The taxonomic status of the South African straptail, Macruronus capensis Davies, 1950 (Pisces, Gadiformes, Macruronidae)

The first record of the straptail fish, genus Macruronus, from South Africa was based on a single specimen captured off the Atlantic Cape coast and described as a new species, M. capensis Davies 1950. Davies did not examine specimens of the other extant nominal species in the genus, but based his conclusions solely on references to the original descriptions of M. novaezelandiae (Hector 1870) and M. magellanicus Lönnberg 1907. We show that all of the characters used by Davies (1950) to distinguish M. capensis from its congeners are in fact shared by the other nominal species of this genus. We also present molecular evidence from a Macruronus specimen recently caught off South Africa to support the conclusion that M. capensis is a junior synonym of M. novaezelandiae

Lessons from the DHET Accreditation of Publications

The purpose is ‘to encourage research productivity by rewarding quality research output and enhancing productivity by recognising the major types of research output, using appropriate proxies (such as scholarliness; peer review; conformity to academic writing and addressing specialists in the respective field) to determine quality of such output

Underdogs on top : troubling positions for boys and a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) accounts for one of the largest number of health referrals amongst children. As a mental health diagnosis, it has undergone multiple conceptual revisions over the years, where it is now classed as a neurodevelopmental disorder. ADHD remains a highly controversial subject, sparking debate at the interface of parenting responsibilities, effective schooling practices, predisposing trauma, and the ethics of the medicated child. In the midst of these debates, one of the strongest issues to emerge is the high proportion of boys that are diagnosed with ADHD, as well as the sex and gender divide in symptoms, referral, and treatment choice. Lack of research involving children, particularly those with disabilities, highlights the limitations of ableist and developmental assumptions. Although there is a growing body of peer-reviewed literature on young people’s experiences of ADHD, these accounts tend toward the descriptive and fail to take account of how young people manage their condition as part of identity-making processes. Given the above, the main objective of the study was to understand how boys who were diagnosed with ADHD understood their illness and managed their condition in a school setting. Educators’ views were also sought to bring an adult perspective to this issue. The study was guided by feminist post-structural ethnography, located at one public full service school named Riven Primary. Given the in-depth nature of the study, attention was also granted to situated performances of boys across Remedial and Mainstream learning spaces and public or private conversational spaces. Analysis focused on group interactions and private interviews with nine boys aged 9 to 11 years of age, all of whom had previously received a diagnosis of ADHD and medical forms of management. Five of these boys were enrolled in the on-site Remedial Unit, while four boys were based within the Mainstream section of the school. Separate focus group interviews were also held with Remedial and Mainstream educators from the site. Analysis of the educator and boy accounts reinforce the power and prevalence of the biomedical discourse. Accounts of ADHD stigma was related to observed behaviours and public responses towards diagnosis and medication. Educators’ perceptions of risk and vulnerability associated with ADHD typically intersected with broader social assumptions of childhood, sex, and gender. For this group, three broad storylines emerged (flunk, hunk, or punk), which provide different claims as to the deterministic nature of ADHD and the levels of accountability for the child and the family system. Medication was a powerful signifier for responsibility and success, among boys and educators alike. It was also symbolic of chronic illness and weakened masculinities. Boys were palpably aware of their ADHD-related social and educational vulnerabilities that rendered them as biologically faulty, underachieving, and unhinged outcasts. However, the label of ADHD or the experience of medication was not taken up by all boys in a one-dimensional manner. Instead, there were tendencies to reinforce, resist and, at times, reframe representations of the unruly ADHD child through resources and strategies that spoke to broader narratives of success, maturity, and heroism. In this regard, the so-called “Underdogs” worked very hard to regain credibility through discourses of shared disadvantage, as well as a passion and determination to succeed through adherence to the ADHD medication. Boys were also careful not to take up illness positions when it rendered them powerless. Typically, masculine constructs such as sport and future employment were constructed as potentially enabling spaces for ADHD, in efforts to counter responses around illness and dependency on medication. In general, the study findings resist the notion of ADHD as a singular, universal concept and instead make a cogent argument for the socially situated nature of the diagnosis. The feminist post-structural analytical frame helped to disrupt simplistic constructions of ADHD through making visible the impairments boys experienced at the interface of shifting social identifiers and in different conversational contexts. These situated performances ultimately worked to reframe their disabilities and masculinities in either beneficial or problematic ways. Engaging in research that involves children with disabilities elevates discourses of risk, stigma, and protection. Working in these contexts makes visible the insecurities that plague research development and clinical practice, while also expanding considerations of what constitutes ethical conduct for adult stakeholders. In closing, recommendations are made for investing in strength-based or resiliency enhancing processes that help boys cope with the stigma associated with ADHD.National Research Foundation (South Africa

