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There is a developing international understanding of the relationship between gender, wellbeing and educational outcomes. Wellbeing influences students’ abilities to learn and emotional wellbeing is fundamental to children’s learning and ability to develop positive relationships with others. Research has found that those who have emotional competencies and skills find it easier to manage themselves, relate to others, resolve conflict, and feel positive about themselves and the world around them (CASEL, 2003; Greatz, 2008). Boys’ emotional wellbeing has been a particular focus of the discussion because of their lack of engagement at school and increasing levels of violence and bullying. This qualitative study investigated the factors that influenced the emotional wellbeing of a group of 12 year old boys in their final year of primary school. This age group was the focus of this research as it is a transitional age in relation to puberty and secondary school. The study involved one adult listening to, and making meaning from eight young boys’ perceptions of their world during a semi-structured interview with two focus groups. Analysing the data involved the qualitative strategy of thematic analysis where themes and categories were identified and then further analysed for corresponding linkages and relationships. The findings identified a multifaceted range of factors that influenced boys’ emotional wellbeing. Family, friendships, school and the wider community were all specifically identified as enhancing or harming emotional wellbeing. Strongly underpinning all of the factors was the influence of normalised gendered behaviours within different social contexts that enforced conformity towards a hegemonic form of masculinity. Boys’ failure to follow the ‘rules’ assigned to a social groupings hegemonic form of masculinity, ran the risk for them of being relegated to a lower rank, being unable to manage or express emotions, being excluded, or becoming the victim of bullying. The research concluded that boys need support in developing a wide range of personal and interpersonal skills and strategies to enhance emotional wellbeing. Underpinning the development of these skills however, is the need for a safe and supportive home, peer group and school environment where students can be empowered to think critically and deconstruct the way in which gender norms influence social interaction and behaviour. Peers, teachers, schools, families and the wider community working in synergy are crucial to developing an approach that addresses and enhances emotional wellbeing.

Sound financial management is a growing concept in the public sector, especially in local government. The South African government has put in place policies and mechanisms to create a conducive environment for municipalities to manage finances in an effective manner. The management of municipal finance is supported by a set of policies and regulations to strengthen the use of public money. Among the respective policy frameworks, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa expects the government entities to be transparent and accountable. Here in, these financial measures are also guided by the Municipal Finance Management Act 56 of 2003 and the Public Finance Management Act 1 of 1999 (as amended 29 of 1999). Measured transparency is critically important for management public funds. Accountability is an essential element in achieving institutional goals, especially where public funds are used. Accountability allows public institutions to provide assurance to the tax payers and to their principals. The Auditor General expects municipalities to be accountable for their financial activities through regular reporting. The Annual Report will therefore be compiled for reporting and it must include all required information. Audit Committee becomes very critical, as a structure established to guide the municipality on finances and ensure that the report is credible in every respect. Metsimaholo municipality has however been facing challenges as per the opinions of the Auditor General based on financial reporting, amongst other things. This study involves the extent to which financial reporting serves as a tool for promoting accountability. In order to test the hypothesis, literature was reviewed to analyse and evaluate financial reporting and accountability. Empirical research was conducted to test and analyse the existence of practices, procedures and policies that promote sound financial management and their effectiveness. Data was collected through questionnaires and face to face structured and unstructured interviews, with respondents from employees of Metsimaholo Local Municipality and community structures. This study found among others that: *Policies for financial reporting exist but are not fully complied with *There is a lack of follow up with and implementation of Auditor General’s recommendations *Audit Committee recommendations are not fully implemented *There are no clear lines of responsibilities between councillors and officials with regard to financial management The study concludes with recommendations to assist the municipality in committing themselves to adopt strategies towards financial reporting for improved accountability. / Thesis (M. Development and Management (Public Management and Government))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

Aims: The overall aims were to study depressive symptoms among mothers and fathers in early parenthood and how depressive symptoms are related to dyadic consensus (DCS), sense of coherence (SOC), perceiving of the child temperament, separation within the couple and bonding to the infant. Methods: Study I-III was based on the BiT-study, a longitudinal project where 393 couples answered 3 questionnaires including instruments measuring DCS at one week after childbirth, depressive symptoms at 3 months and parental stress at 18 months after childbirth. Study IV was based on the UPPSAT-study, a population based cohort project, where 727 couples answered questionnaires measuring depressive symptoms at 6 weeks and 6 months after childbirth, and impaired bonding at 6 months after childbirth. Results: In the BiT-study, 17.7% of the mothers and 8.7% of the fathers scored depressive symptoms at 3 months after childbirth, using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) cut-off of ≥10. There was an association between depressive symptoms and less consensus (DCS), and the parents partly differed regarding which areas of their relationship they perceived that they disagreed about. Parents with depressive symptoms had a poorer SOC and perceived their child as more difficult than parents without depressive symptoms. Among the couples, 20% were separated 6-8 years after childbirth. Separation was associated with less dyadic consensus, more depressive symptoms and parental stress. In the UPPSAT-study, 15.3% of the mothers and 5.1% of the fathers scored depressive symptoms 6 weeks after childbirth, using the EPDS cut-off of ≥10. Further, there was an association between impaired bonding at 6 months and the parents’ depressive symptoms, as well as experience of deteriorated relationship with the spouse. Conclusions and clinical implications: Health professionals need the knowledge that depressive symptoms are common in both mother and fathers in early parenthood. It is also important to understand how depressive symptoms are associated to dyadic consensus, SOC, separation and impaired bonding in order to optimize conditions for the whole family. This knowledge is also important for the public, so those who are pregnant and new parents as well as the society are aware that there might be problems in early parenthood as depressive symptoms.

