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Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) is a globally recognised publication outlet for the field of Computer Science, including in South Africa. In this study, spanning from 1973 to 2022, we investigated the research participation of South African based authors in LNCS. The publication output and citation impact of these authors were compared to the global Computer Science and LNCS output. The authorship patterns and collaborative behaviour of South African LNCS papers were explored, and a keyword or topic analysis also conducted. Of the total of 518 662 LNCS papers published globally between 1973 and 2022, South African based researchers contributed 1150 papers (0.22%). The LNCS papers from South Africa exhibit a strong collaborative publication culture, with 1043 (91%) co-authored and 107 (9%) singleauthored works. Local LNCS researchers prefer institutional collaboration (43%), followed by international (37%) and national collaboration (11%). Europe emerged as the most significant collaboration partner for LNCS researchers in South Africa. Of the 1150 papers, 836 (73%) had received citations, while 314 (27%) had not. On average, papers published by South African based authors received 6.05 citations, compared to the global LNCS average of 9.49 citations per paper. A keyword analysis revealed that the majority of papers by South African authors focus on artificial intelligence. The results indicate that, although LNCS serves as a reputable dissemination platform for Computer Science research output both globally and locally, South African authors should consider publishing more journal articles to build and improve their researcher profiles. Significance: * The study shows that LNCS is the most frequent publication outlet for Computer Science researchers, globally and in South Africa. * The study offers insight into the publication output, authorship patterns, collaborative behaviour and citation impact of South African based Computer Science researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an overview of the state of research and trends in biotechnology used by the pulp and paper industry of South Africa. Isolation and characterization of white-rot fungi; Biobleaching with white-rot fungi; Evaluation of xylanases; Effluent biotechnology. INSET: Lignocellulose Symposium at Biotech SA '97..

Informal waste reclaimers are a key part of South Africa's recycling economy, being responsible for around 51% of all paper and packaging waste collected in South Africa in 2017. Active in the waste and recycling landscape for more than three decades, their activity predates the earliest voluntary paper and packaging Extended Producer Responsibility schemes. However, these voluntary schemes have been instrumental in scaling South Africa's recycling economy. Investment by brand owners, retailers, converters and recyclers has helped develop local end-use markets, creating a demand for paper and packaging recyclables and a resultant increase in their collection. An analysis of tonnage and price data shows that the mean estimate of money paid by the private sector to the informal waste sector through the purchase of recyclables at intermediaries such as buy-back centres, was ZAR625 million in 2012, increasing to ZAR872 million in 2017. This private sector 'investment' in the local recycling economy has led to direct and indirect job creation and improved livelihoods, particularly for a large, well-established and effective informal waste sector, and has indirectly funded municipal waste diversion strategies, saving municipalities in both the collection and disposal of waste. Significance: * Informal waste reclaimers make a significant contribution to the diversion of paper and packaging recyclables from landfill to recycling in South Africa. * Limited information exists on the earnings of informal reclaimers. * This paper provides new insights on the annual financial payments made by the private sector to informal reclaimers tor the collection of recyclables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Co-authorship networks are graphs in which the nodes of the graph represent authors and two authors are connected by an edge if they have written one or more papers together. When applied to the authorship of scholarly papers, analysing the structure of a co-authorship network can provide useful insights into the way in which research is carried out in a particular field. We examine two co-authorship networks in our article, constructed from papers written on the subjects of chemistry and mathematics during the period 1990 to 2005, in which at least one of the authors was South African. Local results are compared with other studies conducted in much larger discipline-wide networks. We find that many of the same patterns exist locally, with the main difference being a far more fragmented South African mathematics network. We discuss some tentative implications of these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CHROMOLAENA ODORATA IS A PLANT THAT invades tropical and subtropical lands, including protected areas, commercial forests and croplands around the world. The Futululu Forest Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal is situated in the latitudinal centre of the Chromolaena infestation in South Africa. In this lowland belt, the plant is increasingly invading internationally significant protected areas and large commercial tree plantations, the latter supplying the pulp and paper export industry. The Working for Water (WfW) programme's attempts to control this pest seems the most comprehensive and well-monitored anywhere in the world. We have extracted historical pre- and post-treatment Chromolaena cover information from the WfW GIS database and these have been combined with current cover data from the same management blocks at randomized sample sites. The dataset was analysed for efficacy of the control measures with statistical methods appropriate to the data. The WfW treatment programme proved effective in reducing the cover of Chromolaena but without eliminating the weed in the indigenous forest. Recommended improvements in the current WfW control methods may increase their effectiveness. However, our results suggest that only by establishing an alternative plant cover on the bare ground created by the removal of Chromolaena could control efficacy improve substantially. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the neglect of regional science journals and the various national incentive schemes to promote South African research. The local scientific community suffer from the reluctance of top local researchers to publish locally when the journal is published by a scientific society. The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) in South Africa funds universities for articles published in accredited journals or other publications.

