Combination ecosystem green engineering and early life history processes to enhance the intertidal biodiversity in the Port of East London

Marine coastal ecosystems are highly impacted by anthropogenic activities, including the development of, and practices within, harbours and/or ports. Artificial structures associated with harbours have a different chemical composition, texture and orientation than that of the natural benthic habitats they have replaced, and are therefore not generally favourable for the settlement and occurrence of indigenous species. Attempts are being made to identify what structures and materials can be used to aid in the rehabilitation of native species within harbours. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of utilising environmentally-friendly artificial structures (tiles) with varying complexity (crevices and ridges with different depths) with ecological engineers (the indigenous bivalve Perna perna), on the associated benthic biodiversity within an international port in South Africa (Port of East London). The objectives of the study were to test the effects of artificial habitat complexity and the presence of bivalves on 1) the growth, mortality and biomass of a selected model species of ecosystem engineer (P. perna), and 2) the associated intertidal biodiversity. Tiles seeded with bivalves (P. perna) were deployed at two sites in the Port of East London and monitored monthly over a period of 12 months (November 2016-October 2017) to assess survival, growth and associated biodiversity. Environmental variables were also measured every month. The results of the three-way repeated measures ANOVAs indicated that tile treatment (especially high complexity of 2.5 and 5 cm) had an effect on the diversity of mobile species, length, height and biomass of the bivalves used as model ecosystem engineer, indicating the potentials for protection from wave dislodgement and refuge provision. Treatment (especially flat tiles) also had an effect on sessile/sedentary species diversity, indicating the greater proportion of space provided by these non-complex tiles. In addition, month had an effect on the mortality, height and biomass of the bivalves. Mortality was highest in October 2017, while the growth in height and biomass of P. perna were largest in January and October 2017 respectively. The use of artificial tiles also had a positive effect on the survival, growth, and biomass of bivalves (especially the length, weight and dry weight in 2.5 cm and 5 cm complexity). Additionally, this research investigated patterns of settlement and recruitment of the local bivalve population (P. perna) in the Port of East London and adjacent natural coastline to understand the early life history temporal and spatial dynamics of this model ecosystem engineer species. Settlement and recruitment were assessed every month by deploying and replacing artificial collectors for a total period of 19 months (November 2016-May 2018). The results of the two-way ANOVAs indicated that month and site (port vs natural) had an effect on settlement and recruitment of bivalves. Settlement and recruitment of bivalves were highest in July 2017 (port) and March 2018 (natural rocky shore). This study has highlighted that the use of artificial concrete tiles with increased complexity, as well as the investigation of the early stages of mussel populations could be important to consider in a framework of rehabilitation of urban coastal environments such as the Port of East London. Ecological engineering (in terms of increased complexity and heterogeneity) has indeed the potentials to be incorporated in South African programmes aiming at improving natural biodiversity in coastal urban environments. Nonetheless, the spatio-temporal variability of early driver of mussel populations (settlement and recruitment) is also an important feature to be closely monitored if biodiversity in South African coastal armouring is to be enhanced effectively and in the long term

Framework for semi-automated object-based image classification of invasive alien plant species in South Africa: Harrisia Pomanensis as a case study

Invasive alien plants (IAPs) not only pose a serious threat to biodiversity and water resources but also have impacts on human and animal wellbeing. An important step in IAPs management is to map their location as there is a strong correlation between the spatial extent of an invaded area and the effort required for clearing the plant invasion. However, the traditional GPS based IAPs mapping field campaigns are costly, time consuming and labour intensive. The developments in the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology have afforded the remote sensing (RS) community the opportunity to map IAPs at enhanced temporal and spatial resolutions. As a result, this framework synthesises a UAV-RS approach for mapping invasive alien plants in South African semi-arid woodlands using Harrisia pomanensis (the Midnight lady) as a case study. In particular, this framework outlines procedures for geometric and radiometric calibration of UAV-derived orthomosaics as well a semi-automated object-based image classification technique for mapping IAPs. The geometric calibration was conducted in the Agisoft Lens software package to determine the camera interior orientation parameters. Since sample photos of the LCD screen were taken from a short-range, there were more radial than tangential distortions. In addition, a scene illumination uniformity statistical inference allowed for the radiometric calibration of the entire scene using parameters derived from radiometric calibration targets placed only in one spot within the study area using the empirical line method (ELM). In particular, accuracy assessment of the radiometric calibration resulted in a correlation coefficient (r) value of 0.977 between in situ measured reflectance and the reflectance values derived from the calibrated image wavebands. This strong correlation validated the proposed UAV-RS ELM based radiometric calibration method for applications in semi-arid woodlands. Furthermore, out of the five evaluated image classifiers, the case study demonstrated that the object-based supervised Bhattacharya classifier which gave 90% and 95.7% producer and user accuracies, respectively, produced more accurate results for mapping Harrisia pomanensis. Even more so, an area based accuracy assessment showed that the Bhattacharya classifier mapped Harrisia pomanensis better than the Maxver classifier (i.e. the second best algorithm) with mapping accuracy averages of 86.1% and 65.2%, respectively, for all the different polygon area sizes. Future research should ascertain whethe radiometric calibration increases mapping accuracy in large scale (>100ha) UAV-RS applications.Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2018.Geography, Geoinformatics and MeteorologyMScUnrestricte

