A Fast Splitting Method for efficient Split Bregman Iterations

In this paper we propose a new fast splitting algorithm to solve the Weighted Split Bregman minimization problem in the backward step of an accelerated Forward-Backward algorithm. Beside proving the convergence of the method, numerical tests, carried out on different imaging applications, prove the accuracy and computational efficiency of the proposed algorithm

The African trade agenda should centre on industrialisation

Existing trade arrangements in sub-Saharan Africa should be complemented by requisite conditions that enable agricultural and industrial advancements, says LSE alumna Zama Nkosi

Service delivery: Focus on Dipaleseng local municipality: Mpumalanga

The supply or lack of services impacts on people's quality of life, and so the Constitution of South Africa and other strategy documents emphasise the provision of services to all South African citizens irrespective of colour or creed. The services are vast and the responsibility for provision is divided between national, provincial and local authorities. This paper focuses on the delivery of services whose responsibility and accountability lies with the local municipalities, including: water; electricity; sanitation and refuse removal. The paper also explores the background to the recent unrest in the country with a focus on Dipaleseng Municipality, looking at its socio-economic situation, and challenges which include poverty, economic stability and provision of basic services. Sources of data include the South African media, journal articles, relevant documents, websites and databases

Drivers of adaptation to climate change in vulnerable farming communities: a micro analysis of rice farmers in Ndop, Cameroon

Farmers in developing economies often struggle to adapt to climate change and their decisions to adapt usually hinges on perception and prevailing socio-economic factors. This study examines factors controlling farmers’ decision to adapt to climate change and evaluate the impact of such decisions on farm output. Using primary data from 138 rice farming households in Ndop-Cameroon, we employ the probit model with endogenous switching regression to investigate the impact of the farmers’ adaptation decisions on output. The results indicate that access to credits, other incomes, farmers’ age, extension services and farmer groupings form key factors that significantly affects farmers’ decision to adapt to climate change. Strategic implementation of adaptive measures, significantly increased average output of adapters by 49%. Building resilience against climate change and ensuring food security, therefore requires stakeholders to take into account existing management strategies and the underlying factors influencing these. This study suggests the crucial need for institutional advancement and policy changes towards credit accessibility for rice farmers. More local farmers’ associations should be created and extension services improved to enhance effective adaptation and farmers’ vulnerability

HUKUMAN CAMBUK BAGI PELAKU JARIMAH ZINA DALAM HUKUM PIDANA ISLAM ( Studi Putusan MAHKAMAH Syar’iyah Lhokseumawe Nomor 4/JN/2018/MS.Lsm )

Islamic criminal law considers that every perpetrator of adultery or a person who engages in sexual relations outside of marriage is punishable by punishment, whether the perpetrator is married or not, whether they are consensual or not, because Jarimah (criminal act) for adultery in Islamic law is categorized as Jarimah hudud. The formulation of the problem in this paper is as follows, how are the rules of caning for adultery perpetrators in Islamic criminal law, how is the application of sanctions / canings against the perpetrators of zina zina in Islamic criminal law, how are judges' legal considerations in the application of flogging law against adultery perpetrators based on the decision of the Lhokseumawe Syar'iyah Court. The type of research in this research is normative legal research with a normative juridical approach. Normative legal research is also called doctrinal legal research, where law is conceptualized as what is written in laws and regulations (law in books) and research on legal systematics can be carried out if there are certain statutory regulations or written law. The data collection technique in this research is library research, which is "research to get an overview or information about similar research and related to the problems being studied. The regulation of caning for adultery perpetrators in Islamic criminal law is being flogged a hundred times according to the word of Allahswt. Surat an-Nur paragraph 2, while Article 33 (1) of the Aceh Qanun Number 6 of 2014 concerning the Jinayat Law states that anyone who deliberately commits adultery, is threatened with 'uqubat hudud, 100 (one hundred) lashes. Aceh Qanun Number 6 of 2014 concerning the Law of Jinayat does not differentiate between adulterers muhshan and ghairu muhshan, which means that adulterers in Aceh, both married and unmarried, receive the same severe sentence of 100 (one hundred) lashes. The application of sanctions / caning punishments for adultery perpetrators in Islamic criminal law must be carried out and witnessed by a group of believers, meaning that it must be in an open place and can be seen by others. The objective is for learning and prevention, both for the perpetrator of the crime himself and for other people

