soMLier: A South African Wine Recommender System

Though several commercial wine recommender systems exist, they are largely tailored to consumers outside of South Africa (SA). Consequently, these systems are of limited use to novice wine consumers in SA. To address this, the aim of this research is to develop a system for South African consumers that yields high-quality wine recommendations, maximises the accuracy of predicted ratings for those recommendations and provides insights into why those suggestions were made. To achieve this, a hybrid system “soMLier” (pronounced “sommelier”) is built in this thesis that makes use of two datasets. Firstly, a database containing several attributes of South African wines such as the chemical composition, style, aroma, price and description was supplied by wine.co.za (a SA wine retailer). Secondly, for each wine in that database, the numeric 5-star ratings and textual reviews made by users worldwide were further scraped from Vivino.com to serve as a dataset of user preferences. Together, these are used to develop and compare several systems, the most optimal of which are combined in the final system. Item-based collaborative filtering methods are investigated first along with model-based techniques (such as matrix factorisation and neural networks) when applied to the user rating dataset to generate wine recommendations through the ranking of rating predictions. Respectively, these methods are determined to excel at generating lists of relevant wine recommendations and producing accurate corresponding predicted ratings. Next, the wine attribute data is used to explore the efficacy of content-based systems. Numeric features (such as price) are compared along with categorical features (such as style) using various distance measures and the relationships between the textual descriptions of the wines are determined using natural language processing methods. These methods are found to be most appropriate for explaining wine recommendations. Hence, the final hybrid system makes use of collaborative filtering to generate recommendations, matrix factorisation to predict user ratings, and content-based techniques to rationalise the wine suggestions made. This thesis contributes the “soMLier” system that is of specific use to SA wine consumers as it bridges the gap between the technologies used by highly-developed existing systems and the SA wine market. Though this final system would benefit from more explicit user data to establish a richer model of user preferences, it can ultimately assist consumers in exploring unfamiliar wines, discovering wines they will likely enjoy, and understanding their preferences of SA wine

A study on the efficacy of a homoeopathic simillimum remedy in the treatment of chronic asthma in adults

Chronic asthma is characterised by widespread inflammation and reversible narrowing of the bronchial airways. Inflammation of the bronchial mucous membrane renders it hyper-responsive to a variety of stimuli, resulting in wheezing, coughing, chest tightness and breathing difficulty. Asthma was first recognised by the Chinese, four thousand years ago and Hippocrates described it in the fourth century BC. Despite the amount of literature and information available on asthma, this disease is still on the increase world-wide. This research study was undertaken to establish the efficacy of homoeopathic simillimum remedies in the reduction of the frequency and severity of asthmatic symptoms, in adult individuals who suffered from chronic asthma. The research was carried out at the TWR health clinic at Doornfontein, from 1 June 2003 to 31 December 2003. Ten participants, eight males and two females, of all ethnic groups and between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-one, took part in this research. Each participant was interviewed during a homoeopathic consultation. Simillimum remedies were given and the participants were monitored over a period of fourteen weeks, at fortnightly follow-up consultations. Each participant received his/her own peak flow meter and a peak flow rate chart (Appendix E). Morning and evening PEFR were obtained by using the peak flow meter. These readings were recorded, along with any relevant symptoms experienced and/or bronchodilating medication used that day. Participants were required to record the above-mentioned data for two weeks before the homoeopathic treatment commenced and for the remaining twelve weeks of the study. The following results were obtained: • Most participants reported less frequent and less severe acute asthmatic attacks, as well as fewer nocturnal asthmatic symptoms. • Most participants reported an increased ability to participate in exercise without the need for bronchodilating medication during these activities. v • No statistically significant changes were found on the morning or evening peak expiratory flow rates recorded over fourteen weeks. • No statistically significant change was found on the frequency of bronchodilating medication used over fourteen weeks. The following conclusions may be drawn from the recorded results: • Homoeopathic simillimum remedies appear to have been effective in the treatment of chronic asthma in adults. • Homoeopathic simillimum remedies appear to have been effective in the reduction of acute asthmatic attacks and nocturnal asthmatic symptoms. • Homoeopathic simillimum remedies appear to have been effective in increasing the participants’ abilities to partake in physical exercise, as well as in decreasing their need for bronchodilating medicine during exercise.Dr. S. C. van Es Dr. H. Niehau

The Effect of Perceived Perceptual Grouping on the Spatiotemporal Profile of Attention During Reaches and Saccades

This item is only available electronically.Attention influences perception of stimuli as well as mediated action. This allows us to interact with complex visual environments. Additionally, hand-eye movements are linked and occur in high levels of synchrony in daily tasks. Existing research examining attentional facilitation during these behaviours has mostly utilised simple paradigms that are not representative of naturalistic settings. This study bridges the existing literary gap by documenting the effect of perceptual grouping on attentional facilitation during hand-eye movements in a complex visual scene. Participants completed a saccade and reach task in two experimental conditions. Eye and hand movements were made to one of two targets after a probe (contrast increment) was displayed in an array of seven constantly present distractors. Attentional facilitation was quantified by correct probe identification. Surprisingly, perceptual grouping did not influence attentional facilitation, though probe location did. Results indicate higher perceptual performance at locations that were not directly in the eye-hand movement trajectory, which was unexpected. One location was completely overlooked, which is consistent with previous findings. The findings suggest a possible difference in attentional facilitation between simple and complex scenes and reaffirm the need for future studies to utilise more naturalistic spatial layouts when examining attentional facilitation.Thesis (B.PsychSc(Hons)) -- University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 201

