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McMillan, Wendy (Routledge, 2004)[more][less]
Abstract: This paper is conceptually informed by a reading of Peter McLaren's work (1993). Drawing on the relationship that he signals between identity, narrative, and social action, it sets out to examine the ways in which identity shapes narratives of academic performance and consequent action. Speci®cally, I present the narratives of academic performance of a social grouping within a cohort of preprimary teacher education students. These students are all women, historically classi®ed `coloured' and of working class origin. Argument is presented that students interpret and reconstruct their personal histories and particular social locations through the material and discursive contexts to which they have access. The students are presented as active agentsÐ producing themselves within existing, and often potentially contradictory, material and discursive contexts. Evidence is marshalled to frame an argument that students' narratives shape their social action as agents of history, and are implicated in the distribution of privilege within society. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/83 Files in this item: 1
McMillan_Factory2004.pdf (277.8Kb) -
Ngara, Rudo; Ndimba, Roya; Borch-Jensen, Jonas; Jensen, Ole Nørregaard; Ndimba, Bongani (Elsevier, 2012)[more][less]
Abstract: Sorghum bicolor, a drought tolerant cereal crop, is not only an important food source in the semi arid/arid regions but also a potential model for studying and gaining a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of drought and salt stress tolerance in cereals. In this study, seeds of a sweet sorghumvariety, MN1618, were planted and grown on solid MS growth medium with or without 100mM NaCl. Heat shock protein expression immunoblotting assays demonstrated that this salt treatment induced stress within natural physiological parameters for our experimental material. 2D PAGE in combination with MS/MS proteomics techniques were used to separate, visualise and identify salinity stress responsive proteins in young sorghum leaves. Out of 281 Coomassie stainable spots, 118 showed statistically significant responses (p<0.05) to salt stress treatments. Of the 118 spots, 79 were selected for tandem mass spectrometric identification, owing to their good resolution and abundance levels, and of these, 55 were positively identified. Identified proteins were divided into six functional categories including both known and novel/putative stress responsive proteins. Molecular and physiological functions of some of our proteins of interest are currently under investigation via bioinformatic and molecular biology approaches. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/543 Files in this item: 1
NdimbaSweetSorghum2012.pdf (765.8Kb) -
McMillan, Wendy (School of Education, University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2003)[more][less]
Abstract: Drawing on a qualitative study of a cohort of final year preprimary teacher college students, this paper motivates for narrative analysis as a suitable tool for accessing ‘insider accounts’ of social reality. Through an analysis of the voices of these young people, I make the argument that narrative analysis allows us to develop an explanation of how people interpret their social locations and personal histories through the discourses and material contexts to which they have access. I commence by presenting the narrative of academic performance of one of the social groupings within the cohort. The material and discursive parameters that framed their narrative account are outlined. Similarities and differences between individual accounts are highlighted, and explanations for these similarities and differences posited. The ways in which multiple social locations nuance identity as nested are explicated. The paper concludes with a discussion of the potential contribution of narrative analysis as a conceptual tool for understanding social identity. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/55 Files in this item: 1
McMillan_narrative(2003).pdf (215.0Kb) -
van Ryneveld, Hannelore (Peter Lang, 2008)[more][less]
Abstract: José Oliver is a multilingual poet of Andalusian descent who writes poetry in German. His first poetry was published in the mid-eighties and his writings were seen as part of migrant literature (also referred to in the seventies as guestworker literature). He has however moved beyond those boundaries and has written himself into („eingeschrieben”) the German language and his poetry is characterised by a breaking- up („auf-brechen”) of the language and thereby creating sound and word structures which strip away the common usage in an attempt to regain the original meanings of words.The interview with José Oliver was conducted in February 2005 in Hausach in the Black Forest. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/207 Files in this item: 1
VanRyneveldImGesprach2008.pdf (538.8Kb) -
Cousins, Ben (PLAAS, University of the Western Cape, 2011)[more][less]
