Estimation of the hydrological response to invasive alien plants in the upper Blyde River catchment.

Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.The change in total evaporation through alteration of vegetative cover is a major influence on catchment hydrology. The transformation of grassland and scrub habitats to commercial tree plantations, as well as the uncontrolled spread of invasive alien plants (lAPs) to ecologically sensitive systems, riparian zones in particular, are a threat to biodiversity and integrity of natural systems. Furthermore, critical low flow periods are of particular concern to water managers and local communities, as well as the associated impacts of potentially compromised water resources for rural livelihoods. The Working for Water (WfW) programme was implemented in 1995 by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry and its main goals are to remove lAPs in order to improve water supply while at the same time providing employment to marginalised communities. In this study, the hydrological response to lAPs in the Upper Blyde River catchment is assessed. This is done by developing a classification structure for lAPs as a land use using detailed mapping available from WfW for use in a hydrological model, and then configuring and running the ACRU hydrological model for the Upper Blyde River catchment in Mpumalanga. In the classification, lAPs are represented as spatially explicit land use units in the ACRU model according to the type of habitat they invade, viz. riparian or non-riparian; as well as by type of plant, i.e. tree or shrub; and their area and density. The results obtained from simulating catchment hydrological responses using the ACRU model indicate that riparian lAPs have a great er impact on streamflow than do landscape invasions alone, specifically during periods of low flow. An increase in streamflow after removing lAPs from riparian and non-riparian habitats is a consistent outcome at both subcatchment and catchment scales. Using a spatially explicit method in order to model the hydrological response of different types of lAPs for different density classes in both riparian and non-riparian habitats is found to be a useful technique in determining the degree to which lAPs influence catchment streamflow. Recommendations for future research include focussing hydrological assessments of lAPs on critical flow periods and their impacts on water quality; investigation into the water use of invasive and indigenous vegetation for more accurate estimates from modelling exercises; and finally, applying the classification system for lAPs with other land use sensitive hydrological models for validation, and their wider application by incorporating methodologies into guidelines for use by WfW at national and provincial level

Out of the (play)box: an investigation into strategies for writing and devising

Sarah Sigal observes that the ‘theatre-maker/writer/deviser Chris Goode has referred to […] a ‘phoney war’ between writing and devising’. This dissertation proposes a new method of playwriting, a (play)box, which in its ontology rejects any supposed binary division between writing and devising or text and performance. A (play)box is written not only in words, but also in a curated dramaturgy of stimuli – objects, music, video, images and experiences. Drawing on Lecoq’s pedagogy and in its etymology, a (play)box makes an invitation to playfully investigate its stimuli. It offers an embodied, sensory route into creation that initiates playful, affective relationships between the performers and provocations, harnessing the sensory capacities of the body in authorship. By writing using the affordances of afferent stimuli combined with language, I draw on and extend recent experiments in collaborative authorship. A (play)box is inspired by the ways that music, things, stage directions, a collaborative generation of ideas and physical devising tasks have shaped, structured and authored the work of recent collaborative theatre-makers. I offer a context and methodology of Practice-led Research, illustrated by the rehearsals of my collective responding to the (play)box, Provenance, where outcomes appeared that may not have been arrived at using conventional play-text

A reference guidebook on recorded material for the use of music instructors in the junior high general music class.

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston Universit

A reference guidebook on recorded material for the use of music instructors in the junior high general music class.

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston Universit

A Faculty/Librarian Collaboration to Restructure a Graduate Research Methods Class for French Literature Students

The purpose of this article is to describe a reconfigured introduction to graduate studies in French Studies, taught to entering MA and PhD students. The course is a hybrid model that involves the active collaboration of a French professor and a university librarian. Areas covered in this course include 1) introduction to literary theory; 2) bibliography and research methods, including training with reference management tools; 3) preparation and presentation of a conference paper 4) technology training, including web design, on-line portfolio, and a digital humanities project; and 5) professional ethics and awareness of the academic market and alternative careers

Difference in prevalence of common mental disorder as measured using four questionnaire delivery methods among young people in rural Zimbabwe.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have suggested that interviewer-administered questionnaires can under-estimate the prevalence of depression and suicidal ideation when compared with self-administered ones. We report here on differences in prevalence of reporting mental health between four questionnaire delivery modes (QDM). METHODS: Mental health was assessed using the Shona Symptom Questionnaire (SSQ), a locally validated 14-item indigenous measure for common mental affective disorders. A representative sample of 1495 rural Zimbabwean adolescents (median age 18) was randomly allocated to one of four questionnaire delivery modes: self-administered questionnaire (SAQ), SAQ with audio (AASI), interviewer-administered questionnaire (IAQ), and audio computer-assisted survey instrument (ACASI). RESULTS: Prevalence of common affective disorders varied between QDM (52.3%, 48.6%, 41.5%, and 63.6% for SAQ, AASI, IAQ, and ACASI respectively (P<0.001)). Fewer participants failed to complete SSQ using IAQ and ACASI than other methods (1.6% vs. 12.3%; P<0.001). Qualitative data suggested that respondents found it difficult answering questions honestly in front of an interviewer. LIMITATIONS: Direction of accuracy cannot be ascertained due to lack of objective or clinical assessments of affective disorders. CONCLUSIONS: Estimates of prevalence of psychosomatic symptoms and suicidal ideation varied according to mode of interview. As each mode's direction of accuracy remains unresolved evaluations of interventions continue to be hampered