List of Titles

Comparing models for predicting species' potential distributions : a case study using correlative and mechanistic predictive modelling techniques

- Robertson, Mark P, Peter, Craig I, Villet, Martin H, Ripley, Bradford S

Authors: Robertson, Mark P , Peter, Craig I , Villet, Martin H , Ripley, Bradford S
Date: 2003
Language: English
Type: Article
Identifier: vital:6539 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005980 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3800(03)00028-0
Description: Models used to predict species’ potential distributions have been described as either correlative or mechanistic. We attempted to determine whether correlative models could perform as well as mechanistic models for predicting species potential distributions, using a case study. We compared potential distribution predictions made for a coastal dune plant (Scaevola plumieri) along the coast of South Africa, using a mechanistic model based on summer water balance (SWB), and two correlative models (a profile and a group discrimination technique). The profile technique was based on principal components analysis (PCA) and the group-discrimination technique was based on multiple logistic regression (LR). Kappa (κ) statistics were used to objectively assess model performance and model agreement. Model performance was calculated by measuring the levels of agreement (using κ) between a set of testing localities (distribution records not used for model building) and each of the model predictions. Using published interpretive guidelines for the kappa statistic, model performance was “excellent” for the SWB model (κ=0.852), perfect for the LR model (κ=1.000), and “very good” for the PCA model (κ=0.721). Model agreement was calculated by measuring the level of agreement between the mechanistic model and the two correlative models. There was “good” model agreement between the SWB and PCA models (κ=0.679) and “very good” agreement between the SWB and LR models (κ=0.786). The results suggest that correlative models can perform as well as or better than simple mechanistic models. The predictions generated from these three modelling designs are likely to generate different insights into the potential distribution and biology of the target organism and may be appropriate in different situations. The choice of model is likely to be influenced by the aims of the study, the biology of the target organism, the level of knowledge the target organism’s biology, and data quality.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 2003

Quick View

Naming students problems: an analysis of language-related discourses at a South African university

- Boughey, Chrissie

Authors: Boughey, Chrissie
Date: 2002
Language: English
Type: Article
Identifier: vital:6086 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008484 , http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13562510220144798
Description: This article examines a number of discourses that construct students 'problems' as they engage with tertiary study at a historically black South African university. These dominant discourses are then linked to Street's 'autonomous' model of literacy and Rampton's 'autonomous' model of applied linguistics in order to interrogate their ideological biases. Implications of the discourses for the provision of epistemological access to tertiary study are then explored. The article ends by indicating how a 'literacy across the curriculum' approach to working with students' difficulties could provide an alternative to current 'remedial' programmes.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 2002

Quick View

Bread and honour: white working class women and Afrikaner Nationalism in the 1930s

- Vincent, Louise

Authors: Vincent, Louise
Date: 2000
Language: English
Type: text , Article
Identifier: vital:6205 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008575
Description: Women have occupied a central place in the ideological formulations of nationalist movements. In particular, the figure of woman as mother recurs throughout the history of nationalist political mobilizations. In Afrikaner nationalism, this symbolic female identity takes the form of the volksmoeder (mother of the nation) icon, commonly assumed to describe a highly circumscribed set of women's social roles, created for women by men. The academic orthodoxy holds that middle-class Afrikaner women submitted to the volksmoeder ideology early on in the development of Afrikaner nationalism but that the working class Afrikaner women of the Garment Workers' Union (GWU) represented an enclave of resistance to dominant definitions of ethnic identity. They chose instead to ally themselves with militant, class-conscious trade unionism. This paper argues that Afrikaner women of different classes helped to shape the contours of the volksmoeder icon. Whilst middle class Afrikaner women questioned the idea that their social contribution should remain restricted to narrow familial and charitable concerns, prominent working class women laid claim to their own entitlement to the volksmoeder heritage. In doing so, the latter contributed to the popularization and reinterpretation of an ideology that was at this time seeking a wider audience. The paper argues that the incorporation of Afrikaner women into the socialist milieu of the GWU did not result in these women simply discarding the ethnic components of their identity. Rather their self-awareness as Afrikaner women with a recent rural past was grafted onto their new experience as urban factory workers. The way in which leading working class Afrikaner women articulated this potent combination of 'derived' and 'inherent' ideology cannot be excluded from the complex process whereby Afrikaner nationalism achieved success as a movement appealing to its imagined community across boundaries of class and gender.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 2000

