos in the Ovamboland Anglican Mission. Hence, this study is confined to one rural African tribe as it came under 46 years' influence of one Christian denomination.

Class of 2016 Abstract / Objectives: To describe the prices of brand versus generic OTC drug products in a variety of pharmacies and to compare the differences in lower income areas. Subjects: Over-the-counter products available in both brand and house generic forms in all pharmacies. House generic was defined as a line of products sold strictly by a company and its affiliates. Methods: Prices were collected across one week from all stores and locations, in each identical product. Once all the data was collected for the brand and generic medications, the data was evaluated using t tests. Results: The house generic brands (mean = $6.21) were significantly cheaper (p=2.14 x 10^-23) than the brand products (mean = $10.84 ). Also, generic drug prices are significantly cheaper at grocery stores (p=2.19 x 10^-11). Lastly, The price differences in all four areas were not significantly different in each of the brand and generic calculations (p=0.837 and p=0.910, respectively). Conclusions: House generic brands are significantly cheaper than brand products in all pharmacies in Arizona. In addition, all four areas of Arizona had similar brand and generic OTC prices.

The grasslands of South Africa, and especially the higher altitudinal grasslands, are under increasing human pressure. In this study a floristic-ecological account of the vegetation of the southernmost Drakensberg and its foothills is given. This is the first comprehensive botanical study undertaken in this floristically poorly known region. The study area is situated in the magisterial districts of Barkly-East, Elliot and Maclear between 30°40' and 31°35' S, and 27°25' and 28°35' E. In the study area afforestation is the greatest threat at lower altitudes, whereas at the higher altitudes overgrazing, trampling and invasion by exotic plant species impact negatively on the native vegetation. A brief review of the history and previous botanical exploration of the area, as well as the physical environment are given. Four main plant communities - the Maytenus undata- Rhus dentata woodland and forests communities, Harpechloafalx- Pycreus cooperi hygrophilous communities, Themeda triandra - Alloteropsis semialata high altitude communities and Alloteropsis semialata- Rendlia altera Afromontane grassland communities, with various sub-communities and variants are identified and described. An annotated check-list of the plant species collected in the study area and distribution maps of all the Drakensberg Alpine Region and local endemic species found in the study area are given. Twenty two local endemic species and 74 rare and threatened taxa were identified. During the study 1 991 species and infraspecific taxa of vascular plants were collected or listed. Most of the endemic species in the study area are located above 1 500m altitude. Due to the relatively low number of local endemic species (22) the study area can at best be considered as a weak centre of endemism. However, it is clearly linked with two other major centres of plant endemism, namely the Drakensberg Alpine Region (DAR) and Maputaland-Pondoland Region (MPR). Within the study area 194 DAR and 86 MPR endemic species were recorded. No local endemic species occur in the forest and wetland communities. Most of the rare and threatened species are found in open grassland which are the areas most suitable for afforestation. This causes a major conflict between the forestry industry and conservation agencies in the area. All grasslands situated at an altitude of above 1 600 m are floristically very diverse and adequate representative areas should be protected, especially the areas of Tentkop and Elands Heights. Soils here are highly erodible and forestry and trampling in these areas should therefore be avoided at all costs. The higher lying grasslands and, to a lesser extent, the lower lying grasslands are ecologically sensitive areas. This is particularly so where the underlying mother rock is basalt, which weathers into highly erodible soils. It is suggested that all areas above 1 600 m be declared "no-go" areas for afforestation. This is based on not only the number of endemic and rare species found in these areas, but also because of the floristic diversity and aesthetic value they hold for eco-tourism. All habitats are sensitive to some degree, but the most threatened areas are the higher lying and open grasslands. Areas that are generally unsuitable for afforestation include rocky outcrops, vleis, drainage lines and forests. Most of these areas are protected by law, albeit for reasons not to do with biodiversity or endangered species. AFRIKAANS : Die grasvelde van Suid-Afrika, en veral die hoërliggende grasvelde, is onder toenemende menslike druk. In hierdie ondersoek word 'n floristies-ekologiese weergawe gegee van die plantegroei van die mees suidelike Drakensberg-eskarp en voetheuwels. Hierdie is die eerste uitgebreide plantkundige ondersoek in dié gebied. Die studiegebied is geleë in die Barkly-Oos, Elliot en Maclear landdrosdistrikte tussen 30º40' en 31º35' S, en 27º25' en 28º35' 0. In die studiegebied is bosbou die grootste bedreiging in laerliggende gebiede, terwyl oorbeweiding, vertrapping en indringing van uitheemse plantspesies die grootste negatiewe impak op die inheemse plantegroei van die hoërliggende gebiede bet. 'n Kort historiese oorsig, die vernaamste vorige versamelaars in die gebied en 'n beskrywing van die fisiese omgewing word verskaf. Vier hoof plantgemeenskappe word onderskei - die Maytenus undata - Rhus dentata boomveld en woud gemeenskappe, Harpechloa falx - Pycreus cooperi vlei gemeenskappe, Themeda triandra - Allotercpsis semialata hoogliggende grasveld gemeenskappe en die Alloteropsis semialata - Rendlia altera Afromontaan grasveld gemeenskappe met verskeie sub-gemeenskappe en variante. 'n Spesielys van aile spesies wat tot nog toe in die studiegebied aangeteken is, asook verspreidingskaarte van alle Drakensberg Alpynse en lokale endemiese spesies wat in die studiegebied versamel is, word verskaf. Twee-en-twintig lokale endemiese spesies en 74 skaars en bedreigde spesies is vir dié gebied geïdentifiseer. Gedurende die ondersoek is 1 991 spesies en infraspesifieke vaatplanttaksa versamel of gelys. Die meeste van die endemiese spesies in die studiegebied word hoër as 1 500 m bo seevlak aangetref. As gevolg van die relatief lae getal endemiese spesies (22) in die studiegebied, kan hierdie streek slegs as 'n swak sentrum van endemisme beskou word. Die gebied vorm egter deel van beide die Drakensberg Alpynse Sentrum en die Maputaland-Pondoland Sentrum van endemisme. Vir die studiegebied is 194 Drakensberg Alpynse en 86 Maputaland-Pondoland endemiese spesies aangeteken. Geen lokale endemiese spesies word in die woud en vlei gemeenskappe aangetref nie. Die meeste van die skaars en bedreigde spesies is met oop grasvelde geassosieer. Laasgenoemde is ook die mees geskikte habitat vir bosbou. Dié feit is verantwoordelik vir die meeste konflik tussen die bosboubedryf en bewaringsgroepe. Grasvelde bokant 1 600 m het 'n hoë floristiese diversiteit en daadwerklike pogings behoort aangewend te word om dit te bewaar, veral in die Tentkop en Elands Heights gebiede. Gronde in hierdie gebiede is besonder maklik erodeerbaar. Bosbou en vertrapping deur vee behoort ten alle koste vermy te word. Die hoogliggende, en tot 'n mindere mate die laagliggende grasvelde is ekologies baie sensitief. Dit is veral die geval waar die onderliggende moedermateriaal basalt is, omdat laasgenoemde gesteente tot gronde met 'n hoë erosie-potensiaal verweer. Daar word voorstel dat geen bosbou in gebiede bo 'n hoogte van 1 600 m beoefen word nie. Hierdie voorstel word nie net gemaak op grond van die aantal endemiese, skaars en bedreigde spesies nie, maar ook met die oog op die voordele wat die estetiese landskap vir ekotoerisme mag inhou. Enige habitat is tot 'n sekere mate sensitief, maar in die studiegebied is die mees sensitiewe dele uit 'n plantkundige oogpunt is die hoërliggende oop grasvelde. Laerliggende gebiede wat nie vir bosbou geskik is nie sluit vlei gebiede, klip koppies en randjies, woude en dreinerings lyne in. Die meeste van hierdie gebiede word deur die wet beskerm, alhoewel nie noodwendig as gevolg van biodiversiteit of bedreigde spesies nie. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Plant Science / unrestricted

