Development of a simulation model of a Company X shunting yard

Thesis (M.Com. (Marketing Management and Information Systems))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic and Business Sciences, 2016.It was realised that there are inefficiencies at Company X’s plant K shunting yard; service time was long and the idling time of the locomotives was long. Locomotives can be utilised for other purposes in the plant. This has implication in resource planning and productivity in the company. The study deals with the simulation of the Company X rail network in plant K. The focus is on how shunting and product transportation takes place. A background on the study is given, taking into consideration elements which have been included in the study. These include the locomotives and the Block Train Rail Tanker Cars (RTCs). These containers transport different products from Town L to Town M. The study focuses on the transportation of five products. The study also includes the domestic and international Product E trains arriving at the Product E loading and offloading zone. Simulation model which represents the current-state situation was developed, using SIMIO software package. The study examined how service speed during the process of loading and offloading of products in the plant can be improved. The study also focused on locomotives travelling speed and idling time. Conclusions and recommendations have been made on the model developed. The results obtained were also discussed and analysed.DH201

Grade 9 mathematics learners' strategies in solving numbers pattern problems

Abstract: Problem solving provides an opportunity for learners to explore ideas and to extend their creativity, specifically if they are exposed to strategies that translate text into mathematical expressions. Number pattern problems allow learners to make predictions and justify their reasoning when solving problems. However, the solving of number pattern problems is often regarded as difficult for learners to do. Many learners use irrelevant strategies to solve number pattern problems and cannot easily identify number patterns embedded in problems. They also lack an understanding of the mathematical concepts of number patterns, which results in them not being able to solve algebraic problems or translate algebraic problems into mathematical equations. A reason for these difficulties could be that teachers often do not expose learners to various strategies for solving number pattern problems. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate grade 9 mathematics learners’ strategies in solving number pattern problems. Knowledge about learners’ strategies will assist teachers in the teaching of problem solving and guide them to introduce various strategies, which can assist in the solving of number-related problems...M.A. (Mathematics Education

Improved adherence to anti-retroviral therapy among traditionalists: reflections from rural South Africa

Background: Medical pluralism is common place in sub-Saharan Africa. The South African pluralistic health care environment is varied and includes traditionalist beliefs relating to the efficacy of African traditional medicine. Prior research indicates that traditionalism is associated with delays in testing for HIV and treatment interruption. Despite numerous reports about this in South Africa, there is a paucity of documented strategies to counter this trend.Objectives: To develop a strategy to reduce the impact of non-adherence to antiretroviral therapy among traditionalists in Wa- terberg district, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Methods:  Qualitative information was elicited from five face-to-face, dual moderated, semi-structured homogenous group dis- cussions. The groups comprised of 50 purposively selected, rurally based, mixed gender traditionalists living with HIV. Ground- ed theory was applied to analyse qualitative findings that emerged from the group discussions.Findings:  Self-reported increases in adherence to anti-retroviral therapy and a reduction in internalised stigma by the respon- dents. Both are attributed by the respondents to disease causation differentiation from a traditional explanation to an allopathic explanation.Conclusion: A nascent strategy has been developed which is contributing to improved adherence and a reduction in internalised stigma among traditionalists living with HIV in Waterberg district, South Africa.Keywords: HIV and AIDS; internalised stigma; makgoma; medical pluralism; ‘origins of HIV’

Critical Analysis of Strategies Towards Creating an Adequate Level of Awareness on Cybercrime among the Youth in Gauteng Province

This study aims to determine any measures taken by the South African Police Service (SAPS) to create awareness about cybercrime among the youth in the selected policing areas in the Gauteng province. A qualitative research method was applied using semi-structured interviews to find the views of participants, of measures if any, to create youths’ awareness in the area of cybercrime. A total of 37 participants comprised of 29 youths aged between 19 and 35 years, including an additional eight participants from the SAPS Crime Intelligence Unit who agreed to participate. Among these participants, there were 18 females and 19 males. The findings highlighted that there was a lack of awareness on the measures taken by the SAPS in educating the youth about the risks associated with cybercrime. The other challenges highlighted by the SAPS were a lack of capacity, resources, and training to increase the technical skills amongst the SAPS members to work effectively on cybercrime-related challenges, lack of collaboration among role players to respond adequately to cybercrime, and ineffective implementation of cybercrime policies, therefore, there was a lack of cybercrime-related campaigns. Based on the findings, five themes were explored in this study, including a lack of capacity, resources, and training to increase the technical skills amongst the SAPS members to work effectively on cybercrime-related challenges, lack of collaboration among role players to respond adequately to cybercrime and ineffective implementation of cybercrime policies. The recommendations are provided as a potential step towards tailoring education packages and awareness programs to ensure at-risk groups are equipped with actionable mechanisms to protect themselves against cybercrimes

Academic interaction with social partners in the case from the University of Limpopo

