Custom and common sense: The Zulu Royal family succession dispute of the 1940s

African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented 6 May, 1996In November 1981 the historian Nicholas Cope tracked down Tandayipi Absolom kaSolomon Zulu to a bottle store outside Nongoma, Zululand. Once a contender for the royal throne of the Zulus, Tandayipi was now an alcoholic who spent 'most of his days in the bottle store.' But the ravages of liquor had not completely stripped the memory of those times from Tandayipi's mind. 'I was displaced', the old Zulu recalled of his abortive succession, 'If I was another chap... I had followers... I should have done a great mischief', But the mischief never happened. As Tandayipi admitted, 'I simply put my head down like a worm, till now', Almost forty years later he was still reluctant to talk, and steered the interview onto other topics. The disputed succession to Solomon kaDinuzulu Zulu forms the subject of this paper. It is a story with a fair share of drama, sex and violence. As the Chief Native Commissioner of Natal remarked of the affair, 'The history of the Zulu Royal House is one long story of intrigue'. Yet the fascinating realm of Zulu politics Cbyzantine' was Shula Marks's adjective) is only background to the story told here. The focus, rather, is on the dispute as a window into the creation of a form of customary law ('native law') in Natal, and its application by Native Commissioners and the 'native courts'

Effects of Rewarding and Unrewarding Experiences on the Response to Host-induced Plant Odors of the Generalist Parasitoid Cotesia marginiventris (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Associative learning is known to modify foraging behavior in numerous parasitic wasps. This is in agreement with optimal foraging theory, which predicts that the wasps will adapt their responses to specific cues in accordance with the rewards they receive while perceiving these cues. Indeed, the generalist parasitoid Cotesia marginiventris shows increased attraction to a specific plant odor after perceiving this odor during contact with hosts. This positive associative learning is common among many parasitoids, but little is known about the effects of unrewarding host searching events on the attractiveness of odors. To study this, preferences of female C. marginiventris for herbivore-induced odors of three plant species were tested in a six-arm olfactometer after the wasps perceived one of these odors either i) without contacting any caterpillars, ii) while contacting the host caterpillar Spodoptera littoralis, or iii) while contacting the non-host caterpillar Pieris rapae. The results confirm the effects of positive associative learning, but showed no changes in innate responses to the host-induced odors after "negative” experiences. Hence, a positive association is made during an encounter with hosts, but unsuccessful host-foraging experiences do not necessarily lead to avoidance learning in this generalist parasitoi

A regulation-based classification system for marine protected areas: A response to Dudley et al. [9]

Dudley et al. [9] commented on our paper [11], arguing that the current IUCN objective-based categorization of protected areas, which is also used in marine protected areas (MPAs), should not be abandoned and replaced by the new regulation-based classification system [11]. Here we clarify that we do not advocate replacing the current IUCN categories, but highlight the benefits of using both the objective-based IUCN categories and the new regulation-based classification when applied to MPAs. With an increasing number of MPA types being implemented, most of them multiple-use areas zoned for various purposes, assessing ecological and socio-economic benefits is key for advancing conservation targets and policy objectives. Although the IUCN categories can be used both in terrestrial and marine systems, they were not designed to follow a gradient of impacts and there is often a mismatch between stated objectives and implemented regulations. The new regulation-based classification system addresses these problems by linking impacts of activities in marine systems with MPA and zone classes in a simple and globally applicable way. Applying both the IUCN categories and the regulation based classes will increase transparency when assessing marine conservation goals.ERA-Net BiodivERsA project "BUFFER Partially protected areas as buffers to increase the linked social ecological resilience"; national funders ANR (France); FCT (Portugal); FOR-MAS (Sweden); SEPA (Sweden); RCN (Norway); project BUFFER; Fernand Braudel IFER fellowship (Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme); Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT) [UID/MAR/04292/2013