Quick View

A liberal journal for a conservative estimate

- COSATU

Authors: COSATU
Date: 1997
Language: English
Type: text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/139694 , vital:37769
Description: AIDS starts with a virus. Like all viruses, it’s a parasite fragile and impotent. It cannot reproduce except within human cells, It’s tiny. Over 500,000,000 HIV viruses could fit the dot on top of this i. In the wrong environment HIV dies. In the right environment, it dominates. AIDS is dominating South Africa with all ready 2.4 million people infected, with estimates of 20% of the working population being infected within four years. South Africa has willingly opened itself to domination. This time, not colonial political oppression or the cruelty of racial apartheid, but domination by a virus all of us saw coming. The Ministry of Health welcomed the virus by failing to impart a practical and realistic National AIDS strategy. Instead, entertaining us with a R14.3 million play called Sarafina 2 and a discredited new cure for AIDS Virodene.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 1997

Quick View

New Nation number 749 - Men of the year

- New Nation - SA's Biggest Independent Weekly

Authors: New Nation - SA's Biggest Independent Weekly
Date: 1996
Subjects: New Nation - SA's Biggest Independent Weekly
Language: English
Type: text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/112984 , vital:33683
Description: ANC general secretary Cyril Ramaphosa (top left), and constitutional affairs and communications minister, Roelf Meyer, (top right) have been chosen as joint winners of New Nation’s 'Man of the Year Award”. The New Nation Award for "Businessman of the Year” goes to National Sorghum Breweries (NSB) chairperson, Professor Mohale Mahanyele (right). This is the first time that both awards are being made. The awards will be given annually in future in recognition of individuals who are deemed to have made a contribution in providing leadership for the general uptiftment of the people of South Africa. Ramaphosa and Meyer have been chosen for their tireless efforts in holding the negotiations process together during very arduous and difficult times. The rapport the two have struck has made a crucial difference as to whether the negotiations process flounders or goes forward. The two leaders are young and are likely to provide continuity and the excellent leadership that the transition period requires. Prof Mahanyele has provided bold imaginative leadership in the business world. He has placed black economic empowerment firmly on the agenda and has set his own company as an example of this. New Nation believes that it is business leaders like Prof Mahanyele who will ensure that black people reclaim their rightful place in the economic life of the country. The awards will be officially presented to their winners early in 1993. Democratic Party (DP) leader, Dr Zach de Beer, said: “The two (Ramaphosa and Meyer) have given all they could to get the negotiations process back on track... they deserve it.” The newly-appointed chief of the Development Bank of South Africa Prof Wiseman Nkuhlu said Prof Manyelele’s achievement would “serve as a model to other black organisations involved in economic empowerment”.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 1996

Quick View

The geomorphological evolution of the area between Grahamstown and the Indian Ocean

- Lewis, Colin A

Authors: Lewis, Colin A
Date: 1995
Language: English
Type: Book
Identifier: vital:6709 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006746 , ISBN 0868102776
Description: [From the introduction]: The landforms of the Albany, Alexandria and Bathurst Districts in the area between Grahamstown and the sea are the product of many different geomorphological processes that have operated for well over 150 million years. The evolution of landforms normally occurs over a very long time and is usually highly complex. As a result it is difficult for a human being, whose allocated span on Earth is of the order of three score years and ten, to appreciate the time involved in their formation. The purpose of this booklet is to indicate the ways in which the present landforms of the area may have evolved. Much research is still needed in order to determine exactly how and when various features developed. In some cases a number of hypotheses exist in order to explain the evolution of a particular feature or region. Consequently it has proved necessary to present more than one interpretation of the devlopment of certain phenomena. This booklet must therefore be regarded as an introduction to the geomorphological development of the area between Grahamstown and the Indian Ocean rather than a definitive statement of the geomorphological evolution of that area.
Full Text: false
Date Issued: 1995

Quick View

DIMES Review - Vol 3

- COSATU

Authors: COSATU
Date: Mar 1990
Subjects: COSATU
Language: English
Type: text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/135457 , vital:37268
Description: In 1652 the Dutch came to this land. Initially he sought to arrest refreshments for his ships that went to the east. Soon he realised that the land was good for them to settle. In settling he infringed on the way of life of the peoples living on this land destroying the social and cultural fabric of a peaceful society. Slowly but surely the wars of dispossession began. The land that was once the black mans was now in foreign hands. All that was in abundance was reduced to scarcity .People resisted but they were put down . Our history is shameful that it is drenched in blood. The Act of Union instead of bringing people together seperated and we remain seperated today. The 1913 Land Act instead of giving people back their land took it away from them. From 1910 to 1970 something like 200 laws were passed legislating against black people. The numerous pass laws restricting movement of people from one place to the other heaped indignity upon indignity on the black people. Workers suffered, they always do! They have to turn the wheels that produce the energy that makes South Africa turn. Over the years, with the dispossession of land, African people were drawn into wage labour. This was not a voluntary process. The goverment brought about Laws that asked money from people called taxes - hut tax, poll tax, dog tax etc. Prior to the formation of the Industrail and Commercial Workers Union strikes were a rare industrial relations exercise. With increased unionisation workers started to become aware that the laws passed by the government was to facilitate an economic end. That is why the ICU became embroiled in politics. Workers were affected by Apartheid laws that acted as leeches, sucking blood of the workers and draining them of their energy. They demonstrated against these laws. COSATU was launched in the same vein challenging the State to scrap apartheid - pass laws. Today we do not live in a new South Africa,the new is yet to come. The South Africa we live in is however, old and dying - decay has set in. History is a constant reminder of her shameful past - a past that will never be blotted out but can only act as an impetus to strive towards change. The Group Areas Act, the Population Registration Act, the Seperate Amenities Act are all geared to political and social separation of the masses. We have become victims of these laws
Full Text:
Date Issued: Mar 1990

