Context based detection of urban land use zones

This dissertation proposes an automated land-use zoning system based on the context of an urban scene. Automated zoning is an important step toward improving object extraction in an urban scene

INCREASING DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION OF SOUTH AFRICAN WINES: IDENTIFYING THE KEY MARKET SEGMENTS OF THE “BLACK DIAMONDS”

Although South Africans are not predominantly wine drinkers, the industry is looking for ways to develop the local market to balance exports. The black middle class, increasingly referred to as the Black Diamonds are the most powerful marketing trend in the last 10 years as they have emerged as the strongest buying influence in the economy and making inroads in understanding this market presents a good opportunity. The study asserts that the key factors influencing the South African consumers’ behavior are age, gender, income, race and wine drinking history. The study also asserts that not only are the black middle class are different from the white middle class but within the Black Diamonds different segments exist. The industry should particularly focus on marketing to the women and the “Start me up” age group in the group as there is limited consumer knowledge about wines, but a high willingness to experiment. The study also suggests various new brand communication platforms that can be explored to reach this market as well as co-opetition between industry stakeholders.Black Diamonds, wine consumer behavior, alcoholic beverages, Agribusiness, Demand and Price Analysis,

The corporatization of the Tshwane Fresh Produce Market in South Africa towards creating an enabling institutional environment: A case study

The global food sector is a highly interdependent and competitive sector that strives for food security, food affordability and sustainability. In South Africa, Fresh Produce Markets (FPMs) are faced with increasing competition in the form of direct contracting by retailers in response to consumer demand for better quality. These FPMs lack the ability to compete with retailers. Over the past two decades there has been an increased pace of corporatization of State-Owned Enterprises (SOE). The main focus of this research is to determine, by using the method of paired comparisons, whether corporatization into a Municipal Entity is indeed the best solution to allow for faster adaptability and improved performance

The use of African music in the church

After my short experience of work amongst African people in Nyasaland—because I admit that 14 years is not a very long period—I am becoming more and more convinced that the foreignness of the music we use in worship is a very important contributant factor in making the Christian religion to be something Western in the mind of many an African. There is, as far as I can judge, a translation of the Bible in the Nyanja language, which is, in many ways, a very admirable translation. So much of the life of the people we meet in the Bible is more like that of the people of the Country of the Lake than like that of modern Westerners that the Bible speaks to the Nyanja reader and makes its own appeal to his mind and heart. Some attempts have been made recently to bring our forms of worship closer to the life of the people, though much more may need to be done. But in this most important field of music very nearly nothing has been done with regard to the hymnbook used at present

African music in Christian worship

In “African Music”, volume 1, No. 3, I wrote, “When one true African Christian musician is brought to disregard any form of church music that he may have known in the past and breaks forth praising God in the musical medium that lies closest to his heart, half the battle will have been won. This is not impossible.” I maintained that very much of what was found in the Nyanja hymnbook I was familiar with was completely foreign to the African Christians who were using the book, and that it was not only not too late to start using African Music through the instrumentality of African musicians, but that it was “essential that a start should be made, and that as soon as possible.” Can it be done? This, after all, is the crux of the matter, and unless it is possible to get down to some practical scheme in which Africans will play their part and African artists themselves satisfy the need, it is little use discussing the matter. I believe it is possible to get down to such a scheme provided the necessary staff and financial assistance for an African Music Centre, could be found. How such a Centre should be run is a matter for further investigation and experimentation. There are, however, some practical suggestions I should like to make, which, I think, can lead to very useful results

