Browsing by Title
-
Raji, Ismaila; Mugabo, Pierre; Obikeze, Kenechukwu (BioMed Central, 2013)[more][less]
Abstract: Background: Tulbaghia violacea Harv. (Alliaceae) is used to treat various ailments, including hypertension (HTN) in South Africa. This study aims to evaluate the contributions of muscarinic receptors and changes in plasma aldosterone levels to its anti-hypertensive effect. Methods: In the acute experiments, methanol leaf extracts (MLE) of T. violacea (30–120 mg/kg), muscarine (0.16 -10 μg/kg), and atropine (0.02 - 20.48 mg/kg), and/or the vehicle (dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and normal saline (NS)) were respectively and randomly administered intravenously in a group of spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) weighing 300 to 350 g and aged less than 5 months. Subsequently, T. violacea (60 mg/kg) or muscarine (2.5 μg/kg) was infused into eight SHRs, 20 min after atropine (5.12 mg/kg) pre-treatment. In the chronic (21 days) experiments, the SHRs were randomly divided into three groups, and given the vehicle (0.2 ml/day of DMSO and NS), T. violacea (60 mg/kg/day) and captopril (10 mg/kg/day) respectively into the peritoneum, to investigate their effects on blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and plasma aldosterone levels. Systolic BP and HR were measured using tail-cuff plethysmography during the intervention. BP and HR were measured via a pressure transducer connecting the femoral artery and the Powerlab at the end of each intervention in the acute experiment; and on day 22 in the chronic experiment. Results: In the acute experiments, T. violacea, muscarine, and atropine significantly (p < 0.05) reduced BP dose-dependently. T. violacea and muscarine produced dose-dependent decreases in HR, while the effect of atropine on HR varied. After atropine pre-treatment, dose-dependent increases in BP and HR were observed with T. violacea; while the BP and HR effects of muscarine were nullified. In the chronic experiments, the T. violaceatreated and captropril-treated groups had signicantly lower levels of aldosterone in plasma when compared to vehicle-treated group. Compared to the vehicle-treated group, significant reduction in BP was only seen in the captopril-treated group; while no difference in HR was observed among the groups. Conclusion: The results obtained in this study suggest that stimulation of the muscarinic receptors and a reduction in plasma aldosterone levels contribute to the anti-hypertesive effect of T. violacea. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/600 Files in this item: 1
-
Coetzee, Helena; Skelly, Lara (Ashgate Publishing, 2008)[more][less]
Abstract: In 2006 the National Library of South Africa (NLSA), Cape Town Campus, began a project to convert its substantial card catalogue to machine-readable form. The article gives an overview of the Library's collections and catalogue and describes the project methodology. Funding was secured from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and an in-house team appointed to begin the conversion. In order to meet project deadlines, the work of the in-house team was later supplemented by outsourcing the entry of records into the online catalogue. With the successful completion of the project, NLSA has been able to offer Internet access to many rare publications, whose whereabouts have previously been little known, and a significant contribution has been made to the bibliographic control of South African imprints. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/514 Files in this item: 1
CoetzeeCardCatalogueConversion2008.pdf (191.1Kb) -
du Toit, Francois (Elsevier, 2013)[more][less]
Abstract: This article examines the fundamental rule of South African trust law that co-trustees must always act jointly in regard to trust administration. It highlights the rule's foundation, but also contextualizes some of the practical problems associated with the rule's operation. In particular, the article focuses on South African courts' treatment of the joint-action rule, and shows that judicial engagement with the rule has not been satisfactory in all respects. The article casts some light on possible future developments in regard to co-trusteeship in South African law. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/620 Files in this item: 2
duToitCo-trustees2013.pdf (113.6Kb)DuToitCo-trusteeship2013.pdf (216.6Kb) -
Wakefield, Lorenzo (Queens University, Belfast School of Law, 2011)[more][less]
Abstract: Article 40 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child1 requires states parties to take appropriate measures to ensure that children accused of committing offences are treated in a manner that would ensure that their best interests are upheld. South Africa2 ratified the CRC in 1995, the provisions of which have influenced the children’s rights clause in its 1996 Constitution. Section 28(1)(g) of the Constitution stipulates that children may not be detained, except as a measure of last resort and, should they be detained, it should be for the shortest appropriate period of time. Section 28(1)(g) goes further to give domestic effect to the following guarantees stipulated in Article 40 of the CRC: (1) the right to be treated in a manner, and kept in conditions, that take account of the child’s age; and (2) to have a legal practitioner assigned to the child. Recently, SA