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Socio demographic profile of districts of KwaZulu-Natal Province - based on the 10% sample of the 2001 South African census dataSahle, Sisay Guta 22 October 2008 (has links)
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can assist in using information from census data to investigate questions
for national and local government planning purposes, such as socio-economic profiles and needs of
communities. I will be doing this on the data from the Ethiopian census, scheduled for 2006. . As no Ethiopian
geo-referenced data is available at this stage. I am using the 10% sample of the South African Census 2001 data
for KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), as a hypothetical population. KZN was chosen as this provides a setting with urban
and rural populations, as well as mountainous and flat areas, and so is in some ways similar to Ethiopia.
The questions to be asked of the Ethiopian census data are of the form:
· What exists at a specific location or in a specific area? (eg what health facilities are there, what is the
population)?
· What access does the population have to facilities in the area? Does the road network need to be improved
to resolve the problem of access
· Where are groups of people in greatest need of … (eg where are there clusters of people with disabilities,
and are there facilities for them)
· What are the characteristics of ... (eg female headed households) and what are these related to (eg HIV/AIDS
or migrant labour?)
· What changes need to be made to infrastructure to increase service to communities in need?
The results for the hypothetical population show that there are areas with high unemployment rates, low school
attendance and education levels, high levels of female headed household, and difficulties of access to
educational and health facilities. Many households do not have toilet facilities, and obtain water from rivers,
which could impact on the health of the communities. Migrant workers were investigated to see if these were
likely to be migrants from neighbouring countries, or from other provinces. The numbers in the hypothetical
population in these cases are small, so little can be concluded from this.
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Gene expression studies in Arabidopsis in response to South African Cassava Mosaic Virus infection utilizing microarraysPierce, Erica Joanna 16 November 2006 (has links)
Student Number : 9610284H -
MSc dissertation -
School of Molecular and Cell Biology -
Faculty of Science / Cassava Mosaic Disease is the most devastating disease affecting cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz)
crops worldwide. This disease is associated with eight species of geminiviruses, all belonging to the genus
Begomovirus of the family Geminiviridae. In South Africa, in particular, CMD is caused by South African
cassava mosaic virus (SACMV). Currently, there are no adequate methods for control of this disease as
mechanisms within virus-host interactions are poorly understood. This brings about the need for
development of virus-disease control strategies. This study was therefore conducted to identify the host’s
response to an invading virus. The model plant, Arabidopsis was chosen as it is a well-characterized plant
system, with expression databases readily available as its entire genome has been sequenced. This study
was conducted, firstly, to phenotypically determine if Arabidopsis was resistant or susceptible to SACMV
infection, and secondly, to identify the host’s response to pathogen infection on a molecular level through
gene expression studies utilizing microarrays. Results from the symptomatology study revealed that
Arabidopsis plants were fully symptomatic 28 days post-inoculation, displaying characteristic disease
symptoms such as stunting, yellowing, and leaf deformation. This indicated that Arabidopsis was
susceptible to SACMV infection. Microarray analyses revealed 86 differentially expressed genes, of
which 48 showed up-regulation and 38 down-regulation. Relative quantification real-time PCR was
performed on selected genes to confirm these results. Many up-regulated genes were shown to be
primarily involved in a general stress response induced by the host, whereas those genes that were downregulated
seemed to be involved in more specific responses to viral invasion, probably a consequence of
suppression of host genes by SACMV to enhance its own replication. The majority of genes identified fell
under the predominant functional categories involved in metabolism, transcription, and transport. To our
knowledge, this is the first study in which a DNA geminivirus has been used in a host-pathogen
interaction utilizing microarrays.
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The association of environmental and lifestyle factors with bone mass acquisition in South African children by sex, race and ageMcVeigh, Joanne Alexandra 06 July 2009 (has links)
While osteoporosis is a major public health concern in the developed world, little research
regarding factors influencing bone mineral accrual in children has been conducted in
developing countries. South Africa is of particular interest since the incidence of hip fractures
in South African Blacks has been reported to be amongst the lowest in the world (32; 253). In
this thesis, the association of lifestyle factors; in particular physical activity (PA), socio
economic status (SES) and dietary calcium intakes on the growing skeleton of Black and
White South African children is investigated.