Johannesburg’s inner city private schools: the teacher’s perspective

This study contributes to the literature by documenting the working conditions as well as the socio-economic and demographic profile of teachers employed in Johannesburg’s inner city low-fee private schools. A total of 42 teachers, working in 10 randomly selected inner city private schools, participated in a self-administered questionnaire survey. It was found that most were under 50 years of age, Black-African and foreign born (as were many of the owners of the schools). There were three distinct groupings: South African citizens, Zimbabwean nationals and other foreign nationals. Some were found to be underqualified; others had tertiary qualifications but not in education. Most were working there as a stop gap measure until they had completed their degrees or had a better job offer, either in a public school or in the private non-educational sector. Most expressed unhappiness with their low salaries, long working hours and poor working conditions. They lamented the lack of adequate teaching and learning materials, as well as negligible educational infrastructure such as libraries, laboratories and sports fields. Many wanted the South African State to support low-fee private schools better, both financially and managerially. The paper concludes that the embedded apartheid resource backlog of poor infrastructure and under-qualified teachers cuts across both public and at least some private schools.Keywords: Johannesburg; low fee private schools; migrant teachers; quality education; South Afric

Exploring the extent of cultural sensitivity among the nursing students doing the four year diploma at Addington hospital in KwaZulu-Natal province.

Thesis (M.Cur.)- University of Natal, Durban, 2000.This study was undertaken to explore the extent of cultural sensitivity among the nursing students of Kwa Zulu - Natal Province. A qualitative. ethnographic, explorative design was utilized. A quantitative approach was also used. Subjects were second, third and fourth year students registered for the four year Comprehensive Diploma in Nursing leading to registration as a Nurse (General, Psychiatry, Community Health) and Midwife. To ensure measures of trustworthiness, Guba's model in (Krefting 1991) was implemented. Narrative statements in the form of scenarios and questionnaires were employed to explore, to examine and to describe the extent to which the nursing students are sensitive towards cultures of groups that are different from theirs. The data was analyzed based on the developmental stages of cultural sensitivity by (Bennett 1986). Tesch's method was used to analyze the qualitative data and the Statistical Analysis System (SAS) was used to analyze the quantitative data. Based on the findings. the following conclusions were drawn:- Some students were unable to acknowledge variations that exist among cultures. Problems emanating from cultural differences still exist between nurses and patients due to the ethnocentric views held by some nurses. The study revealed that the students were at varying stages of levels of development of cul tural sensitivity, which means that they ranged from lack of cultural sensitivity to cultural sensitivity. Nursing students, therefore. need more preparation by their program in order to provide culturally congruent nursing care to all

The contribution of agricultural projects to poverty alleviation: Ncera Macadamia project

The aim of this project was to determine the extent to which an agricultural project contributes to the alleviation of poverty in a community. This was done through a case study of one agricultural project based in Kidds Beach, in the Eastern Cape. The research was conducted utilizing the qualitative research method. The findings depicted that the standard of living for the community had altered due the employment opportunities afforded by the project. The findings also illustrated the project is the only one of its nature in the Eastern Cape and that similar projects are in the process of being established in communities in the Transkei. The cultivation of macadamia nuts is costly and the target market is concentrated largely in Europe. The success of the first crop and the dividends procured, the project has proven itself to be a sound method of community and rural development which can encourage investment from other parties

A fixed bed pervious concrete anaerobic bioreactor for biological sulphate remediation of acid mine drainage using simple organic matter