Scale and nature of unethical practices in scholarly publishing

CREST was commissioned in March 2015 to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the state of journal and book publishing in South Africa. This commission was issued specifically to investigate how the revision in the funding framework of 2005 had impacted on journal, book and conference proceeding outputs in the country. The final report of this study was submitted to ASSAf in January 2017. • In April 2017, we received a grant from the DHET to continue this research with a specific focus on the quality of SA’s publications and the aim to develop a set of indicators to assess journal quality. •Both in the ASSAf and DHET study we have come to realize that issues around quality in scholarly publishing are inextricably linked to issues about ethics

Working together for our oceans: A marine spatial plan for Algoa Bay, South Africa

Southern Africa occupies a critical position within the southern hemisphere for the study of broadscale global change and the three oceans around South Africa (the Atlantic, Indian and Southern Oceans) play a vital role in determining local and regional climate and weather patterns. Oceans and coasts also provide various resources and services (e.g. food and carbon sequestration), but these services are threatened by human activities. Uncertainty of the impact and consequences of these anthropogenic activities makes it problematic to manage marine resources. Given the recent global emphasis on the development of ‘ocean economies’, the exploitation of living (fisheries, aquaculture and tourism) and non-living (oil and gas, minerals, energy) marine resources should be on a scale that is socially and economically justifiable and ecologically sustainable.National Research Foundation (South Africa

Guidelines for cybersecurity education campaigns

In our technology- and information-infused world, cyberspace is an integral part of modern-day society. As the number of active cyberspace users increases, so too does the chances of a cyber threat finding a vulnerable target increase. All cyber users who are exposed to cyber risks need to be educated about cyber security. Human beings play a key role in the implementation and governing of an entire cybersecurity and cybersafety solution. The effectiveness of any cybersecurity and cybersafety solutions in a societal or individual context is dependent on the human beings involved in the process. If these human beings are either unaware or not knowledgeable about their roles in the security solution they become the weak link in these cybersecurity solutions. It is essential that all users be educated to combat any threats. Children are a particularly vulnerable subgroup within society. They are digital natives and make use of ICT, and online services with increasing frequency, but this does not mean they are knowledgeable about or behaving securely in their cyber activities. Children will be exposed to cyberspace throughout their lifetimes. Therefore, cybersecurity and cybersafety should be taught to children as a life-skill. There is a lack of well-known, comprehensive cybersecurity and cybersafety educational campaigns which target school children. Most existing information security and cybersecurity education campaigns limit their scope. Literature reports mainly on education campaigns focused on primary businesses, government agencies and tertiary education institutions. Additionally, most guidance for the design and implementation of security and safety campaigns: are for an organisational context, only target organisational users, and mostly provide high-level design recommendations. This thesis addressed the lack of guidance for designing and implementing cybersecurity and cybersafety educational campaigns suited to school learners as a target audience. The thesis aimed to offer guidance for designing and implementing education campaigns that educate school learners about cybersecurity and cybersafety. This was done through the implementation of an action research process over a five-year period. The action research process involved cybersecurity and cybersafety educational interventions at multiple schools. A total of 18 actionable guidelines were derived from this research to guide the design and implementation of cybersecurity and cybersafety education campaigns which aim to educate school children.National Research Foundation (South Africa

A model to address factors that could influence the information security behaviour of computing graduates

