1,571 research outputs found
A sustainability assessment of the Inxuba Yethemba local municipality
The aim of this research was to assess the sustainability of the Inxuba Yethemba local municipality with the goal that policy-makers would use the assessment recommendations to improve their decision-making. The United Nations Indicators for Sustainable Development framework (3rd Edition) was chosen to carry out the assessment because of its indicator selection and methodology for distinguishing which indicators were relevant or irrelevant for the assessment (United Nations, 2007). If an indicator showed that the situation was improving, it was assumed to help with the overall sustainability of the area (Hedayati-Moghadam, Eskandar Seidayi and Nouri, 2014; and United Nations, 2007). The indicators for environmental sustainability showed that the area is on an environmentally sustainable path (Du Toit, 2017; United Nations, 2007). While the indicators for social sustainability showed that the living standards of the population (measured by poverty, housing, and access to electricity amongst others) had increased which is a good indication for social sustainability. The indicators for education and labour productivity showed the opposite (CHDM a, 2012; CHDM a, 2014; United Nations, 2007). The indicators for the economy showed that the economy was not growing which is not a good indication for economic sustainability (CHDM a, 2012; CHDM a, 2014; United Nations, 2007). The recommendation to policy-makers is that developing labour productivity through education and skills training is the most important area to improve, and compiling regular sustainability assessments will improve their decision making. Another recommendation is that, because 65% of the households rely on the social grant (CHDM b, 2014) this cannot be withdrawn in the short term. Furthermore, if inflation were to develop into hyperinflation, the value of the social grants would deteriorate (Market Insight South Africa, 2016). A recommendation to policy makers is that more data collection is needed in order to do proper sustainability assessments. Overall, the municipality cannot be classified as sustainable mainly on account of the poor education system, high levels of unemployed and unskilled labour, and the social, and economic dependence that the municipality has on government spending
Gastric evacuation, feeding periodicity and daily ration of Sardine sardinops sagax in the southern Benguela upwelling ecosystem
Laboratory and field experiments were conducted to determine gastric evacuation rates of sardine Sardinops sagax, and stomach content analyses were undertaken to assess feeding periodicity and estimate the daily ration of this species in the southern Benguela. Gastric evacuation followed an exponential pattern and was influenced by food type; phytoplankton was evacuated at a much faster rate than zooplankton. Estimated gastric evacuation rates ranged between 0.05 and 0.29.h-1, with mean values of 0.09 and 0.27.h-1 for fish fed zooplankton and phytoplankton respectively. Despite this large range, no significant relationships were found between gastric evacuation rate and fish size, temperature, food particle size or meal size. Feeding periodicity was size-dependent; small fish had a peak in feeding activity at or around sunset, whereas larger fish appeared to feed continuously. This suggests that fish of different size exhibit different foraging behaviours, possibly reflecting differences in their diets. Estimates of daily ration ranged from 0.99 to 2.52% wet body mass.day-1 for fish consuming zooplankton and from 2.97 to 7.58% wet body mass.day-1 for fish consuming phytoplankton. Small fish consumed a bigger daily ration than large fish
Diet of sardine Sardinops sagax in the southern Benguela upwelling ecosystem
The diet of sardine Sardinops sagax in the southern Benguela was investigated by microscopic examination of stomach contents. The relative dietary importance of prey size and prey type was assessed by calculating the carbon content of prey items. Sardine is an omnivorous clupeoid, ingesting both phytoplankton and zooplankton, with the relative importance of these two food types varying both spatially and temporally. Stomach contents were numerically dominated by small prey items, principally dinoflagellates, followed by crustacean eggs, cyclopoid copepods, calanoid copepods and diatoms. Virtually all prey items ingested by sardine wer
XML for Domain Viewpoints
Within research institutions like CERN (European Organization for Nuclear
Research) there are often disparate databases (different in format, type and
structure) that users need to access in a domain-specific manner. Users may
want to access a simple unit of information without having to understand detail
of the underlying schema or they may want to access the same information from
several different sources. It is neither desirable nor feasible to require
users to have knowledge of these schemas. Instead it would be advantageous if a
user could query these sources using his or her own domain models and
abstractions of the data. This paper describes the basis of an XML (eXtended
Markup Language) framework that provides this functionality and is currently
being developed at CERN. The goal of the first prototype was to explore the
possibilities of XML for data integration and model management. It shows how
XML can be used to integrate data sources. The framework is not only applicable
to CERN data sources but other environments too.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, conference report from SCI'2001 Multiconference
on Systemics & Informatics, Florid
An assessment of the suitability of the galjoen, Coracinus capensis cuvier, for mariculture in South Africa
