Cerebral palsy (CP) causes complex motor and sensory impairments. The motor impairments are well documented in the literature. More recently, researchers have focused on the sensory impairments associated with CP. Sensory modulation disorders (SMD) are identified when children are unable to adequately regulate and grade their responses to sensory inputs to such an extent that it significantly impairs their ability to participate in various areas of occupation. Although there is evidence that children with CP present with SMD, there is no evidence that different types of CP present with different sensory modulation patterns (SMP). The Sensory Profile 2, a well-recognised, standardised questionnaire, was completed by 154 parents/guardians of learners diagnosed with CP, aged between 5.0 to 14.11 years old, in order to (i) determine the predominant SMP in children with CP and (ii) determine whether significant differences existed between the different subtypes of CP. The registration (72.73%) and avoiding (53.90%) patterns were the most prevalent in the CP group. The CP group had a high prevalence of body position (77.92%), movement (56.49%), visual processing (53.25%), and social-emotional (55.84%) difficulties. There was a significant difference between the mean score in the body position processing section (p=0.000) between the ataxic (n=21), dyskinetic (n=21), spastic diplegic (n=61), and spastic hemiplegic (n=49) subtypes. Furthermore, some proportional differences existed between some subtypes. The ataxic and dyskinetic subtypes had a higher percentage of participants scoring out of the norm, reflecting more SMD than the other subtypes. Touch processing difficulties were common in the spastic hemiplegic subtype, which is consistent with clinical observations. The spastic diplegic subtype presented with fewer SMD than the other subtypes. The study confirmed the presence of SMD in children with CP and provided some statistical evidence that different types of CP present with different SMP. These findings will assist occupational therapists to assess and treat these impairments more effectively. / Dissertation (MOccupational Therapy)--University of Pretoria, 2018. / Occupational Therapy / MOccupational Therapy / Unrestricted

This study interrogated the softness and hardness of the law of IFIs to determine the extent to which underlying accountability mechanisms have achieved or failed to achieve the level of accountability and justice expected by affected non-state third parties. It also aimed at investigating the process of financing for development in order to further the understanding of the challenges of holding IFIs to account for the unintended consequences of the projects they have funded. The study critically examined the legal accountability mechanisms of selected IFIs at the institutional, international, and domestic levels to highlight their strengths and weaknesses. The study showed that the robustness, practicability, and comprehensiveness of the standards against which the performance of IFIs is assessed are the determining factors of a better accountability process outcome. An outcome which truly advances the interests of an account holder without diluting his/her/it legally protected rights. However, the legal framework of IFI-operations does not provide the same standard of protections to IFIs, their clients, and affected non-state third parties. While the first two categories of stakeholders seem to enjoy a robust protection, laws and policies have been used sparingly regarding the protection of the last category of stakeholders. The weakness of the standards that apply to affected non-state third parties during the design, appraisal, and implementation of IFI-funded projects does not enhance a prospect of an accountability process outcome which truly advances the interest of this category of stakeholders. The study made some recommendations, including a shift in the focus of existing laws and policies towards a greater protection of the interests of affected non-state third parties. It also recommended the inclusion of community development agreements in the overall project structure to ensuring that affected non-state third parties and other local stakeholders benefit from an IFI-funded project. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2018. / Centre for Human Rights / LLD / Unrestricted

