The Perilious Pandemics in South Africa

Globally domestic violence against women increased significantly during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdowns In South Africa an increased risk for gender-based domestic violence against women during the lockdown period was reported by various sources from NGOs to the South African Police Service SAPS Covid-19 lockdown encouraged restriction of movement This measure inadvertently created social isolation and alienation This paper begins by examining the main risk factors more commonly associated with gender based violence in the South Africa It proceeds by reflecting on how GBV was exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic Lastly the article underscores the new challenges faced by women during the pandemic and presents possible recommendations and actions to execute during and beyond the Covid-19 pandemic to counteract further levels of violenc

Exploring barriers experienced in an intervention to reduce burnout among a sample of radiation therapists

ABSTRACT The Trials of Improved Practice (TIPs) methodology was used (partially) to initially provide the framework for a proposed intervention to reduce burnout among radiation therapists. However during the initial visit it was apparent that the radiation therapists were not willing to consider the implementation of an intervention. Thus no intervention was actually conducted with the sample. Consequently the aim of the study shifted. This shift was not based on the reason of convenience, but was considered important to both the literature on TIPs and understanding resistance and barriers to interventions aimed at reducing burnout. Based on the wealth of information gained from the radiation therapists, this study focuses on understanding and exploring the barriers that affect the development and the implementation of interventions aimed at reducing burnout among the sample.The primary aim of the study was thus to firstly explore barriers inherent to interventions aimed at reducing burnout among radiation therapists. The second aim was to provide recommendations for others (i.e., researchers and practitioners alike), who may be developing interventions aimed at reducing burnout among radiation therapists. The core design of the study was qualitative in nature. Semi structured interviews were utilised to collect data on two occasions. In total 15 semi structured interviews were conducted. Thematic content analysis was utilised to identify, analyse and report themes and patterns that emerged from the data collected. The findings that emerged in this study highlighted barriers inherent to interventions aimed at reducing burnout among radiation therapists. Some unique themes, which were specific to the South African context, also emerged. This ultimately gave radiation therapists a voice, allowed for a fuller picture of their everyday experiences, and assisted with the establishment of recommendations for professionals, (researchers and practitioners alike), who may be interested in developing interventions aimed at reducing burnout among radiation therapist

Optimisation of lipid production, harvesting processes and the mass culture of isochrysis galbana U4 for biodiesel production

Due to the numerous disadvantages associated with the use of fossil fuels, focus has been drawn on the environmentally friendly, renewable and carbon-neutral alternative, algalbased biofuels. Many microalgal species have been studied due to their ability to produce significant lipid yields which may be converted to biodiesel. In the present study three microalgal species were screened and a model organism that produced maximal lipid yields, had the greatest lipid productivity and showed potential to be used on a large scale basis, was selected. The selected species was identified, using both morphological and molecular methods, as Isochrysis galbana U4. Nitrogen (N) limitation and depletion studies showed that an internal N reservoir determines cell growth and eventual lipid accumulation in I. galbana when the external N reserves are deplete. Intracellular N depletion was associated with a decrease in the pyrenoid size and chlorophyll content, a breakdown of the chloroplast and the production of large lipid bodies which is advantageous in terms of lipid sequestration for biodiesel production. Cost reduction approaches for the mass culture of I. galbana were investigated. Factors that were proven to reduce costs, without altering the final lipid yield, included the use of urea as a N source and the supply of lower phosphorus (P) levels since this species is capable of growing optimally with as little as 0.25 ppm P. Furthermore, I. galbana cells demonstrated spontaneous flocculating abilities when cultured for prolonged periods. This is advantageous in the cost reductions of downstream harvesting processes. Both, 7 L and 16 L photobioreactors (PBR) were tested. Culture upscale resulted in the concomitant decrease in algal growth rate which was attributed to the limitations on the carbon dioxide and light supply in scaled up systems. Hence, it is suggested that multiple smaller units be used in an industrial setup. Overall, I. galbana is a promising candidate for biodiesel production, due to its ability to produce large amounts of lipid, its elevated growth rates and low P demand. The use of a two-phase PBR (The first phase being nutrient replete, promoting cell growth and division, and the second phase nutrient deplete, promoting lipid production) for the mass culture of this species in industry is recommended

