Thesis (M.Dev. (Planning and Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2017 / The central focus of this study was to investigate the contributions of informal trading towards urban livelihoods in Polokwane CBD. A multiplicity of stressors and shocks affect informal trading and its contributions towards urban livelihoods. Third world African countries like Nigeria and Ghana inter alia take cognizance of the countless external pressures and shocks that affect informal trading and its contributions towards urban livelihoods. The South African reality is not any different, the local political, social, economic and environmental elements that characterize the second economy provides evidence of the countless stressors and shocks facing the practice of informal trade. As a result, specific working objectives were formulated as follows: to understand the typologies, characteristics and challenges of informal trading, to evaluate the determinants of urban livelihoods, to analyze the contributions of informal trading towards urban livelihoods; and, to recommend possible measures that would improve informal trading and its contributions towards urban livelihoods. The study utilizes evaluation analysis; evaluation based analysis allows for the appraisal of disaggregated contributions of various informal trading activities on urban livelihoods. In addition, the study employs both qualitative and quantitative research approaches; hence, the use of descriptions, classifications and making connections will form an integral part of the data analysis. The study adopts non-probability convenience sampling in that the study area is convenient, accessible and comprises the required features. Various data collection methods were used in this study, including: literature review, questionnaire survey and observations. Importantly, the contributions of informal trading towards urban livelihoods is predominantly an area of contestation given various informal sector prospects and impediments. Furthermore, a host of challenges, stressors and shocks affect the contributions of informal trading towards urban livelihoods in Polokwane city CBD. Various economic, political, societal and environmental stressors are regarded as negatively affecting informal trading. The study argues that numerous challenges, stressors and shocks impinge on the abilities of informal trading to positively contribute towards urban livelihoods notwithstanding their capacity to absorb and seemingly sustain the indigent urbanites. The findings of the study exhibit that multiple internal and external stressors, shocks and trails that form part of the second economy deleteriously affect informal trading and its contributions towards urban livelihoods at Polokwane CBD, Limpopo Province.

This thesis discusses the global regime complex concerning the management of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, and how different regimes concerning these resources cooperate or stand in opposition to each other. Because of changes in US patent law and the establishment of TRIPS, patent claims over plant genetic resources has increased dramatically globally. This, amongst other things, in turn has lead to the development of CBD which in turn lead to the creation of access and benefit laws in many countries. To create a free flow of genetic resources for food and agriculture the ITPGRFA, with its multilateral system, were negotiated. The aim of this thesis is to investigate which consequences the regime complex concerning plant genetic resources for food and agriculture can have on the rights of small farmers, agricultural research and food security in the global South. The thesis shows how patents and strict access laws creates a situation where more and more actors has exclusive rights which excludes others from using these, for the global food security, essential resources. Further it is shown that there also are processes going on within the UPOV that risk to take away farmers right to save seeds, and thereby make them dependent on the more and more monopolistic global seed markets dominated by a few multinational corporations. It is established that ITPGRFAs multilateral system is an opening in this hyperownership of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture; but that the international community at the same time has to see to that the patent claims on plant genetic resources not violate farmers’ rights to their resources. / Denna uppsats behandlar det globala regimkomplexet för förvaltningen av växtgenetiska resurser för livsmedel och jordbruk, samt hur avtalen rörande dessa resurser samverkar eller står i motsättning till varandra. I och med förändringar i amerikansk patentlagstiftning och upprättandet av TRIPS har patentanspråk på växtgenetiska resurser ökat dramatiskt, vilket i sin tur påverkade tillkomsten av CBD vilken innefattar upprättandet av lagstiftning rörande tillträde till och den rättvisa fördelningen av nyttor härstammande från, genetiska resurser. För att möjliggöra ett relativt fritt flöde av växtgenetiska resurser har ITPGRFA med dess multilaterala system fram förhandlats. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka vilka konsekvenser den nuvarande globala förvaltningen av växtgenetiska resurser för livsmedel och jordbruk kan få för jordbruksforskning, småbönders rättigheter och matsäkerhet i Syd. Uppsatsen visar på hur patent och tillträdeslagstiftningar skapar en situation där fler och fler parter innehar rättigheter att utestänga andra från att nyttja dessa, för den globala matsäkerheten, essentiella resurser. Vidare visas på hur det samtidigt pågår processer inom UPOV som riskerar att undanta bönder rätten att spara utsäde och därmed göra dem beroende av de i allt högre grad monopolartade frömarknaderna, vilka domineras av att fåtal multinationella företag. Här konstateras även att ITPGRFAs multilaterala system är en öppning i detta hyperägande, men att det internationella samfundet samtidigt måste försäkra att patentanspråk inte kränker bönders rättigheter till sina resurser.