An assessment of high distributed PV generation on eThekwini electricity distribution network.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Small-scale Distributed Photovoltaic Generation (DPVG) continues to grow with increasing operational challenges for electricity utilities and Distribution Network (DN) operators. In Low Voltage (LV) DNs, there are well researched potential issues that arise with high Photovoltaic (PV) penetration. These include: feeder voltage rise, voltage fluctuations and reverse power flow. Among these, the most important issue is voltage rise at the LV distribution feeder. In a broader perspective, to this point in time, there has not been more detailed research on small-scale DPVG interconnections in the LV networks in South Africa (SA) and in the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) region. There is a great need for research in this field for ensuring network efficiency, reliability and future regulatory standards. Other network systems have been studied around the world were conditions, environment, network characteristics and electricity customer loads will be different; e.g in the North-West of England, Germany, and Queensland, Australia. Hence, the main objective of this research study is to analyze the mentioned problems, identify and test the appropriate mitigation solutions, in the event of high DPVG. This study was carried out on a typical SAn LV DN model, which represents an existing housing development estate at eThekwini Municipality. Consequently the aim is to identify solutions suitable for networks in SAn or of similar architect and characteristics. As a result, a specific application is undertaken at the KZN region, which is also representative of network characteristics of SAn networks. A voltage rise, voltage fluctuation and network power loss issues were analyzed at different PV penetration levels and varying customer loads. An innovative approach of utilization of a standard central On-Load-Tap-Change (Off-LTC) transformer for voltage regulation with high DPVG was tested. Usage of this technique has not been reported in the literature to date. National standards in SA were used as a basic guide in this study and stated the possibility of grid voltage control of distributed PV inverters. Assessment of the typical LV network showed that there is indeed voltage rise and hence possible voltage fluctuation, when PV system output power varies. The Off-LTC transformer was able to maintain network voltages within the allowed operational range and reduced the magnitude of voltage rise. This implies that there is a possibility of avoiding expensive upgrades of the existing and widespread Off-LTC transformers technology

An investigation of factors that hinder and support the career progression of South African black female researchers within a research and development (R&D) environment

The challenges women face in progressing to senior ranking positions are widely acknowledged and have been investigated in numerous studies, both in South Africa and abroad. The present study sought to contribute to this body of knowledge by identifying factors that hinder, as well as support specifically black South African female researchers in progressing to senior ranking positions within a Research and Development or scientific organisation. Research and Development (R&D) organisations within the Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) sector, as is the case in most South African organisations, have seen an increase in the employment of female researchers, particularly at lower ranking positions. However, there seem to be factors that continually hinder black South African female researchers from being appointed into senior ranks, despite clear growth and development strategies and processes, training and development opportunities and increasing organisational support that is meant to bring about greater gender equity at the senior levels. As such, it proved imperative to undertake this study not only to understand the factors that support or hinder the progress of black South African women researchers into senior ranking positions, but also to ensure that organisations develop responsive and supportive interventions that facilitate the advancement of this cohort of researchers. A quantitative approach to addressing the research question was utilised. Following a literature review to identify both individual and organisational/structural level factors that have been shown to either support or hinder the career success of woman, an online questionnaire was developed and distributed to all the female researchers (of all race groups, career levels and age groups) employed in a South African R&D organisation (n=104). Data was obtained from a convenient sample of them (n=41). It was noted though that at the time the data was collected there were no black South African females employed in the highest scientific/researcher rank of the organisation. Whilst the organisation seems to deploy resources equally to all its' employees, black South African women continue to be under represented at the top ranks in the organisation. Arguably, R&D organisations seem to perpetuate a masculine culture that makes it increasingly difficult for women in general to progress to higher ranking positions. It seems that the situation is being further exasperated by career advancement requirements that do not take into account the different roles that women typically need to fulfil at work and at home, nor that support work-life balance for them. It was apparent that the organisation did provide them with organisational and supervisory support and that they are found to be loyal to the organisation, however, women particularly black South African researchers still fail to progress to senior ranking positions in the organisation. Organisations struggle to achieve gender equity at the senior ranking positions, and hopefully the present study will provide some insight into factors that negatively affect the career advancement of female equity candidates in the organisation, while also providing insight into factors that have proven to facilitate this process. The outcomes of the present study would potentially lead to more structured frameworks and strategic female development programmes that ensure that black female South African researchers do indeed advance through the different ranks and achieve the highest ranks within the SET sector of the economy

The relative tolerance of mesic grassland species to defoliation and competition.

