MCur / Department of Advanced Nursing Science / Diabetes mellitus is a global health issue affecting people of all ages. It is defined as a non-communicable chronic disease caused by abnormal insulin production, impaired insulin utilization or both. Its prevalence and complications is increasing rapidly. The aim of this study was to assess knowledge of Diabetes mellitus chronic complications among diabetic patients in the Vhembe district of the Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study objectives were: to assess the knowledge of Diabetes mellitus chronic complications amongst diabetic patients; to determine the knowledge of diabetic patients regarding self-care practice, control and management of diabetes in the Vhembe District, and to identify challenges faced by diabetic patients regarding chronic complications of Diabetes mellitus in the Vhembe District A quantitative descriptive design was used. The study population was diabetic patients who were visiting the selected 4 hospitals, 2 health centers and 2 clinics were in Thulamela Municipality. Convenient sampling was used to sample 259 respondents (184(71%) females and 75(29%) males) and to select the 8 health care services. A structured, closed-ended selfadministered questionnaire in Tshivenda was used to collect data on the day that diabetic patients were coming for follow-up treatment, and after they had been attended to by the health care providers. Data were analyzed using the / NRF

The work presented here gives a summary of territorial division and public administration development in Slovakia as the bases for present reform of public administration. This work deals with realization of this reform of public administration and territorial division in Slovakia and evaluate process and fulfillment of purposes of this reform. Key words: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The aim of this study is to determine the content of toxic and essentials elements in samples of nuts and seeds produced by ecologic agriculture and to compare results with nuts and seeds from conventional agriculture production. These nuts and seeds can be bought in the Czech market (except bio pine nuts, bio pecan nuts and bio pistachios). The amount of elements was analysed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry after previous digestion of samples using microwaves. This study summarizes the main physiological functions of toxic and essentials elements. Results were also compared with another studies. It does not results from all measured amounts of all essential elements, that bio nuts and seeds have higher amounts of these elements; however, all amounts of toxic elements in bio nuts and seeds are lower than in the no-bio ones. For more precise results it would be necessary to measure more samples.

MRDV / Institute for Rural Development / This study originated from the realisation that non-conventional crops such as Bambara nuts (Vigna subterranea) were becoming increasingly important in addressing food insecurity and malnutrition in the smallholder farming sector of countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, some of the smallholder crop farmers were observed to be continuing to rely on indigenous techniques to forecast rainfall and adapt agricultural activities in response to climate variability. However, it was not clear how climate change influenced the productivity of V. subterranea. Nor were the indigenous approaches that farmers used to forecast rainfall on this phenomenon well understood. Thus, a study was carried out to identify and document indigenous approaches that smallholder farmers used to forecast rainfall and adaptation practices relating to V. subterranea. The study was conducted in Xigalo and Lambani villages located in Collins Chabane Local Municipality of Vhembe District in Limpopo Province. The villages served as case study areas that helped to compare the native approaches that the Va-Tsonga and Vha-Venda used to forecast rainfall in the course of producing V. subterranea. A multi-case study research design, which was exploratory in nature was adopted. Convenience and snowball sampling techniques were used to identify and select respondents. The triangulation of participatory methods, techniques and tools guided the collection of qualitative data. Key informant interviews, learning circles, photovoice, one-on-one interviews and narrative inquiry techniques were applied during data collection. Smallholder farmers and the elderly members of communities were the respondents. Nine key informants in Xigalo and Lambani villages were interviewed. One retired and two currently serving government extension officers were also interviewed. Separate learning circles comprising mainly elderly men and women were also organised. Each learning circle was made up of 7-10 respondents. Atlas.ti version 7.5.7 software was used to analyse the qualitative data following the thematic content analysis approach. It was observed that the respondents were aware of climate variability events that affected V. subterranea. Some of the events were shifts in rainfall patterns, heavy rainfall, extreme temperatures, scarcity of summer rainfall, the disappearance of lunar signs and the seasonal cycle variations. Eighteen types of phenological signs used to predict rainfall were identified. The most common signs included the Milky Way Galaxy of stars, musical sounds of birds and frogs, moon shapes, cumulus and cumulonimbus cloud types. A close relationship between conservation of V. subterranea and adaptation strategies was said to exist. It was evident that most commonly used conservation strategies were rainmaking ceremonies, planting after the summer rains, hoeing weeds, soaking seeds before planting, hilling or earthing up around the base of the V. subterranea plant and storing the legumes in traditional vessels and sacks. The need for integrating western scientific knowledge with native forecasts to inform the production of V. subterranea was uncovered. In addition to this, the needs of Tsonga and Venda communities should inform local policy interventions. Lastly, adaptation strategies that address food insecurity with V. subterranea being part of the agro-ecosystem deserve attention in scientific investigation and policymaking. / NRF