Quick View

The fishes of the genus Bathylagus of the Southern Ocean

- Gon, O (Ofer), 1949-, J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology

Authors: Gon, O (Ofer), 1949- , J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology
Date: 1987-08
Subjects: Bathylagidae , Fishes -- Antarctic Ocean
Language: English
Type: text , book
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70258 , vital:29639 , Margaret Smith Library (South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB)) Periodicals Margaret Smith Library (South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB))
Description: Online version of original print edition of the Special Publication of the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology; No. 43 , In his revision of the genus Bathylagus, Norman (1930) recognized five species from the Southern Ocean. The taxonomic status of these species is re-evaluated by using morphometric data and the number of vertebrae, anal fin rays, gill-rakers, lateral scale series and pyloric caeca. Principle component analysis was carried out in support of species separation, using selected body proportions. Three species, namely B. antarcticus, B. gracilis and B. tenuis, are recognized here. B. gracilis and B. euryops latifrons, both described by Lonnberg, 1905, were found to be synonymous. A key to the species of Bathylagus in the Southern Ocean is provided.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 1987-08

Quick View

New Nation Volume 2 number 27

- New Nation - SA's Biggest Independent Weekly

Authors: New Nation - SA's Biggest Independent Weekly
Date: Jul 1987
Subjects: New Nation - SA's Biggest Independent Weekly
Language: English
Type: text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/112935 , vital:33677
Description: KITSKONSTABELS in the Karoo town of Aberdeen this week shot and beat a priest while he lay handcuffed and dying, accusing him of being a communist. These allegations were made by residents who claim to have witnessed the incident. Police have confirmed that municipal police shot and killed Rev Booi Jantjies (40) of the Zion Church in Africa, but deny the residents' version. Residents say Sergeant James Ndunjane described Rev Jantjies as a "communist suspect" after the latter was shot. A witness who asked not to be named said nine kitskonstabels had gone to Jantjies' house between 9 and IOpm on Tuesday, but.-, had not found him. "They took away his son, whom they said was suspected of dealing in dagga," said the eye-witness. "Jantjies1 son was told he was being taken to the house of Ndu- njeni's brother Mbu- leni, also a kitskon- stabel. "When Rev Jantjies arrived home, he heard the news and went to look for his son in Ndunjane's house," he said.
Full Text:
Date Issued: Jul 1987

Quick View

Paragaleus leucolomatus, a new shark from South Africa, with notes on the systematics of hemigaleid sharks (Carcharhiniformes: Hemigaleidae)

- Compagno, Leonard J V, Smale, Malcolm J, J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology

Authors: Compagno, Leonard J V , Smale, Malcolm J , J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology
Date: 1985-04
Subjects: Sharks -- South Africa , Carcharhiniformes , Fishes -- South Africa
Language: English
Type: text , book
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/70184 , vital:29632 , Margaret Smith Library (South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB)) Periodicals Margaret Smith Library (South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB))
Description: Online version of original print edition of the Special Publication of the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology; No. 37 , Paragaleus leucolomatus sp.n. is described from a pregnant female shark 957 mm total length collected off Kosi Bay, Natal, South Africa. This represents the first Paragaleus and the second hemigaleid species recorded from South African waters. P. leucolomatus differs from its congeners by its broad snout, long mouth, lower anterior teeth mostly erect-cusped and without distal cusplets, 180 total vertebrae, and coloration. The species has conspicuous white-edged fins, a black apical spot on its second dorsal, and dusky blotches on the underside of its snout. P. leucolomatus may be conspecific with a Madagascar Paragaleus erroneously assigned to the West African P. pectoralis. Diagnoses of the Family Hemigaleidae and the Genus Paragaleus are presented, as well as diagnostic keys to hemigaleids of the western Indian Ocean and to Paragaleus species.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 1985-04