The fact that information is ubiquitous throughout most modern organisations cannot be denied. Information is not merely used as an enabler in modern organisations today, but is also used to gain a competitive advantage over competitors. Thus, information has become one of the most important business assets. It is, therefore, imperative that organisations protect information assets as they would protect other business assets. This is typically achieved through implementing various security measures.Technological and procedural security measures are largely dependent on humans. However, the incorrect behaviour of humans poses a significant threat to the protection of these information assets. Thus, it is vital to understand how human behaviour may impact the protection of information assets. While the focus of much literature is on organisations, the focus of this research is on higher education institutions and the factors of information security, with a specific focus on influencing the information security behaviour of computing graduates. Typically, computing graduates would be employed in organisations in various careers such as software developers, network administrators, database administrators and information systems analysts. Employment in these careers means that they would be closely interacting with information assets and information systems. A real problem, as identified by this research, is that currently, many higher education institutions are not consciously doing enough to positively influence the information security behaviour of their computing graduates. This research presents a model to address various factors that could influence the information security behaviour of computing graduates. The aim of this model is to assist computing educators in influencing computing graduates to adopt more secure behaviour, such as security assurance behaviour. A literature review was conducted to identify the research problem. A number of theories such as the Theory of Planned Behaviour, Protection Motivation Theory and Social Cognitive Theory were identified as being relevant for this research as they provided a theoretical foundation for factors that could influence the information security behaviour of computing graduates. Additionally, a survey was conducted to gather the opinions and perceptions of computing educators relating to information security education in higher education institutions. Results indicated that information security is not pervasively integrated within the higher education institutions surveyed. Furthermore, results revealed that most computing students were perceived to not be behaving in a secure manner with regard to information security. This could negatively influence their information security behaviour as computing graduates employed within organisations. Computing educators therefore require assistance in influencing the information security behaviour of these computing students. The proposed model to provide this assistance was developed through argumentation and modelling.National Research Foundatio

Elucidation of African elephant beta casein phosphorylation state and casein micelle structure

The exact structure of casein micelles still remains a debated subject. While most of the experimental work on cow caseins and casein micelles has provided a wealth of data, data of caseins and casein micelles of non-bovine origin provide a new insight into the structure of casein micelles. Microscopic examination of cow, sheep, horse, human and African elephant milk casein micelles show that the respective casein micelles are all spherical in shape but differ in size as well as surface appearances. Human casein micelles were the largest of the casein micelles whereas sheep casein micelles were the smallest. Apart from their smaller size, sheep micelles also had a smooth surface compared to a rough surface observed on the rest of the casein micelles. African elephant casein micelles were the second largest of the five casein micelles compared. It may be derived that, although casein micelle shape and size seem to be species specific, the differences observed may be a result of the differences in total casein content, the proportions of the individual casein types and the presence and or absence of some of the casein types. The elucidation of African elephant β-casein phosphorylation state by LC MS/MS, showed the presence of a single phosphorylation site at Ser9. In contrast, electrophoresis analysis showed that there are up to five phosphoforms of African elephant β-casein. The LC MS/MS also showed that the presence of a short length African elephant β-casein that is 200 amino acids long and that the gene sequences coded for by exons 4 and 5 have been truncated. Homology modeling of cow, sheep, horse, human and African elephant caseins showed that the secondary structure of α-caseins predominantly consist of α-helices, whereas the secondary structure of β- and κ-caseins is dominated by random coils. Alpha caseins give micelles a slightly compact structure whereas random coils result in a more open and larger size of micelles. These structural differences of caseins could possibly explain the varied size of casein micelles in milk. Comparative genomics of casein genes across mammalian species shows that several mammalian species are devoid of CNS1S1 and CSN1S2 genes. Considering the evolution of the casein gene locus organization, it appears that the CNS1S1 gene has been lost whereas the CSN1S2 gene has not been gained or developed in these species. In contrast, the CSN2 and CSN3 genes have been preserved and gained respectively, in most mammalian species. This suggests that these genes have a more important role in casein micelle formation and consequently the sequestration of large amounts of calcium and phosphate. Evidence from this study suggests that studying of non-cow caseins may shed more light on the casein micelle structure.National Research Foundatio

An exploration of the potential of wordless picturebooks to encourage parent-child reading in the South African context