Ascites or pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) syndrome is a significant cause of mortality in modern fast-growing broilers that are raised at high altitude. Damage caused by temperature to the cardio-vascular system during embryo development is often overlooked as an important predisposing factor to ascites experienced on the farm. Eggs from a 38 week-old Ross 308 flock were exposed to three temperature treatments. One group was exposed to 36.8oC (cool), the second group to 37.5oC (control) and the third group to 38.2oC (hot). Relative humidity ranged from 55-59% in all groups. These treatments were used throughout the incubation period. Vascularisation of the chorio-allantoic membrane (CAM) was used as an indirect measure of embryonic blood vessel reaction to temperature insult. Vascular fraction (VF), density and fractal dimension (FD) and branching of blood vessels were assessed using a stereo microscope. The control had significantly lower (p<0.001) VF and FD compared to both hot and cool groups suggesting that high and low temperatures in incubators and hatchers trigger vascular compensation. High temperature during embryonic development resulted in significantly lower heart mass in both the control (p<0.002) and the hot (p<0.001) groups compared to the cool treatment. A smaller heart will limit the ability of the fast growing broiler to compensate for low oxygen levels at high altitude and thus be prone to ascites. Formation of the embryo muscle mass was significantly reduced in hot (p<0.001) and the control (p<0.007) groups compared to the cool treatment. In this study embryo mass was reported as yolk-free body mass (YFBM). The hot treatment had significantly (p<0.001) lower (1 843g) body mass at 35 days of age when slaughtered compared to the cool and control groups that averaged 2 107g and 2 130, respectively. There was, however, no statistical difference (p<0.178) on heart mass (HM) to YFBM ratio amongst all three temperature treatment groups. Mortality due to ascites was double (53%) in the hot group compared to the control and cool treatments which were similar. The difference in mortality was significant at p<0.001. This very high mortality in the hot group is likely to have skewed the right ventricle to total ventricular (RV: TV) ratio which was the same to that of the cool treatment at 0.26. This falls within the range of a normal fowl. Birds in the control group had higher (0.28) RV: TV ratio which indicated susceptibility to ascites. Feed conversion for the control group was 2.94% better (1.517) than the cool group (1.563) and 5.2% better than the hot treatment (1.601), the differences were not significant between the hot and control group and slaughter. The combined farm performance variables expressed in terms of an efficiency factor (PEF) showed that the control group (292) performed 4.8% better than the cool group (278) and 47.6% better than the hot group (153). Bacterial growth in yolks from eggs in the hot treatments was recorded in 19.2% of the samples, with 12% being gram-negative bacteria. Only 3% and 3.7% of samples from the control and cool groups, respectively, had bacterial growth. Of the bacteria isolated in the cool treatment group, all were gram-negative isolates. As the incubation and setter temperature increased, so has the number of positive samples. Statistically, bacterial growth was significantly (p<0,024) higher in the hot treatment compared to the cool and control groups combined. / Dissertation (MMedVet)--University of Pretoria, 2018. / Production Animal Studies / MMedVet / Unrestricted

No abstract / Church History and Church Policy / PhD / Unrestricted

The amount of video content generated increases daily, three hundred hours of video content is uploaded to YouTube every 60 seconds1. There exists a need to sort, summarise, describe, categorise and retrieve video data based on the content (i.e. the activities occurring in the video). Activity recognition (i.e. automatically naming activities) is an important area for video analysis. Activity recognition has applications in robotics, video surveillance, multimedia retrieval, behaviour analysis, disaster warning systems and content-based browsing. Automatically categorising activities given a video clip poses two main challenges, namely object detection and motion learning. An activity recognition system must detect and localise the agent as well as learn to categorise the action the agent is performing. This research hypothesises that learning models incorporating spatial and temporal aspects from video data should outperform models that learn only spatial or temporal features on activity recognition learning tasks. The above hypothesis is investigated by developing two deep learning architectures for activity recognition that learn temporally independent and dependent features respectively.minima do not exist. A recurrent network (structurally constrained gated recurrent unit (SCGRU)) that adds contextual feature learning to gated recurrent units (GRUs) is proposed. Adding contextual features stabilises the hidden state of a GRU layer. The approach taken to investigate activity recognition architectures in this research involved examining the architectures on four benchmark datasets and analysing the results to 1) find the best model for activity recognition, 2) examine the model’s ability to learn salient temporal features, and 3) examine the model’s computational complexity. SCGRU based models outperform GRU based models on the majority of the investigated activity recognition models and datasets. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / MEng / Unrestricted

