On Vít Gvoždiak's “John Searle's Theory of Sign”

Vít Gvoždiak published a reconciliatory analysis of Searle’s social ontology with semiotics in Gvoždiak (2012). Without prior knowledge of his paper, an analysis of the same subject appeared in Msimang (2014). Even though Searle’s social ontology is a common point of reference in the formulation of semiotics in these papers, it also serves as a point of departure in their understanding of semiotics and its development. The semiotic theory expressed in Gvoždiak (2012) is an inherently linguistic (speech act centred) theory, whereas the semiotic theory presented in Msimang (2014) tends more towards a general theory of communicative systems in which social ontology, which follows from speech act theory, is an interesting part. It is my purpose in this note to contrast the two positions of semiotic theory as they appear in the aforementioned papers in reference to their appropriation of Searle’s social ontology

Syntheses of novel acyclic amino-amido ligands

Bibliography: page 154.Towards the labelling of biological macromolecules in contrast media, a synthesis of the novel bifunctional amido-ligands N,N' -bis[2-(N'',N''-dimethylamino)ethyl]-4-aminobenzylmalondiamide (67) and the 3-aminopropyl derivative (66) from appropriately C-functionalized malonates by amidation with N,N-dimethylethylenediamine (62) followed by reduction of the respective nitro (64) and cyano (63) groups is described. The synthesis of N,N'-bis[2-(N'',N''-dimethylamino)ethyl]iminodiacetamide (73) from diethyl N-benzyliminodiacetate (79) by amidation· with (62) followed by debenzylation is described. Herein is also reported the unsuccessful attempts to prepare a functionalized pentaamine ligand similar to (73) via the intermediacy of N,N'-bis[2-(N'',N''-dimethylamino)ethyl]-N'''-(2,2-diethoxyethyl) iminodiacetamide (112) whose preparation is also detailed. Attempts to this end via the Mitsunobu and Steglich coupling of N,N' -bis[2-(N'',N''- dimethylamino)ethyl]-N'''-(2-hydroxyethyl)iminodiacetamide (100) with N-tertbutyloxycarbonylglycine (105) also met with failure .. Further failed attempts to secure suitably functionalized intermediates by N-alkylation of diethyl iininodiacetate (70) with appropriate electrophiles are described. The successful functionalization of the pentaamine series of ligands by N-alkylation of (73) withpnitrobenzoyl chloride (118) to give N,N' -bis[2-(N'',N''- dimethylamino)ethyl] N''' -(4-nitrobenzamido)iminodiacetamide (119) is presented. The preparation of the non-functionalized novel trioxo heptaamine ligand N,N' ,N''-tris[2-(N'',N''-dimethylamino)ethyl]nitrilotriacetamide hydrochloride (86a) is also described. An investigative study towards the assembly of a novel triamine system for encapsulating NMR or isotopic NMR-active metal ions for possible use in diagnostic medicine is reported. The key facet to this end is the reported preparation of N,N' ,N''-tris(2-aminoethyl)propane-1,2,3-tricarboxamide (89) by controlled amidation of trimethyl propane 1,2,3-tricarboxylate (88) with ethylenediamine. The syntheses of functionalized and non-functionalized novel tetraamine dioxo and trioxo ligands from glycine, ethyl N-benzylglycinate (78), L-valine, and L-lysine via classical peptide synthesis methodology (in part) are described

Lessons in our faults: fault lines on race and research ethics

CITATION: Msimang, P. 2020. Lessons in our faults : fault lines on race and research ethics. South African Journal of Science, 116(9/10):8449, doi:10.17159/sajs.2020/8449.The original publication is available at https://sajs.co.zaENGLISH ABSTRACT: Since the publication of the now infamous paper ‘Age- and education-related effects on cognitive functioning in Colored South African women’ by Nieuwoudt and colleagues where they claim the cognitive functioning of coloured women is defective in some ways,1 there has been renewed doubts about the legitimacy of race in research at Stellenbosch University and the controversy has become a matter of concern for universities and research ethics boards across the country. Because of the harms the Nieuwoudt paper has caused, the question of the use of race in research has re-emerged as a central concern. What researchers want to know is how to assess whether race is relevant to some question(s), how to use racial classifications if race is relevant, and when to leave race out.https://sajs.co.za/article/view/8449Publisher's versio

A study of the negative impacts of informal settlement on the environment : a case study of Jika Joe, Pietermaritzburg.

