Symmetry Properties of Autonomous Integrating Factors

We study the symmetry properties of autonomous integrating factors from an algebraic point of view. The symmetries are delineated for the resulting integrals treated as equations and symmetries of the integrals treated as functions or configurational invariants. The succession of terms (pattern) is noted. The general pattern for the solution symmetries for equations in the simplest form of maximal order is given and the properties of the associated integrals resulting from this analysis are given.Comment: Published in SIGMA (Symmetry, Integrability and Geometry: Methods and Applications) at http://www.emis.de/journals/SIGMA

Does School Writing , ‘O’ Level In Particular, Reflect Priorities Of The Work Place?

A ZBTE article on school writing priorities.This article publishes the results of a study conducted in Gweru Urban in 1988-1989 on the apparent mismatch between school and workplace writing. The objective of the study was to establish whether in fact there is a mismatch between school and workplace writing tasks as alleged by 'O' level school leavers and employers. The focus of the study was, therefore, on types of writing tasks taught at school, particularly at 'O' level, and those produced and required. at workplaces

Climate Change and Health in Zimbabwe: A Legal Perspective

Climate change is becoming a topic of increasing contention in Zimbabwe, especially because its effects are becoming more visible. The effects of climate change are evident in agriculture, water, energy, biodiversity, infrastructure and health. Although legislation exists to address the effects of climate change on health, it is important to assess the adequacy of such, in its mitigation and adaptation responses. The new Zimbabwe Climate Policy provides a long-term response strategy to the impact of climate change and its provisions are commendable. However, successful implementation of legislation and policy is needed to combat the impact of climate change on health in Zimbabwe. Keywords: climate change, law, malaria, choler

Effective Tutoring with Empathic Embodied Conversational Agents

This thesis examines the prospect of using empathy in an Embodied Tutoring System (ETS) that guides students through an online quiz (by providing feedback on student answers and responding to self-reported student emotion). The ETS seeks to imitate human behaviours successfully used in one-to-one human tutorial interactions. The main hypothesis is that the interaction with an empathic ETS results in greater learning gains than a neutral ETS, primarily by encouraging positive and reducing negative student emotions using empathic feedback. In a preparatory study we investigated different strategies for expressing emotion by the ETS. We established that a multimodal strategy achieves the best results regarding how accurately human participants can recognise the emotions. This approach was used in developing the feedback strategy for our empathic ETS. The preparatory study was followed by two studies in which we compared a neutral with an empathic ETS. The ETS in the second of these studies was developed using results from the first of these studies. In both studies, we found no statistically significant difference in learning gains between the neutral and empathic ETS. However, we did discover a number of interactions between the ETS system, learning gains and, in particular 1) student scores on an empathic tendency test and 2) student ability. We also analysed the subjective responses and the relation between self-reported emotions during the quiz and student learning gains. Based on our studies in a formal class room setting, we assess the prospects of using empathic agents in a classroom setting and describe a number of requirements for their effective use

Livelihoods, Land and Political Economy: Reflections on Sam Moyo’s Research Methodology

This article focuses on the methodological lessons from Sam Moyo’s scholarship. Sam’s research is characterised by a combination of detailed empirical investigation, deep knowledge of the technical and practical aspects of agricultural production and farming livelihoods, and bigpicture political economy analysis and theory. Sam’s method is an insightful contemporary application of the method originally set out in Marx’s Grundrisse. Many contemporary explorations of agrarian political economy fail to sustain the important tension and dialectical debate, between diverse empirical realities and their ‘multiple determinations and relations’ and wider theorisation of the ‘concrete’ features of emergent processes of change. The implications of Sam’s methodological approach for the analysis of Zimbabwe’s land reform are discussed, especially in relation to the land occupations and the politics of agrarian reform since 2000

Dialogic pedagogical innovation: Creating liberating learning practices for first year university students

Liberatory and emancipatory thinking is shaped by a de-colonised approach to university teaching practices supported by literature on dialogic pedagogy.  A theoretical framework for this paper is shaped by the critical realism views of Archer’s (2010) presented through the morphogenetic phases. At this particular university the grounding programme is a compulsory first year inter-disciplinary module called Life, Knowledge and Action (LKA) aimed at promoting liberating practices through dialogic pedagogy. Interpretive and critical approaches were adopted, using mixed methods questionnaires, interviews and observations for data collection. The findings show that LKA was extremely liberating when students became contributors to knowledge creation. Students claimed/expressed their views stating that dialogue liberated them as it exposed them to diverse and alternative views and opinions. Considering the LKA aims the study recommends that the course be offered throughout undergraduate duration as it might be difficult to achieve all goals within a year. 