With the understanding that universities play multiple social purposes, we aimed to provide an estimation of the economic impact of the public universities in South Africa. Using models described in the literature, we estimated economic benefits from four university activities -- university exports, research at universities, the production of graduates and universities as business entities. Comparative analysis shows that, as an economic sector, Higher Education contributes more to South Africa's gross value added than other economic sectors such as Wood and Wood Products, Textiles, Clothing and Leather Goods, or Paper and Paper Products. It is comparable to sectors such as Gold Mining, and Beverages and Tobacco. Taking into account a number of assumptions, which are explained in the text, for 2018 the total economic impact was estimated at about ZAR513 billion. Governmental expenditure on higher education in that year was ZAR66 billion. These figures produce a cost--benefit ratio for the sector of 1 : 7.7, considering only these four university activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs) have become a suitable substitute for compacted clay liners used for prevention of leachate percolation from landfills and tailings dams into the groundwater system. The characteristics of most bentonites is improved through a process of activation by mixing with soda ash (Na2CO3). This paper presents the investigation results of the suitability of bentonites from the Imerys Mine in South Africa for use in GCLs. Both activated and non-activated bentonites were investigated through X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and swell index, fluid loss, plate water absorption and Atterberg limits tests. The XRD analysis results indicate that the activated and non-activated bentonite have a smectite content of 58% and 67%, respectively. The swell index of non-activated bentonite was significantly lower than that of activated bentonite. The activated bentonite samples tested at different times subsequent to activation revealed that a minimum of 4 weeks of activation time is required to fully activate it to the ideal soda ash to bentonite ratio of 1:16. The fluid loss tests displayed results slightly above the required minimum of 18 mL because of the low swell index of the bentonites tested. The activated and non-activated bentonites have absorption capacities of 133% and 121%, respectively. The plasticity index of the activated bentonite is 101%, 15% higher than the non-activated bentonite. The overall results concluded that the Imerys bentonite is a medium-quality bentonite with borderline index properties that requires at least 4 weeks of beneficiation to achieve complete activation to suitably be used as GCLs. Significance: • The significance of this paper is the beneficiation process of bentonite in the geotextile industry. • This study is relevant to geotechnical engineers, environmental geologists, engineering geologists and other related professionals working with geosynthetic clay liners whereby bentonite is the key ingredient. • The study provides an optimum ratio of bentonite to sodium carbonate and the required time for beneficiation. • We further recommend that quality control measures should be implemented to ensure complete activation of bentonite, including the blending process of different qualities of bentonite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study estimating the extent of predatory publishing among the South African academics based on an analysis of South African authored papers which qualified for subsidy. It mentions the articles on predatory publishing includes editorials and commentaries in journals which are polemical and critical in nature. It also discusses need for the stakeholders in South African higher education system to focus on addressing issues related to predatory publishing.

