Psychologists’ perceptions of the growth and change promoting factors in psychotherapy within a culturally diverse South Africa

The therapeutic relationship established between a psychologist and a client is considered one of the main factors determining successful psychotherapy outcomes. While this may be the case, there remain inconsistencies in the literature and debate regarding its influence, especially when contextual factors such as diverse beliefs, may influence the therapeutic relationship. Furthermore, there is a scarcity of information focusing on psychologists’ experiences working within the culturally diverse South African context. This study aimed to better understand, from a psychologist’s perspective, the growth and change promoting factors they feel are influencing successful therapeutic outcomes within the South African context. This was pursued recognising that the diverse belief systems in South Africa, which do not always adhere to biomedical conceptualisations of health and illness, may influence the therapeutic interaction. This study explored the following research question: What are the key factors that promote growth and change in individual psychotherapy within the diverse South African context? Drawing on a qualitative approach, an explorative descriptive research design was chosen as it enabled the researcher to explore the perceptions of the participants on the given topic. The sampling technique that was employed was non-probability purposive sampling and psychologists registered with the Health Professionals Council of South Africa formed part of the sample. In-depth online interviewing was employed as the data collection tool, using online platforms like Microsoft Teams and Zoom. Data were analysed using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis guidelines and themes that were identified was reported.Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Health Sciences, 202

Perpetrators’ perspective of the psychological factors contributing to racially-motivated hate crimes in South Africa

This study set out to explore and understand racially-motivated hate crimes from the psychological and emotional standpoint of the individual who perpetrated them. The focus on the perpetrator was essential given that most research conducted on hate crimes have honed in on the elements concerning the victims. By virtue of its focus, the study offered a perpetrator’s perspective, providing a more holistic understanding of hate crimes in South Africa. Such information could be used to develop violence interventions in order to help prevent future hate crimes. A qualitative research design was used and constructionist grounded theory employed as the research tool. The sample consisted of five individuals currently imprisoned in the Eastern Cape. Data was obtained through semi-structured interviews and journal entries. Supportive data was obtained from official prison documents. The findings from this study guided the formulation of the frustration deconstruction theory (FDT), the theory generated in this study. FDT indicates that the link between historically and socially constructed negative racial cognition and emotion may find expression through violence, which can be labelled as hate crimes. Interventions aimed at deconstructing the motives that underpin hate can result in positive behaviour. The findings of this study contribute to an understanding of the nuances that define and characterise the perpetrators of racially-motivated hate crimes in the South African context. The research is a valuable contribution to the field of hate crimes as it provides evidence of the psychological and emotional underpinning of hate crimes

Psychologists’ perceptions of the growth and change promoting factors in psychotherapy within a culturally diverse South Africa

The therapeutic relationship established between a psychologist and a client is considered one of the main factors determining successful psychotherapy outcomes. While this may be the case, there remain inconsistencies in the literature and debate regarding its influence, especially when contextual factors such as diverse beliefs, may influence the therapeutic relationship. Furthermore, there is a scarcity of information focusing on psychologists’ experiences working within the culturally diverse South African context. This study aimed to better understand, from a psychologist’s perspective, the growth and change promoting factors they feel are influencing successful therapeutic outcomes within the South African context. This was pursued recognising that the diverse belief systems in South Africa, which do not always adhere to biomedical conceptualisations of health and illness, may influence the therapeutic interaction. This study explored the following research question: What are the key factors that promote growth and change in individual psychotherapy within the diverse South African context? Drawing on a qualitative approach, an explorative descriptive research design was chosen as it enabled the researcher to explore the perceptions of the participants on the given topic. The sampling technique that was employed was non-probability purposive sampling and psychologists registered with the Health Professionals Council of South Africa formed part of the sample. In-depth online interviewing was employed as the data collection tool, using online platforms like Microsoft Teams and Zoom. Data were analysed using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis guidelines and themes that were identified was reported.Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Health Sciences, 202

The prevalence and severity of lower back pain in South African university rowers

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Dynamic compartment specific changes in glutathione and ascorbate levels in Arabidopsis plants exposed to different light intensities

BACKGROUND: Excess light conditions induce the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) directly in the chloroplasts but also cause an accumulation and production of ROS in peroxisomes, cytosol and vacuoles. Antioxidants such as ascorbate and glutathione occur in all cell compartments where they detoxify ROS. In this study compartment specific changes in antioxidant levels and related enzymes were monitored among Arabidopsis wildtype plants and ascorbate and glutathione deficient mutants (vtc2-1 and pad2-1, respectively) exposed to different light intensities (50, 150 which was considered as control condition, 300, 700 and 1,500 μmol m(-2) s(-1)) for 4 h and 14 d. RESULTS: The results revealed that wildtype plants reacted to short term exposure to excess light conditions with the accumulation of ascorbate and glutathione in chloroplasts, peroxisomes and the cytosol and an increased activity of catalase in the leaves. Long term exposure led to an accumulation of ascorbate and glutathione mainly in chloroplasts. In wildtype plants an accumulation of ascorbate and hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) could be observed in vacuoles when exposed to high light conditions. The pad2-1 mutant reacted to long term excess light exposure with an accumulation of ascorbate in peroxisomes whereas the vtc2-1 mutant reacted with an accumulation of glutathione in the chloroplasts (relative to the wildtype) and nuclei during long term high light conditions indicating an important role of these antioxidants in these cell compartments for the protection of the mutants against high light stress. CONCLUSION: The results obtained in this study demonstrate that the accumulation of ascorbate and glutathione in chloroplasts, peroxisomes and the cytosol is an important reaction of plants to short term high light stress. The accumulation of ascorbate and H(2)O(2) along the tonoplast and in vacuoles during these conditions indicates an important route for H(2)O(2) detoxification under these conditions