Master of Art in Housing, University of KwaZulu-Natal. Durban, 2017.There are a number of reasons why informal settlements exist and why people decide to establish and develop them. The main concept is that informal settlements have become a perpetual challenge and adversely imposing negative impacts to the environment. Living in informal settlements leads to the exposure and vulnerability to environmental hazards to people and the land which they occupy. Informal settlements are characterized by a lack of basic services, pollution, overcrowding and poor waste management. These characteristics impact negatively on the environment posing risk and susceptibility to health problems associated with informal settlements. Apart from the living conditions which are found in informal settlements, the notion of informal settlements being self-built by families and using temporary materials has its own negative impact on the environment. People residing in informal settlements face challenges of service delivery. This is mainly due to the fact that land was occupied illegally, thus impacting negatively on the environment. A lack of basic needs and services leads to informal settlements having impacts on the environment. This includes inadequate sanitation which leads occupants to pollution, the use of coal and biomass fuel for lighting, causing air pollution and in turn contributing to the emission of greenhouse gases. Waste removal is an issue with which informal settlers’ struggle and which causes land pollution and emerging and re-emerging infectious disease hazards. Thus, waste removal is a problem which the study is to discuss and to examine possible solutions thereof. The main aim of the study was to investigate the impacts which informal settlements have on the environment and raise environmental awareness by illustrating how extreme the impacts of informal settlements are in impacting the environment. The main aim was to be achieved by using the following objectives: identifying environmental challenges which are caused by informal settlements, examining the sources of environmental challenges experienced in informal settlements, investigating solutions to reduce the negative impacts which informal settlements have on the environment, identifying health risks associated with the environmental impacts present in informal settlements and examining how waste is disposed of in informal settlements. The research method used for the study was qualitative research. This type of scientific research method seeks answers to a question, systematically using a predefined set of procedures to answer the question, collects evidence and provides findings that were not determined in advance. This method was used in conjunction with interviews with municipal officials and questionnaires handed to 40 of Jika Joe informal settlement residents who were selected using random sampling. The study was conducted on Jika Joe informal settlement in Pietermaritzburg, which is associated with a number of environmental challenges. Themes were used which focussed around sources of energy that were used for cooking in the informal settlement, possible solutions to the issue of informal settlements and their impacts on the environment, health risks associated with these settlements and the disposal of waste in informal settlements. These study areas were of great assistance in answering the research question. In conclusion, research findings concluded that the research hypothesis is true, as it was found that informal settlements do pose negative impacts on the environment which desperately needed the development of recommendations for change. Such recommendations included the resolving and eradication of informal settlements, composting, the implementation of relocations and the creation of boundaries to name a few

The Women's Health Project : a case study of organisational rupture in a time of transition

Includes bibliographical references

The frightened

My novella tells the coming of age story of a young woman battling the trauma of objectification. It explores the intimate relationship between a woman and a man, the young and the old, and the camaraderie between women. Having spent the greater part of her youth in various parts of the world, my protagonist faces the stark reality of returning home to her native country. This triggers an angst which causes her to leap between lived experiences and memories. An elegy on how difficult it is to love while dragging the long shadow of shame, it uses short prose and prose poetry to reveal the intimacies and intricacies of self hate and clandestine romances, and to unravel the complexities of memory and forgetting. Built from non linear fragments it seeks to refuse cliches regarding love and to question easy assumptions around gender, family and the innocence of youth. I draw inspiration from Vita Sackville West’s’ All Passion Spent , which eloquently portrays the placid and flickering thoughts of an old woman taking leave from the frivolity of youth. I’m similarly inspired by the sincerity and confessional aspects of Virginia Woolf and French poet and photographer Alix Roubaud ’s journals and Van Gogh’s letters, as well as Lydia Yuknavitch, Max Porter and Elena Ferante’s autobiographical fiction. I also draw from J’Lyn Chapman’s chapbook A Thing of Shreds and Patches and finally Dostoevky’s Notes from Underground , for their blurring of life and writing, and their exploration of grief and death as a lingering thought, together with the oppressive urge to create. In addition I’m inspired by the poetry of a new generation of South African female writers like Vangile Gatsho

Subtitling practices in South Africa: A case study of the soap opera Generations

This study represents a case study of subtitling practices in the South African television broadcasting media, with reference to the soap opera, Generations. The aim of this research is to carry out a descriptive study to establish the actual practices of subtitling in the South African television broadcasting media, using the soap opera Generations as a case study; how these practices match international, theoretical and methodological practices; and whether they have been affected by changes in legislation calling for the status and use of indigenous languages to be enhanced. Although the research sets out to discuss the actual processes in the subtitling of Generations, it includes an analytical and evaluative component. It examines episodes of Generations for the years, 1999, 2003, 2005 and January 2006, looking at the languages spoken in these episodes, the percentage of subtitling in each episode, and the nature of subtitling in the soap opera. Finally, it assesses what progress has been made towards multilingualism, and subtitling since the two go hand-in-hand because whatever is spoken in the vernacular languages calls for subtitling. It was concluded that the level of multilingualism and, therefore, subtitling, is not yet up to the level envisaged although a lot of progress has been made