Department of Ecology and Resource Management / PhDENV / The main aim of the research was to contribute means for converting conventional, high-input production systems to more sustainable ecological systems, thereby improving the sustainability of macadamia production and ultimately contributing to food security. This was achieved by a) investigating the potential use of cover crops and compost to enhance soil quality in macadamia orchards and b) investigating the potential use of use of cover crops and orchard heterogeneity to control stinkbug pests that target macadamia crops. Field experiments were conducted in three phases: phase one tested the potential of six cover crops for crop protection (as trap crops) and simultaneously for soil restoration or fertility enhancement purposes in macadamia orchards. Phase two repeated the trials of phase one (both soil restoration and trap crops) but with modifications to both categories. Soil restoration treatments were conducted with trees which were growing in what appeared to be healthy soils, and then repeated with trees in the same orchard where the topsoil had been degraded (totally removed) by agricultural operations. The third phase repeated the trap crop trials only, but this time on three different study areas (all commercial farms) with the single cover crop which performed the best as a trap crop during phase two. Trials were modified from the first to the last phase to overcome practical implementation problems encountered along the way and to adapt to local conditions experienced in the commercial macadamia farming systems which served as research sites. Diversity of natural orchard vegetation was enhanced in phase three to improve conditions for natural predators as part of the trap crop treatments in the last phase and cover crops were finally first composted and then returned to the root zones of the macadamia trees as part of the soil quality enhancement treatments in the second phase. The results from the trap crop trials shows a significant effect of trap crops combined with increased orchard diversity in reducing unsound kernel percentages caused by stinkbug pests and demonstrate that trap crops combined with an increase in orchard diversity could be utilized in macadamia orchards as a more sustainable alternative to inorganic pesticides against the stinkbug complex. The most notable changes in the soil that took place with soil quality enhancement treatments were the significant increases in soil phosphorous content and pH which resulted not in an improvement in soil quality in terms of these two indicators but revealed an important issue about the use of compost containing animal manure originating from dairies or feedlots. In summary however, it was clear that although not all the soil quality indicators that were employed to assess changes in the soil with compost treatments improved significantly, a holistic consideration of all indicators portrays an overall improvement which was particularly significant in the degraded soil plots where the topsoil had been removed by prior agricultural activities. / NRF

Cette thèse de doctorat tente de répondre à la question de recherche suivante :comment ont évolués les variations spatiales des comportements de fécondité en Europe depuis un demi-siècle ?Elle s’emploie donc plus à décrire les variations spatiales de la fécondité qu’à analyser comment et pourquoi la fécondité européenne à évoluée pendant cette période. Si cette question est principalement descriptive elle abordera toute fois des questionnements interprétatifs des variations spatiales observées. En effet décrire comment les variations spatiales ont évoluées mène indirectement à se demander pourquoi de telles évolutions ont eu lieu. Cette thèse adopte une méthodologie géographique, inductive, évolutive et à des échelles spatiales multiples, ce qui la distingue de la plupart des études qui abordent un sujet démographique. Elle recoure à plusieurs bases de données originales, certaines à la fois transversales, chronologiques, infranationales et couvrant un large espace transnational. Cela a imposé un important travail de récolte et prétraitement des données, mais confère aux résultats une originalité qui contribue à une meilleure compréhension globale de la fécondité en Europe, de ses variations spatiales et de ses évolutions récentes.Le corps de cette thèse est organisé en quatre chapitres ayant chacun fait l’objet d’une publication (soumise :chapitre 3, acceptée :chapitre 2, ou publiée :chapitre 4 et 5). Les deux premiers articles explorent chacun une des deux principales dimensions des comportements de fécondité que sont l’intensité (chapitre 2) et le calendrier de la fécondité (chapitre 3). Ils s’intéressent aux évolutions de ces dimensions sur environs un demi-siècle en Europe en utilisant principalement des données au niveau régional NUTS-2. Le quatrième chapitre considère ces deux dimensions de manière simultanée et s’intéresse aux différences spatiales locales (à une échelle équivalente au niveau communale en Belgique). Le cinquième chapitre considère les variations intra-urbaines à Bruxelles, en considérant à la fois les différences entre groupes sociaux et entre espaces, ce qui permet d’évaluer l’impact des variables contextuelles par rapport à l’influence de la composition de la population. En conclusion cette thèse expose les variations spatiales des comportements de fécondité en Europe ainsi que leurs évolutions depuis la seconde moitié du vingtième siècle. Elle propose aussi un ensemble de déterminants utile à l’interprétation les variations spatiales de la fécondité. Ces déterminants sont tantôt matériels tantôt du ressort des études abordant une position épistémologique plus post-matérialiste. L’approche géographique de cette thèse pousse à considérer ces deux ensembles de facteurs et à les structurer selon leur rayon d’action, soit l’échelle spatiale à laquelle ils influencent les comportements de fécondité. Il ressort que l’articulation de ces différents facteurs exerçant leur influence à des échelles différentes constitue un contexte géographique déterminant en partie les actions individuelles de la fécondité. / Option Géographie du Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished