Giftige skimmelmetaboliete

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A consumer perspective on food labelling: ethical or not?

This article provides a review of ethical food labelling from a consumer perspective and makes recommendations to the food industry and regulators regarding ethical food labelling in order to satisfy consumers’ food-labelling needs. Various studies have found that many consumers have negative perceptions regarding food labelling. However, research on consumers’ perspectives regarding ethical food labelling has been accorded little attention. This article addresses this topic through a review of the relevant literature of mostly quantitative research, but also includes qualitative and mixed method studies. The article examines such aspects as the trustworthiness of claims on food labels, intelligibility of label information, listing of food additives on labels, and labelling of genetically modified foods. As negative perspectives on food labelling are likely to affect consumers’ decision making regarding the purchasing of food products, the food industry must realise their responsibility to provide ethical food labels. The food industry and regulators should aim to provide risk communication and intelligible information through ethical food labels and consumer education programmes on food labelling. Consumers need to be aware of their right to know what they are purchasing through ethical food labels and take a stand in this regard

Digestibility studies with Prosopis juliflora (mesquite thorn) pods

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Harmful Algal Bloom Characterization at Ultra-High Spatial and Temporal Resolution Using Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Citation: Van der Merwe, D., & Price, K. P. (2015). Harmful Algal Bloom Characterization at Ultra-High Spatial and Temporal Resolution Using Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Toxins, 7(4), 1065-1078. doi:10.3390/toxins7041065Harmful algal blooms (HABs) degrade water quality and produce toxins. The spatial distribution of HAbs may change rapidly due to variations wind, water currents, and population dynamics. Risk assessments, based on traditional sampling methods, are hampered by the sparseness of water sample data points, and delays between sampling and the availability of results. There is a need for local risk assessment and risk management at the spatial and temporal resolution relevant to local human and animal interactions at specific sites and times. Small, unmanned aircraft systems can gather color-infrared reflectance data at appropriate spatial and temporal resolutions, with full control over data collection timing, and short intervals between data gathering and result availability. Data can be interpreted qualitatively, or by generating a blue normalized difference vegetation index (BNDVI) that is correlated with cyanobacterial biomass densities at the water surface, as estimated using a buoyant packed cell volume (BPCV). Correlations between BNDVI and BPCV follow a logarithmic model, with r(2)-values under field conditions from 0.77 to 0.87. These methods provide valuable information that is complimentary to risk assessment data derived from traditional risk assessment methods, and could help to improve risk management at the local level

Looking closely at what they say and what it tells us: Experiences in a digital learning space

This study explores lecturer and student experiences of using the Learning Management System (LMS) within a Faculty at a South African University. The results of the study highlight the extent to which lecturers and students engage with the LMS. This article aims to determine the following: 1) the value that lecturers and students place on using the LMS as a platform to facilitate learning and teaching, 2) the typical resources, activities and assessments that lecturers and students place value on and why, and 3) to compare lecturer and student perspectives on the best utilization of the LMS. Quantitative data were collected from the LMS and qualitative data collected from lecturers and undergraduate students through questionnaires and focus groups. A Social Constructivist framework was adopted as a lens for analysis of collected data. The results show resources are valued the most by both lecturers and students but the majority of students only access, on average, just more than half of the postings. In terms of the constructs of the Social Constructivist framework, Learning and Connectedness showed positive responses, while improvement is necessary for Making Meaning and Agency

A Linguistic Research Programme for Reading in African Languages to underpin CAPS

Although ANAs show language conditioned problems in reading comprehension and decoding ability, most South African research focuses disproportionately on (a) English and Afrikaans and (b) macro approaches to literacy rather than formal and psycholinguistic analyses of reading. Obviously African languages are structurally and typologically different to English and Afrikaans; reading strategies required for the mechanics of reading are necessarily different and should be supported by language-specific pedagogies. We argue for research programmes that situate reading pedagogy within the language-specific spaces defined by Linguistic approaches to understanding (a) orthography, (b) cognitive reading skills and models and (c) indigenous, language-specific norms and resources.Keywords: psycholinguistics, linguistics, orthography, morphological awareness, phonological awareness, curriculum developmen

Epidemiologiese studie van vergiftigings in kinders onder 18 jaar in Bloemfontein en omgewing

An epidemiological study of the incidence of poisoning in children in the Bloemfontein area during 1 year was carried out. Deliberate and accidental poisonings were studied relative to: (I) age and sex of poisoned children; (il) type of poison involved; and (iil) the time the poisoning occurred. This study showed that deliberate poisoning occurred more frequently in girls than in boys (67,5% v. 32,5%), that accidental poisoning occurred mostly in the preschool years and then more frequently in boys than in girls (65,1% v. 34,9%) and that drugs were involved in most poisonings

The sexual offences prosecutor: a new specialisation?

The South African Law Commission recognised the fact that victims of sexual violence  require treatment different to that of other crime victims, and that sexual offences are more difficult to prosecute than other crimes due to the nature of the crime itself. Sexual offences courts were created and require prosecutors who have become specialised in this field. This article analyses the role of the sexual offences prosecutor in relation to child witnesses and further discusses and comments on a study conducted with sexual offences prosecutors in order to investigate the nature of this new specialisation

Hearsay evidence and the child witness

In terms of section 3(1)(c) of the Law of Evidence Amendment Act 45 of 1988 the court has, since 3 October 1988, been given a wide discretion to admit hearsay evidence if it would be in the interests of justice to do so. How this discretion is to be applied has given rise to difficulty. The question to be addressed here is whether it would be in the interests of justice to admit the hearsay statements of a child who is a complainant in a criminal matter and who is subsequently unable to testify. The courts are very wary of admitting hearsay statements emanating from children, due to issues of competency and the cautionary rule, and for this reason certain countries have created specific legistative provisions to regulate the admissibility of children’s hearsay statements. In Namibia, the Combating of Rape Act 8 of 2000 admits hearsay via the backdoor. It is submitted that not legislation, but a common sense approach is needed to determine whether hearsy statements from child victims should be admissible. The fact that evidence is hearsay is a factor which should go to weight and not the admissibility thereof

Empowering accounting students to enhance the self-determination skills demanded by the fourth industrial revolution

This article proffers consideration of multiple factors by higher education institutions to address the complex challenge of preparing students for the changing world of work. We argue that student support should be holistic, offering academic as well as non-academic support and suggest an intervention where 21st Century skills are offered to students, within the intricate context of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) with its multiple challenges and opportunities. We further argue that an integration of self-determination principles within such an intervention embedded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT) be considered within student education and support. Student integration research (Tinto 2003) underpinned a proposed strategy to answer important questions regarding student support, namely: “What is needed and when?” Complementary to this, the theory of Self-Determination offered a solid conceptual framework where 21st Century skills could practically be implemented and as such answer the question: “How can students be empowered?” The research followed a design-based process, positioned in the pragmatic paradigm. The methodology of Design Based Research (DBR) is known for creating knowledge to solve real-world problems in a practical manner. The study was conducted with students from a residential South African university and reports mainly on qualitative data from three consecutive cohorts of first-year Accounting students.This study proposes action to empower students with 21st Century skills through holistic support, embedded in the Self-Determination Theory, within the context of the 4IR