Abstract: This report describes the ‘living law’ of land in one part of Msinga, a deep rural area of KwaZulu-Natal. It presents research findings from the Mchunu and Mthembu tribal areas, where a three-year action-research project was carried out by staff of the Mdukutshani Rural Development Programme. Launched in 2007, at a time when implementation of the Communal Land Rights Act of 2004 (CLRA) appeared imminent, the project aimed to gain a detailed understanding of land tenure in Msinga, facilitate local-level discussion of potential solutions to emerging problems around land rights, provide information on the CLRA to residents and authority structures, and help generate ideas on how local people could engage with the new law. Meetings, interviews and focus groups convened by the project between 2007 and 2009 generated lively discussions and debates on a range of issues and problems related to land tenure in Msinga. Policy-makers need to consider how to convene conversations of this kind, on a large scale, before they launch a new round of tenure reform policy formulation and law making. Our experience suggests that well designed processes are critically important to ensure informed discussion, but also that ordinary rural people, not just their leaders, are more than ready to engage in debates about policies that could have major impacts on their lives. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/390 Files in this item: 1
CousinsLandMsinga2011.pdf (3.011Mb) -
Hall, Ruth (PLAAS, University of the Western Cape, 2007)[more][less]
Abstract: This report investigates emerging trends evident in the limited literature available on the impact of land restitution on livelihoods, and suggests ways of thinking about, and planning for, livelihoods. The report has a two-fold emphasis: its primary focus is on rural restitution claims where land has been restored, but it also addresses rural land reform more generally. Where land ownership has been transferred to land reform beneficiaries, similar patterns and challenges may arise, regardless of whether the land was acquired through the redistribution or the restitution route. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/90 Files in this item: 1
Hall_Impact2007.pdf (1.418Mb) -
Puoane, Thandi; Hughes, Gail (South African Medical Association, 2005)[more][less]
Abstract: HIV/AIDS continues to ravage sub-Saharan Africa, and in South Africa accounts for 30% of all mortality, making it the leading cause of death. The epidemic has had other negative effects, which have not been fully realised. Among these is the fact that, paradoxically, the awareness programmes implemented to prevent major spread of HIV/AIDS have complicated the prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/283 Files in this item: 1
HIV and NCDs m_samj_v95_n4_a6.pdf (219.2Kb) -
Rena, Ravinder (Ottawa United Learning Academy & Denfar Transnational DevelopmentOttawa United Learning Academy & Denfar Transnational Development, 2012)[more][less]
Abstract: About two thirds of the WTO’s around 150 members are developing countries. They play an increasingly important and active role in the WTO because of their numbers, because they are becoming more important in the global economy, and because they increasingly look to trade as a vital tool in their development efforts. An attempt is made in this paper to examine whether the WTO policies have positive or negative effect on the trade of developing countries. The paper further discusses that the Doha Round of Talk is a myth, a fiction, or is it a reality. Can the spirit of Doha, which launched a new round of negotiations and work with an explicit pledge to deliver development-friendly results, be redeemed or not? Finally, it analyses the special differential treatment (SDT) for developing countries. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/531 Files in this item: 1
RenaWTO-Policies2012.pdf (245.6Kb) -
Powell, Derek (SUN Press, 2012)[more][less]
Abstract: Local government is a mirror of the larger political and economic forces, cleavages and problems that are shaping South African society. It is these deeper fault lines in society, rather than the Zuma government’s turnaround strategy or the 2011 local elections result, which will drive future policy and determine its effects. This is the first lesson of local government reform in all four terms of national government examined in this chapter. In each term, national policy reforms were moulded by shifting political and economic circumstances and larger national interests, not simply by the unfolding logic of the original blueprint for local government in the 1998 white paper. The outcome of eighteen years of policy reform, however, was not the new society imagined in the white paper, but an imperfect transition that is local government today: where peaceful electoral competition coexists with violent public protests, racial group areas endure in fact, even if not in law, pockets of good governance survive amidst systemic corruption and mismanagement, and national policy goals consistently exceed local government’s capacity to deliver them and the economy’s skills base. The second lesson flows from that reality – due to the fact that the problems of local government are so nested in the broader problems of our society, further local government policy reform and sweeping national turnaround strategies are likely to have imperfect impacts on ‘the problem of local government’ in South Africa. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/551 Files in this item: 1