has enacted its Child Justice Act 75 of 2008, which came into operation on 1 April 2010. The question to be covered in this article is whether this Act truly complies with the international standards set by the CRC (15 years after SA ratified it); the general comments by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child 3 and other non-binding, yet persuasive instruments like the Standard Minimum Rules on the Administration of Juvenile Justice and the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty. This article only examines four aspects of the Child Justice Act, being: criminal capacity; pretrial release and detention; diversion; and sentencing. It concludes that, but for a few technical aspects of the Child Justice Act, SA took significant steps to comply with its international obligations when it domesticated the CRC in relation to children who commit offences. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/598 Files in this item: 1
WakefiledChildJusticeAct2011.pdf (228.2Kb) -
Bock, Zannie; Dadlana, Phakamani (University of Stellenbosch, 2002)[more][less]
Abstract: This article aims to characterize typical linguistic and discourse features of academic writing in Xhosa and English among prospective Xhosa-speaking students at the University of the Western Cape so as to account for strengths and weaknesses in the writing and provide possible ‘points’ for pedagogic intervention. It presents an analysis of a sample of entrance essays written by these students in English and Xhosa. The analysis is in terms of a framework which considers aspects of argument, register and syntax. It aims to highlight strengths and weaknesses in student writing and to ascertain the extent to which these characteristics are language-specific or cross-linguistic. The results of the analysis suggest that the ability to argue coherently in an appropriate register is the defining mark of good writing in any language, and that control over the syntax of the language is particularly important for these students when writing in English. The ability to write well, like certain aspects of style, seems to be a generic ability and affects students’ performance in both languages. URI: http://dx.doi.org /10.5785/18-1-8 Files in this item: 1
Bock_cross-linguistic2002.pdf (243.5Kb) -
Olivier, Annette; Grobler, Sias; Osman, Yusuf (Scientific Research Publishing, 2012)[more][less]
Abstract: Today it is generally accepted that most bonding agents are cytotoxic. In this study the relative cyto-toxicity of seven recent dentine bonding agents on mouse 3T3 fibroblast cells were investigated. Materials and Methods. Near-confluent mouse 3T3 fibro- blast cells were exposed to Dulbecco Modified Eagle’s Medium containing extractions from the seven different bonding agents. The cell survival rate was then determined using the standard MTT assay. Results. The cell survival rate ranking is: iBond (94%) < Gbond (78%) < Xeno V (71%) < Adper Easy Bond (63%) < Xeno V+ (61%) < Adper Scotchbond SE (33%) < XP Bond (32%). Part A of Adper Scotchbond SE had a survival rate of 35% and part B 38%. These two parts did not differ significantly. Adper Scotchbond SE and XP Bond do not differ significantly. While Xeno V+, Xeno V and Adper Easy Bond do not differ. (p < 5%; Tukey-Kramer Multiple-Comparison Test). Conclusion. All of the tested adhesive bonding agents were cytotoxic with survival rate of 3T3 cells between 94% to 31%. Of the 7 bonding agents tested iBond was found to be only slightly toxic and by far the least toxic. The two bonding agents (XP Bond and Adper Scotchbond SE) containing UDMA plus TEGDMA plus HEMA plus camphorquinone were found to be the most toxic. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/589 Files in this item: 1
OlivierCytotoxicityofseven2012.pdf (339.1Kb) -
van Ryneveld, Hannelore; Mentzner, Martina (Association of German Studies (SAGV), 2010)[more][less]
Abstract: The current challenges facing the teaching of German as a foreign language at the University of the Western Cape are outlined. The article includes a brief historical overview and proposes research perspectives for the future. Description: eDUSA is the electronic journal of Deutschunterricht in Südafrika. More information is available from the Assoc. of German Studies website at http://www.sagv.org.za URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/191 Files in this item: 1
vanRyneveldFachDeutsch2010.pdf (57.60Kb) -
Wakefield, Lorenzo; Assim, Usang Maria (Juta, 2011)[more][less]
Abstract: The 16th and 17th sessions of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child took place at the African Union Commission Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in November 2010 and March 2011, respectively. This article provides an overview of these sessions, together with the Civil Society Organisations Fora that preceded these sessions. These sessions featured significant developments in the work of the Committee. The first relates to a new collaboration between a network of five non-governmental organisations and the Committee to promote the work of this treaty body. Secondly, the Committee delivered its first communication, finding against the government of Kenya in regard to the right to nationality (amongst other rights) of Nubian children in Kenya. These two activities are major highlights for the Committee in the execution of its mandate. It is argued that, despite the challenges faced by the Committee, it is at the threshold of a new era through which it may be established as a significant regional human rights treaty body. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/546 Files in this item: 1
