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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

No description available.

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

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

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