PowellLocalGovernment2012.pdf (198.7Kb) -
Labonte, Ron; Sanders, David; Baum, Fran; Schaay, Nikki; Packer, Corinne (CSIRO, 2008)[more][less]
Abstract: Primary health care (PHC) is again high on the international agenda. It was the theme of The World Health Report in 2008, thirty years after the Alma-Ata Declaration, and has been the topic of a series of significant conferences around the world throughout 2008. What have we learnt about its impact in improving population health and health equity? What more do we still need to know? These two questions framed a four-year international research/capacity-building project, “Revitalizing Health for All” (RHFA), funded by the Canadian Global Health Research Initiative, which began in 2007. The findings of a global literature review conducted by this Initiative, and focusing on comprehensive primary health care - and how it has been implemented since Alma Ata are presented. The way in which the political context has affected the comprehensiveness of PHC is considered - along with a series of proposed future PHC research areas. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/476 Files in this item: 1
LabontePrimaryHealthCare2008.pdf (235.2Kb) -
Puoane, Thandi; Sanders, David; Ashworth, Ann; Chopra, Mickey; Strasser, Susan; McCoy, David (Oxford University Press, 2004)[more][less]
Abstract: OBJECTIVE. To improve the clinical management of severely malnourished children in rural hospitals in South Africa. STUDY DESIGN. A pre- and post-intervention descriptive study in three stages: assessment of the clinical management of severely malnourished children, planning and implementing an action plan to improve quality of care, and monitoring and evaluating targeted activities. A participatory approach was used to involve district and hospital nutrition teams in all stages of the research. SETTING. Two rural Wrst-referral level hospitals (Mary Theresa and Sipetu) in Mount Frere District, Eastern Cape Province. MAIN MEASURES. A retrospective record review of all admissions for severe malnutrition to obtain patient characteristics and case fatality rates, a detailed review of randomly selected cases to illustrate general case management, structured observations in the paediatric wards to assess adequacy of resources for care of malnourished children, and in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with nursing and medical staff to identify barriers to improved quality of care. RESULTS. Before the study, case fatality rates were 50% and 28% in Mary Theresa and Sipetu hospitals, respectively. Information from case studies, observations, interviews, and focus group discussions revealed many inadequacies in knowledge, resources, and practices. The hospital nutrition team developed and implemented an action plan to improve the quality of care and developed tools for monitoring its implementation and evaluating its impact. In the 12-month period immediately after implementation, case fatality rates fell by ∼25% in both hospitals. CONCLUSION. Participatory research led to the formation of a hospital nutrition team, which identiWed shortcomings in the clinical management of severely malnourished children and took action to improve quality of care. These actions were associated with a reduction in case fatality rates. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/294 Files in this item: 1
PuoaneHospitalManagement2004.pdf (2.647Mb) -
Lalu, Premesh (Southern African Literature and Culture Centre, UKZN, 2004)[more][less]
Abstract: This paper gathers together deliberations surrounding Steve Biko’s I Write What I Like as it simultaneously registers the critical importance of the text as an incomplete history. Rather than presupposing the text as a form of biography or following a trend of translating Biko into a prophet of reconciliation, I argue that the text leads us towards the postcolonial problematic of self-writing. That problematic, I argue, names the encounter between self-writing and an apparatus of reading. The paper stages the encounter as a way to make explicit the text’s postcolonial interests and to mark the onset of an incomplete history. This, I argue incidentally, is where the postcolonial critic may set to work to finish the critique of apartheid. Incomplete histories call attention to how that which is unintelligible in a text makes an authoritative reading difficult. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/298 Files in this item: 1
LaluIncomplete2004.pdf (54.09Kb) -
Tumusiime, David; Frantz, Jose M. (Africa Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation,Sport and Dance/LAM Publications Limited, 2006)[more][less]
