Contemplating the approach RAU’s founders towards radically transforming Afrikaans speaker identity in taking economic responsibility

Abstract: This discussion on the former Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) covers the founding years of the University from 1955 to 1975. What should become clear from the contemplations is that the establishment of RAU in 1968 (today the University of Johannesburg), was not driven by the increase in the population of white Afrikaans speakers on the Witwatersrand or to act as a force against the liberal influences of the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). The philosophy behind the establishment of RAU was mainly to reposition and empower white Afrikaans speakers with the education required to ensure that they could take their place in particularly the Witwatersrand as economic heartland of South Africa, and South Africa in general. Part of this approach by the founders was to create and develop RAU to become the most modern Afrikaans university of its time, providing quality teaching and learning of high local and international standards. The prominence of being a university driven by specific ideals contributed to the forming of the Afrikaans speaker’s identity in education and the national economy. As examples, this discussion mainly emphasises some new teaching methods introduced at the time, visibly blending with a refreshed view on the architectural design to accommodate the philosophical ideals envisioned for RAU. The founders’ vision was for RAU to become an educational instrument towards transforming white Afrikaans speaker identity within a modernised context

Factors that determine the facilitation of stakeholders in environmental management – some philosophicalhistorical thoughts with the Merafong area as example

In essence, the article covers some fundamental principles of stakeholdership within a democratic process of environmental management. An effort is also made to point out several historical features of stakeholdership within the Wonderfonteinspruit (WFS) Catchment in the Merafong study area. Both these facets in the discussion accentuate stakeholdership as being primary participants (especially organisations that are government directed) and secondary participants (especially non-governmental organisations) in which both groups can reflect sufficient historical evidence in this economic environment to identify them as either the injurers, the injured or the participants/interested parties. To meaningfully conclude the discussion of stakeholdership in environmental management, some international and philosophical models and perspectives were also utilised to obtain a broader holistic perspective of a meaningful long-term stakeholder partnership. These applications, as reflected against a less fruitful awareness of the environmental practices in the past, can be applied efficiently in future stakeholder discussions regarding the WFS area as part of an approach featuring environmental justice and environmental remediation, compensation and monitoring

Interdisciplinary reflections on the challenge of environmental management in dolomitic areas of South Africa: The case of Delmas and Merafong city local municipalities

Although they are 130 kilometres (km) apart, the areas of Delmas and Merafong City (the former Carletonville mining area) share certain environmental commonalities. The irresponsible environmental management of both areas, despite their different histories, are typical examples of limited and unsustainable environmental management practices. The discussion focuses on a basic understanding of the concept “irresponsible”, as well as what “interdisciplinary” in this context covers. This is followed by a geographical and historical description of the two areas. Aspects of the lack of environmental management by the Delmas and Merafong City local municipalities are discussed in terms of an interdisciplinary approach and a case study methodology. Among others, it is concluded that creating and maintaining a healthy, well-managed environment is a group effort. However, all group efforts are doomed to failure if there is just one weak link. It is suggested that any weak link or links must be determined and addressed for the communities of Delmas and Carletonville to benefit.Public Administration and Managemen

Asymmetric Hapln1a drives regionalized cardiac ECM expansion and promotes heart morphogenesis in zebrafish development

Aims Vertebrate heart development requires the complex morphogenesis of a linear tube to form the mature organ, a process essential for correct cardiac form and function, requiring coordination of embryonic laterality, cardiac growth, and regionalized cellular changes. While previous studies have demonstrated broad requirements for extracellular matrix (ECM) components in cardiac morphogenesis, we hypothesized that ECM regionalization may fine tune cardiac shape during heart development. Methods and results Using live in vivo light sheet imaging of zebrafish embryos, we describe a left-sided expansion of the ECM between the myocardium and endocardium prior to the onset of heart looping and chamber ballooning. Analysis using an ECM sensor revealed the cardiac ECM is further regionalized along the atrioventricular axis. Spatial transcriptomic analysis of gene expression in the heart tube identified candidate genes that may drive ECM expansion. This approach identified regionalized expression of hapln1a, encoding an ECM cross-linking protein. Validation of transcriptomic data by in situ hybridization confirmed regionalized hapln1a expression in the heart, with highest levels of expression in the future atrium and on the left side of the tube, overlapping with the observed ECM expansion. Analysis of CRISPR-Cas9-generated hapln1a mutants revealed a reduction in atrial size and reduced chamber ballooning. Loss-of-function analysis demonstrated that ECM expansion is dependent upon Hapln1a, together supporting a role for Hapln1a in regionalized ECM modulation and cardiac morphogenesis. Analysis of hapln1a expression in zebrafish mutants with randomized or absent embryonic left–right asymmetry revealed that laterality cues position hapln1a-expressing cells asymmetrically in the left side of the heart tube. Conclusion We identify a regionalized ECM expansion in the heart tube which promotes correct heart development, and propose a novel model whereby embryonic laterality cues orient the axis of ECM asymmetry in the heart, suggesting these two pathways interact to promote robust cardiac morphogenesis