South Africa’s record in the production of scientific knowledge in medicine is remarkable, but attempts have yet to be made to examine its distinctive characteristics. This is critical to the understanding of its nature, trends and the directions which it is taking today. Using the publication records extracted from the Science Citation Index (SCI) of the ISI Web of Science for a 3-decade period from 1975 to 2005, with 5-year windows, I have examined the salient characteristics of medical research in South Africa in terms of, (1) the number of publications, (2) type of publications (sole/co-authored), (3) collaboration (domestic/international), (4) affiliation sector of authors and collaborators, (5) regional origin of collaborators, (6) publication outlets and (7) citations, in comparison with ‘all subjects’ covered in the database concerned. This analysis shows that the contribution of medical publications to the total output of South African scholars is shrinking (25% in 1980 to 8% in 2000). Papers produced in collaboration are growing in number (increased by 17% during 1975-2005). While domestic collaboration declined by 24%, international collaboration grew from 4% of total papers in 1975 to 48% in 2005. South African medical researchers now publish more in foreign-originated journals (from 20% in 1975 to 75% in 2005) than in local journals and work mostly in universities, hospitals and research institutes; they collaborate with overseas partners from as many as 56 countries. Significantly, collaboration with Western European partners has increased 45-fold from 1975-2005. This study showed that a marked degree of internationalisation (measured in terms of international collaboration, publications in foreign journals and the number of citations) of South African medical research is taking place and that this trend is likely to continue in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the paper concerning higher education in South Africa. It notes that the paper has placed its emphasis on vocational training but has given little much importance to have a coherent plan to implement the necessary changes in the system. It mentions that the country is facing 3 million 18-24 years old who are neither have tertiary education nor labour market preference.

South Africa has every right to take pride in its rich and unique botanical diversity. As part of investigating the discipline of botany in the country,we have assessed the contents of five botany-related South African journals in the period 1988-2002, analysing the sub-disciplines, affiliations of the contributors, and the age, gender and race of the first authors. The results show various trends, such as a decline in the number of articles during the 1990s and then an increase in 2001 and 2002. A specific niche for each of the five journals has been identified. These journals have adopted strategies and introduced improvements to survive change in the evolving scientific environment. Most articles are from authors in the age group 31-40; men accounted for 68% of botanical papers and women 32%. Whites authored 94%, and other racial groups 6%. The botanical sciences are among the leaders in South African research publications in terms of output and citations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given a growing global population and shift to embrace the blue economy, a need for marine spatial planning (MSP) has emerged in South Africa to sustainably resolve the rising conflicts over the use of marine and seabed resources and services. A well-developed marine spatial plan yields numerous ecological, social and economic benefits. These are achieved through mediating between spatially conflicting economic drivers' interests (e.g. commercial fishing, tourism, mining), preventing their activities from compromising thresholds of an environment's sustainability. Within the MSP framework, high-resolution geospatial datasets are required to document and describe the seabed in the highest possible detail. At any scale, integrated analysis of seabed geomorphology and habitats is anticipated to greatly improve the understanding of ecosystem functioning from a multidisciplinary perspective, whilst improving MSP procedures and management of marine space. South Africa is the first of few African countries to have an approved and implemented MSP framework, but is still somewhat behind globally in implementing large-scale regional hydroacoustic surveys to cover the country's vast offshore territory. The deficiency of hydroacoustic surveys is perhaps due to a relative lack of funds and poor communication about the value of multibeam echo-sounder (MBES) derived data, whilst marine geoscience remains a scarce skill in the country. This review paper presents a geological perspective of MSP and explores (1) the value that seabed mapping offers MSP specifically and (2) the need to increase seabed mapping with MBES, using a recently initiated project from the South African east coast as a case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF RESEARCH publications are used as benchmarks to monitor the performance of South Africa's national system of innovation. The indicators are pertinent to the policies of the Department of Education, which distributes funds for research at institutions of higher education by measuring the volume of research outputs. In this article, we present a scientometric assessment of research in South Africa in the context of the rest of Africa and in comparison with Brazil and India—two countries with which South Africa aims to develop strong scientific ties. We find that South Africa has published a significant number of papers in all 22 disciplines represented in the ISI's Essential Science Indicators. The largest numbers of journal articles in a 10-year period (1996-2005) were published in the categories Clinical Medicine, and in Plant and Animal Sciences, with over 7000 papers each. Three groupings, namely, Chemistry, Geosciences, and Environmental/Ecology, form the second cluster of disciplines in terms of the highest number of publications (2966, 2488 and 2386, respectively). In all 22 subject categories, India and Brazil are rated higher than South Africa in terms of number of publications, but South Africa is ranked above these countries in relation to citations per paper in all disciplines. Egypt outranked South Africa in three disciplines in the period 1995-2004, namely, Chemistry, Engineering, and Materials Science, as did Nigeria in Agriculture