This research study focused on the influence of a participatory project in which wordless picturebooks were used in parent-child joint reading and, more generally, the development of a culture of reading in the home. The research was conducted within the South African context, in low socio-economic areas of Gauteng, and is approached from the researcher’s viewpoint as an illustrator. Using multimodal social semiotics as a theoretical departure, the researcher argues that the characteristics of wordless picturebooks can serve as motivating factors that could contribute to developing a more positive attitude to reading in South Africa. Internationally, there is a large volume of literature which advocates the use of wordless books in literacy development, yet little research exists on their use in the South African context. Furthermore, the majority of research investigating the value of book sharing has been conducted in the developed world. South Africa has a very low general reading rate, and despite a growing support for literacy development in mother tongue, there still exists a lack of indigenous language picturebooks for very young children. Many families are also simply unable to afford books. As a result, many children are not exposed to books or book sharing activities prior to entering formal school, where the focus of reading is not on reading for enjoyment. By systematically moving the reading environment from a community center or pre-school to participant homes, the main aim of this research was to determine the perceptions of the parents /primary caregivers and children that participated in the research regarding the value of utilizing wordless picturebooks. The researcher aimed go gain an understanding of how wordless picturebooks could assist in ensuring that literacy poor families are supported as a child’s first educator. The research was based on participative action research, and was conducted in three literacy poor areas of Gauteng. Qualitative data was collected by means of focus group and semi-structured individual interviews before and after participants attended a reading programme that spanned over a four to six-week period. Prior to the reading programme, a story collection workshop was hosted at two of the research sites, and the stories collected from the participants was used by the researcher to create wordless picturebooks. The use of these books were subsequently pilot tested at the third research site, whereas existing wordless picture books were used at the first two sites. An initial sample of 42 parents/primary caregivers and their pre-school child were included in the study, however low participant retention resulted in a significantly smaller sample that completed the research with only 14 parents/primary caregivers having attended all the sessions of the reading programme. It should however be noted that even though the number of participants that completed the entire programme, in other words, who attended all sessions, was low, data pertaining to the reading experience after the implementation of the programme was collected from 39 participants in total. Thematic analysis of the data was conducted, and themes that pertained to aspects of Design (as a central notion in Multiliteracies), Multimodality and participant generated content were identified. The key findings indicated that wordless picturebooks can be viewed as a valuable tool in fostering a culture of reading in the South African context. Participants reported that they were reading more at home, and that the activity was enjoyable, compared to previous reading experiences. Furthermore, the research findings highlighted factors that influence parent-child reading programmes within the context of South African, literacy poor areas. It is recommended the genre warrants more local attention and that larger-scale research studies be conducted with more diverse populations.National Research Foundatio

Exploring the importance of early childhood stimulation in rural Howick West in Pietermaritzburg, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

This study used qualitative research to investigate crèche educators’ beliefs of the role of early childhood stimulation in rural areas in Pietermaritzburg; taking into cognizance educators’ views on the role of play using toys as a form of stimulation. Considered in this study are the challenges and benefits experienced by educators participating in the Singakwenza early childhood intervention programme. Singakwenza early childhood intervention facilitator training challenges were also explored. The sample comprised of six rural educators and two facilitators that were all part of the Singakwenza early childhood intervention programme. Purposive sampling was used to recruit research participants whose ages ranged from 23 to 60 years. This study was aligned with the holistic approach and a social constructionist view of early childhood development. The findings showed that the educators’ beliefs about the role of stimulation is directly related to their personal childhood backgrounds having experienced stimulating activities growing up and later engaging in the Singakwenza intervention training programme. This highlighted educators’ beliefs that stimulation is important as it encourages development and growth in early childhood. Educators expressed feeling fulfilled in their professional role, as activities children engage in were applied at home and in the community. Educators also acknowledged the Department of Social Developments’ assistance with food grants, which they found to be very helpful as most children attending the crèches were from disadvantaged backgrounds. Some of the challenges educators faced ranged from parents’ lack of consideration for their children’s educational needs, to lack of educational space as classrooms were considered small due to the large volume of children in attendance. Singakwenza facilitators articulated facing challenges from educators who required ECD education for the Singakwenza intervention to be successful. It is recommended that ECD educators and facilitators collaborate with parents to establish a sharing of ideas on how to establish effective ECD outcomes. Facilitators need to acknowledge and embrace at the onset and throughout the intervention process that educators possess some level of ECD knowledge and work towards assisting educators to excel in their profession. This study recommends that DSD and other governmental departments provide training to officials from DSD, local government, DBE and other organisations interested in ECD to accurately and meaningfully assess and monitor ECD services.National Research Foundatio