This study takes place in the investigation of two aspects. The first was the process of translation and adaptation of the play Razor in the Flesh (1967) by the Brazilian playwright Plinio Marcos to South African English and its respective context, followed by a free adaptation for the context of 2017 in Pretoria. The second aspect was a reflection of the staging process of the same play from the director's perspective in a transcultural environment. Regarding the translation process, I sought in Walter Benjamin�s theory of translation, a translational methodology that could extract the essence of the text, that is, translate, transfer the poetic power of the original work to the new language and to the new context. In parallel with Benjamin's translational theory, I sought in Pavis the understanding of the translational process of the theatrical text and the cultural shift of signs from the original work to the arrival context and the embodied performance. It was a process coordinated from the foreign director�s perspective who seeks to give the conceptual references of his practical work through reflections and quotes from various theorists and theatre directors that served as a basis for research. It is a theoretical and reflexive accompaniment of the phases that made up the staging process of Razor in the Flesh (2017). / Dissertation (MA (Drama))--University of Pretoria, 2018. / Drama / MA (Drama)

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the leadership styles of black top managers, employee commitment and business performance in state-owned enterprises. With the transformation policies implemented in a post-democratic South Africa, the appointment of black managers into top management positions, in state-owned South African organisations, came with negative connotations and stereotypes attached to African leadership. These connotations have led to a concern about the ability of black managers to provide effective leadership in organisations. Whilst it is critical to appreciate that the business performance of an organisation is influenced by a cocktail of factors, indeed, leadership capability is often primarily questioned when strategic objectives are not achieved. It is for these reasons that the objective of this study sought to identify the prevalent leadership styles displayed by black top managers and to determine if these styles have any association with employee commitment and the business performance of State-owned Enterprises (SOEs). The study also explored the possible role of span of control in moderating the relationship between leadership styles and employee commitment. The study is grounded on the positivism philosophy. A deductive approach was employed to formulate the hypotheses so as to respond to the objectives of this study. A non-probability sampling method, specifically the judgemental sampling technique, was used to select black top managers in the SOEs. A survey method was employed to collect primary data in a cross-sectional manner from 232 direct reports of 38 black top managers in the state-owned enterprises in South Africa. The information collected was complemented by secondary data about the span of control of black top managers and the business performance of their units. Statistical analysis of collected data revealed that respondents perceived black top managers to predominantly display a transformational leadership style coupled with a contingent reward facet of the transactional leadership style. It was also observed that the transformational leadership style displayed a relationship with the affective commitment of employees. The study also found that as the span of control increases, the management by exception (Active) facet of transactional leadership style moderates the relationship between leadership style and organisational commitment. The findings of this study contribute to the building of a body of knowledge on African leadership within the context of management literature. This is owing to the fact that it provides invaluable insight to the leadership behaviour displayed by black top managers in SOEs within a South African context. While caution on attempts to generalise the study’s findings is necessary, in the studied population, top managers in South African SOEs and indeed their organisations may benefit from displaying a transformational leadership style as it lends itself to employee commitment. Further, the study also provides insights on moderating effect that span of control has in the mix of leadership style and employee commitment. The study contributes to theory and practice in the territory of leadership in an African context by highlighting the predominant usage of the transformational leadership style among black top CEOs in SOEs in South Africa, perhaps owing to the societal premium placed on the unique Ubuntu notion in South Africa. Besides this, the study also empirically demonstrates the link between the Management by Exception facet of the transactional leadership style and the affective commitment of employees. The implication of this finding is that black top managers SOEs that invest in the development practices coincident, particularly when spans of control are high, can engender levels of commitment in their employees that would prove beneficial to the organisation. / Business Management / PhD / Unrestricted