The purpose of this article is to describe the different dimensions of the community- universityinteractions that emanated from a Community Engagement Audit which was undertaken at theUniversity of Limpopo (UL) in 2014. The Audit methodology followed a quantitative surveyresearch approach. A sample of 278, out of a population of 559 academic staff at UL that included196 with PhDs and 363 without PhDs, participated in the study. SPSS was used to compute factoranalysis. The results indicated the dominant partners that faculties interact with across the spheresof engaged scholarship were multi-national companies, small, medium and micro-enterprises,national regulatory and advisory and sectorial organisations. The types of relationship with externalsocial actors were contract research, continuing education and collaborative research anddevelopment projects. Channels of information were popular publications, public conferences,seminars or workshops, oral or written testimony or advice prominent. The outputs were new orimproved products/processes, scientific discoveries and community infrastructure and facilities.The outcomes and benefits were regional development, improved quality of life for individuals andcommunities and research focus and research projects, theoretical and methodological developmentin an academic field, academic and institutional reputation. The main constrains experienced duringengagement are lack of academic resources and institutional support and relationships with externalsocial partners. The results provide guiding parameters to improve the scale and reach of CE at theUL and a snapshot of the architecture and terrain of engaged scholarship at a rural-based HEI inSouth Africa

On some results of analysis in metric spaces and fuzzy metric spaces

The notion of a fuzzy metric space due to George and Veeramani has many advantages in analysis since many notions and results from classical metric space theory can be extended and generalized to the setting of fuzzy metric spaces, for instance: the notion of completeness, completion of spaces as well as extension of maps. The layout of the dissertation is as follows: Chapter 1 provide the necessary background in the context of metric spaces, while chapter 2 presents some concepts and results from classical metric spaces in the setting of fuzzy metric spaces. In chapter 3 we continue with the study of fuzzy metric spaces, among others we show that: the product of two complete fuzzy metric spaces is also a complete fuzzy metric space. Our main contribution is in chapter 4. We introduce the concept of a standard fuzzy pseudo metric space and present some results on fuzzy metric identification. Furthermore, we discuss some properties of t-nonexpansive maps.Mathematical SciencesM. Sc. (Mathematics

On completeness of partial metric spaces, symmetric spaces and some fixed point results

The purpose of the thesis is to study completeness of abstract spaces. In particular, we study completeness in partial metric spaces, partial metric type spaces, dislocated metric spaces, dislocated metric type spaces and symmetric spaces that are generalizations of metric spaces. It is well known that complete metric spaces have a wide range of applications. For instance, the classical Banach contraction principle is phrased in the context of complete metric spaces. Analogously, the Banach's xed point theorem and xed point results for Lipschitzian maps are discussed in this context, namely in, partial metric spaces and metric type spaces. Finally, xed point results are presented for symmetric spaces.GeographyPh. D. (Mathematics

Developing electoral logistics/ supply chain benchmarking and Improvement framework for Sub-Saharan Africa

The objective of this dissertation is the designing of a performance measurement and continuous improvement framework for electoral logistics in Sub-Saharan Africa. A reference model, named ECOR (Electoral Chain Operations Reference) model has been developed in order to achieve this objective. Extensive research on existing process modelling and other Industrial Engineering techniques that could be used to develop this model was undertaken. The IEC was the main source of the information collected that was required to develop ECOR, and it also assisted in the validation of the ECOR model. The two main tools that were used to develop ECOR are SCOR® and KBSI. The project consists of the problem identification, problem analysis, research, model development, validation of model as well as recommendations and conclusion about the ECOR model.Thesis (B Eng. (Industrial and Systems Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2012

Fixed point theorems for (ε, λ)-uniformly locally contractive mapping defined on ε-chainable G-metric type spaces

In this article, we discuss fixed point results for (ε, λ)-uniformly locally contractive self mapping defined on ε-chainable G-metric type spaces. In particular, we Show that under some more general conditions, certain fixed point results already obtained in the literature remain true

Expanding the prevention armamentarium portfolio: A framework for promoting HIV-Conversant Communities within a complex, adaptive epidemiological landscape

The article describes a design journey that culminated in an HIV-Conversant Community Framework that is now being piloted in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The objective of the initiative is to reduce the aggregate community viral load by building capacity at multiple scales that strengthens peoples’ HIV-related navigational skill sets—while simultaneously opening a ‘chronic situation’ schema. The framework design is based upon a transdisciplinary methodological combination that synthesises ideas and constructs from complexity science and the management sciences as a vehicle through which to re-conceptualise HIV prevention. This resulted in a prototype that included the following constructs: managing HIV-prevention in a complex, adaptive epidemiological landscape; problematising and increasing the scope of the HIV knowledge armamentarium through education that focuses on the viral load and Langerhans cells; disruptive innovation and safe-fail probes followed by the facilitation of path creations and pattern management implementation techniques. These constructs are underpinned by a ‘middle-ground’ prevention approach which is designed to bridge the prevention ‘fault line’, enabling a multi-ontology conceptualisation of the challenge to be developed. The article concludes that stepping outside of the ‘ordered’ epistemological parameters of the existing prevention ‘messaging’ mind-set towards a more systemic approach that emphasises agency, structure and social practices as a contribution to ‘ending AIDS by 2030’ is worthy of further attention if communities are to engage more adaptively with the dynamic HIV landscape in South Africa.Keywords: chronic schemas, complex adaptive epidemiological landscape, disruptive innovation, pattern management, safe-fail probe