Faculty of Natural Sciences: Recent submissions
Now showing items 1821-1840 of 2654
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Comparative analysis of the use of professional health providers by young mothers in developing countries: A new frontier for health education
(AFAHPER-SD, 2016)Childbearing accelerates the risk of maternal and child morbidity and young mothers have a much higher risk of dying from maternal causes. Therefore, understanding the dynamics of young mothers’ use of professional health ... -
An overview of trace elements in soils of Keana-Awe Brine-Fields, Middle Benue Trough, Nigeria
(Taylor & Francis: STM, Behavioural Science and Public Health Titles, 2017)The objective of this study was to determine the concentration of trace elements in soils of Keana-Awe brine-fields. Composite soil samples were randomly collected at a depth of 0–15 cm and were analysed for molybdenum, ... -
Government facilitated access to ICTs: adoption, use and impact on the well-being of indigent South Africans
(IIMC International Information Management Corporation, 2018)This paper presents preliminary results of an assessment of the impact of a government facilitated ICT access programme on the well-being of poor citizens. It examines South African government efforts in the application ... -
Mobile video comparison to help Deaf people make informed choices: a South African case study with provincial data
(IIMC International Information Management Corporation, 2018)Deaf people use sign language to communicate and use mobile video calling to communicate with one another. Mobile video utilises much more bandwidth than text and voice communication modes, resulting in higher expenditure ... -
Battery and data drain of over-the-top applications on low-end smartphones
(IIMC International Information Management Corporation, 2018)Low-end smartphones with sub $50 price tags provide affordable device ownership to low-income populations. However, their limited capacity, when combined with the need for multimodal connectivity, raises usage concerns in ... -
Generalization of tooltips: An assistive technology extension
(Springer, 2017)Software applications use tooltips to assist users to improve their understanding of icons. When hovering over an icon with the cursor, a short text description of the icon appears. Text-based tooltips are helpful for users ... -
Amplifying positive deviance with ICT enabling community development and interdependence
(Springer, 2017)Positive deviance is a social mechanism whereby a beneficial practice that is not considered as normal gets taken up and spread within a community. This enables a community to solve its own problems aided by mentorship and ... -
Sublittoral seaweed communities on natural and artificial substrata in a high-latitude coral community in South Africa
(National Inquiry Services Centre (NISC), 2016)Coral mortality may result in macroalgal proliferation or a phase shift into an alga dominated state. Subtidal, high-latitude western Indian Ocean coral communities at Sodwana Bay on the KwaZulu-Natal coast, South Africa, ... -
Testing for the occurrence of pilchard herpesvirus (PHV) in South African sardine Sardinops sagax
(National Inquiry Services Centre (NISC), 2016)Catches of South African sardine Sardinops sagax have declined in recent years from about 200 000 t harvested annually during the period 2002–2006 to less than 100 000 t. Consequently, some companies are now importing ... -
Renewing Felsenstein’s phylogenetic Bootstrap in the era of big data
(Nature Publishing Group, 2018)Felsenstein’s application of the bootstrap method to evolutionary trees is one of the most cited scientific papers of all time. The bootstrap method, which is based on resampling and replications, is used extensively to ... -
Estimating above-ground biomass in sub-tropical buffer zone community Forests, Nepal, using Sentinel 2 data
(MDPI, 2018)Accurate assessment of above-ground biomass (AGB) is important for the sustainable management of forests, especially buffer zone (areas within the protected area, where restrictions are placed upon resource use and special ... -
Association between pro-inflammatory alleles and allergic phenotypes in Xhosa adolescents
(Wiley, 2018)BACKGROUND: Significant differences exist in the prevalence, spectrum, and severity of allergic diseases between developing and developed countries and between subpopulations within single countries. These discrepancies ... -
Aligned metal absorbers and the ultraviolet background at the end of reionization
(Oxford University Press, 2018)We use observations of spatially-aligned C ii, C iv, Si ii, Si iv, and O i absorbers to probe the slope and intensity of the ultraviolet background (UVB) at z ∼ 6. We accom- plish this by comparing observations with ... -
Riverine dominance of a nearshore marine demersal food web: evidence from stable isotope and C/N ratio analysis
(National Inquiry Services Centre (NISC), 2016)The Thukela Bank, KwaZulu-Natal, supports a diverse ecosystem and South Africa’s only prawn fishery. Oceanographic studies suggest riverine input is not important for the biology of this system, whereas biological studies ... -
Plastic ingestion by estuarine mullet Mugil cephalus (Mugilidae) in an urban harbour, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
(National Inquiry Services Centre (NISC), 2016)Coastal urban environments have high plastic pollution levels, and hence interactions between plastic debris and marine life are frequent. We report on plastic ingestion by mullet Mugil cephalus in Durban Harbour, ... -
Re-engineering of South Africa’s primary health care system: where is the pharmacist?
(South African Academy of Family Physicians, 2016)South Africa’s transition towards a district-based health system (DHS) aims to offer health promotion and prevention services at community level, through re-engineered primary health care (PHC) services. Along with pharmacy ... -
Characterising the water use and hydraulic properties of riparian tree invasions: A case study of Populus canescens in South Africa
(Water Research Commission, 2018)Invasive alien plants (IAPs) pose a serious threat to the already limited water resources in dry countries like South Africa which are facing increasing water shortages. Much of South Africa is expected to get drier in ... -
An in-depth study of the ICT ecosystem in a South African rural community: unveiling expenditure and communication patterns
(Routledge, 2016)There is no doubt of the contributions made by mobile phones and mobile network operators in increasing access to communications in rural areas of developing countries. Yet how affordable is this ubiquitous access in such ... -
Moving ICTD research beyond bungee jumping: practical case studies and recommendations
(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2016)The global spread of Internet and mobile communications has been accompanied by a growing interest in how information and communication technologies (ICTs) can contribute to social and economic development. There are a ... -
Exploration of Deaf people’s health information sources and techniques for information delivery in Cape Town: A qualitative study for the design and development of a mobile health application
(JMIR Publications, 2016)BACKGROUND: Many cultural and linguistic Deaf people in South Africa face disparity when accessing health information because of social and language barriers. The number of certified South African Sign Language interpreters ...