Rethinking Teacher Quality: Narrow Versus Broad Conceptions of Capability

This paper examines the prevailing notion of teacher quality today. While there is wide agreement that teachers are the primary factor in schools determining student achievement, there is disagreement about which attributes constitute a high-quality teacher. Different approaches to improving teaching spring from different conceptualizations of capability. Since teacher quality consists of particular abilities that allow teachers to excel in their work, we need to understand how the abilities of high quality teachers are acquired, maintained and expanded, or, conversely, how these abilities are unrealized, arrested and diminished. The Strategic Management of Human Capital (SMHC) project represents the dominant approach to improving teacher quality in education policy today. Using Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum\u27s capability approach as a comparative framework, it is argued that SMHC holds a far too narrow conception of capability, resulting in an inadequate evaluation system, overly tight management of teachers\u27 work, and ultimately the maintenance of a broken education policy process. In contrast, the capability approach offers a broad understanding of ability, which allows for a rethinking of teacher quality and education policy

Effect of pH on fermentative hydrogen production from L-arabinose using mixed cultures

Hydrogen is now considered one of the alternatives to fossil fuels. It is preferred to biogas or methane because hydrogen is not chemically bound to carbon and therefore, combustion does not contribute to green house gases or acid rain [1]. One alternative to sustainable H2 energy production from renewable energy sources is through microbiological fermentation. There have been many studies examining the effect of pH in fermentative hydrogen production from glucose and sucrose using mixed microflora [2,3,4,5,6]. However, fermentative hydrogen production from arabinose, one of the most common pentoses and a component of various biopolymers such as hemicellulose and plant polysaccharides using mixed microflora has not been previously examined. Understanding the influence of pH on biohydrogen production is necessary to develop arabinose-based hydrogen fermentation applications, such as the use of agricultural wastes. Biohydrogen production from arabinose was examined using three different anaerobic sludges with different pHs ranging from 4.5 to 8.0. Arabinose (30 g/L) was used as the substrate for all experiments. Individual cumulative hydrogen production data were used to estimate the three parameters of the modified Gompertz equation. This model has been used for describing the progress of cumulative gas production obtained from the batch experiments. Higher hydrogen production potentials (more than 35 mL) were observed with pH values greater than 6.0 for Unicer (granular sludge) and Choupal (disperse anaerobic digester sludge supplemented with fat) and greater than 6.5 for Freixo (disperse anaerobic digester sludge). Choupal biomass had the largest hydrogen production rate (4.8±1.4 mL/h) at pH 7.5, compared with the other two sludges. Unicer biomass had the shortest lag time (10.6±2.4 h) at pH 8.0. The highest hydrogen yield was observed with Choupal biomass (2.5 mol H2/mol arabinose consumed), with pH 6.0. The granular biomass showed different behaviour than the suspended biomasses. The differences may be explained by smaller lag phases, the percentage of acetate produced, the higher percentage of ethanol produced, and the amount of arabinose consumed. The percentage of n-butyrate was highly correlated with the percentage of acetate (R2 = 0.980) in Freixo biomass. A high correlation (R2 = 0.973) was observed between the percentage of n-butyrate and the percentage of ethanol in Unicer biomass, suggesting that the fermentation is following the butyrate/ethanol pathways which correspond to the lower yields of hydrogen obtained

Terrestrial locomotion of the northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris): limitation of large aquatically adapted seals on land?