Improving sexuality in interpersonal relationships

A thesis submitted to the University of Zululand, Fuculty of Arts in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Psychology, 2006.Human sexuality refers to the way in which we experience and express ourselves as sexual beings. Healthy sexuality varies in individuals, relationships and societies. Sexual and relationship problems are common to all societies. Misunderstanding and misinformation related to sexual relationship problems as well as the solutions to such problems are widespread. This is understandable considering the diverse and multifactorial nature of sexual behaviour, which encompasses biological, psychological, social and spiritual aspects of existence. Sexual adjustment and satisfaction are important features of personal well-being and satisfaction with intimate relationships. This thesis constitutes theoretical and practical investigations into the relationship between sexuality and psychological well-being with special reference to the improvement of sexual functioning in interpersonal relationships. The research methodology consisted of a self-report questionnaire, which included biographical, quantitative and qualitative components, administered to 100 volunteer patients attending an outpatient clinic in a local general hospital for sexual problems, who had given informed consent to participate in the research. Quantitative components consisted of standardized sexuality and psychological well-being scales. The qualitative component consisted of participants' responses to an open-ended question as to suggestions recommended to improve their sexual relationships. Main quantitative findings were that the South African sample perceived them to be less psychologically well. This supported earlier comparative research with this scale on South African and USA samples. Analysts of sexuality scale data revealed that South African and USA samples perceived themselves as having equal sexual health. In terms of comparisons between the sexuality and psychological well-being scales, the sexual depression subscale was negatively correlated with psychological well-being dimensions of environmental mastery, positive relations with others and self-acceptance. Main qualitative findings with regard to improving sexual relationships related to improving communication, intimacy, affection, self-esteem and quality of life. Integrating theoretical and practical investigations, the thesis concludes with various recommendations with regard to improving sexuality in interpersonal relationships.National Research Foundation

Factors motivating information technology professionals to become self-employed.

Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.The world economy and industry in turn is driven by technology and innovation at a rapid rate. Worldwide, the information technology (IT) industry is volatile in terms of turnover intentions of IT professionals The unemployment level in South Africa is high according to global standards. The option of contracting as an IT consultant or self-employment is a form of an alternate employment arrangement. This arrangement will benefit the unemployed in South Africa if they choose to skill themselves and pursue a career in self-employment in the IT industry. There are internal and external employment factors that affect an IT professional’s employment arrangement. Moore’s (2000) information technology employee turnover model was adapted as a basis for this research. An external factor, entrepreneurship (self-employment) was introduced to Moore’s model. This research also tests Moore’s (2000) model for its internal factors. The following factors, role ambiguity, role conflict, autonomy, perceived workload, fairness of reward, work exhaustion and entrepreneurship were formulated in the hypotheses to determine which of these factors influences self-employment in IT professionals. Information technology professionals based in Durban were the target respondents in the City of Durban. The survey questionnaire was emailed to respondents using Questionpro. The sample data was based on 123 respondents who completed the survey. The data was then validated for internal consistency using Cronbach alpha ratio generated by the SPSS (version 19.0) software tool. The quantitative research design was chosen. Frequency tables and Pearson’s bivariate correlation coefficient statistics was used in the data analysis phase. The research objective was achieved successfully and the following factors were determined, they are role ambiguity, role conflict, autonomy, work exhaustion and entrepreneurship. The IT industry is volatile with IT professionals constantly re-skilling themselves to be on par with changing technology and innovation that make them very competent and competitive as a result, these IT professionals create a market for self-employment

An exploratory study of women’s perceptions of safety as Automated Teller Machine (ATM) users: a select sample in eThekwini Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN)

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Women as active and equal citizens of South Africa enjoy equal access to South African banking facilities. Banks mobilise, allocate and invest much of the savings of a society and therefore, their ability to provide a safe banking environment has substantive repercussions on its expansion and sustainability. A banking facility that necessitates safety is the Automated Teller Machines (ATM) environment. Safety of ATM users (customers) is a human right and that makes it a necessity, user confidence and continued user participation. Against this landscape, the current study sought to explore women’s perceptions of safety as ATM users in the eThekwini Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal. Thus, the aim of the study was to explore a select sample of women’s perceptions of safety as ATM users. The objectives of the study were to understand women’s perceptions of safety as ATM users in the eThekwini municipality by making use of a quantitative research design. A survey instrument, the questionnaire was constructed and used as the data gathering tool for the study. 100 survey questionnaires were administered to participants using snowball sampling. This sampling technique was most appropriate given the sensitive nature of the study namely seeking perceptions on ATM safety. The participants were all women from the four main race groups in KwaZulu-Natal namely African, Indian, White and coloured. They represented six age categories namely from 18 to 65 years of age. Participants were recruited from ABSA, Standard, First National, Nedbank and Capitec banks. Findings show that participants were aware of precautions to take irrespective of age, race or banking institution. First National and Standard Bank participants scored the highest in terms of agreeing with their level of awareness. In terms of feeling safe using ATM’s where a security guard is present the 42 to 49 year old women had the highest responses. Further findings show that the responses in the disagree and neutral scales were particularly interesting when participants were posed with the question: “My banking institution does not need any more ATM safety measures”. In the 42 to 49 year age category 17.2 % of participants believed that their banking institutions actually need more ATM safety measures followed by 15.2 % of the 34 to 41 category. The lowest response to this statement was generated from the 18-25 year category of participants. Findings also show that when participants were asked to respond to the statement “I am not afraid to use ATM's at a well-lit, open, high traffic area” the majority responses were in the neutral and agree scales. Findings of the study revealed that women across all race groups are equally vulnerable to ATM crime or feelings of insecurity when using ATM’s. Although the study makes a variety of recommendations for future research in the area, one critical recommendation is for a mixed method research design that could also inquire from participants what they consider suitable remedies for women victims of ATM crime. Here the focus should be on indirect costs of ATM crime including pain, suffering, psychological impact and the trauma experienced by the victim