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Ce projet de recherche porte sur l’étude de la régulation des systèmes cannabinoïdes et vanilloïdes chez Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), dans le but d’évaluer les effets antinociceptifs du tétrahydrocannabinol (THC) et du cannabidiol (CBD). C. elegans est un modèle largement utilisé pour étudier la nociception, visant principalement à caractériser les réponses nociceptives induites par le THC et le CBD, ainsi qu’à identifier les mécanismes et les cibles moléculaires impliqués. Les résultats des études sur l’utilisation du cannabis dans le traitement de la douleur chronique chez les mammifères sont controversés. Cette recherche vise à étudier l’effet du CBD et du THC sur la réponse nociceptive chez C. elegans et à approfondir la compréhension des mécanismes pharmacologiques sous-jacents. La méthodologie consiste à quantifier l’effet antinociceptif du CBD et du THC chez C. elegans par la méthode de la thermotaxie. Les nématodes sauvages (N2) étaient exposés à des concentrations croissantes de phytocannabinoïdes pour évaluer la relation concentration-effet. D’autres tests étaient effectués sur des souches mutantes exprimant des récepteurs cannabinoïdes et vanilloïdes afin d’identifier préalablement leurs cibles. Enfin, les analyses protéomiques et bioinformatiques seront effectuées pour identifier les voies de signalisation et les processus biologiques induits par l’interaction entre les phytocannabinoïdes et leurs cibles. Cette étude démontre l’activité antinociceptive du CBD et du THC chez C. elegans avec des effets rémanents pour THC, en ciblant respectivement le vanilloïde pour le CBD et le cannabinoïde pour les systèmes THC. Les analyses protéomiques et bio-informatiques mettent en évidence des différences significatives dans leurs voies de signalisation et leurs processus biologiques. / The objective of this research project was to focus on studying the regulation of cannabinoid and vanilloid systems in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) to evaluate the anti-nociceptive effects of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). C. elegans is a widely used model for studying nociception, with the main objective being to characterize nociceptive responses induced by THC and CBD, as well as identify the underlying molecular mechanisms and targets involved. Recent studies on the use of cannabis for the treatment of chronic pain in mammals have shown controversial results. This research aims to investigate the effect of CBD and THC on the nociceptive response in C. elegans and understand the underlying pharmacological mechanisms. The methodology consisted in quantifying the antinociceptive effect of CBD and THC in C. elegans using the thermotaxis method. WT(N2) were exposed to decreasing concentrations of phytocannabinoids to evaluate the dose and effect relationship. Further tests performed on mutant expressing cannabinoid and vanilloid receptors allowed preliminarily identification of their targets. Finally, proteomic and bioinformatics analyses were used to identify the signaling pathways and biological processes induced by these phytocannabinoids. The result of this study confirmed the antinociceptive effect of CBD and THC in C. elegans, with a remanent effect of THC. This effect is mediated by the vanilloid system for CBD and the cannabinoid system for THC, respectively. Also, proteomics and bioinformatics analyses revealed significant differences in signaling pathways and biological processes.

This thesis provides an analysis of recent attempts to regulate the governance of genetic resources through the initiation of new global commons regimes. These attempts have arisen out of a combination of the growing recognition of genetic resources' value and global nature; a new resurgence in support for the common property paradigm; and, during a period in which the world is becoming increasingly globalised, with many governance competencies moving to the supranational level. They can be viewed as part of a broader effort to proffer the common property approach as a legitimate alternative in the property regime debate: a debate that has increasingly become trapped in the public-private dichotomy at the dawn of the twenty-first century. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the success of these attempts, and offer suggestions about how future attempts might be more successful. While there are a multitude of books, articles, opinion pieces and media reports produced that concern themselves with property theory, intellectual property theory, the efficacy or morality of applying property regimes to living materials, and the threats and promises of globalisation, all of which influence the notion of a potential global genetic commons, relatively little has been written directly on the idea of applying global common property regimes to genetic resource governance issues. The first part of this thesis constructs a theory of a global genetic commons, drawing inspiration from a variety of sources, while the second part tests this theory in order to analyse the outcomes of the recent attempts, and suggest directions for future research. The thesis finds that the conception of a global genetic commons is indeed a valid one, and that while not all attempts so far have been successful, the common property paradigm does offer valuable insights for the future governance of genetic resources at the global level.