Master of Science in Ecology. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2018.Effective grazing management is dependent on understanding grass species responses to herbivory. These responses to herbivory can be broadly grouped into 3 categories, namely decreaser (plants that decline in abundance) and increasers (plants that increase in abundance). Tolerance is defined as the capacity of a plant to withstand herbivory, while suffering little loss in growth or its ability to reproduce and it can be equated to the ability of the plant to compensate. The relevance of this strategy to rangeland management has become increasingly apparent and has allowed researchers to investigate more questions and test long-standing ideas within the Grassland Science discipline. Therefore, the general aim of this research was to determine how Increaser and Decreaser grass species common in mesic grasslands tolerate defoliation and competition. Two experiments were conducted as controlled pot trial experiments under shade cloth at the NM Tainton Arboretum. Simulated herbivory in the form of clipping was used for both experiments. Categorising species into four grazing response groups (Increaser I, II,III and Decreaser) has led to generalisations made across and between species in terms of responses to herbivory. To determine if these generalisations are appropriate, the growth response of two Decreaser (Themeda triandra and Tristachya leucothrix) and two Increaser (Eragrostis curvula and Eragrostis plana) grass species was investigated. Results indicate that defoliation tolerance is not necessarily explained by response groups and differences can be observed between species, within response groups. Grouping species into response groups may be an over simplification. This implies that species identity may be more important in understanding species composition changes within natural communities than originally thought. Plant traits, such as shoot biomass, roots biomass , tuft height and root to shoot biomass ratios also responded differently across species highlighting the importance of further research on specific species as generalisations may not be entirely useful. To provide more insight into this, the response of T. triandra to defoliation and competition with E. curvula was investigated. Results show that veld dominated by T. triandra and few E. curvula tufts should be leniently grazed every other year with rest applied following a growing season, to allow T. triandra tufts to regrow. A non-selective grazing system should be adopted by veld managers during the growing season to lower the competitive pressure exerted on T. triandra tufts by other species and to enhance growth. These results need to be considered as a basis to understand how T. triandra swards respond on a small scale and further investigations are necessary to validate impact on natural communities. Overall, defoliation tolerance is species specific and depends on the combined effects of defoliation and competition as these affect the cumulative and morphological 2 responses of important mesic grassland species

The relationship between gut microbiota and Graft versus Host Disease in the pediatric patient undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