Occupational stress and coping strategies of registrars, working within the department of anaesthesiology, affiliated to the University of the Witwatersrand

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Medicine in the branch of Anaesthesiology Johannesburg, 2015Anaesthesiology has been identified as a stressful speciality. Anaesthesiology registrars are more vulnerable to workplace stressors, and experience higher rates burnout and stress compared to their senior colleagues. There is a paucity of information regarding stress and coping strategies amongst South African anaesthesiologists. Suicides within the Department of Anaesthesiology at University of the Witwatersrand, potentially related to workplace stress, prompted the need to identify stress and common coping strategies. The aim of this study was to describe the occupational stress and coping strategies of registrars working within the Department of Anaesthesiology at the University of Witwatersrand. A descriptive, prospective, contextual study design was used. Two validated questionnaires, the Perceived Stress Score (PSS); a ten item Likert scale and Coping Orientation and Problem Experience (COPE) questionnaire; a 60 item Likert scale, were combined to describe the stress and coping of anaesthesiology registrars. The questionnaires were distributed at the departmental academic meetings from May 2014 to November 2014. The sample was realised by the response of 52 registrars (47%), which fell below the recommended number to adequately power the secondary objectives of this study. The overall PSS score was (21.48), with slightly higher PSS scores observed amongst females (22.9) compared to males (19.79). The registrars made use of all the fifteen coping strategies described in the COPE questionnaire. Denial, substance abuse and behaviour disengagement were the least adopted strategies. Positive reinterpretation and growth, use of instrumental social support, active coping and planning were the most commonly utilised strategies. Anaesthesiology registrars working in Wits are more stressed than select communities in South Africa. Unmanaged stress is a worldwide source of suffering and illness within anaesthesiology; this study adds to this statement reinforcing the increasing importance of this issue. The coping strategies adopted by anaesthesiology registrars are varied and need to be encouraged especially amongst other colleagues who are not coping.MT201

Portfolio of Compositions

This portfolio is concerned with two new developments in my composition. Firstly, I have incorporated theatrical techniques in addition to and as an enhancement of my purely sonic writing. Secondly, I have aimed to engage with, and attempt to clearly communicate a central concept with each piece. This commentary outlines the various inspirations behind these goals, details the techniques I used, and reflectively discusses the results and reactions to the pieces

Report on the implementation of an impact campaign for the documentary film, This Land: From cinema to community centres - a guide to developing a grassroots impact strategy

This Land is a forty-eight minute narrative documentary which tells the story of a small village in rural South Africa, where the community resists the development of a mine on their land. The impact campaign for This Land evolved over time, as did my role in. It could be described as a process of guided learning-in-practice, where I consulted with researchers, academics, civil society leaders and representatives from the communities where This Land was filmed. I furthermore researched other successful impact campaigns, for example the impact campaign for Miners Shot Down by Rehad Desai; I attended an impact "Boot Camp" convened by Dr. Liani Maasdorp from the Centre for Film and Media Studies at UCT; and I researched global impact case studies. While I don't describe my academic research in this report, I describe the strategy that evolved for This Land, its implementation and the relationship between the film impact goals and the impact campaign

Temporal patterns and seasonal variation in microplastic loads in the water column and in the tissues of consumers along the southern and south-eastern coasts of South Africa

Plastic pollution in the marine environment has become an environmental concern and a subject of ecological research. The field of microplastic pollution in particular has expanded dramatically in the last few years. Though much data exists on the spatial variability of microplastics in the marine environment globally, little is known about temporal variability, especially on short-term time scales in the southern hemisphere. Similarly, virtually nothing is known about the temporal patterns in microplastic ingestion by marine invertebrates, despite the fact that numerous studies have demonstrated that vertebrates and invertebrates routinely ingest microplastics with varied physiological effects. This study aimed to, 1) provide base-line data for microplastic loads in the nearshore environment along the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa over four short-term time scales: daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly; and, 2) assess whether there are any seasonal patterns in microplastics ingested by selected filter-feeding consumers at two sites along the southern and south-eastern Cape coastlines of South Africa. Results for part one of this study demonstrate no temporal patterns over the different time scales considered (ANOVA, p > 0.05 in all cases). Microplastic counts ranged on average from 55 ± 289 to 930 ± 462 microplastic particles.m-3. With the exception of two instances, microfibres constituted > 50 % (range: 47 to 97 %) of the total microplastic counts. Part two of this study assessed the size range of, and seasonal and spatial patterns in ingested microplastic. No significant differences were found in the number of microplastics ingested within seasons between the mussels Perna perna (Linnaeus, 1758) and Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lamarck, 1819), and the barnacles, Octomeris angulosa (Sowerby, 1825) and Tetraclita serrata (Darwin 1954) (Student’s t-test; d.f = 18; p > 0.05 in all cases), or between the two sites sampled, Kenton-on-Sea, Eastern Cape, and Wilderness, Western Cape (ANOVA; d.f. = 18; p > 0.05 in all cases). The nitric acid digestion technique was used to determine the presence of ingested microplastics. Microplastic loads ranged from 2 ± 1 to 33 ± 19 microplastics.g-1 wwt across all consumers, and the size of ingested microplastics ranged from 1 to 16 μm. Though highly variable, the absence of statistically significant differences in ingestion rates points to a ubiquity in the availability of microplastics within the water column over time and space

Preventing Unplanned Explosions at Munitions Sites

Unplanned explosions at munitions sites (UEMS) frequently result in contamination and destruction similar to that resulting from conflict. Preventive measures can reduce the risk of UEMS and are significantly easier to deploy than clearance after an explosion