Social Appropriation of Internet Technology: a South African platform

The social appropriation of Internet technologies is emerging as a research and practice field called Community Informatics (CI). Various research groups (for example Australia, UK, Canada, Latin America, Italy etc.) are contributing to Government's gradual realisation that the enabling of communities with Internet technologies can boost local economic and social development, as well as enhance personal empowerment. Civil society digital inclusion, linked with World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), is now seen as a necessary component of social development strategy. However, various attempts at such initiatives have met different forms of resistance and various levels of success. Cape Technikon is establishing a research hub in Cape Town as part of the international CIRN (Community Informatics Research Network). This project will aim to establish a research, teaching and community engagement platform in Community Informatics (the social appropriation of Internet Technologies for local benefit) which will link Cape Technikon into a rapidly expanding international area of research and teaching as well as putting it into a national leadership position. Outputs will include demonstrated linkages with local, national and international Community Informatics efforts, the establishment of local projects and entities, the establishment of courses, the attraction of undergraduate and post graduate students, a profile with national and international funding agencies, publications, funding proposals, internal agency recognition in research and teaching, a program of high profile and internationally recognised visiting research fellows and academic sabbaticals. This paper discusses activities towards this South African initiative and experience elsewhere

Effect of organic crop rotations on long-term development of the weed seedbank

Changes in the weed seedbank were monitored between 1991 and 1998 in two experiments that were established to compare organic crop rotations at two sites in NE Scotland. Two rotations, replicated twice at each site, were compared and all courses of both rotations were present every year. There were relatively minor changes in weed species diversity over time, but major changes in seedbank abundance. Weed seed numbers were relatively low in rotations with a high proportion of grass/clover ley. Differences in level of seedbank across the rotation were relatively predictable at Tulloch but much less so at Woodside where factors such as the effect of the grass/clover ley seemed to play a lesser role. Other factors, such as weather and its influence on the effectiveness of weed control operations, and higher populations of ground-living arthropods, may be affecting the Woodside seedbanks

Eleven Antitheses on Cities and States: Challenging the Mindscape of Chronology and Chorography in Anthropogenic Climate Change

Our basic argument is that we should be thinking in trans-modern ways when considering how to react to anthropogenic climate change. Showing that mainstream approaches to climate change theory and policymaking are overtly modern, we identify this as a mindscape inherently constrained by its particular chronology and chorography. Our contribution to necessary trans-modern thinking is a presentation of eleven basic and widely accepted theses on modern chronology and chorography that we contest through antitheses, which we argue are more suited to engaging with anthropogenic climate change. These support a consumption argument for urban demand being the crucial generator of climate for 8,000 years in direct contradiction to the production argument that greenhouse gases are the crucial generator of climate change for 200 years. The modern policymaking focus on curbing carbon emissions is thus fundamentally flawed - merely feeding energy for continuing an accelerating global consumption in a different way that is only marginally more climate-friendly. Reflecting on the antitheses, we conclude by discussing the difficulties of translating trans-modern ideas into political action

Improving Deep Learning with Generic Data Augmentation

Deep artificial neural networks require a large corpus of training data in order to effectively learn, where collection of such training data is often expensive and laborious. Data augmentation overcomes this issue by artificially inflating the training set with label preserving transformations. Recently there has been extensive use of generic data augmentation to improve Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) task performance. This study benchmarks various popular data augmentation schemes to allow researchers to make informed decisions as to which training methods are most appropriate for their data sets. Various geometric and photometric schemes are evaluated on a coarse grained data set using a relatively simple CNN. Experimental results, run using 4-fold cross-validation and reported in terms of Top-1 and Top-5 accuracy, indicate that cropping in geometric augmentation significantly increases CNN task performance

Can acute ingestion of Citrulline Malate alter substrate utilisation during a cardiorespiratory exercise test with healthy participants?