Fundamental influences related to language-based difficulties in financial mathematics

Motivated in part by a sustained amount of research in South Africa and principally guided by techniques of problem-solving suggested by Polya as well as error analysis by Newman, the current research examines fundamental influencers (underlying factors) relating errors due to language difficulties in financial mathematics concerning the language of instruction. The current research was accomplished using a case study design. The sample size was 105 out of a population of 186, with assumption of confidence and precision levels at 95 per cent and 0.5 respectively. The aim of the study was addressed by using both sets of structured-interview and document analysis for collecting data. Analysis of data was conducted by both content analysis as well as correlation analysis, wherein, the analysis revealed that errors committed by learners in financial mathematics were due to language difficulties. In contrast, misinterpretation of the mathematical semantics was not as a result of not indicating answers as expected, not following instructions, and not understanding instructions

Cradle-to-gate environmental impacts of the concrete industry in South Africa

The objective of the paper is to provide an understanding of the South African concrete industry's environmental burden in terms of natural resource consumption and carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (CO2-e). The review covers current practices in the concrete construction field in South Africa (SA) and their implications for the environment. Elaboration in terms of detail and quantification is given for the environmental burden generated during the manufacture of raw materials for concrete and their transportation to site. Four-year average (2005-2008) data is provided for resources consumed and wastes emitted during the quarrying and manufacture of raw materials for concrete. Carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions data per unit of material produced was obtained from the InEnergy Report produced for the Cement and Concrete Institute (C&CI) of South Africa. The study determined that, on average, 39.7 Mt of raw materials are consumed per year and 4.92 x 109 kg CO2-e emissions are emitted per year to produce cement and aggregates for concrete production in South Africa

Maternal HIV viral load testing during pregnancy and postpartum care in Gauteng Province, South Africa

Background. Pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV (WLHIV) are a target population for elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (eMTCT). However, there are limited data on maternal virological responses during pregnancy and the postpartum period in South Africa (SA).Objectives. To review compliance of viral load (VL) testing with national guidelines and suppression rates during pregnancy and up to 9  months postpartum among WLHIV delivering in four tertiary hospitals in Gauteng Province, SA.Methods. All women who had a point-of-care HIV VL test using Xpert HIV-1 VL (Cepheid, USA) at delivery in four tertiary obstetric units in Gauteng between June 2018 and February 2020 were included. HIV VL tests of eligible women performed up to 9 months before and after delivery were extracted from the National Health Laboratory Service’s Corporate Data Warehouse. Proportions of women delivering who had antenatal and postpartum VL tests performed and their suppression rates were determined and expressed as percentages.Results. Of 4 989 eligible WLHIV (median age 31.1 years), 917 (18.4%) had a VL performed during the antenatal period; of these, 335 (36.5%) had a VL ≥50 copies/mL and 165 (18.0%) a VL ≥1 000 copies/mL. At delivery, 1 911 women (38.3%) had a VL ≥50 copies/mL and 1 028 (20.6%) a VL ≥1 000 copies/mL. Among 627 women (12.6%) with a VL test postpartum, 234 (37.3%) had a VL ≥50 copies/mL and 93 (14.8%) a VL ≥1 000 copies/mL. Overall, having a VL test performed during the antenatal period was associated with viral suppression at delivery and receiving a VL test postpartum (p<0.001). Women with a VL ≥50 copies/mL at delivery were more likely to be younger and to remain virally unsuppressed postpartum (p<0.001) compared with women with a VL <50 copies/mL.Conclusions. Fewer than 5% of WLHIV with a VL at the time of delivery received VL monitoring during the antenatal and postpartum periods in accordance with national guidelines. More than 80% of WLHIV delivering had no evidence of VL monitoring during the antenatal period, and they were more likely than women who received monitoring during the antenatal period to be virally unsuppressed at delivery and to receive no VL monitoring postpartum. Women with a high VL at delivery were likely to remain virally unsuppressed postpartum. These results emphasise the need for closer monitoring of and rapid reaction to high maternal VLs during pregnancy, at delivery and postpartum for attainment of eMTCT