The development of low-operational-cost and low-operational-complexity active sulphate (SO4) reducing bioremediation for Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) is an ongoing pursuit towards sustainable mining. This study introduces a fixed bed pervious concrete anaerobic bioreactor as a second stage AMD remediation process. The study investigated the pH self-regulation capabilities, SO4 remediation capabilities and the rate limiting parameters of the bioreactor using glucose as an organic matter source. The AMD was pre-treated using a permeable reactive barrier. A 21-day trial comprised of an increase in the SO4 loading rate while reducing the organic loading rate was undertaken to identify performance limiting conditions. A daily average SO4 concentration reduction rate of 55.2% was achieved over the initial 13 days of the experiments. The study found that a COD to SO4 ratio and VFA to alkalinity ratio below 5:1 and 0.5:1 respectively were performance limiting. The bioreactor was capable of self-regulating pH within the neutral range of 6.5 and 7.5. The study findings indicate that the bioreactor design can reduce operational costs and operational complexity of active AMD bioremediation

Evaluating pixel and object based image classification techniques for mapping plant invasions from UAV derived aerial imagery : Harrisia pomanensis as a case study

Invasive alien plants (IAPs) not only pose a serious threat to biodiversity and water resources but also have impacts on human and animal wellbeing. To support decision making in IAPs monitoring, semi-automated image classifiers which are capable of extracting valuable information in remotely sensed data are vital. This study evaluated the mapping accuracies of supervised and unsupervised image classifiers for mapping Harrisia pomanensis (a cactus plant commonly known as the Midnight Lady) using two interlinked evaluation strategies i.e. point and area based accuracy assessment. Results of the point-based accuracy assessment show that with reference to 219 ground control points, the supervised image classifiers (i.e. Maxver and Bhattacharya) mapped H. pomanensis better than the unsupervised image classifiers (i.e. K-mediuns, Euclidian Length and Isoseg). In this regard, user and producer accuracies were 82.4% and 84% respectively for the Maxver classifier. The user and producer accuracies for the Bhattacharya classifier were 90% and 95.7%, respectively. Though the Maxver produced a higher overall accuracy and Kappa estimate than the Bhattacharya classifier, the Maxver Kappa estimate of 0.8305 is not significantly (statistically) greater than the Bhattacharya Kappa estimate of 0.8088 at a 95% confidence interval. The area based accuracy assessment results show that the Bhattacharya classifier estimated the spatial extent of H. pomanensis with an average mapping accuracy of 86.1% whereas the Maxver classifier only gave an average mapping accuracy of 65.2%. Based on these results, the Bhattacharya classifier is therefore recommended for mapping H. pomanensis. These findings will aid in the algorithm choice making for the development of a semi-automated image classification system for mapping IAPs.The South African National Department of Environment Affairs through its funding of the South African National Biodiversity Institute Invasive Species Programme, project number P038.http://www.elsevier.com/ locate/ isprsjprs2018-07-30hj2018Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorolog

Patterns of disease on admission to children’s wards and changes during a COVID-19 outbreak in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa

Background. Major causes of under-5 child deaths in South Africa (SA) are well recognised, and child mortality rates are falling. The focus of child health is therefore shifting from survival to disease prevention and thriving, but local data on the non-fatal disease burden are limited. Furthermore, COVID-19 has affected children’s health and wellbeing, both directly and indirectly.Objectives. To describe the pattern of disease on admission of children at different levels of care, and assess whether this has been affected by COVID-19.Methods. Retrospective reviews of children’s admission and discharge registers were conducted for all general hospitals in iLembe and uMgungundlovu districts in KwaZulu-Natal Province, SA, from January 2018 to September 2020. The Global Burden of Disease framework was adapted to create a data capture sheet with four broad diagnostic categories and 37 specific cause categories. Monthly admission numbers were recorded per cause category, and basic descriptive analysis was completed in Microsoft Excel.Results. Overall, 36 288 admissions were recorded across 18 hospital wards, 32.0% at district, 49.8% at regional and 18.2% at tertiary level. Communicable diseases, perinatal conditions and nutritional deficiencies (CPNs) accounted for 37.4% of admissions, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) for 43.5% and injuries for 17.1%. The distribution of broad diagnostic categories varied across levels of care, with CPNs being more common at district level and NCDs more common at regional and tertiary levels. Unintentional injuries represented the most common cause category (16.6%), ahead of lower respiratory tract infections (16.1%), neurological conditions (13.6%) and diarrhoeal disease (8.4%). The start of the local COVID-19 outbreak coincided with a 43.1% decline in the mean number of monthly admissions. Admissions due to neonatal conditions and intentional injuries remained constant during the COVID-19 outbreak, while those due to other disease groups (particularly respiratory infections) declined.Conclusions. Our study confirms previous concerns around a high burden of childhood injuries in our context. Continued efforts are needed to prevent and treat traditional neonatal and childhood illnesses. Concurrently, the management of NCDs should be prioritised, and evidence-based strategies are sorely needed to address the high injury burden in SA