Bibliography: pages 151-184.The suitability of the galjoen, Coracinus capensis, for mariculture in South Africa has been assessed from both an economic and a biological viewpoint. In terms of economic criteria galjoen shows a high potential for culture, being widely known and highly regarded as a table fish. The restaurant trade in the southwestern Cape has been identified as a possible market showing a high demand for this species. Adult galjoen are readily available, hardy, and are easily maintained in captivity. A biochemical technique to determine the sex of live fish has been elucidated and allows sexual identification to be conducted for several months prior to and during the spawning season. Natural serial spawning with high fertilization occurs readily in captivity, with galjoen producing large numbers of good quality eggs during a single season. However induced spawning using two mammalian gonadotropins resulted in the production of poor quality eggs. The relationship between temperature and development time for fertilized galjoen eggs has been determined, and the lower lethal temperature for developing eggs was found to lie between 14° and 16°C. Newly-hatched larvae exhaust their endogenous food reserves rapidly and show a short time to irreversible starvation, with first-feeding beginning from 110 hours after hatching at 18°C. Galjoen larvae proved to be extremely difficult to rear. Although successful first-feeding on a few live food organisms was observed, mass mortality at 4-8 days and again at 12-15 days after first-feeding resulted in exceptionally poor survival. It is surmised that galjoen larvae have very stringent nutritional requirements which cannot be met by employing commonly-used live food organisms. Growth rate estimates for galjoen that survived past metamorphosis indicate that growth under culture conditions is similar to that in the natural environment. Certain biological attributes of the galjoen such as simple broodstock maintenance, ease of natural spawning in captivity and high fecundity select this species for culture. However the inability to mass rear larvae through to metamorphosis drastically reduces the suitability of this species, especially since larval rearing is the key to successful mariculture. In addition, the slow growth rate under culture conditions observed also selects against this species. Because of these last two factors, it is concluded that the galjoen is not a suitable species for mariculture in South Africa
The electrocardiogram of combined ventricular hypertrophy of the heart
Combined ventricular hypertrophy was the commonest finding at autopsy in cases studied by cardiac partitioning. A large number of electrocardiographic deflections reflected left or right ventricular hypertrophy in cases with combined ventricular hypertrophy. However, no consistent electrocardiographic pattern was found, in keeping with the wide spread of combinations of left and right ventricular weights present in these cases. A division of the entire series into 6 subgroups resulted in the best correlation between the electocardiographic findings and the degree of left and right ventricular hypertrophy established at autopsy. The electrocardiograms in the cases with combined ventricular hypertrophy have been compared with those of normal subjects and those with isolated right ventricular hypertrophy.S. Afr. Med. J., 48, 1515 (1974)
The electrocardiogram in isolated right ventricular hypertrophy due to chronic respiratory disease
The electrocardiograms of 34 cases with isolated right ventricular hypertrophy diagnosed at autopsy have been analysed. Only subjects having chronic respiratory diseases of long duration were considered. These results have been compared with normal standards for the electrocardiogram which have advantages over those previously published. Thirty-three deflections, or combinations of deflections, of the electrocardiogram were found to characterise the isolated right ventricular hypertrophy group. Although combinations of abnormal electrocardiographic deflections could be found in some of the normal group, they did not conform to those found in the isolated right ventricular hypertrophy group in the vast majority of the cases. As such, 91% of the electrocardiograms of isolated right ventricular hypertrophy were distinctive. These results have been compared with previous reports dealing with the electrocardiographic diagnosis of right ventricular hypertrophy. Attempts at gauging the degree of right ventricular hypertrophy from the electrocardiogram have been made.S. Afr. Med. J., 48, 1480 (1974)
New standards for electrocardiograms of adult males without evidence of cardiac hypertrophy
A statistical analysis has been made of 214 adult male subjects, of whom 59 had not shown cardiac hypertrophy at autopsy, and cardiac hypertrophy had been excluded in the remainder by clinical and radiological study. The statistical analysis consisted of a stepwise linear regression analysis, in which the electrocardiographic deflections were the dependent variables, and age, electrical position of the hear:, height, weight and ponderal index were the independent variables. The normal limits were established by a combination of the stepwise linear regression equations and the percentile limits. Such an approach offers advantages over methods previously used to establish normal limits for the electrocardiogram.S. Afr. Med. J., 48, 1413 (1974)
The use of the critical path and critical chain methods in the South African construction industry
The purpose of this article is to report on an investigation of the use of critical path and critical chain methods in the South African construction industry. Through a questionnaire survey, data was collected to establish which construction sectors apply these methods, the percentage of construction professionals using these methods, the reasons why these methods are applied, and the factors that influence the use of these methods. Based on the findings, the critical path and critical chain methods are mostly used in the South African construction industry by the building sector, in comparison to the civil and industrial sectors. The critical path method is used more than the critical chain method, with over 70% of the responding companies applying the critical path method and only 22% applying the critical chain method. The latter method is considered to be a relatively new project management tool and requires a culture change in the company. Users of the critical path method believe that the method mainly improves their project understanding, planning, scheduling and control, with all these improvements ultimately leading to better on-time completion of projects and cost saving
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