Collection B

Permanent URI for this collection

https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/8526

Browse

Browsing Collection B by Title

Now showing 1 - 20 of 61
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    2023-09-30 Exploring equity dynamics along the seaweed value chain in Zanzibar
    (2023-03) Lee, Ha-Eun; Sitas, Nadia; Selomane, Odirilwe
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Adoption Factors and Moderating Effects of Age and Gender That Influence the Intention to Use a Non-Directive Reflective Coaching Chatbot
    (SAGE Publications, 2022-06) Terblanche, Nicky; Kidd, Martin
    Chatbots are increasingly applied in various contexts including helping professions, such as organizational and life coaching. Coaching facilitates individual wellness, behavioral change, and goal attainment in a reflective, non-directive manner, and is considered one of the fastest-growing professions. The use of knowledge imparting service chatbots have been studied; however, the application of chatbots in coaching has received scant research attention, raising the question about which factors and moderating effects play a role in the adoption of reflective, non-directive coaching chatbots. In this study, we applied a modified Unified Theory of the Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model to determine factors and moderating effects of age and gender that influence the adoption of a goal-attainment coaching chatbot. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used for the analysis of a cross-sectional UTAUT survey (n = 226). Performance expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions had significant roles as direct determinants of intent to use the coaching chatbot. Gender moderated performance expectancy and age showed a moderation tendency on effort expectancy. This study on non-directive, reflective chatbots in the organizational, and life coaching domains contributes to our understanding of how to design chatbots aimed at helping people find their own answers.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Adverse events of iron and/ or erythropoiesis-stimulating agent therapy in preoperatively anemic elective surgery patients: a systematic review
    (BioMed Central Ltd, 2022-10-27) Laermans, Jorien; Van Remoortel, Hans; Avau, Bert; Bekkering, Geertruida; Georgsen, Jorgen; Manzini, Paola Maria; Meybohm, Patrick; Ozier, Yves; De Buck, Emmy; Compernolle, Veerle; Vandekerckhove, Philippe
    Background Iron supplementation and erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) administration represent the hallmark therapies in preoperative anemia treatment, as reflected in a set of evidence-based treatment recommendations made during the 2018 International Consensus Conference on Patient Blood Management. However, little is known about the safety of these therapies. This systematic review investigated the occurrence of adverse events (AEs) during or after treatment with iron and/or ESAs.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Advocacy, activism, and lobbying: How variations in interpretation affects ability for academia to engage with public policy
    (PLOS, 2022-03-18) Jessani, Nasreen S.; Ling, Brenton; Babcock, Carly; Valmeekanathan, Akshara; Holtgrave, David R.
    Research and teaching are considered core-responsibilities for academic researchers. “Practice” activities however are viewed as ancillary, despite university emphasis on their importance. As funders, governments, and academia address the role of research in social impact, the deliberations on researcher activism, advocacy and lobbying have seen a resurgence. This study explores the perceptions of 52 faculty and 24 government decisionmakers on the roles, responsibilities, and restrictions of an academic to proactively engage in efforts that can be interpreted under these three terms. Data was coded through inductive thematic analysis using Atlas.Ti and a framework approach. We found that discordant perceptions about how much activism, advocacy and lobbying faculty should be engaging in, results from how each term is defined, interpreted, supported and reported by the individuals, the School of Public Health (SPH), and government agencies. Influential faculty factors included: seniority, previous experiences, position within the institution, and being embedded in a research center with an advocacy focus. Faculty views on support for advocacy were often divergent. We surmise therefore, that for effective and mutually beneficial collaboration to occur, academic institutions need to align rhetoric with reality with respect to encouraging modes and support for government engagement. Similarly, government agencies need to provide more flexible modes of engagement. This will contribute to alleviating confusion as well as tension leading to more effective engagement and consequently opportunity for evidence-informed decision making in public health globally.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    An assessment of procedures and techniques employed by manufacturing organisations in the Port Elizabeth/Uitenhage region to evaluate the effectiveness of their supervisory training
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1995) Berry, David Michael; de Villiers, W. S.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Industrial Psychology.