Combination ecosystem green engineering and early life history processes to enhance the intertidal biodiversity in the Port of East London

Marine coastal ecosystems are highly impacted by anthropogenic activities, including the development of, and practices within, harbours and/or ports. Artificial structures associated with harbours have a different chemical composition, texture and orientation than that of the natural benthic habitats they have replaced, and are therefore not generally favourable for the settlement and occurrence of indigenous species. Attempts are being made to identify what structures and materials can be used to aid in the rehabilitation of native species within harbours. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of utilising environmentally-friendly artificial structures (tiles) with varying complexity (crevices and ridges with different depths) with ecological engineers (the indigenous bivalve Perna perna), on the associated benthic biodiversity within an international port in South Africa (Port of East London). The objectives of the study were to test the effects of artificial habitat complexity and the presence of bivalves on 1) the growth, mortality and biomass of a selected model species of ecosystem engineer (P. perna), and 2) the associated intertidal biodiversity. Tiles seeded with bivalves (P. perna) were deployed at two sites in the Port of East London and monitored monthly over a period of 12 months (November 2016-October 2017) to assess survival, growth and associated biodiversity. Environmental variables were also measured every month. The results of the three-way repeated measures ANOVAs indicated that tile treatment (especially high complexity of 2.5 and 5 cm) had an effect on the diversity of mobile species, length, height and biomass of the bivalves used as model ecosystem engineer, indicating the potentials for protection from wave dislodgement and refuge provision. Treatment (especially flat tiles) also had an effect on sessile/sedentary species diversity, indicating the greater proportion of space provided by these non-complex tiles. In addition, month had an effect on the mortality, height and biomass of the bivalves. Mortality was highest in October 2017, while the growth in height and biomass of P. perna were largest in January and October 2017 respectively. The use of artificial tiles also had a positive effect on the survival, growth, and biomass of bivalves (especially the length, weight and dry weight in 2.5 cm and 5 cm complexity). Additionally, this research investigated patterns of settlement and recruitment of the local bivalve population (P. perna) in the Port of East London and adjacent natural coastline to understand the early life history temporal and spatial dynamics of this model ecosystem engineer species. Settlement and recruitment were assessed every month by deploying and replacing artificial collectors for a total period of 19 months (November 2016-May 2018). The results of the two-way ANOVAs indicated that month and site (port vs natural) had an effect on settlement and recruitment of bivalves. Settlement and recruitment of bivalves were highest in July 2017 (port) and March 2018 (natural rocky shore). This study has highlighted that the use of artificial concrete tiles with increased complexity, as well as the investigation of the early stages of mussel populations could be important to consider in a framework of rehabilitation of urban coastal environments such as the Port of East London. Ecological engineering (in terms of increased complexity and heterogeneity) has indeed the potentials to be incorporated in South African programmes aiming at improving natural biodiversity in coastal urban environments. Nonetheless, the spatio-temporal variability of early driver of mussel populations (settlement and recruitment) is also an important feature to be closely monitored if biodiversity in South African coastal armouring is to be enhanced effectively and in the long term

Predictors of neck pain among South African youth

Globally, adolescent neck pain has not been identified as a widespread problem. The prevalence of musculoskeletal pain is rising among adolescents, possibly as a result of repetitive movements and static postures associated with increased use of computers. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of, and factors predicting neck pain in learners attending high schools in the Gauteng Province, South Africa. The Computer Usage Questionnaire which investigated the prevalence of neck pain, as well as the use of computers, involvement in sports activities and psychological factors were used to collect data in conjunction with the neck flexor muscle endurance test. Associations between variables were conducted using the Chi-square test and crude odds ratio in the univariate core, while logistic regression was employed in the analysis to identify predisposing factors. The study sample included 181 learners made up of 97 males (53.6%) and 84 females (46.4%). The mean age of the participants was 16± 1.10 years. The neck pain prevalence was 53.6%. School computer use (p= 0.4) and sport participation (p=0.09) were not significant predisposing factors. However, computer use outside of school (p=0.03) and neck flexor muscle endurance (p= 0.00) were significant predisposing factors to neck pain. The results of the study highlight the need to incorporate education about postural care specifically among adolescents who are engaging more frequently with information technology leading to increased computer usage.Keywords: Neck pain, prevalence, adolescents, physical activity, computer use, neck flexor, muscle endurance