in 1996-2005. In addition to the three disciplines in the earlier period, Egypt outranked South Africa in 1996-2005 in Physics, Agricultural Sciences, and Pharmacology/ Toxicology. However, South Africa scored higher than both African countries in all disciplines in terms of citations per paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education institutions have a constitutional obligation to provide reasonable accommodation to students with disabilities. Although the teaching and learning of students with blindness and low vision in STEM disciplines are well documented abroad, to date, there are no published studies in South Africa on successful teaching and learning strategies for students with blindness and low vision in STEM fields, specifically in science disciplines. Therefore, in this paper, we report on how teaching, learning, and assessment were adapted to make science disciplines accessible to John, a blind student enrolled in a biological sciences degree at a research-intensive university in South Africa. Several factors contributed towards the successful completion of John's bachelor's degree. These factors include the availability of tutors who committed a large amount of time to help John understand content presented in lectures, tutorials, and practical sessions; a well-resourced and effective Disability Unit; lecturers who ensured that John was well accommodated in lectures, tutorials, and practical sessions; and, finally, John's commitment and dedication towards learning. Significance: • This is the first study to report on successful teaching and learning strategies for a blind student in the natural sciences in the South African context. • The study provides a guide that scholars, educators, university managers and policymakers can use to ensure that mathematics and science subjects are accessible to blind students and that teaching strategies allow them to perform to their potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conducting meta-reviews of government programmes has become common practice. In South Africa, the national Department of Human Settlements and the national Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation recently commissioned a team to review the extent to which the Housing Subsidy Programme had provided assets to municipalities and the poor and whether these assets had helped poor households escape from poverty. A realist approach was employed to conduct the review. We argue that, given the complex nature of housing programmes, the realist review methodology was an appropriate approach to follow in answering the review questions. We explored how the realist review method allowed us to work with the uneven and contested nature of the housing literature and how the review nonetheless enabled elucidation of the factors that had contributed to the expected outcomes. Because this case was the first time that this method was used in a government-commissioned evaluation of housing, there were some practical challenges involved in its use. Some of the challenges were related to the nature of the questions that were asked. At the time of the review, the Department of Human Settlements was in the process of reviewing the 1996 White Paper and, to inform this process, the Housing Subsidy Programme review included a copious number of questions set by the Department of Human Settlements and Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, which made the review rather large and, in some cases, complicated the analysis. In some cases, because the Departments wanted clear-cut answers, the commissioners perceived the theoretical strength of the method, such as offering explanatory instead of conclusive judgement, as a weakness. The paper reveals some limitations of the realist review method for evaluating the multifaceted outcomes of a complex programme, particularly the practical difficulty of dealing with large quantities of data. We do however consider this method to have potential for further reviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deals with a review of the literature which covered several aspects of HIV/AIDS and related diseases in South Africa. Classes of people who have not acquired the HIV infection in 1987; Population classes cited in the estimated total of HIV-infected individuals in the country in 1991; HIV prevalence rates during the period of 1995-2000.

Alcohol is a major contributing factor to the burden of road traffic crashes and injuries in South Africa. There has been an increase in political interest and engagement on the issue of drink-driving in recent months following government restrictions on the sale and public consumption of alcohol during the COVID-19 lockdowns along with proposed zero-tolerance drink-driving legislation. In this paper, we critically examine global research and experiences with the adoption of zero-tolerance approaches to drink-driving along with key South African contextual considerations to provide evidence-based and contextually relevant recommendations for advancing zero-tolerance drink-driving legislation in the country. There is significant evidence to support the adoption of zero-tolerance legislation but at a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) threshold limit for the general driving population set at 0.02 g/100 mL (rather than the zero-BAC limit proposed through the Road Traffic Amendment Bill) to allow for variance in testing. Recommendations centre on the proposed legislation incorporating a gradualist approach and its location within a broader zero-tolerance approach that includes other complementary interventions to enable implementation. Significance: • The recommended blood alcohol level of 0.02 g/100 mL is lower than the best practice limit recommended by the World Health Organization of 0.05 g/100 mL, following consideration of the road safety and general alcohol consumption challenges in South Africa and evidence of success from other similar country contexts. • Broad principles and recommendations are presented to support the sustainable adoption of zerotolerance drink-driving legislation in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of landfills on the environment has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years due to the confounding effects of climate change and water scarcity. There is an urgent need to reduce from landfills the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, and to provide effective treatment solutions for waste, thereby diverting