After using accelerometry to validate a physical activity questionnaire (PAQ), in a
convenience sample of South African Black, White, male and female children (n=30), fitness
levels were assessed in a larger group (n=69) of similarly aged children, stratified by race and
gender. Fittest subjects had significantly greater physical activity scores (p=0.022) as reported
on the PAQ, lower body mass index’s (BMI) (p=0.001) and least percentage body fat
(p=0.001) (as assessed using Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA), than least fit
subjects. White males who reported to be significantly more active than all other groups on
the PAQ were significantly fitter (p<0.001) than White females and Black males and females.
The next study sought to determine whether differences observed in physical activity levels
between groups showed an association with bone mineral content (BMC), density (BMD) and
area (BA) (as assessed using DXA). PA was analyzed in terms of a metabolic (METPA;
weighted metabolic score of intensity, frequency, and duration) and a mechanical (MECHPA;sum of all ground reaction forces multiplied by duration) component for 386 children aged 9.5
(0.04) years recruited from a longitudinal birth cohort study. White children expended a
significantly greater energy score (METPA of 21.7 (2.9)) than Black children (METPA of 9.5
(0.5), p< 0.001). When children were divided into quartiles according to the amount and
intensity of sport played, the most active White children had significantly higher (p<0.05)
whole body BMD and higher hip and spine BMC and BMD after adjustment for body size
than less active children. White children in the highest MECHPA quartile also showed
significantly higher (p<0.05) whole body, hip, and spine BMC and BMD after adjustment for
body size than those children in the lowest quartile. No association between PA and bone
mass of Black children was found. No significant differences between METPA and
MECHPA quartiles and BA were observed for any group.
Given the disparate backgrounds from which many South African children come, the next
study sought to determine whether differences in socio-economic status between Black and
White South African children influence PA patterns. This study explored the relationship
between socio-economic status, PA anthropometric and body composition (via DXA)
variables in 381 children aged (9.5 (0.04) years) recruited from a longitudinal birth cohort
study . Children falling into the highest socio-economic status quartile had mothers with the
highest educational levels, generally came from dual parent homes, were most physically
active, watched less television, weighed more and had greater lean tissue than children in
lower socio-economic quartiles (p<0.001). Significantly greater levels of lean mass (p<0.001)
with increased activity level were observed after controlling for television watching time and
fat mass. There were high levels of low physical activity and high television watching time
among lower socio-economic status groups. White children were found to be more active than
Black children, more likely to be offered physical education and to participate in physical
education classes at school and watched less television than Black children.
The final study sought to investigate the association between habitual PA patterns and dietary
calcium intakes with bone mass acquisition over a one year period in 321 pre-pubertal South
African children recruited from a longitudinal birth cohort study. Data were analyzed by
regressing change in BMC and BA from age nine to ten years, against BA (for BMC), height and body weight. The residuals were saved and called residualized BMCGAIN and BAGAIN.
Residualized values provide a good indication of weight, height and BA-matched
accumulation rates. White children had significantly higher PA levels and calcium intakes
than Black children. Most active White males had significantly higher residualized
BMCGAIN and BAGAIN at the whole body, hip and spine but not at the radius, than those
who were less active. Most active White females had significantly higher residualized
BAGAIN at all sites except the radius than less-active girls. No such effects were seen in
Black children. There was no interactive effect on residualized BMCGAIN or BAGAIN for
calcium intake and PA in boys or Black girls, but an interactive and possible synergistic effect
of calcium and physical activity was observed at the spine, radius and hip in White girls. In
this population, PA has an osteogenic association with White children, but not Black children,
which may be explained by the lower levels of PA in the Black children. Despite this, Black
children had significantly greater bone mass at the hip and spine (girls only) (p< 0.001) even
after adjustment for body size.In conclusion, differences between White and Black children’s PA levels were observed, with
White children reporting higher PA levels and exhibiting higher fitness levels than Black
children. Physical fitness correlated well with self reported physical activity levels on the
PAQ and objectively measured body composition. Socio-economic status differences between
White and Black children are highly related to differences in physical activity patterns and
body composition profiles. Bone mass and area gain is accentuated in pre- and early-pubertal
children with highest levels of habitual physical activity. Limited evidence of an effect of
dietary calcium intakes on bone mass in boys and Black girls was found. The role of exercise
in increasing bone mass may become increasingly critical as a protective mechanism against
osteoporosis in both South African race groups, especially because the genetic benefit
exhibited by Black children to higher bone mass may be weakened with time, as
environmental influences become stronger.