Preface Members of the Botryosphaeriaceae represent a diverse family of fungi with over 180 species. They have been reported from a wide range of hosts occurring as endophytes, saprophytes or pathogens. These fungi are commonly referred to as latent opportunistic pathogens as they cause disease when the host is under abiotic or biotic stress. Symptoms associated with infection include tip die-back, stem and branch cankers, fruit rots, leaf spots and in severe cases mortality of trees. However, they are best known as canker and die-back pathogens on woody plants including species such as Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae). This dissertation focusses on the Botryosphaeriaceae on native and introduced Myrtaceae in southern and eastern Africa and aimed to increase current scientific knowledge of these fungi in the region. The literature review of this dissertation provides background to the research chapter by discussing the historic taxonomic changes in the Botryosphaeriaceae, and the current methods used for identification and classification of the species in this family. Furthermore, it summarizes the knowledge pertaining to Botryosphaeriaceae species on Eucalyptus and native Myrtaceae trees, particularly in eastern and southern Africa. Importantly, it considers fungal host jumps/shifts and their future impact in relation to Eucalyptus plantation forestry in Africa. Consideration is also given to the biology, ecology and possible future impacts of the Botryosphaeriaceae. Eucalyptus is the largest genus in the family Myrtaceae. Most species in this genus originates from Australia and were introduced to other countries as non-natives. In most parts of the world, Eucalyptus plantations are established in close proximity to native trees making it possible for pathogens to move from the native to the non-native trees and vice versa. This movement could result in considerable damage to the Eucalyptus plantations and the native trees. Chapter two of this dissertation focuses on identifying the Botryosphaeriaceae species occurring on both native and the non-native Myrtaceae trees in the Limpopo Province of South Africa and selected countries in southern and eastern Africa. Furthermore, it aimed at understanding the implications of the host jumps/shifts between the native and the non-native trees and their importance in relation to plantation forestry in eastern and southern Africa. This was achieved by sampling trees from South Africa, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Species resembling Botryosphaeriaceae were identified to species level using multi-gene DNA sequence data. To study the implications of the host jumps/shifts on Eucalyptus plantations, isolates obtained from native Myrtaceae trees were tested for pathogenicity under glasshouse conditions. The work presented in this dissertation provides a foundation of knowledge regarding the occurance and distribution of Botryosphaeriaceae species on several native Myrtaceae and Eucalyptus trees in eastern and southern Africa. This information is especially important in light of the fact that the areas from which isolates were obtained had not been considered previously. Furthermore, it suggests future directions to better understand the biology and taxonomy, movement, role and influence of Botryosphaeriaceae species on both native and non-native Myrtaceae trees. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Microbiology and Plant Pathology / MSc / Unrestricted

Background: A landfill site is a site for the disposal of waste materials and it is the oldest form of waste treatment. In developing countries, informal recycling proves effective in reducing the amount of waste disposed of at landfills, thus prolonging their lifespan. Waste reclaimers make a living by selling the reclaimed waste to buy-back centres that act as middlemen between waste reclaimers and recycling facilities. As the informal reclaiming sector advances and continues to benefit waste management systems, growing concerns persist regarding the wellbeing of reclaimers while on landfills. Health and safety at the workplace is addressed directly in the Sustainable Development Goal Targets of the department of environmental affairs. However, implementation of these goals is not clearly cascaded to municipalities. There are an estimated 88 000 waste reclaimers in South Africa. The personal exposure levels of waste reclaimers to particulate matter with a 50% median cut point at an aerodynamic diameter of 4 m (PM4) at landfills as well as the respiratory symptoms resulting from such exposure are not known in South Africa, particularly at the Onderstepoort landfill site located in the City of Tshwane. Aim: The overall study aim was to determine if there is any association between personal and ambient PM4 exposure of waste reclaimers at the selected landfill site and their respiratory symptoms. Method: The study applied a cross-sectional epidemiology design. Personal PM4 and soot exposure measurement and respiratory symptoms assessment were conducted over a period of nine days in autumn (April 2016). Soil samples were collected to determine if the chemical composition was traceable to the soil in the area. Results and discussions: PM4 exposure was well below regulated limits. However, the 1 mg/m3 proposed limit as recommended by the Institute of Occupational Medicine, Australian Institute of Occupational Hygiene and the British trade union congress, was exceeded. Silica (alpha-quartz) was further detected in two personal samples. A high silica (non-specific) content of was also found in three soil samples. Thus, silica exposure may be traceable to the soil used for waste compaction. There may also be variation in the soil used for waste compaction. No significant association between personal PM4 or soot exposure and respiratory symptoms was detected. However, the number of years of working on the landfill was a significant predictor for reporting of cough symptoms and nasal congestion. Age and currently having a cold were risk factors for having phlegm. Conclusion and recommendations: Age, daily work hours, years of working on the landfill, personal soot exposure and being a former smoker were found to be predictors for respiratory symptoms in the univariate analyses. Further studies with larger sample sizes are required to determine the extent of risk factors associated with working on landfills. The lack of association between personal PM4 and respiratory symptoms may have been a result of the type of study design, i.e. cross-sectional design. Seasonal variation may present variations in symptoms. Fieldwork was only conducted during nine days in April 2016. The presence of alpha-quartz silica in the personal samples should be investigated further to determine if levels exceed prescribed limits. Further investigation is required to determine the impact of soil variation in the landfill on waste reclaimers particulate exposures and respiratory symptoms they experience. Control measures should be aimed at maintaining low particulate exposure levels. Personal soot exposure levels may be an indication of exposure to fossil fuels such as diesel particulates from the waste offloading trucks. This may warrant further studies to investigate diesel particulate exposure on the landfill. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2018. / School of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH) / MSc / Unrestricted