it from landfills. With an estimated 80 million tonnes of plastic waste entering the world's oceans annually, the accumulation of marine plastic has become a global crisis. Plastic pollution threatens food safety and quality, human health and coastal tourism, and contributes to climate change. For these reasons, there is an urgent need to explore a bioplastic biorefinery process. This review paper examines the potential of organic waste as an alternative carbon source in the efficient and feasible microbial production of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) and polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), which are precursors for bioplastic. More specifically, this paper presents a concept for a bioplastic biorefinery from a technological perspective, based on data from previous studies. Biofuel production processes are also assessed with the aim of integrating these processes to construct a bioplastic waste biorefinery. Garden refuse and food waste have been shown to be feasible feedstocks for the production of PHA and PHB in singular processes. Diverting these wastes away from landfills will significantly ease the environmental impacts currently associated with their disposal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

THE SURFACE POLARITY OF PULP FIBRES originating from four different wood species commonly used for pulping in South Africa has been determined after various pre-treatments, and after magnesium bisulphite pulping. The presence as well as the distribution of polar groups on the fibre surface strongly affects inter-fibre bonding in paper. Bonding consists mostly of hydrogen bonds between free hydroxyl groups on the fibre surface. Surface polarity was examined by atomic force microscopy in pulsed-force mode. This technique allows the imaging of the polarity of a surface with a nanometrescale molecular resolution. It is thus sensitive to individual functional groups, mostly hydrophilic hydroxyl groups. Polarity differences between the various wood species have been observed. We compare these observations with the varying pulp quality that arises from the pulp composition. Improvement in pulp quality may be possible if fibre surface properties are used as guidance criteria for the choice of a specific pre-treatment method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of South Africa's National Research Foundation's (NRF) activities is to award ratings to academics who apply according to predefined categories. Explicitly or not, these ratings are part of submissions academics make for promotions and for employment in South African universities. As such, methodological assessment of the validity of this system is important. This paper seeks to conceptually evaluate certain characteristics of this system against certain general principles of reliability and validity. On the basis of the results of this evaluation, it is argued that assumptions that the NRF rating system is always valid or reliable as a differentiator of individual academics cannot be made unconditionally. Using Management Science as an example of a social science field that draws from multidisciplinary theoretical and methodological frameworks, this paper identifies certain validity issues associated with the current NRF rating system and makes recommendations for improvements. Significance: • Certain validity issues are highlighted and arguments are made to improve the methodology used by the NRF to rate researchers. • Issues related to multidisciplinarity and mode two knowledge production are considered. • Technological advances that have made it possible for scientific measurement of research productivity and impact are discussed. • Problems with subjective methodologies are identified, together with their ethical consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The launch of the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) in 2005, and the introduction of astronomy outreach to interface with the general public, signified a turning point in South African astronomy. We conducted a small study to begin to understand the perceptions of the community that hosts the research facility in Sutherland, in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa. There is an ongoing need for good stakeholder engagement for sustainability. Scientists need critically to consider and review engagement processes with remote communities, including those flanking astronomy infrastructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We reflect on the good, the bad and the ugly of the fatal accidents occurring on South Africa's roads. The cost of human lives indisputably equates to 'the ugly' and the economic cost of accidents associates with 'the bad'. 'The good' relates to the reduction of both these costs that may result from the entrance of self-driving cars into the South African market as well as awareness campaigns like the Arrive Alive National Road Safety Strategy. The general contribution of this paper is to raise awareness of the effects of accidents, more specifically fatal accidents. Current trends in terms of human factors as well as road and environmental factors involved in the fatal accidents on South African roads are summarised. This paper also serves as a preliminary investigation into possible factors influencing these accidents, which ought to be of interest to a very broad readership, more specifically those focusing on risk analysis, and certainly is of interest to any citizen of South Africa. Significance: • Awareness is raised of the effects of fatal accidents on South African roads. • Current trends in terms of human factors as well as road and environmental factors on road accidents are reflected upon. • The futuristic effect of self-driving cars is explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article identifies microbial contaminants of used and new banknotes in circulation in the Venda region of Limpopo Province, South Africa and highlights the implications for public health in this locality. Results show that bacteria and/or fungi were isolated from 96% of the used banknotes, and none from the new (control) notes. The study also reveals that the low-denomination notes were the most contaminated. The researchers notes that infected currency is identified as a potential public health hazard, as pathogens can be spread by circulating banknotes. Through handling of contaminated currency, immunocompromised persons stand the risk of acquiring opportunistic infections.