Quick View

Commission of inquiry to investigate the development of a comprehensive labour market policy

- NUM

Authors: NUM
Date: 1985
Subjects: NUM
Language: English
Type: text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/250662 , vital:52036
Description: In 1985, the Central Statistical Services and the Chamber of Mines ceased publishing a racial breakdown of mining industry employment. This marked the end of a statistical series that dated back for almost 100 years. Since 1985, there is no official series of racially segmented data for the mining industry, while the racial breakdown of employment in all other sectors of the economy was published up until 1992. From 1993, the Central Statistical Services introduced a new “Unspecified Race” category into its published employment data, making the identification of trends in employment and income by race less certain. The statistical information on racial issues in this submission must reflect these difficulties with the data. In respect of gold and coal mines that are members of the Chamber of Mines, the Chamber periodically has made available unpublished information on employment and total wages after 1985, grouped into “skilled employees” and “unskilled / semi-skilled employees.” Until about 1989, when legal barriers to the employment of blacks in skilled jobs were removed, the two Chamber categories reflect the old “White” and “Non-White” categories used by the Chamber before 1986. Since 1989, a small, but slowly increasing number, of skilled workers have been black, but this has not been taken into account in any of the statistics presented for the gold and the coal sectors. “Black” employment in the gold and coal mining industry thus refers to employees in Categories 1 to 8, the only groups for which the NUM currently bargains with Chamber member mines.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 1985

Quick View

Implementing training for racial equality: for multi-cultural South Africa

- AZAAD Race Consultant

Authors: AZAAD Race Consultant
Date: 19--?
Subjects: Cultural awareness -- South Africa -- Handbooks, manuals, etc. , Racism -- South Africa , Equality -- South Africa , Seminars -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.
Language: English
Type: text , book
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/75993 , vital:30490
Description: The commitment of Azaad as a Race Consultancy is:- To ensure quality of opportunity for South Africans to fulfil their potential as Empowered Individuals and members of groups and communities; To Educate, enabling South Africans to gain skills, knowledge and attitudes needed to identify, advocate and pursue their rights and responsibilities as individuals and as members of groups and communities locally, nationally and internationally; Designed to create Equal Opportunity-through the challenging of oppression and the celebration of the differences which springs from culture, language, sexual identity, gender, disability, age, religion, and class; To Participate through voluntary relationship with other South Africans in which White and Black South Africans are partners in the learning process and decision making structures which affect their own and other peoples lives; To Empower- Supporting South Africans to understand and act on the personal, social and political issues which affect their lives, the lives of others and the communities they are part of; To Build resources will be a major effort of Azaad as a Race Consultancy. It is our intention to extend the objectives of all racial, cultural, religious, national, ethnic, sexual and political affiliations. All this will be delivered through informal education, through workshops, short courses, seminars, conferences, role play, etc.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 19--?

Quick View

Socio-economic processes in the rural areas of Region E

- May, Julian

Authors: May, Julian
Date: 19--?
Subjects: Poverty -- South Africa , Income distribution -- South Africa , Household surveys -- South Africa , Rural poor -- South Africa , South Africa -- Rural conditions
Language: English
Type: text , book
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/75421 , vital:30416
Description: The social conditions in the rural areas of South Africa are by now widely known and numerous researchers have documented the poverty stricken quality of life which generally prevails amongst black families in these areas (Wilson and Ramphele, 1989). The vast majority of rural households have incomes which are below subsistence levels and in the Homelands, agricultural productive ability has become so eroded that rural household income is now chiefly derived from remittances from migrants in the towns or from the wages of farm labourers (Nattrass and May, 1986). As such, at present the majority of black rural households living in Region E make up consumer communities which must purchase the majority of their subsistence needs, rather than producer communities in which subsistence needs can be met from the utilisation of local resources (Derman and Poultney, 1983). Despite this unpromising situation, the diminishing importance of agricultural production to the South African national economy (Bethlehem, 1989), and the dominance of urbanisation as a social force, it can be argued that the rural areas of Region E will be directly and substantially affected by efforts to restructure the South African economy as a whole. Consequently, revitalising the rural economy in a restructured social and economic system would be a concern in itself, even though the effect of this for a future growth path for South Africa may be uncertain (Kaplinsky, 1991:54). The report will first examine the broad demographic changes in Region E noting the impact of these changes on the rural areas. Thereafter, the economic processes which characterise the rural areas will be discussed, in particular, employment, income levels and income distribution. This will feed into a discussion of the social processes which will include changing dynamics of migration, and a socio-economic profile of rural households. The paper concludes by briefly examining access and usage of basic services and facilities in the rural parts of Region E.
Full Text:
Date Issued: 19--?

Showing items 61 - 80 of 86