WakefieldAfricanCommitteeExperts2011.pdf (235.4Kb) -
Lee, Christopher J. (History Department, University of the Western Cape, 2011)[more][less]
Abstract: Introduction: This special issue of Kronos: Southern African Histories speaks to this imbalance, contributing in small measure to a recent turn in Cold War studies that has sought to incorporate regional perspectives found in area studies to readdress the parameters and politics of this extended period. Departing from the influential early work of scholars like John Lewis Gaddis – who helped to define the field of Cold War history in books such as The United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1941-1947 (1972) and Strategies of Containment: A Critical Appraisal of Postwar American National Security Policy (1982) – scholarship published over the past two decades has reached beyond an exclusive American-Soviet dynamic and a ‘great men’ approach to history – whether Stalin or Eisenhower, among other leaders – to consider the role of social movements and popular trends, the factor of identity politics such as racial solidarity and, perhaps most significant, a broader political geography created through the global wave of decolonization after the Second World War. This change in focus can be attributed to a generational shift, as well as the end of the Cold War itself, which has resulted in the opening of archives and research areas previously unavailable. In fact, the expansion of Cold War history and diplomatic history more generally – at least in the American academy – has generated calls for renaming the field as ‘international history’ in order to move Decolonization of a Special Type: Rethinking Cold War History in Southern Africa 7 attention away from nation-state interactions to examine instead patterns of social and cultural history that transcend the totalizing effect that the ‘Cold War period’ as such has had. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/626 Files in this item: 1
LeeColdWarHistory2011.pdf (111.0Kb) -
De Ville, Jacques (University of Windsor, 2007)[more][less]
Abstract: Drucilla Cornell’s book The Philosophy of the Limit has for a long time been an important reference point in attempting to understand the relation between deconstruction and law. This article examines some of the themes discussed by Cornell in this influential book. The article specifically evaluates the translation of Derrida’s thinking into law as argued for by Cornell and concludes from this reading that Cornell to some extent misrepresents and also unnecessarily “tames” Derrida’s thinking. Instead of leading to the radical transformation of law and society, Cornell’s book gives support to an understanding of the relation between law and justice that is unlikely to have this effect. The article expounds a different reading of deconstruction based on a number of Derridean texts and argues that Derrida’s thinking poses a more radical challenge to law than that presented by Cornell. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/383 Files in this item: 1
DeVillleDerridaLevinasCornell2007.pdf (1.828Mb) -
Worden, Nigel (Univ. of Cape Town) (Published by History Department, University of the Western Cape, 2009)[more][less]
Abstract: This article analyses two separate cases of public violence which took place in Cape Town in the summer of 1772/3. At surface level they appear to be very different in character. One was a scrap among low-ranking soldiers who were playing cards at a shoreline outpost. The other was a formalised challenge between two captains of the VOC return fleet as they were lunching with the Governor, which resulted in a death and the flight of the murderer. Yet closer analysis suggests common ritualised codes of behaviour that intriguingly reveal how violence, masculinity and notions of honour operated at all social levels within the town. Both cases were complex and coded social conflicts, rooted in northern European early modern social beliefs and practices as transferred to a colonial context. However, none of these perpetrators of violence was viewed sympathetically by the VOC authorities at the Cape. By contrast, the assailant Captain who had escaped back to Europe was able to successfully appeal to the VOC directors in the Netherlands. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/100 Files in this item: 1
WordenViolence2009.pdf (167.1Kb) -
Piper, Laurence; Matisonn, Heidi (Routledge, 2009)[more][less]
Abstract: In party organisational terms, the rise of Jacob Zuma to the Presidency of the African National Congress (ANC) is a victory for the alliance partners and the struggle-era vision of the ANC as a popular front, or the ‘ANC as alliance’, as against Mbeki’s centralised and exclusionary practice. Accidentally, this renaissance of the ANC as alliance is good for democracy in South Africa understood in both liberal and participatory terms. On the one hand, the factionalism in the party provided for an alternation of leadership not possible through formal elections; and perhaps not desirable at this time. Further, the emergence of Congress of the People (COPE) promises a more meaningful party pluralism, taking the pressure for democratic competition off ANC internal processes into the future. On the other hand, the renaissance of the ANC as alliance provides better access to government by organisations, especially COSATU, who have a proven record in mobilising working and poor people around key social issues from land to HIV-AIDS and Zimbabwe. In this way the chances of greater inclusion in national decision-making are heightened, at least for some marginalised groups. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/482 Files in this item: 1