The plant growth-promoting bacterium (PGPB) Pseudomonas putida UW4, previously isolated from the rhizosphere of common reeds growing on the campus of University of Waterloo, promotes plant growth in the presence of different environmental stresses, such as flooding, high concentration of salt, cold, heavy metals, drought and phytopathogens. The known mechanisms used by P. putida UW4 to promote plant growth include 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) synthesis and siderophore production. In this work, the genome sequence of UW4 was obtained by pyrosequencing and the gaps between the contigs were closed by directed PCR. The P. putida UW4 genome contains a single circular chromosome that is 6,183,388 bp with a 60.05% G+C content. The bacterial genome contains 5,431 predicted protein-coding sequences that occupy 87.4% of the genome. Nineteen genomic islands were predicted and thirty one complete putative insertion sequences were identified. Genome analyses were conducted in order to better characterize the general features of the UW4 genome. Genes potentially involved in plant growth promotion such as IAA biosynthesis, trehalose production, siderophore production, and acetoin synthesis were identified, which will facilitate a better understanding of the mechanisms of plant-microbe interactions. Moreover, genes that contribute to the environmental fitness of UW4 were also determined including genes responsible for heavy metal resistance such as nickel, copper, cadmium, zinc, molybdate, cobalt, arsenate, and chromate. Central metabolic pathways helped elucidate the physiological roles of diverse metabolites of UW4. Unexpectedly, whole-genome comparison with other completely sequenced Pseudomonas sp. revealed that UW4 is more similar to the fluorescens group rather than to the putida group. More surprisingly, a putative type III secretion system (T3SS) was found in the UW4 genome, and T3SS was thought to be essential for bacterial pathogenesis. Although putative T3SS was observed in other non-pathogenic Pseudomonas spp. previously, this is the first report indicating that a T3SS in a Pseudomonas sp. is highly similar to the one from Salmonella spp.

Bacteria that provide benefit to plants are considered to be plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) and can facilitate plant growth by a number of different mechanisms. Plant growth-promoting bacteria that are able to utilize the plant compound 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) as a sole source of nitrogen, as a consequence of possessing the enzyme ACC deaminase, can protect host plants from a number of environmental stresses. In addition to ACC deaminase, PGPB may utilize other mechanisms to facilitate plant growth including IAA synthesis, siderophore production, phosphate solubilization activity, ammonia production, and antibiotic production. Plant growth-promoting bacterial endophytes employ similar plant growth promotion mechanisms to those used by rhizospheric PGPB. In fact, bacterial endophytes are PGPB that go one step further and colonize the inside of the plant tissues and provide more efficient and prompted protection to their hosts compared to those that bind exclusively to the plant’s rhizosphere. Therefore, it is likely that endophytic plant growth-promoting bacteria will be superior to similar non-endophytic bacterial strains in promoting plant growth under a wide range of environmental conditions. In the work reported here, new bacterial endophytes were isolated and characterized. Among twenty-five ACC deaminase positive strains, two best strains were selected and ACC deaminase deficient mutants were constructed. The ability of two newly isolated 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase-containing plant growth-promoting bacterial endophytes Pseudomonas fluorescens YsS6, Pseudomonas migulae 8R6 and their ACC deaminase deficient mutants was shown to 1) delay the senescence of mini carnation cut flowers and 2) to facilitate tomato plant growth under salinity stress. In the mini carnation flower senescence evaluation, the only difference between wild-type and mutant bacterial endophytes was ACC deaminase activity, our results demonstrate that this enzyme is directly responsible for a significant delay in flower senescence. Despite containing ACC deaminase activity, the rhizosphere-binding PGPB Pseudomonas putida UW4 was not taken up by the cut flowers and therefore had no effect on prolonging flower shelf life. In evaluating the effect of bacterial endophytes under salt stress, tomato plants treated with either of the wild-type strains of the two selected bacterial endophytes demonstrated early flowering and fruiting and had significantly greater numbers of flowers, buds, and fruits than either the corresponding ACC deaminase mutant strain-treated plants or the control plants. Although both bacterial endophytes P. fluorescens YsS6 and P. migulae 8R6 showed significant plant growth-promotion capabilities, P. migulae 8R6 demonstrated better plant growth facilitation under salt stress than did P. fluorescens YsS6. P. migulae 8R6 treated tomato plants demonstrated the least sodium uptake, the highest chlorophyll content, and highest fresh and dry biomass. The results of the work presented here suggest that ACC deaminase containing selected bacterial endophytes could be employed as environmentally friendly adjuncts to agricultural and horticultural practice.