The thesis deals with the modeling of the Component Based Software (CBS) systems in the UML language and with extension of the UML language with using of meta-modeling techniques and with using of the UML Prodile technology. Thesis also deals with Component Based Development (CBD). The main part of this study deals with specifying of methodology for creating of UML Prodiles and with demonstration of this methodology on selected Component System meta-model by creating the profile including the OCL constraints and description of problems with creating of the prodile. Thesis also describes support of the UML Profile technology in existing UML CASE tools. For demonstration purposes thesis contains the case study with example which uses in this work created UML Profile. Profile is created in accordance with specification of UML version 2.3 and OCL in version 2.2. Demonstration is performed and profile itself is created using IBM Rational Software Architect version 8.0.2.

<p>  </p> <p>Environmental conditions, like light quality and herbivory, can induce changes in plant physiology. Light quality can be manipulated using LEDs (light emitting diodes) to improve crop quality and yield in horticultural production. The manipulation of light quality has also been utilized in the management of agricultural insect pests. Previous research has provided evidence that changes in light quality can have effects on the growth and chemistry of cannabis crops (<em>Cannabis spp.</em>). Varieties of cannabis are grown for the production of the valued cannabinoids CBD and THC. Pest of cannabis include herbivorous arthropods that reduce hemp yield and quality. Arthropod herbivory can induce chemical and physical changes in plants. This thesis further investigates the role of light quality on both cannabis biology and the crop-pest interaction between cannabis and the cannabis aphid (<em>Phorodon cannabis</em>). In the experiments described herein, the effects of light quality and <em>P. cannabis </em>herbivory on cannabis were assessed by measuring impact on biomass accumulation, yield, and the production of CBD and THC. The effects of light quality on the life history traits of <em>P. cannabis </em>were also measured. Cannabis grown under red-blue light quality saw a reduction in vegetative growth but no reduction in yield. Light treatments had no measured effect on the concentrations of CBD and THC in the cannabis buds. Aphid herbivory decreased bud yield but increased vegetative growth. Aphid herbivory reduced the concentration of both CBD and THC in cannabis bud tissue. Under blue-rich light quality, <em>P. cannabis </em>experienced higher reproductive rates when compared to red-blue and full-spectrum lighting. </p>

Photoelectrodes and photovoltaic devices have been prepared via multiple thin film deposition methods. Aerosol assisted chemical vapour deposition (AACVD), electrodeposition (ED), chemical bath deposition (CBD) and doctor blade technique (DB) have been used to deposit binary and ternary metal oxide films on FTO glass substrates. The prepared thin films were characterised by a combination of SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy), powder X-ray diffraction, mechanical strength tests and photochemical measurements. Nickel oxide (NiO) thin films prepared by AACVD were determined to have good mechanical strength . with a photocurrent of 7.6 μA cm-2 at 0 V and an onset potential of about 0.10 V. This contrasted with the dark current density of 0.3 μA cm-2 at 0 V. These NiO samples have very high porosity with crystalline columns evidenced by SEM. In comparison with the AACVD methodology, NiO films prepared using a combination of ED and DB show good mechanical strength but a higher photocurrent of 24 μA cm-2 at 0 V and an onset potential of about 0.10 V with a significantly greater dark current density of 7 μA cm-2 at 0 V. The characteristic features shown in the SEM are smaller pores compared to the AACVD method. Copper (II) oxide (CuO) and copper (I) oxide (Cu2O) films were fabricated by AACVD by varying the annealing temperature between 100-325°C in air using a fixed annealing time of 30 min. It was shown by photocurrent density (J-V) measurements that CuO produced at 325 °C was most stable and provided the highest photocurrent of 173 μA cm-2 at 0 V with an onset potential of about 0.23 V. The alignment of zinc oxide (ZnO) nano-rods and nano-tubes fabricated by CBD have been shown to be strongly affected by the seed layer on the FTO substrate. SEM images showed that AACVD provided the best seed layer for aligning the growth of the nano-rods perpendicular to the surface. Nano-rods were successfully altered into nano-tubes using a potassium chloride bath etching method. NiO prepared by both AACVD and the combined ED/DB method were sensitized to absorb more of the solar spectrum using AACVD to deposit CuO over the NiO. A large increase in the photocurrent was observed for the p-type photoelectrode. These p-type photoelectrode showed a photocurrent density of approximately 100 μA cm-2 at 0 V and an onset potential of 0.3 V. This photocathode was then used as a base to produce a solid state p-type solar cell. For the construction of the solid state solar cells several n-type semiconductors were used, these were ZnO, WO3 and BiVO4. WO3 and BiVO4 were successfully produced with BiVO4 proving to be the optimum choice. This cell was then studied more in depth and optimised by controlling the thickness of each layer and annealing temperatures. The best solid state solar cell produced had a Jsc of 0.541 μA cm-2 (541 nA) and a Voc of 0.14 V, TX146 made up of NiO 20 min, CuFe2O4 50 min, CuO 10 min, BiVO4 27 min, using AACVD and then annealed for 30 min at 600°C.