    The supervisor has taken on a key role in organisations in recent years particularly because of rapid developments in the trade union movement which have resulted in changes in industrial relations practices from industry level bargaining down to shop floor interface. Organisations realising the importance of the new role having to be played by the supervisor, who in many respects has been ill-equipped to perform this role, have embarked on extensive training and development programmes to ensure that the supervisors possess the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to effectively perform their functions. With the increased expenditure of time and money on training programmes and because of the uncertain economic climate, training practitioners have been placed under a great amount of pressure to produce sound evidence that their programmes are effective and do make a contribution to the overall effectiveness of the organisation. The aims of this study were to find answers to the following questions: How should the evaluation of supervisory training be conducted in order to be effective? How is the evaluation of supervisory training being conducted in manufacturing organisations in the Port Elizabeth/Uitenhage region? To what extent do the procedures and techniques used by these organisations adhere to the theoretical guidelines for such evaluation?
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    BA.2.12.1, BA.4 and BA.5 escape antibodies elicited by Omicron infection
    (Springer Nature, 2022-06-17) Cao, Yunlong; Yisimayi, Ayijiang; Jian, Fanchong; Song, Weiliang; Xiao, Tianhe; Wang, Lei; Du, Shuo; Wang, Jing; Li, Qianqian; Chen, Xiaosu; Yu, Yuanling; Wang, Peng; Zhang, Zhiying; Liu, Pulan; An, Ran; Hao, Xiaohua; Wang, Yao; Wang, Jing; Feng, Rui; Sun, Haiyan; Zhao, Lijuan; Zhang, Wen; Zhao, Dong; Zheng, Jiang; Yu, Lingling; Li, Can; Zhang, Na; Wang, Rui; Niu, Xiao; Yang, Sijie; Song, Xuetao; Chai, Yangyang; Hu, Ye; Shi, Yansong; Zheng, Linlin; Li, Zhiqiang; Gu, Qingqing; Shao, Fei; Huang, Weijin; Jin, Ronghua; Shen, Zhongyang; Wang, Youchun; Wang, Xiangxi; Xiao, Junyu; Xie, Xiaoliang Sunney
    Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron sublineages BA.2.12.1, BA.4 and BA.5 exhibit higher transmissibility than the BA.2 lineage1. The receptor binding and immune-evasion capability of these recently emerged variants require immediate investigation. Here, coupled with structural comparisons of the spike proteins, we show that BA.2.12.1, BA.4 and BA.5 (BA.4 and BA.5 are hereafter referred collectively to as BA.4/BA.5) exhibit similar binding affinities to BA.2 for the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor. Of note, BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/BA.5 display increased evasion of neutralizing antibodies compared with BA.2 against plasma from triple-vaccinated individuals or from individuals who developed a BA.1 infection after vaccination. To delineate the underlying antibody-evasion mechanism, we determined the escape mutation profiles2, epitope distribution3 and Omicron-neutralization efficiency of 1,640 neutralizing antibodies directed against the receptor-binding domain of the viral spike protein, including 614 antibodies isolated from people who had recovered from BA.1 infection. BA.1 infection after vaccination predominantly recalls humoral immune memory directed against ancestral (hereafter referred to as wild-type (WT)) SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. The resulting elicited antibodies could neutralize both WT SARS-CoV-2 and BA.1 and are enriched on epitopes on spike that do not bind ACE2. However, most of these cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies are evaded by spike mutants L452Q, L452R and F486V. BA.1 infection can also induce new clones of BA.1-specific antibodies that potently neutralize BA.1. Nevertheless, these neutralizing antibodies are largely evaded by BA.2 and BA.4/BA.5 owing to D405N and F486V mutations, and react weakly to pre-Omicron variants, exhibiting narrow neutralization breadths. The therapeutic neutralizing antibodies bebtelovimab4 and cilgavimab5 can effectively neutralize BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/BA.5, whereas the S371F, D405N and R408S mutations undermine most broadly sarbecovirus-neutralizing antibodies. Together, our results indicate that Omicron may evolve mutations to evade the humoral immunity elicited by BA.1 infection, suggesting that BA.1-derived vaccine boosters may not achieve broad-spectrum protection against new Omicron variants.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Basic needs development and democracy : a political economic model and application to the South African situation
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1996) Booysen, Frederik Le Roux; Van der Berg, S.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences. Dept. of Economics.