History, land studies and land claims research – an open debate

In the history of South Africa, with prospects of a democratic system that would meet all the expectations of the people of the country, the year 1994 also required mind shifts with regard to land reform. As a discipline, History broke its long silence. Past studies on land reform and land claims are visible, but for years, historians have not necessarily contributed to research on the topic. Government, as part of its promise to voters and within the limits of democracy, started investigating the status of land distribution countrywide. Shortly after 1994, processes commenced to provide communities and individuals the opportunity, until the end of 1998, to submit motivations as to why a certain area(s)/region(s) belong to them. This article’s open discussion is not intended to cover all the events and processes of the past almost 20 years conscientiously. Rather, the intention is to put in writing what the role of History as a discipline can or should be in ultimate decisions on claims in respect of land. However, extensive research on this is still required. In this paper, then, the use of history within the discipline of History in the managing of land claims in South Africa is the core issue. History, as a discipline that can provide multiple sources of a diverse nature, will be discussed briefly with the unsettled land claim on the farm Deelkraal IQ142 as an example. A summary will direct the reader towards the value of History in land claims research, but it should not necessarily be deemed as the final decision about land claims. Therefore, it appears that perceptions of the past (sometimes interwoven with power and conflict), may have a tendency to overshadow any possibility of truth or reality. This in itself creates facets of power and politics that simply repeat similar previous cyclesHierdie oop gesprek oor die hantering en verstaan van grondeise in die grondhervormingsgeskiedenis van Suid-Afrika het nie ten doel om al hierdie gebeure en prosesse van die afgelope byna 20 jaar nougeset neer te pen nie. Teen die kontekstuele agtergrond daarvan word wel besin oor die mate waartoe Geskiedenis as ’n dissipline betekenisvol kan wees of behoort te wees in die uiteindelike besluitneming oor eise ten opsigte van grond. Omvattende navorsing hieroor is egter nog nodig. In hierdie bespreking is die benutting van die geskiedenis binne die dissipline Geskiedenis in die onderneming van grondeisenavorsing die kernsaak. Geskiedenis as ’n bewysmateriaalverskaffer met vele perspektiewe word toegelig deur kortliks na die onafgehandelde grondeis op die plaas Deelkraal IQ142 as ’n voorbeeld te verwys. Opsommenderwys sal ook aangetoon word dat die waarde van Geskiedenis in grondeisenavorsing nie noodwendig in finale besluitnemings oor grondeise geag word nie. Dit wil dus voorkom asof persepsies oor die verlede (soms verweef in mag en konflik), ’n geneigdheid kan hê om enige moontlikheid van waarheid of realiteit te oorskadu. Op sigself dui dit weer op fasette van mag en politiek, wat vorige soortgelyke siklusse bloot herhaa

Geohydrological issues of importance in the area governed by the Delmas local municipality

The constraints that have been experienced in recent years with the Delmas water supply have largely been as a result of it being situated in a dolomite area, the environmental reality which, from a human and economic standpoint, seems to be a definite drawback. Previous reports on diarrhoea outbreaks in the Delmas area (1993, 2005 and 2007) have consistently noted a groundwater contamination of the A well field’s groundwater abstraction boreholes. While water contamination certainly had a role to play in the diarrhoea outbreaks, there were other contributing environmental factors. Amongst these were the physical environment has been severely polluted and significant interventions in environmental elements, such as local surface water streams, that were recorded during the research process. The nature and extent of water (raw, potable and waste) management in and by the Delmas Local Municipality will be the focus of this article, and certain significant geohydrological issues to consider in the achievement of effective municipal governance will be debated. Recommendations on the possible improvement of the municipal water services management in and by the Municipality will form part of the debate and may serve as pointers for improving the governance, by local governments, of the geohydrological realities that cause constraints in their various areas of responsibility. These outcomes may also find an application in other similarly problematic municipal areas.http://reference.sabinet.co.za/document/EJC12033

Expression and ligand binding of bombesin receptors in pulmonary and intestinal carcinoids

Cellular mechanisms in basic and clinical gastroenterology and hepatolog

Debating some past and present research frameworks and methodologies in history on places and their peoples in South Africa

Histories regarding places and their peoples in South Africa can be traced to the early days of History being practised as an academic discipline. However, practising this form of history under (and outside) the flag of regional history was formalised only in the mid seventies, while informalised research practices in the field continued as methods complementing various schools of thought. Narrowly perceived local histories were considered as inclusive of the formalised and informalised regional history practices as knowledge contributing towards a broader understanding of a (geographically defined/ politically demarcated) region. Of interest is not only the historiography in this field (of which a few pointers are shared in this discussion) but some of the frameworks and methods to research and to record regional histories that have been used in the past. Equally of interest are the ways in which these frameworks and methods are still applied and thought of as dynamic and progressive to assist the historian to progress towards producing and packaging research as part of a comprehensive, all inclusive approach in creating knowledge as regional history studies. In South Africa, an extensive debate on how regional history studies should be broadly defined and understood when undertaking research, still falls short. This is due to the variety, diversity and complexity of knowledge contributing to the pool of information that should be packaged as regional history studies. To contibute towards a framework of understanding and packaging knowledge in this field of meaning to regional history studies, the reader is further exposed to an extended structure of perhaps understanding and doing research in this field: a field that has always been regarded as having the potential to be both integrative and multidisciplinary by nature. Yet its integrative analytical abilities also rest on the outcome of narrow-defined histories done on spaces and places before it is possible to embark on bigger research analyses in, for example, the spirit of modern social history applications to regional history studies. This discussion on ways to understand the limited past and present of regional studies (historiographically and methodologically) in South Africa is offered to encourage further debate.10.1080/17532523.2013.857095http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17532523.2013.85709