Climate change and a growing demand for freshwater resources due to population increases and socio-economic changes will make water a limiting factor (in terms of both quantity and quality) in development. The need for reliable quantitative estimates of water availability cannot be over-emphasised. However, there is frequently a paucity of the data required for this quantification as many basins, especially in the developing world, are inadequately equipped with monitoring networks. Existing networks are also shrinking due mainly to shortages in human and financial resources. Over the past few decades mathematical models have been used to bridge the data gap by generating datasets for use in management and policy making. In southern Africa, the Pitman monthly rainfall-runoff model has enjoyed relatively popular use as a water resources estimation tool. However, it is acknowledged that models are abstractions of reality and the data used to drive them is imperfect, making the model outputs uncertain. While there is acknowledgement of the limitations of modelled data in the southern African region among water practitioners, there has been little effort to explicitly quantify and account for this uncertainty in water resources estimation tools and explore how it affects the decision making process. Uncertainty manifests itself in three major areas of the modelling chain; the input data used to force the model, the parameter estimation process and the model structural errors. A previous study concluded that the parameter estimation process for the Pitman model contributed more to the global uncertainty of the model than other sources. While the literature abounds with uncertainty estimation techniques, many of these are dependent on observations and are therefore unlikely to be easily applicable to the southern African region where there is an acute shortage of such data. This study focuses on two aspects of making hydrologic predictions in ungauged basins. Firstly, the study advocates the development of an a priori parameter estimation process for the Pitman model and secondly, uses indices of hydrological functional behaviour to condition and reduce predictive uncertainty in both gauged and ungauged basins. In this approach all the basins are treated as ungauged, while the historical records in the gauged basins are used to develop regional indices of expected hydrological behaviour and assess the applicability of these methods. Incorporating uncertainty into the hydrologic estimation tools used in southern Africa entails rethinking the way the uncertain results can be used in further analysis and how they will be interpreted by stakeholders. An uncertainty framework is proposed. The framework is made up of a number of components related to the estimation of the prior distribution of the parameters, used to generate output ensembles which are then assessed and constrained using regionalised indices of basin behavioural responses. This is premised on such indices being based on the best available knowledge covering different regions. This framework is flexible enough to be used with any model structure to ensure consistent and comparable results. While the aim is to eventually apply the uncertainty framework in the southern African region, this study reports on the preliminary work on the development and testing of the framework components based on South African basins. This is necessitated by the variations in the availability and quality of the data across the region. Uncertainty in the parameter estimation process was incorporated by assuming uncertainty in the physical and hydro-meteorological data used to directly quantify the parameter. This uncertainty was represented by the range of variability of these basin characteristics and probability distribution functions were developed to account for this uncertainty and propagate it through the estimation process to generate posterior distributions for the parameters. The results show that the framework has a great deal of potential but can still be improved. In general, the estimated uncertain parameters managed to produce hydrologically realistic model outputs capturing the expected regimes across the different hydro-climatic and geo-physical gradients examined. The regional relationships for the three indices developed and tested in this study were in general agreement with existing knowledge and managed to successfully provide a multi-criteria conditioning of the model output ensembles. The feedback loop included in the framework enabled a systematic re-examination of the estimation procedures for both the parameters and the indices when inconsistencies in the results were identified. This improved results. However, there is need to carefully examine the issues and problems that may arise within other basins outside South Africa and develop guidelines for the use of the framework. / iText 1.4.6 (by lowagie.com)