    The last decade has witnessed an unprecedented wave of democratisation with democratic elections being called for in countries across the globe. Although this trend had its origins in the more developed countries of Asia and eastern Europe during the late 1980s, it has in the 1990s also spread towards the developing world. Countries such Peru, Malawi, Zambia South Africa and the Philippines are but a few examples of developing countries which in recent years have reached out to embrace democracy. Despite this process of poilitical revival, however, poverty and destitution remain a reality in most of these developing countries. The challenge for these and other developing countries which may in the near future democratise is to succeed in establishing a democratic political economy within which democratic development will become a reality.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    'n Bedryfsielkundige ondersoek na die bruikbaarheid van die Myers-Briggs Type Indicator as spanontwikkelingsinstrument
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1993) Verster, L. G.; Calitz, C. J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Industrial Psychology.
    It used to be that an entrepreneur could build a company on his own. Those days are gone. Today's business environment is so complex and in such a continual state of change that success often depends on the outputs of teams or work groups rather than the efforts of a single person. The necessity for people to work in teams, has led to the development of team development and team building strategies. An instrument often used in this capacity is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). This psychological instrument is based on Carl Jung's theory of personality types and reports preferences and styles of interaction. Many authors describe the use of the MBTI as a team development instrument, but there seems to be a lack of supportive empirical evidence. This study attempts to investigate the use of the MBTI as a team development instrument to enhance the climate and effectiveness of a team. Teams working in a public service sector, and management teams of different companies took part in MBTI team development sessions. The hypothesis stating that there would be a significant difference in the climate and effectiveness of teams after MBTI team development, were investigated. With the teams in the public sector an effort was made to measure the climate and effectiveness of three experimental groups and a control group before and after the experimental treatment. The same procedure was planned for the management teams. The data of the control group of the teams in the public service sector could not be obtained at the second measurement. The analysis of the data of the experimental teams indicated no significant support for the hypothesis. With further analysis a significant correlation between team climate and team effectiveness was found. The composition of personality types in the teams and the implications thereof are discussed. It came to light that the management teams were not actual work teams, therefore the second measurement was not carried out with these groups. The composition of types within these teams were analysed, discussed and compared to similar research. A number of conclusions and suggestions for further research are made.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    'n Bedryfsielkundige ondersoek na die verband tussen sosiale ondersteuning en beroepsaanpassing by middelvlakbestuurders
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1996) Van den Berg, Pieter; de Villiers, W. S.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Industrial Psychology.