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Damon Galgut and the critical reception of South African literatureKostelac, Sofia Lucy 24 June 2014 (has links)
Damon Galgut has been a prolific contributor to South African literature since the early 1980s, but
has only recently gained recognition as a significant presence in our cultural landscape. This thesis
considers what the vicissitudes of Galgut’s critical reception — which have seen him, by turns,
celebrated, ignored and even explicitly discounted as a noteworthy South African author — reveal
about the shifting standards of cultural legitimacy which have been set for local writers since the
late apartheid years. It offers, in turn, an extended close reading of each of his novels and considers
the challenges which they pose to hegemonic assumptions about developments within the field of
South African literature over the past three decades. I demonstrate that no coherent line of transition
can be traced across the individual novels which make up Galgut’s oeuvre. They represent, instead,
shifting degrees of discordance and concordance with an epochal metanarrative of South African
literature and the progressive transformation of the field which it implies. In so doing, they enliven
us to the thematic and aesthetic heterogeneity which has always already constituted the field.
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The Association of HLA Class II Genetic and Expression Level Variation with Response to the Hepatitis B Vaccine in South African Laboratory WorkersGoldfein, Hadassa 01 December 2017 (has links)
Master of Science / The hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine has contributed greatly to decreasing the HBV epidemic. However, it remains unclear why 5-10% of individuals do not mount an adequate antibody response. Previous studies have shown that genetic variation influences HBV vaccine response. Since such studies are lacking in South African individuals, we examined the associations between HBV vaccine response and genetic variation in HLA-DPB1, additional candidate genes and HLA-DPB1 expression levels in a South African cohort. HLA-DPA1 and -DPB1 allele typing was performed using Luminex technology, twenty-four candidate SNPs were typed by MassArray Analysis and HLA-DPB1 mRNA expression levels were measured by qPCR. HLA-DPB1*01:01, *04:01:01G and *09:01 and SNPs and haplotypes in IL1B, IL4, IL12B, IFNG and the HLA region were significantly associated with HBV vaccine response. A trend of lower HLA-DPB1 expression associating with better anti-HBs response was observed, although this was not significant. Response to the HBV vaccine is multi-genic but HLA-DP plays an important role. / CR2017
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In the car with Oliver Schmitz's Hijack stories (2000): The journey of a South African film in translationJacobsohn, Bianca 12 March 2008 (has links)
ABSTRACT: This research report follows the journey of the South African film Hijack
Stories (2000) in translation, looking at the various processes – state,
institutional and individual - which led to the film’s existence. The context of
the South African film industry (institution) during the country’s (state)
apartheid past and democratic present have influenced those involved (the
individuals) in the film-making process as well as their subjectivities. It is
revealed that Hijack Stories (2000) is a film targeted at foreign audiences and
that these audiences ascribe value to South African content. This value is
acquired on the basis of the historical and social circumstances of South
Africa, which has long sustained the interest of the outside world. Hijack
Stories (2000) emerges as a cultural commodity, packaged and marketed
according to the imaginings that the world has of South Africa. Translation
then takes place at the junction of these processes and their related social,
financial, political and historical factors, thereby facilitating the international
circulation of Hijack Stories (2000) within the greater context of globalisation.
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Mining, social change and literature: an analysis of South African literature with particular reference to the mining novel, 1870-1920Hofmeyr, Isabel 27 January 2015 (has links)
No description available.
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Mediating the nation-building agenda in public service broadcasting: convergence active user-generated content (AUGC) for television in KenyaAmbala, Anthony Terah January 2016 (has links)
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, 2016 / The
violence, destruction and
death
of
more
than
1
200
people
resulting
from
the
highly
disputed
2007
election
results
in
Kenya
was
a
considerable
watershed
moment.
It
exposed
the
deep
fragmentation
within
the
nation-‐state
and
became
a
significant
fissure
for
the
simmering
tensions
among
the
42
“tribes”
of
Kenya.
In
the
media-‐scape,
these
events
evinced
the
elitist
and
tribal
hegemony
in
media
ownership
and
revealed,
more
than
ever
before,
that
certain
voices
and
narratives
were
privileged
over
others.