Various Dynamical Regimes, and Transitions from Homogeneous to Inhomogeneous Steady States in Nonlinear Systems with Delays and Diverse Couplings

This dissertation focuses on the effects of distributed delays modeled by \u27weak generic kernels\u27 on the collective behavior of coupled nonlinear systems. These distributed delays are introduced into several well-known periodic oscillators such as coupled Landau-Stuart and Van der Pol systems, as well as coupled chaotic Van der Pol-Rayleigh and Sprott systems, for a variety of couplings including diffusive, cyclic, or dynamic ones. The resulting system is then closed via the \u27linear chain trick\u27 and the linear stability analysis of the system and conditions for Hopf bifurcations that initiate oscillations are investigated. A variety of dynamical regimes and transitions between them result. As an example, in certain cases the delay produces transitions from amplitude death (AD) or oscillation death (OD) regimes to Hopf bifurcation-induced periodic behavior, where typically we observe the delayed limit cycle shrinking or growing as the delay is varied towards or away from the bifurcation point respectively. The conditions for transition between AD parameter regimes and OD parameter regimes are investigated for systems in which OD is possible. Depending on the coupling, these transitions are mediated by pitchfork or transcritical bifurcations. The systems are then investigated numerically, comparing with the predictions from the linear stability analysis and previous work. In several cases the various transitions among AD, OD and periodic domains that we observe are more intricate than the simple AD states, and the rough boundaries of the parameter regimes where they occur, which have been predicted by linear stability analysis and also experimentally verified in earlier work. The final chapter extends these studies by including the effects of periodically amplitude modulated distributed delays in both position and velocity. The existence of quasiperiodic solutions motivates the derivation of a second slow flow, together with a comparison of results and predictions from the second slow flow and the numerical results, as well as using the second slow flow to approximate the radii of the toroidal attractor. Finally, the effects of varying the delay parameter are briefly considered

Enhancing maize drought and heat tolerance: single vs combined plant growth promoting rhizobacterial inoculation

Maize (Zea mays L.), a key staple crop in Sub-Saharan Africa, is particularly vulnerable to concurrent drought and heat stress, which threatens crop yield and food security. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have shown potential as biofertilizers to enhance plant resilience under such abiotic stresses. This study aimed to (1) identify PGPR isolates tolerant to drought and heat, (2) assess their capacity to mitigate the effects of these stresses on early maize growth, and (3) analyze maize gene expression changes associated with PGPR-induced tolerance. Rhizobacteria were isolated and screened for drought and heat tolerance, alongside key plant growth-promoting (PGP) traits, including phosphorus solubilization, nitrogen fixation, and indole acetic acid production. In vitro and pot trials evaluated the effects of selected isolates on maize growth under stress, using indicators such as shoot length, root and shoot biomass (wet and dry), and leaf water content. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) was employed to profile maize stress response genes. The identified PGPR isolates included Bacillus cereus (11MN1), Bacillus pseudomycoides (21MN1B), Lelliottia amnigena (33MP1), and Leclercia adecarboxylata (36MP8). Greenhouse trials demonstrated that L. amnigena 33MP1, L. adecarboxylata 36MP8, and a mixed culture of isolates (11MN1, 21MN1B, 33MP1, 36MP8) effectively alleviated the adverse effects of concurrent drought and heat stress in maize. Notably, qRT-PCR analysis indicated that PGPR-induced tolerance may involve the modulation of stress response genes CAT2 (catalase 2) and DHN2 (dehydrin 2), which play roles in oxidative stress management and cellular protection. The PGPR isolates identified in this study represent promising bioinoculants for enhancing maize resilience under climate-induced stresses, offering a sustainable approach to improve maize productivity, conserve water, and reduce irrigation needs in drought-prone regions