L’impatto del microbiota intestinale(MI) sulla mortalità correlata al trapianto allogenico di cellule staminali emopoietiche(TCSE) è stato recentemente dimostrato. Questa osservazione corrobora l’idea di un ruolo significativo del MI nella ricostruzione immunologica successiva al TCSE e nella genesi della Graft-versus-Host-Disease acuta(GvHD). Abbiamo pertanto condotto il primo studio longitudinale sul ruolo del MI nella genesi di GvHD in pazienti pediatrici sottoposti a TCSE. Sono stati arruolati 10pazienti, di cui 5 con GvHD. Per ogni paziente sono stati raccolti campioni fecali seriati ogni 10-15 giorni fino a 100 giorni dopo il TCSE. Il profilo filogenetico del MI è stato caratterizzato mediante pyrosequencing 454 della regione ipervariabile V4 della subunità 16S dell’rRNA. Il profilo funzionale è stato valutato mediante l’analisi degli acidi-grassi-a-corta-catena utilizzando la gas cromatografia-spettroscopia di massa. Dopo il TCSE è stata osservata una profonda distruzione strutturale e funzionale del normale assetto mutualistico dell’ecosistema intestinale. La traiettoria di ricostruzione del MI dopo il TCSE è risultata essere significativamente differente tra i pazienti con e senza GvHD. In particolare, nei pazienti senza GvHD è stata evidenziata prima del TCSE una precisa signature del MI, caratterizzata da un’elevata concentrazione di Bacteroidetes e Parabacteoidetes(p<0.05, Fig. 1). Parallelamente nei pazienti senza GVHD è stato osservato un aumento significativo degli acidi-grassi-a-corta-catena e di propionato in particolare(p<0.05). Questa caratteristica signature si è proiettata dopo il TCSE, persistendo alla distruzione dell’ecosistema intestinale e dimostrando l’elevata adattabilità di questi germi. I nostri dati indicano che le dinamiche dell’ecosistema microbico intestinale possono essere un fattore in grado di influenzare l’insorgenza di GvHD. In particolare, la presenza di un profilo mutualistico pre-TCSE del MI, caratterizzato dalla presenza di germi produttori di acidi-grassi-a-corta-catena con riconosciute proprietà immunomodulatorie, sembra mitigare il rischio di sviluppare GVHD. Questi risultati aprono quindi nuove prospettive sulla possibilità di manipolare il MI pre-TCSE per modulare la ricostruzione del sistema immunitario.The impact of the gut microbiota(MI) on allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation(HSCT) has been recently demonstrated. This observation supported the idea of a significant role of MI in the immunological reconstruction after HSCT and in the genesis of acute Graft-versus-Host-Disease(GvHD). We therefore conducted the first longitudinal study on the role of MI in the onset of GvHD in pediatric patients undergoing HSCT. 10 patients were enrolled, including 5 with GvHD. For each patient were collected seriated fecal samples every 10-15 days up to 100 days after HSCT. The phylogenetic profile of MI was characterized by pyrosequencing 454 of the hypervariable V4 region of the 16S rRNA subunit. The functional profile was evaluated by analysis of fatty acid-fat-to-short-chain using the gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. After HSCT a profound structural and functional destruction of the normal position mutualistic gut ecosystem was observed. The reconstruction of the trajectory of the MI after HSCT was significantly different between patients with and without GVHD. In particular, in patients without GVHD, a precise of the MI signature before the HSCT was highlighted, characterized by a high concentration of Bacteroidetes and Parabacteoidetes(p <0.05, Fig. 1). In parallel in patients without GVHD it was observed a significant increase of the fatty-acid-to-short-chain and in particular propionate(p <0.05). This characteristic signature was projected after HSCT, persisting to the intestinal ecosystem destruction and demonstrating the high adaptability of these germs. Our data indicate that the intestinal microbial ecosystem dynamics can be a factor influencing the onset of GvHD. In particular, the presence of a mutualistic profile pre-HSCT of the MI, characterized by the presence of germs producers of acid-fat-to-short-chain recognized with immunomodulatory, seems to mitigate the risk of developing GVHD. These results therefore open new perspectives on the possibility of manipulating the MI pre-HSCT to modulate the reconstruction of the immune system

Small-scale timber growers' participation in the development of national principles, criteria, indicators and standards for sustainable forest management in South Africa.

Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.The aim of this study was to engage small-scale timber growers in the development of national principles, criteria, indicators and standards (PCI&S) for sustainable forest management (SFM) in South Africa (SA). To ensure effective participation of small-scale timber growers in the development PCI&S, an overview of sustainable and small-scale forestry was explored. Furthermore, because of the importance of globalisation on the SFM concept, its conceptual framework and small-scale forestry development in relation to SFM were investigated. Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) methods, and PCI&S evaluation and development processes were used to engage small-scale timber growers by identifying and integrating their perceptions into the process of SFM standards development. These small-scale timber growers' perceptions focused on social, economic, environment and policy issues. The stUdy indicates that the views of small-scale timber growers regarding SFM do not vary significantly from those held globally. However, they demonstrate that local conditions determined issues of relevance and importance to this specific group. The results further support the view that there is value in combining both top-down and bottom-up approaches in developing an appropriate set of PCI&S. This is critical because the perceptions of small-scale timber growers for SFM are scale sensitive. Finally, the results supported the view that there is a need to give attention to and strengthen socio-economic issues versus those of the physical environment to improve inequalities of the past, and influence future decisions