<p>Legislation on benefit sharing dates back to 1992 and the commandment of the UNConvention on Biological Diversity, hence implementation still has few cases to fall back on(CBD, 1992). The case study of the project ProBenefit presented by the thesis highlights howlack of deliberation can undermine a democratic process. The objective of the thesis is thatProBenefit’s attempt to implement the standards of the CBD on access and benefit sharingwill highlight not only problems met by this specific project, but difficulties that generallymeet democratic processes in contexts of high inequality. To define if the project ProBenefitsucceeded in carrying out a deliberative process the project will be analyzed by the criteria:access to information, representation, legitimacy and involvement.The population in the project area of ProBenefit had a long history of social marginalization,which made it hard for foreign projects to gain legitimacy. The lack of independentorganizations and the late establishment of the project, which resulted in time shortage, madeit impossible to prevent the distrust of the local population. The failure of the projectcoordinators to ensure active participation of all stakeholders resulted in a late and lowinvolvement of the local participants. The absence of independent organization also madedemocratic legitimacy of the process questionable. Even if ProBenefit had a vision ofdemocratic deliberation the project was unable to break down the prevailing unequal powerdistribution which resulted in an unsustainable process and failure. The conclusion of thethesis is that the attainment of deliberation foremost depends on how a project deals with theexisting distribution of power and how it succeeds in involving all stakeholders.</p>

El objetivo de la tesis es definir una metodología de desarrollo de aplicaciones de tiempo real basadas en componentes, orientada a aplicaciones cuyos requisitos temporales se especifican utilizando un modelo reactivo de comportamiento temporal. La metodología se construye en base a extensiones que incorporan a las especificaciones, modelos de referencia y procesos estándares propios de la ingeniería de componentes convencionales, esto es, sin requisitos temporales, los datos y los procesos necesarios para la especificación, diseño y análisis de los aspectos relativos al comportamiento temporal. La metodología se sustenta en cuatro contribuciones principales:- Se propone la metodología de modelado modular del comportamiento temporal Mod-MAST, que permite construir el modelo de una aplicación basada en componentes por composición de los modelos de los componentes que la forman. - Se propone la extensión RT-D&C de la especificación Deployment and Configuration of Component-based Distributed Applications de OMG, que permite incluir metadatos relativos a comportamiento temporal en los descriptores de componentes, plataformas de ejecución y aplicaciones. - Se especifica la tecnología de componentes RT-CCM como una extensión de la especificación estándar Lightweight CCM de OMG, que añade los mecanismos necesarios para desarrollar aplicaciones con comportamiento temporal predecible.- Se propone la tecnología de componentes Ada-CCM como implementación concreta de RT-CCM basada en el lenguaje de programación Ada 2005.Todos estos elementos se integran en un proceso completo de diseño de tiempo real de aplicaciones basadas en componentes. / The objective of this work is to define a methodology for the development of real-time component-based applications, focused on applications whose timing requirements are specified according to a reactive model of the timing behaviour. The methodology is built through a set of extensions that incorporate to the standard specifications, reference models and processes typical from the conventional components engineering, i.e. components without timing requirements, the data structures and the processes required for the specification, design and analysis of the aspects related to timing behaviour. The methodology relies on four main contributions:- The Mod-MAST modular modelling methodology, which allows building the real-time model of a component-based application by composing the models of the components that form it.- The RT-D&C extension of the Deployment and Configuration of Component-based Distributed Applications Specification of the OMG, which allows including metadata related to timing behaviour in the descriptors of components, execution platforms and applications.- The RT-CCM components technology, which is an extension of the standard Lightweight CCM Specification of the OMG that incorporates mechanisms to develop applications with predictable timing behaviour.- The Ada-CCM components technology has been developed. It is an implementation of the RT-CCM technology based on the Ada 2005 programming language.All these elements have been integrated in a complete real-time design process for component-based applications.