Adolescents' perceptions of family resilience in an absent father family

The literature reveals a vast gap in the functionality of South African families due to the absence of fathers. This study intended to identify adolescents’ perception of family resilience, which may help them to overcome being part of an absent-father family. The current study used an interpretivist paradigm and qualitative research methodology. A case study research design was adopted as it helped to explore the phenomenon of family resilience as seen from the perspective of four male adolescents living in an absent-father family. The participants were selected purposively from a partner organisation in Mamelodi East, called Stanza Bopape Community Development Centre. Data collection involved two separate visits wherein four individual interviews, visual data, and a reflective journal were used. A third visit to the site included a group session, which included member checking. Following the thematic analysis of data, the participants revealed that they strongly relied on grandparents for financial, social, cultural, and moral support, which contributed to their perception of family resilience. This study also indicates that grandparents, more often than not, took responsibility for raising the participants. The participants also indicated the school and surrounding community as being contributors to family resilience due to positive teacher influence, friendships at school, extramural activities, and other male figures. Furthermore, some fathers also seemed to further family resilience, even though they were removed from the participants’ family. Based on the findings of the study, I can determine that family resilience in and around adolescents’ family will have a positive effect on their development amidst the adversity of being in an absent-father family.Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2018.Educational PsychologyMEdUnrestricte

Instructional technologies in social science instructions in South Africa

This is the author's version of a work that was accepted for publication of the article: Computers & Education. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Computers & Education, VOL 53, 2009, DOI: 10.1016/j.compedu.2009.02.001.This study describes the results of a survey and a description of instructional technologies in place in the social sciences in South African Universities. Lecturers in the social sciences reported a well-established practice of information and communication technologies (ICTs) use for general purposes (although frequent use tended to be for email and searching the Internet). They had a high self-efficacy in terms of using ICTs both generally and for teaching and learning, and a high enthusiasm for the use of ICTs for teaching and learning. Half the lecturers had started using ICTs recently with the introduction of learning management systems (LMSs) whereas the other half had established practices that preceded the mainstreaming of LMSs across universities. Only about a quarter of the respondents felt able to develop and update ICTs themselves which indicates that support is a necessary part of teaching with technology. In terms of different types of use the focus was on putting content on the web and course administration. Use of ICTs for teaching of skills (whether information literacy, problem solving or critical thinking) was infrequent. There were different types of ICT use across the different sub-disciplines. Lecturers reported factors which constrained their use of ICTs for teaching and learning, such as inadequate technology, pedagogical issues (e.g. plagiarism), and students opting out of lectures when materials were available online. It is argued that user studies in are relevant to the future delivery of educational material, in terms of removing barriers to use and targeting training and supportive activities

Blood-Based DNA Methylation Biomarkers for Type 2 Diabetes: Potential for Clinical Applications

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. It is a chronic metabolic disorder that develops due to an interplay of genetic, lifestyle, and environmental factors. The biological onset of the disease occurs long before clinical symptoms develop, thus the search for early diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, which could facilitate intervention strategies to prevent or delay disease progression, has increased considerably in recent years. Epigenetic modifications represent important links between genetic, environmental and lifestyle cues and increasing evidence implicate altered epigenetic marks such as DNA methylation, the most characterized and widely studied epigenetic mechanism, in the pathogenesis of T2D. This review provides an update of the current status of DNA methylation as a biomarker for T2D. Four databases, Scopus, Pubmed, Cochrane Central, and Google Scholar were searched for studies investigating DNA methylation in blood. Thirty-seven studies were identified, and are summarized with respect to population characteristics, biological source, and method of DNA methylation quantification (global, candidate gene or genome-wide). We highlight that differential methylation of the TCF7L2, KCNQ1, ABCG1, TXNIP, PHOSPHO1, SREBF1, SLC30A8, and FTO genes in blood are reproducibly associated with T2D in different population groups. These genes should be prioritized and replicated in longitudinal studies across more populations in future studies. Finally, we discuss the limitations faced by DNA methylation studies, which include including interpatient variability, cellular heterogeneity, and lack of accounting for study confounders. These limitations and challenges must be overcome before the implementation of blood-based DNA methylation biomarkers into a clinical setting. We emphasize the need for longitudinal prospective studies to support the robustness of the current findings of this review