The focus of this study was to look at the Sepedi narratives which depict morality as well as didacticism. The point of departure was the fact that the previous researchers were not in agreement when it comes to the issue of moral and didactic lessons which are derived from the narratives. Some of them found the two to be the same whereas the others pointed out the difference without elaborating further on them. As a result, the first thing was to clear this confusion by explaining the concepts morality and didacticism, trace their origin and also examine the theories that are used to describe them. In doing that, it was found that morality is an unplanned event which can be influenced by external factors. Although one’s morality can be a hereditary factor, the upbringing, one’s environment, the culture as well as the interaction with people can have an influence on one’s moral conduct. Morality is a process that takes place from birth up to death since people learn new things daily in their lives. On the other hand, didacticism, refers to a process where one learns from other people. It is an intentional process and has objectives that should be achieved. Education can be taught the traditional way or modern way. The traditional one is the one that is taught at homes during upbringing, can be taught at the initiation schools where culture is mostly taught, and also in the community by elderly people with the aim of passing the culture and practices from one generation to the next. The aim of this traditional education is to restore culture. This kind of education follows a certain curriculum that aims at achieving the objectives related to the culture. However, this curriculum is not written down since it is passed from one generation to the other by word of mouth. With regards to the modern one, it is taught at different educational institutions and it follows a particular curriculum. The aim of this kind of education is not only to teach reading and writing, it also opens up doors for individuals to achieve the new discoveries. With this education, individuals will have the ability to use it in such a way that it will benefit the society as well as the economy of the country. In examining the differences between morality and didacticism, the following books were used in this research, namely Moepathutse by Makopo (2003), Moelelwa by Sehlodimela (1958) and Kgopotšo go Beatrice wa Botlokwa by Moloisie (1953) Relevant and appropriate examples were quoted to show morality and didacticism. When explaining moral and didactic narratives, Groenewald (1993:15) succinctly emphasises the similarities between the two concepts of didactic and moral narratives as both of them being based on a journey, which relates to life with a motive. He further indicates that the protagonist is someone who is either an ordinary person or has status in society. Therefore he (the protagonist) has a weakness; is degraded, and later he is forgiven by the society. A didactic narrative emphasises that which a reader should learn, whether at home or any other structured setting, whereas a moral story focuses on what society deems appropriate behaviour / conduct and it can be learned from anywhere and anyone in the community or society. Furthermore, three methodological approaches will be adopted for use in describing the challenges that relate to defining the concepts of didacticism and morality in Sepedi literary texts. The methodological approaches are (a) comparison, (b) description and (c) interpretation. The approaches are relevant to providing answers to the unanswered questions that have arisen in the introductory section of this study. The significance of this research has been discussed as well as the adapted narratological model which will be followed. Finally, the structure of a literary text has been looked into, which comprises three layers - content, plot and style. / Thesis (DLitt)--University of Pretoria, 2018. / African Languages / DLitt / Unrestricted