The aquatic specializations of phocid seals have restricted their ability to locomote on land. The amphibious northern elephant seal, Mirounga angustirostris, is the second largest phocid seal in the world, with males reaching 2700 kg. Although elephant seals are proficient swimmers and deep divers, their extreme size and aquatic specializations limit terrestrial movement. The kinematics of terrestrial locomotion in northern elephant seals were analyzed from video recordings of animals observed on the beach of Añ o Nuevo State Reserve, CA, USA. The seals moved using a series of rhythmic undulations produced by dorsoventral spinal flexion. The traveling spinal wave moved anteriorly along the dorsal margin of the body with the chest, pelvic region and foreflippers serving as the main points of contact with the ground. The hindflippers were not used. The spinal wave and foreflippers were used to lift the chest off the ground as the body was pushed forward from the pelvis as the foreflippers were retracted to pull the body forward. Seals moved over land at 0.41–2.56 m s−1 (0.12–0.71 body lengths s−1 ). The frequency and amplitude of spinal flexions both displayed a direct increase with increasing speed. The duty factor for the pelvic region decreased with increasing velocity while the duty factor of the foreflipper remained constant. Kinematic data for elephant seals and other phocids were used in a biomechanical model to calculate the mechanical energy expended during terrestrial locomotion. The elephant seals were found to expend more energy when traveling over land for their size than smaller phocids. The unique method of terrestrial movement also exhibited greater energy expenditure on land than values for large quadrupeds. The trade-off for the northern elephant seal is that its massive size and morphology have well adapted it to an aquatic existence but limited its locomotor performance (i.e. speed, endurance) on land

Knowledge and use of information and communication technology by health sciences students of the University of Ghana

Background: Studies have shown that ICT adoption contributes to productivity and economic growth. It is therefore important that health workers have knowledge in ICT to ensure adoption and uptake of ICT tools to enable efficient health delivery.Objective: To determine the knowledge and use of ICT among students of the College of Health Sciences at the University of Ghana.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among students in all the five Schools of the College of Health Sciences at the University of Ghana. A total of 773 students were sampled from the Schools. Sampling proportionate to size was then used to determine the sample sizes required for each school, academic programme and level of programme. Simple random sampling was subsequently used to select students from each stratum.Results: Computer knowledge was high among students at almost 99%. About 83% owned computers (p < 0.001) and self-rated computer knowledge was also 87 % (p <0.001). Usage was mostly for studying at 93% (p< 0.001). Conclusions: This study shows students have adequate knowledge and use of computers. It brings about an opportunity to introduce ICT in healthcare delivery to them. This will ensure their adequate preparedness to embrace new ways of delivering care to improve service delivery.Funding: Africa Build Project, Grant Number: FP7-266474Keywords: ICT, health professionals, knowledge, student

Taxing recurrent services rendered by a foreign company to an associated enterprise in South Africa

The objective of the study was to investigate the right of the South African Government to tax the income earned by a foreign company when rendering services in South Africa to a South African associated enterprise on a recurrent basis, together with the right to tax the amounts paid to the employees of the permanent establishment for services rendered in South Africa. At the same time the research investigated whether the services rendered by a foreign company to an associated enterprise in South Africa on a recurrent basis would constitute a permanent establishment, as this is essential before South Africa may tax either the foreign company or the employees of the permanent establishment (where such employees are not resident in South Africa).The research was conducted by means of a critical analysis of documentary data and data from a limited number of interviews with academics and the authors of textbooks and articles. In order to limit the scope of the research, a number of assumptions were made. Conflicting viewpoints underlying certain of these assumptions were discussed. Some of the important conclusions reached are that the provisions of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties should be taken into account when interpreting South African legislation (including Double Tax Agreements), and that the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Commentary may be relied upon when interpreting OECD based Double Tax Agreements in South Africa. No conclusion was reached on whether to apply an ambulatory or a static basis of interpreting the OECD Commentary, however. The final conclusion of the research is that the services rendered in South Africa on a recurrent basis would be geographically and commercially coherent and consequently meet the "location test'. It is clear that as the services are rendered regularly and recurrently, they would be regarded as having the necessary permanence and would meet the 'duration test'. The place of business would therefore be regarded as being fixed (having the necessary degree of permanence). As the services would be rendered at the place of business of the South African entity, they would be regarded as being rendered 'through' the place of business and the foreign entity would be regarded as having a permanent establishment in South Africa (as defined in Article 5(1) of the OECD Model Tax Convention}. The South African Government would therefore be entitled to tax the income attributable to the permanent establishment and the income earned by the non resident employees, who rendered services in South Africa for the permanent establishment. Once the entitlement to tax exists, South African legislative rules determine how South Africa proceeds to tax the income