Ingestion of Citrulline Malate (CM) has been shown to improve exercise with beneficial effects reported during strength-based assessments and time trial performance (Suzuki et al. [2016]. Journal of The International Society of Sports Nutrition, 13). CM has been reported to increase plasma arginine availability and subsequent nitric oxide (NO) production, leading to increased blood flow. Citrulline in particular accelerates the ureagenesis cycle resulting in the removal of ammonium while Malate is essential for oxidative metabolism which regulates skeletal muscle functions including glucose and fatty acid oxidation. Despite this, the metabolic influence of CM has received little attention in the literature. Much of the current literature has primarily focused on performance outcomes during high intensity exhaustive exercise. As such, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of CM on substrate utilisation during a low-moderate cardiorespiratory exercise test. This study used a randomised controlled cross-over design and adopted double-blind procedures. Following institutional ethical approval, nine healthy, and active participants (4 males, 5 females) were recruited for the study with only eight completing both trials. Over a period of 38 days, participants completed one familiarisation and two experimental trials, each of which was separated by at least three days. In the experimental trials, participants consumed either CM (3×1000mg) or PLA (3×100% lactose) 60 minutes prior to completing a modified Bruce treadmill protocol, with increases in speed and gradient every 3 minutes until 85% of maximum heart rate (HR) was achieved. HR and breath-by-breath values for oxygen uptake, respiratory exchange ratio and ventilation were obtained at rest and during the final 30s of each 3-minute stage. RPE (Borg 6-20) was also recorded at the end of each stage. Respiratory data was subsequently entered into stoichiometric equations to calculate fatty acid oxidation (FAO; g·min−1) and carbohydrate oxidation (CHO; g·min−1). Data was analysed using a paired samples t-test and a factorial repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Bonferroni post-hoc tests implemented and effects sizes (Cohen’s d) calculated. There was no significant difference reported for the time (min) to complete the exercise test (P > 0.05). No statistical differences were found between conditions for all other data (all P > 0.05) at any stage during the test with the main effects showing similar results (P > 0.05). Although no significant difference was shown, the current study provides an insight into the metabolic effects of CM during bouts of low-to-moderate intensity exercise. In addition, it contributes to the growing literature regarding CM and could be useful in the sports nutrition and weight loss industries

Designing, developing and implementing a software tool for scenario based learning

The pedagogical value of problem-based and inquiry-based learning activities has led to increased use of this approach in many courses. While scenarios or case studies were initially presented to learners as text-based material, the development of modern software technology provides the opportunity to deliver scenarios as e-learning modules, providing learners with a more accessible and engaging learning experience. Scenario Based Learning - interactive (SBLi) has been specifically developed to provide teachers and trainers with a generic tool that enables them to easily build interactive, multimedia scenarios without requiring programming skills. The software consists of a builder and player application, for constructing and playing scenarios from hard drives or from a CD/DVD, and a server-based player and manager, for deploying scenarios on the web, either for public use or for restricted and managed use in specific courses. This paper describes the history of SBLi, its design and operational features, how SBLi is being used to achieve innovative and effective learning experiences, and the practical issues that need to be addressed in supporting and sustaining e-learning software such as SBLi

Feasibility of dynamic T2*-based oxygen-enhanced lung MRI at 3T

PURPOSE: To demonstrate proof-of-concept of a T2 *-sensitized oxygen-enhanced MRI (OE-MRI) method at 3T by assessing signal characteristics, repeatability, and reproducibility of dynamic lung OE-MRI metrics in healthy volunteers. METHODS: We performed sequence-specific simulations for protocol optimisation and acquired free-breathing OE-MRI data from 16 healthy subjects using a dual-echo RF-spoiled gradient echo approach at 3T across two institutions. Non-linear registration and tissue density correction were applied. Derived metrics included percent signal enhancement (PSE), ∆R2 * and wash-in time normalized for breathing rate (τ-nBR). Inter-scanner reproducibility and intra-scanner repeatability were evaluated using intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC), repeatability coefficient, reproducibility coefficient, and Bland-Altman analysis. RESULTS: Simulations and experimental data show negative contrast upon oxygen inhalation, due to substantial dominance of ∆R2 * at TE > 0.2 ms. Density correction improved signal fluctuations. Density-corrected mean PSE values, aligned with simulations, display TE-dependence, and an anterior-to-posterior PSE reduction trend at TE1 . ∆R2 * maps exhibit spatial heterogeneity in oxygen delivery, featuring anterior-to-posterior R2 * increase. Mean T2 * values across 32 scans were 0.68 and 0.62 ms for pre- and post-O2 inhalation, respectively. Excellent or good agreement emerged from all intra-, inter-scanner and inter-rater variability tests for PSE and ∆R2 *. However, ICC values for τ-nBR demonstrated limited agreement between repeated measures. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate the feasibility of a T2 *-weighted method utilizing a dual-echo RF-spoiled gradient echo approach, simultaneously capturing PSE, ∆R2 * changes, and oxygen wash-in during free-breathing. The excellent or good repeatability and reproducibility on intra- and inter-scanner PSE and ∆R2 * suggest potential utility in multi-center clinical applications