PiperTripartiteAlliance2009.pdf (213.3Kb) -
De Ville, Jacques (Springer, 2009)[more][less]
Abstract: A book review of 'Derrida and Legal Philosophy' edited by Peter Goodrich, Florian Hoffmann, Michel Rosenfeld, Cornelia Vismann, published by Palgrave Macmillan (Basingstoke, Hampshire/New York), 2008, ISBN-13: 978-0-230-57361-1. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/289 Files in this item: 1
DeVilleDerridaLegalScholarship2009.pdf (506.1Kb) -
De Ville, Jacques (Springer, 2008)[more][less]
Abstract: In this article the author explores Jacques Derrida’s reading in ‘The Purveyor of Truth’ of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Purloined Letter’. In his essay, Derrida proposes a reading which differs markedly from the interpretation proposed by Lacan in his Seminar on ‘The Purloined Letter’. To appreciate Derrida’s reading, which is not hermeneutic-semantic in nature like that of Lacan, it is necessary to look at the relation of Derrida’s essay to his other texts on psychoanalysis, more specifically insofar as the Freudian death drive is concerned. The present article explores this ‘notion’ as elaborated on by Freud in Beyond the Pleasure Principle as well as Derrida’s reading of this text. It also investigates the importance of the ‘notion’ of the death drive as well as the significance of Derrida’s reading of The Purloined Letter for constitutional interpretation. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/300 Files in this item: 1
DeVilleDerridaPurveyorTruth2008.pdf (299.0Kb) -
De Ville, Jacques (Juta Law, 2007)[more][less]
Abstract: In his recent book, Law and Sacrifice: Towards a Post-Apartheid Theory of Law, Johan van der Walt gives a clear exposition of the possible impact of inter alia Jacques Derrida's thinking on law. In this article, the book is critically analyzed and it is shown that Derrida's texts provide scope for a different interpretation. With reference to a number of themes it is shown that Derrida's thinking is more far reaching than in Van der Walt's model. The unconditional for example plays a vital role in Derrida's thinking while it is almost absent in Van der Walt's model. Van der Walt stresses the need for plurality and the impossibility of reconciliation between different views of the law in a particular case. Such an approach can have conservative political consequences. A different interpretation of Derrida, where the unconditional is more prominent, holds more promise for a post-apartheid theory of law. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/382 Files in this item: 1
DevilleLawSacrifice2007.pdf (409.2Kb) -
De Ville, Jacques (Franz Steiner Verlag, 2009)[more][less]
Abstract: In this article, the author proposes a reading of 'Force of Law' from two angles: boundless desire and the ‘law’ of language. The author contends that an analysis from these perspectives casts new light on the notion of the ‘mystical’, as well as repetition, singularity and good/evil as they appear in Derrida’s text. In exploring the ‘notion’ of desire, the article focuses specifically on Derrida’s analysis of Freud’s Beyond the Pleasure Principle in To Speculate – On Freud where the death drive is explored. The author shows the importance of this essay for an understanding of the relation between justice and law. The mystical and justice, the author contends, is to be understood with reference to the death drive, and repetition or law enforcement as its return. Law enforcement could also be viewed in terms of the ‘notion’ of iterability in Derrida’s texts on language. These perspectives furthermore allow for an understanding of singularity in terms of unconditionality and of justice as beyond good and evil. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/302 Files in this item: 1
DeVilleForceofLaw2009.pdf (341.8Kb) -
Puoane, Thandi (MedPharm Publications, 2008)[more][less]
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity, and identify factors associated with Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) among adults residing in an urban township in South Africa. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Khayelitsha, a large black township located in Cape Town. SUBJECTS: 107 males and 530 females, aged ≥ 18 years. METHODS: The prevalence of overweight/obesity (BMI ³ 25 kg/m2) and abdominal obesity (WC ≥ 94 cm for men and ≥ 80 cm for women), and their relationship with factors previously found to increase the risk of obesity, such as age, gender, marital status, educational level, employment status, immigrant status from rural to urban, and physical activity level, were assessed using logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: The prevalence of obesity (BMI ³ 30 kg/m2) was 53.4% and 18.7%, and that of abdominal obesity was 71.5% and 23.4%, among women and men respectively. However, more women (21.3%) than men (11.2%) reported walking more than 45 minutes per day. Female gender and being married were associated with a high BMI and large WC. Recent migration was associated with a smaller WC. The level of physical activity was not associated with BMI or WC. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that physical activity may play less of a role in obesity control, or that more than 45 minutes of physical activity per day is required to reduce the risk of obesity, especially in women. At least among South African women, obesity control focused on nutritional interventions may be more beneficial than increasing the intensity or duration of physical activity. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/233 Files in this item: 1
MalhotraPuoaneSAJCN2008.pdf (303.1Kb) -
Francis, Tamson; Maneveldt, Gavin; Venter, Jonathan (Springer Verlag, 2008)[more][less]
Abstract: Beach-cast kelp (the most widely used feed for commercially grown South African abalone) is plentiful during winter months when periodic storms cause kelp to wash ashore. During summer, however, this resource is not always readily available and farmed abalone are often starved for short periods. The aim of this research was to assess how periodic kelp starvation influences growth of the commercially grown abalone, Haliotis midae Linnaeus. Growth of grow-out abalone was monitored on a commercial abalone farm over a period of six months and consisted of 3 treatments with 2 replicates (n = ±250 abalone per replicate). The treatments were: Control (abalone always given more kelp than what they typically needed); Treatment 1 (abalone fed their weekly ration only once a week); Treatment 2 (abalone fed half their weekly ration every 3 and then 4 days respectively). While the data at first suggest that the control animals outperform the treatment animals, after undergoing an initial adjustment period to the new feeding regime, the treatment animals perform better. Weight gain and feed conversion efficiencies show that the treatment animals perform better overall. The control animals generally required much more feed to produce comparable increases in both length and weight compared to the treatment animals. This study has shown that periodic bouts of starvation is beneficial to Haliotis midae, allowing variable growth spurts when returned to full feed rations. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/634 Files in this item: 1
FrancisAbelone2008.pdf (191.2Kb) -
Chetty, Marshini; Tucker, William D.; Blake, Edwin H. (SAICSIT, in assocation with ACM, 2004)[more][less]
Abstract: The digital divide between rural and urban areas within developing countries is vast. We investigate how to address this divide by introducing Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) into remote rural areas. Our aim is to discover how to create locally relevant software applications with appropriate content for these areas. We use a user centred design approach and a modified software development lifecycle that is participatory, iterative and cyclical. This process is based on principles from Participatory Design and Action Research. This paper presents our initial experience of developing a telemedicine application for a rural village in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa using this process. We present an overview of the methodology, describe the software application we have developed and cite several challenges we have faced. Finally we conclude that an inter-organisational and inter-disciplinary approach is needed to develop software for remote areas. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/532 Files in this item: 1
ChettyTuckerBlakeICT2004.pdf (386.9Kb) -
Frantz, Jose M.; Rowe, Michael (Health and Medical Publications Group, 2013)[more][less]
Abstract: Background. Evidence-based practice (EBP) is the process by which a clinician evaluates the quality of evidence before applying it in the management of a patient. Many practitioners struggle to integrate this research-based evidence into their professional practice. Blogs have been identified as useful pedagogical tools that can facilitate the sharing of ideas and clinical experiences among peers to reflect on diverse learning experiences. Objectives. A qualitative research design was used to examine the use of reflective blogging to teach the process of EBP in physiotherapy. Methods. A conveniently selected group of postgraduate students who were registered for an EBP module participated in the study. Blogging was used to teach the process of EBP in physiotherapy using Kolb's cycle as a guiding and an evaluative framework. Students reflected on and shared their learning experiences in ways that exposed the limits of their understanding around certain concepts. Results. The results reflect how students moved from assisted to independent performance by identifying gaps in their own understanding and finding the answers themselves. Conclusion. Reflective blogging was found to be a valuable tool for promoting meaningful learning activities among participants and assisted students in making sense of their shared experiences. It was also an effective tool to be used in teaching the process of EBP. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/615 Files in this item: 1
FrantzBloggingPhysiotheraphy2013.pdf (1.131Mb)