Abstract: Physical inactivity is one of the leading causes of the major non-communicable diseases, which contribute substantially to the global burden of diseases, death and disability. The burden of mortality, morbidity and disability attributable to non-communicable diseases is currently greatest and is continually growing in the developing countries. Most declines in physical activity (PA) occur during the transition period when a person goes from high school to College or University. The objectives of this study were to identify perceived benefits of and barriers to PA and determine whether previous participation in PA does have an influence on these perceptions. A cross- sectional and descriptive study with quantitative design was conducted. Five hundred (500) tertiary institution students were randomly sampled from purposively selected departments and classes at each of the five government educational tertiary institutions in Rwanda. A pre-coded self-administered questionnaire with a small number of open-ended questions was administered to the students. A response rate of 425 (85%) was obtained. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data, by means of SAS version 8 software. Frequencies and percentages for mean score values with standard deviations for each perception variable were descriptively obtained. False Discovery Rate (FDR) at 5% for multiple test adjustment and Spearman’s correlation (r) tests were used to identify the significant influence of previous participation on perceptions. More than 70% students were not participating in PA at tertiary level. Psychological benefits of PA were some of the most important perceived benefits cited by the students. Most of the important barriers cited concerned equipment and time constraints to exercising. Associations were found between previous participation and the current perceptions of PA. The findings of this study demonstrate that previous participation can influence perceptions of PA among the students. Physical activity promotion programmes should consider the role of these factors which should be emphasised from childhood. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/397 Files in this item: 1
TumusiimePhysicalActivity2006.pdf (127.2Kb) -
Rowe, Michael (Faculty of Community and Health Sciences, University of the Western Cape, 2008)[more][less]
Abstract: Information and communication technology has been shown to be increasingly important in the education and professional practice of healthcare workers. The World Health Organisation (WHO) discusses the benefits of using ICT in the Primary Healthcare setting in terms of better access to information, improved communication between colleagues, facilitating continuing professional development and providing learning tools for healthcare professionals, patients and the community as a whole. This review of the literature describes the role of information and communication technology (ICT) in the education and professional practice of healthcare workers and goes on to outline the challenges facing the widespread adoption of ICT. The conclusion is that ICT does indeed have a positive role to play in both the education and professional practice of healthcare workers, including physiotherapists, as long as it is implemented as an adjunct to established and proven practice, and not a replacement. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/61 Files in this item: 1
Rowe_Information2008.pdf (398.8Kb) -
Mathews, Verona (Health Systems Trust, 2005)[more][less]
Abstract: This chapter emphasises the need for a routine information system for Human Resources Management (HRM). It provides an assessment of the current information system for HRM using a case study approach. It also outlines a suggested approach for the development of a Routine Information System with an Essential Data Set for HRM. Finally, it provides an overview of proposed indicators to produce information for the management and monitoring of Human Resources for the health sector. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/459 Files in this item: 1
MathewsInformation2005.pdf (105.3Kb) -
Witbooi, Sally (University of Free State, 2004)[more][less]
Abstract: The South African government and proffessions are taking stock of the transforamtion of the last decade. Manucipalities still face serious problems such as urbun populattion growth, poverty, housing shortages environmental and health problems. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/609 Files in this item: 1
WitbooiInformationLandscape2004.pdf (6.625Mb) -
Hart, Genevieve (Walter de Gruyter, 2006)[more][less]
