Die gebruik van die pastor pastorum in die pastorale versorging van die predikante van die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk (Afrikaans)

This study was undertaken around the following problem statement: As a result of erratic pastoral care for the ministers' corps of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) by the denomination, ministers are often left to their own resources (to fend for themselves?) and consequently experience solitude. Because of developments in society and the church, they exist and function more and more on the periphery of the lives of people and of society. With some ministers, this results in an alienation from their calling and uncertainty about how this calling should be realised in specific circumstances and contexts. From this, the following research hypothesis was formulated: When the DRC appoints pastors pastorum as an essential component of a comprehensive and holistic approach to the pastoral care of the minister, ministers will fulfil their calling with renewed self-confidence, improved competence and greater authority. This study was approached from the methodological question: Who does what, regarding who, how, where, when, why? The DRC functions according to the presbyterial synodal system of church government. Each pastor and congregation is, although selfreliant, also part of the DRC and the Church of Christ in general. The presbyterial synodal church government system is not the only way in which the church can be managed and is also not infallible. The weaknesses in the system have a negative effect especially on pastors who have attained an exceptionally important position in the system. The system of corporate episcopes is inadequate in current circumstances.The empirical investigation attempts to connect the who and the what to the where and the when. The empirical investigation confirms the supposition that a need exists for pastoral care among pastors. The pastor prefers to be pastorally cared for by the church. For the pastor, the receiver of the pastoral care, it is not really important which church assembly the care emanates (comes?) from. Care from a major assembly which is removed further than the regional synod from the pastor, would, however, not be effective. It seems that lack of a vision on the whole is a serious problem, especially in churches from the reformed tradition. Solutions concerning pastoral care of pastors should be directed towards the person of the pastor as well as towards the structure in which the pastor works. The church can and must learn from other church traditions.Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2008.Practical TheologyPhDUnrestricte

Changes in food neophobia and dietary habits of international students

Background International study is becoming more prevalent, yet aspects such as food neophobia often militate against the consumption of a nutritionally balanced diet of visiting students. The purpose of this paper, therefore, was to evaluate the extent to which international postgraduate students experience food neophobia, how this might vary by nationality and other demographic characteristics, and how acculturation might manifest itself in students’ dietary behaviour. Methods International postgraduate students were invited to complete a validated questionnaire during their first week at university. The questionnaire was subsequently re-administered to the same students approximately four and eight months later. Results In total, 226 usable responses were analysed, 124, 58 and 44, respectively, for the first, second and final data collection. Perhaps surprisingly, the overall food neophobia scores increased from an initial value of 27.95 (SD ± 16.95) to 33.67 (SD ± 33.67) after 3 months although when comparing European and Asian students, only the former were significantly different (p<0.05). Both Asian and European students reported small but not significant changes in their eating habits, although after 3 months significantly (p=< 0.05) less changes were reported. No significant changes were reported in students’ perceived healthiness of their diets either by nationality or over time. Conclusions Understanding the complexities of food neophobia, other aspects of dietary change and at what point these changes might take place in the acculturation process when students arrive in the UK needs to be fully understood if a climate for positive learning is to be established

Barchan dune corridors: field characterization and investigation of control parameters

The structure of the barchan field located between Tarfaya and Laayoune (Atlantic Sahara, Morocco) is quantitatively investigated and compared to that in La Pampa de la Joya (Arequipa, Peru). On the basis of field measurements, we show how the volume, the velocity and the output sand flux of a dune can be computed from the value of its body and horn widths. The dune size distribution is obtained from the analysis of aerial photographs. It shows that these fields are in a statistically homogeneous state along the wind direction and present a `corridor' structure in the transverse direction, in which the dunes have a rather well selected size. Investigating the possible external parameters controlling these corridors, we demonstrate that none among topography, granulometry, wind and sand flux is relevant. We finally discuss the dynamical processes at work in these fields (collisions and wind fluctuations), and investigate the way they could regulate the size of the dunes. Furthermore we show that the overall sand flux transported by a dune field is smaller than the maximum transport that could be reached in the absence of dunes, i.e. in saltation over the solid ground.Comment: revised version for JGR-ES, 36 pages, 21 figure

Climate change impacts on wind energy generation in Ireland

An ensemble of high-resolution regional climate model simulation data is used to examine the impacts of climate change on offshore and onshore wind energy genera- tion in Ireland. Two Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios (RCP 4.5 and 8.5) are analysed for the mid-term (2041–2060) and the long-term (2081–2100) future. Wind energy is projected to decrease (≤2%) overall in future climate scenarios. Changes are evident by mid-century and are more pronounced by late 21st century, particularly for RCP 8.5 offshore. Seasonally, wind energy is projected to decrease by less than 6% in summer and to increase slightly in winter (up to 1.1%). The distinct changes in different parts of the power curve, presented here for the first time, show a reversed pattern of duration at certain levels of the power curve. In summer, there is an increase of low-power and a decrease of high-power generation, whereas during winter, there is a projected increase in the time spent at high power. This could lead to diverse consequences for system operators depending on the season. The impacts of climate change on the duration and frequency of long periods (longer than 24 h) of low-/high-power wind energy events in Ireland are also presented. The frequency of low-power events is projected to increase slightly, especially during summer. Onshore and offshore events are considered separately, demonstrating the complementarity of developing both onshore and offshore wind farms for future energy systems. Regional analysis highlights the benefit of developing a geographically dispersed wind farm network incorporating different local wind conditions

Insights into evolving global populations of Phytophthora infestans via new complementary mtDNA haplotype markers and nuclear SSRs

<div><p>In many parts of the world the damaging potato late blight pathogen, <i>Phytophthora infestans</i>, is spread as a succession of clonal lineages. The discrimination of genetic diversity within such evolving populations provides insights into the processes generating novel lineages and the pathways and drivers of pathogen evolution and dissemination at local and global scales. This knowledge, in turn, helps optimise management practices. Here we combine two key methods for dissecting mitochondrial and nuclear diversity and resolve intra and inter-lineage diversity of over 100 <i>P</i>. <i>infestans</i> isolates representative of key clonal lineages found globally. A novel set of PCR primers that amplify five target regions are provided for mitochondrial DNA sequence analysis. These five loci increased the number of mtDNA haplotypes resolved from four with the PCR RFLP method to 37 (17, 6, 8 and 4 for Ia, Ib, IIa, and IIb haplotypes, respectively, plus 2 Herb-1 haplotypes). As with the PCR RFLP method, two main lineages, I and II were defined. Group I contained 25 mtDNA haplotypes that grouped broadly according to the Ia and Ib types and resolved several sub-clades amongst the global sample. Group II comprised two distinct clusters with four haplotypes corresponding to the RFLP type IIb and eight haplotypes resolved within type IIa. The 12-plex SSR assay revealed 90 multilocus genotypes providing accurate discrimination of dominant clonal lineages and other genetically diverse isolates. Some association of genetic diversity and geographic region of contemporary isolates was observed; US and Mexican isolates formed a loose grouping, distinct from isolates from Europe, South America and other regions. Diversity within clonal lineages was observed that varied according to the age of the clone. In combination, these fine-scale nuclear and maternally inherited mitochondrial markers enabled a greater level of discrimination among isolates than previously available and provided complementary perspectives on evolutionary questions relating to the diversity, phylogeography and the origins and spread of clonal lineages of <i>P</i>. <i>infestans</i>.</p></div