Characterization of the wheat leaf metabolome during grain filling and under varied N-supply

Progress in improving crop growth is an absolute goal despite the influence multifactorial components have on crop yield and quality. An Avalon × Cadenza doubled-haploid wheat mapping population was used to study the leaf metabolome of field grown wheat at weekly intervals during the time in which the canopy contributes to grain filling, i.e.,from anthesis to 5 weeks post-anthesis. Wheat was grown under four different nitrogen supplies reaching from residual soil N to a luxury over-fertilization (0, 100, 200, and 350 kg N ha−1). Four lines from a segregating doubled haploid population derived of a cross of the wheat elite cvs. Avalon and Cadenza were chosen as they showed pairwise differences in either N utilization efficiency (NUtE) or senescence timing. 108 annotated metabolites of primary metabolism and ions were determined. The analysis did not provide genotype specific markers because of a remarkable stability of the metabolome between lines. We speculate that the reason for failing to identify genotypic markers might be due to insufficient genetic diversity of the wheat parents and/or the known tendency of plants to keep metabolome homeostasis even under adverse conditions through multiple adaptations and rescue mechanism. The data, however, provided a consistent catalogue of metabolites and their respective responses to environmental and developmental factors and may bode well for future systems biology approaches, and support plant breeding and crop improvement

The mitochondrial NAD+ transporter (NDT1) plays important roles in cellular NAD+ homeostasis in \u3ci\u3eArabidopsis thaliana\u3c/i\u3e

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is an essential coenzyme required for all living organisms. In eukaryotic cells, the final step of NAD+ biosynthesis is exclusively cytosolic. Hence, NAD+ must be imported into organelles to support their metabolic functions. Three NAD+ transporters belonging to the mitochondrial carrier family (MCF) have been biochemically characterized in plants. AtNDT1 (At2g47490), focus of the current study, AtNDT2 (At1g25380), targeted to the inner mitochondrial membrane, and AtPXN (At2g39970), located in the peroxisomal membrane. Although AtNDT1 was presumed to reside in the chloroplast membrane, subcellular localization experiments with green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusions revealed that AtNDT1 locates exclusively in the mitochondrial membrane in stably transformed Arabidopsis plants. To understand the biological function of AtNDT1 in Arabidopsis, three transgenic lines containing an antisense construct of AtNDT1 under the control of the 35S promoter alongside a T-DNA insertional line were evaluated. Plants with reduced AtNDT1 expression displayed lower pollen viability, silique length, and higher rate of seed abortion. Furthermore, these plants also exhibited an increased leaf number and leaf area concomitant with higher photosynthetic rates and higher levels of sucrose and starch. Therefore, lower expression of AtNDT1 was associated with enhanced vegetative growth but severe impairment of the reproductive stage. These results are discussed in the context of the mitochondrial localization of AtNDT1 and its important role in the cellular NAD+ homeostasis for both metabolic and developmental processes in plants

Ascorbate-mediated regulation of growth, photoprotection, and photoinhibition in Arabidopsis thaliana.

The requirements for ascorbate for growth and photosynthesis were assessed under low (LL; 250 µmol m-2 s-1) or high (HL; 1600 µmol m-2 s-1) irradiance in wild-type Arabidopsis thaliana and two ascorbate synthesis mutants (vtc2-1 and vtc2-4) that have 30% wild-type ascorbate levels. The low ascorbate mutants had the same numbers of leaves but lower rosette area and biomass than the wild type under LL. Wild-type plants experiencing HL had higher leaf ascorbate, anthocyanin, and xanthophyll pigments than under LL. In contrast, leaf ascorbate levels were not increased under HL in the mutant lines. While the degree of oxidation measured using an in vivo redox reporter in the nuclei and cytosol of the leaf epidermal and stomatal cells was similar under both irradiances in all lines, anthocyanin levels were significantly lower in the low ascorbate mutants than in the wild type under HL. Differences in the photosynthetic responses of vtc2-1 and vtc2-4 mutants were observed. Unlike vtc2-1, the vtc2-4 mutants had wild-type zeaxanthin contents. While both low ascorbate mutants had lower levels of non-photochemical quenching of chlorophyll a fluorescence (NPQ) than the wild type under HL, qPd values were greater only in vtc2-1 leaves. Ascorbate is therefore essential for growth but not for photoprotection

The contribution of personal and professional leadership qualities in minimising workplace related accidents

M.Phil.There has been considerable debate amongst specialists as how to minimise accidents in dangerous working environments. Irrespective of many contributions from a variety of studies, inputs and attempts, safety in dangerous working environments still remain a problem of great concern. This is equally true in especially the mining sector in South Africa. To this extent this study was conducted in an underground hard rock mine in the North West Province. Leadership may play an important role in the behaviour of employees in the work place, and may therefore have a direct impact in minimising workplace related accidents and incidents. Analysis indicated that it would be beneficial to focus on the real reasons for accidents in the mining industry i.e. the human factor. It was calculated that the human factor could be blamed for 87% of injuries in the South African mining industry, with 11% where a direct link exists with the physical working environment. This study is not an attempt to provide an answer that will solve all mining related incidents and accidents. It is an attempt to use Personal and Professional Leadership (PPL) as framework in order to establish if PPL may be a contributing factor in solving accidents and fatalities. Einstein once said, "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them". Suffice to say that our present problems are a product and consequence of our past and present paradigms