Abstract: This study examines if public libraries in a province in South Africa are ready to assume an enhanced responsibility for information literacy education, specifically that of students, and, if so, what inhibiting and facilitating factors might exist. The public libraries in the rural province of Mpumalanga provide the case site. “Readiness”, at one level, refers to physical capacity and, on a second level, to more subjective attributes such as staff attitudes and beliefs. The paper reports on the first phase of the study – in which both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered by means of a questionnaire/interview survey of 57 public librarians in 46 sites. The study finds that Mpumalanga public libraries are indeed heavily engaged in serving school learners. Shortcomings in certain physical facilities, such as the lack of space and absence of retrieval tools, are inhibiting factors with the heritage of apartheid still impacting on the availability of and quality of service. The low level of professional education of public library staff is found to impede innovation in library programming. The prevailing information literacy education model largely comprises oneto- one support, although there is a fair amount of source-based group library orientation. Moving towards information literacy education will depend on a shift in conceptions of the educational role of public libraries. In the absence of recognition of their curricular role by public library authorities and educators, many public librarians are not sure that their services to school learners are legitimate. There is, however, dawning recognition that present approaches are not meeting the needs of school learners and that more effective communication with educators is required. This recognition comes from public librarians’ frustrating encounters with learners rather than from insight into information literacy education theory and experience. The fundamental conclusion is that sustainable information literacy education in public libraries will depend on more dynamic leadership and on a vision of a new model of public library. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/608 Files in this item: 1
HartLiteracyEducation2006.pdf (558.4Kb) -
Hart, Genevieve (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, 2007)[more][less]
Abstract: Introduction: This paper uses the lens of information literacy and information literacy education to view educational change in South Africa. Although the focus is on South Africa, I hope that the paper might resonate with delegates from other countries and that this might lead to the exploration of common ground. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/520 Files in this item: 1
HartInformationLiteracy2007.pdf (224.7Kb) -
Adesemowo, A. Kayode; Tucker, William D. (Telkom, 2004)[more][less]
Abstract: A text only Instant Messaging (IM) built on the IETF open standard SIP/SIMPLE has been developed in line with our proposed introduction of a user-defined text Hotkey feature. These act as an on-click Affective Gesture (AG): in similitude to Face-to-Face (F2F) expressive gesture-like abilities. Given that text communication possesses expressive discourse with some presence level, we seek to show that one-click text-gesture fast-tracking enhances text communication further. For this study, we are taking a hybrid quantitative and qualitative approach. Initial Pre-trial results have shown that an AG approach is more likely to improve IM chat spontaneity/response rate. Further experimental trials are being undertaken. Mobile devices and networks are becoming more data-centric (evident in Japanese I-mode) even as mobile network voice Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) are declining, new stream of data services are required which must take cognisance of handhelds features albeit their small screen estate and input/output limitation. Given that IM is entrenched in the social space, especially among teenagers and gaining wide adoption in the business place, we believe extensions are required for IM steep uptake in the mobile world, much as SMS has gained prominence. Enhanced input mechanisms for handheld IM system are expected to increase co-presence between handheld users and their desktop-based counterparts while in a synchronous discussion. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/548 Files in this item: 1
AdesemowoTuckerInstantMessaging2004.pdf (165.2Kb) -
Adesemowo, A. Kayode; Tucker, William D. (SAICSIT in association with ACM, 2005)[more][less]
Abstract: Text communication can be perceived as lacking in chat spontaneity, or plastic, due to medium limitations during interaction. A form of text messaging, Instant Messaging (IM), is now on the uptake, even on mobile handhelds. This paper presents results of using affective gesture to rubberise IM chat in order to improve synchronous communication spontaneity. The experimental design makes use of a text-only IM tool, running on handhelds, built with the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and the SIP Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE). The tool was developed with a novel user-defined hotkey – a one-click context menu that fast-tracks the creation and transmission of text-gestures and emoticons. A hybrid quantitative and qualitative approach was taken in order to enable data triangulation. Data collected from user trials affirms that the affective gesture hotkey facility improves chat responsiveness, thus enhancing chat spontaneity. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10566/464 Files in this item: 1
AdesemowoTuckerInstantMessaging2005.pdf (364.4Kb)