These
events
also
unmasked
recurrent
motifs,
which
illuminated
the
stranglehold
that
the
political,
media
and
economic
elites
wielded
over
media
instruments
and
platforms,
for
their
own
benefit.
This
study
aims
to
explore
the
extent
to
which
active
user-‐generated
content
in
the
digital
media
space
can
intervene
in,
and
disrupt,
some
of
these
exclusionary
practices
in
the
public
service
mediascape,
to
potentially
inspire
a
re-‐imagination
in
this
space
for
nation
building
in
Kenya.
It
is
premised
on
a
participatory
action
research
approach
that
draws
on
theoretical
discourse
on
nationalism
and
nation
building,
as
this
is
the
field
from
which
the
study’s
key
problems
stem
and
where
conceptual
discourses
on
digital
media
converge.
The
study
also
draws
on
participatory
discourses
in
the
media,
as
these
potentially
present
an
emancipatory
platform
for
those
on
the
margins
of
the
hegemonic
centres.
Here
it
mainly
draws
on
Bhabha’s
cultural
difference
theory,
Billig’s
banal
nationalisms,
Jenkins’
ideas
on
convergence
culture,
Carpentier’s
thoughts
on
maximalist
media
participation
and
Thumim’s
assertions
on
self-‐representation
in
the
digital
space.
The
study
also
hinges
on
the
practice-‐informed
pilot
project
titled
Utaifa
Mashinani
Masimulizi
ya
Ukenya
(UMMU)
digital
narratives,
co-‐created
by
the
researcher
together
with
the
Abakuria
(the
Kuria
people)
of
Kenya.
This
is
a
community
marginally
represented
in
the
public
service
broadcasting-‐scape
in
Kenya
and
a
people
whose
narrative
discourse
is
seldom
present
in
the
public
sphere.
The
study
argues
that
broadcast
content
–
not
just
in
Kenya
but
also
in
Africa
–
on
User
Generated
Content
(UGC)
for
broadcasting
predominantly
focuses
on
passive
forms
of
UGC
rather
than
Active
User
Generated
Content
(AUGC)
-‐
a
term
coined
in
this
study
to
refer
to
user-‐generated
content
that
entails
a
more
meaningful,
emancipatory
and
empowering
form
of
participation
amongst
those
traditionally
referred
to
as
consumers
of
broadcast
content.
It
contends
that
although
many
contemporary
television
broadcasters
around
the
world
continue
to
create
a
perception
of
increasing
and
robust
audience
participation
in
televised
content,
in
Kenya
this
is
certainly
not
the
case.
It
argues
that
significant
forms
of
current
participation
on
television
are
illusionary,
minimalist
and
futile,
as
they
largely
entrench
television’s
balance
of
power
among
the
media
elites.
Ordinary
people
are
often
‘invited’
to
participate
in
broadcasting,
but
their
entry
point
into
these
narratives
tends
to
be
limited
to
accessing
already-‐completed
narratives
and
engaging
in
what
constitutes
token
participation,
with
minimal,
and
in
most
cases,
no
impact
on
the
story,
its
conception,
distribution
and
socio-‐ economic
benefits.
Drawing
on
insights
from
the
UMMU
project,
the
study
proposes
that
AUGC
can
potentially
disrupt
some
of
the
existing
tropes
and
motifs
in
the
Public
Service
Mediascape
opening
up
spaces
for
multiple
and
diverse
voices
and
narratives
in
Kenya.
This
potentially
enables
active
participation
from
constituencies
that
have
traditionally
been
on
the
margins
of
the
Kenyan
nation-‐state
to
partake
in
the
nation
building
process. / XL2018
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289 |
The projectionist: a novelWarring, Susan January 2017 (has links)
Submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Creative Writing., July 2012 / XL2018
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290 |
The last mentschBayer, Peter January 2013 (has links)
A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Creative Writing, 2013 / Towards the end of the very last chapter, I visited Yitzhak in his room behind the shop in Hunter Street, Yeoville. He was shrouded in the smell of Old Man farts, listening to the sound of the labouring Dora Lipschitz, painfully nurdling down the pavement supported by her aluminium walking frame. [No abstract provided. Information taken from the first page]. / XL2018
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