    It is the aim of every worker to experience satisfaction at work. At the same time the organization expects satisfactory performance from workers. When the worker enjoys job satisfaction and is considered as satisfactory by the organization, occupational adjustment will be experienced. According to relevant literature social support can be identified as a factor having an influence on occupational adjustment. An attempt was made in this study to determine whether a relationship exists between the social support that a person receives and occupational adjustment. Various sources of social support exist. Four of these were focused on. They are, the person 's co-workers, superiors, family and friends. The relationship that each of these sources of social support has with occupational adjustment was investigated. The study also focused on the influence that locus of control has on the relationship between social support and occupational adjustment. Finally, the influence that gender has on the relationship between social support and occupational adjustment was put under scrutiny. The sample in this study is compiled of 131 mid-level managers in the banking sector. For the purposes of measuring social support and occupational adjustment, the Work and Support Network Satisfaction Scale of Maynard (1986) was used. The Internal-External Locus of Control Scale, which was developed by Rotter (1966) and adapted by Lefcourt (1982) and Phares (1976), was used in order to measure locus of control.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Beyond resistance? Exploring dynamics of incumbency in South Africa's power sector reform
    (2023-03) Richards, Nichola Deborah McCulloch; Davies, Megan; Mohlakoana, Nthabiseng
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The budgetary and welfare consequences of security co-operation in the southern hemisphere : a South African perspective
    (Stellenbosch University, Military Science, 1997) Roux, Andre
    The end of the Cold War, new global circumstances, and the democratisation process in South Africa have resulted in a transformation of the way in which defence matters in this country are evaluated and approached. From 1960 to the end of the 1980s defence spending decisions in South Africa were largely influenced by non-economic considerations, such as the perceived need to protect national values from foreign aggression and internal threats to stability, the ideological inclination of the government of the day, and a sense of inertia and incrementalism in respect of defence budgets. However, since 1989 the greater unlikelihood of an imminent foreign act of conventional aggression against the country and the advent of multi-party democracy, have served to highlight the possible trade-off between defence and socio-economic welfare (the so-called 'guns versus butter' debate). Indeed, since the end of the 1980s real defence expenditure in South Africa has declined by almost 60 percent, while the defence burden (defence expenditure as a percentage of gross domestic product) has fallen to below 2,0 percent.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Carbon Pricing Influences Competition — and Benefits From It
    (Springer Nature, 2022-05-20) Paha Johannes
    This article studies the interaction effects between climate change policies, especially German and European emission trading schemes, and competition. It demonstrates why the effectiveness of those policies is diminished in markets characterized by market power, and how antitrust laws can improve this situation. Emissions trading may also reduce the competitiveness of German and European companies internationally. In response, there have been calls for its modification, which may, however, cause subsidy races and tax competition. State aid control as an element of European competition policy, world trade law and climate diplomacy counteract these effects.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Challenges to infection control in early communication intervention : a scoping review
    (AOSIS (Pty) Ltd., 2022-08-03) Achmat, Bilqees; Gerber, Berna
    Background: Personal protective equipment (PPE) and infection prevention and control (IPC) measures are crucial to preventing the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study used a scoping review to investigate the challenges that exist when speech–language therapists (SLTs) use IPC measures for providing early communication intervention (ECI). Objectives: To describe existing, recent literature on PPE and IPC measures used in early intervention through a scoping review (steps 1–5) and to consult local clinicians to investigate how SLTs who provide ECI in South Africa relate to these findings (step 6 of the scoping review). Method: A scoping review was performed which followed the PRISMA-ScR framework. Because of limited literature on PPE and IPC measures used by SLTs in providing ECI, the inclusion criteria were adjusted to include PPE and IPC measures used by healthcare workers (HCWs) who provide early intervention to the population of infants and toddlers up to 3 years old. At the time of the review, articles were not older than 10 years and were published between 2011 and 2020. The scoping review included a consultation with South African SLTs who provide ECI, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. A pilot study was conducted prior to the consultations. Seventeen clinicians were included in total. Data from both the pilot study and main consultation were transcribed and analysed in the results using thematic analysis. Results: Fourteen articles were included in the study. The scoping review of existing literature identified challenges to implementing IPC measures, namely the care and behaviour of young children, infrastructure and system challenges, poor compliance and lack of training and a lack of standard IPC protocols. Clinicians in the consultation phase confirmed these challenges and reported that IPC measures did not consider ECI populations nor the settings in which services were provided. Suggestions from the literature for improved infection control included hand hygiene, improved supplies and infrastructure and education and training. Clinicians in the consultation added practical suggestions for implementing IPC measures within ECI, which included an increase in parent-led intervention as well as cleaning and disinfection strategies. Conclusion: This study identified challenges and recommendations of SLTs who use PPE and IPC measures whilst providing ECI. Understanding these challenges can benefit ECI services and future research efforts focused on improving ECI services whilst maintaining IPC standards.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item