This paper reviews the 40 verbal presentations and 14 poster papers from the Inaugural research symposium of the Working for Water program, held at Kirstenbosch, Cape Town, in August 2003. Papers and posters were presented under six themes hydrology [8 papers and posters], ecology (including the ecology of wetlands) [19], biological control [5], operations management [10], social development [6], and natural resource and development economics [6]. The research reported on is generally of a high standard and is highly relevant to the practical issues that managers of invasive alien plants face in South Africa. The biological control, hydrology, and ecology fields are particularly strong. Although already showing much promise, resource economics In this field is still in its infancy and requires further investment to realize its undoubted potential to help improve the management of invasive alien plants. Improved research is required on the operational management and social development aspects of research in this area. It is recommended that particular attention be paid to the following in future research: (i) biodiversity consequences of invasive alien plants and of alternative management options (with a particular view to optimizing unaided ecosystem recovery following clearing), (ii) interactions between global climate change and all aspects of alien plant invasions and their control, (iii) improving the empirical base of the hydrological models of impacts arising from invasions by alien plants, and their control, and (iv) prevention of invasions. A much greater investment should be made in biological control research in order to (i) maximize the contribution of this, the most cost-effective and sustainable control technology, (ii) build on and maintain South Africa's track record of being a world-leader in this internationally transferable field, and (iii) ensure that we create a new cohort of biocontrol researchers nationally. In all fields, researchers should work closely with managers to take full advantage of the unparalleled opportunities that the massive landscape.scale clearing interventions present for elucidating all aspects of the interaction of invasive alien plants and their control with the country's natural and socio-economic systems. In turn, this should lead the Working for Water program into a truly strategic 'adaptive management' mode of operation, with research becoming an integral part of this management. Resource economics should become a key tool for translating the invasive alien plant issue into language that decision-makers understand (and for informing management decisions). However, these economic analyses will only be correct if the underlying scientific understanding of alien invasions and their impacts is sound. Investment in research on invasive alien plants will continue to give excellent returns for South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ten years after the conclusion of World War II, the Department of Native Affairs of the National Party government of South Africa sponsored research into the selection of African civil servants. The study was conducted by Rae Sherwood, under the auspices of the National Social Research Council, and the National Institute for Personnel Research. In 1960, Sherwood submitted the work to the University of tine Witwatersrand to obtain a PhD degree. Two government departments objected to the award of the degree. In this paper I recount the history of the research, explaining that the acceleration of the apartheid project between 1948 and 1961 played a significant role in the controversy that developed. The paper furthermore illustrates the difficulties faced by social scientific research under repressive political conditions, and the need for a more nuanced view of the psychological research of the National Institute for Personnel Research in South Africa at the time. Significance: * The history of South Africa's research organisations has been of interest for a long time. This study recalls the history of an unknown chapter in the history of the National Institute for Personnel Research, based on a PhD submission kept under embargo in the archives of the University of the Witwatersrand. The study was methodologically sophisticated. rich in data; but controversial in its findings, at least as it reflected on the policies pursued by the apartheid government after World War II. It adds another contextual element to the type ot work conducted by the Institute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are three major mollusc collections in South Africa and seven smaller, thematic collections. The KwaZulu-Natal Museum holds one of the largest collections in the southern hemisphere. Its strengths are marine molluscs of southern Africa and the southwestern Indian Ocean, and terrestrial molluscs of South Africa. Research on marine molluscs has led to revisionary papers across a wide range of gastropod families. The lziko South African Museum contains the most comprehensive collections of Cephalopoda (octopus, squid and relatives) and Polyplacophora (chitons) for southern Africa. The East London Museum is a provincial museum of the Eastern Cape. Recent research focuses on terrestrial molluscs and the collection is growing to address the gap in knowledge of this element of biodiversity. Mollusc collections in South Africa date to about 1900 and are an invaluable resource of morphological and genetic diversity, with associated spatial and temporal data. The South African National Biodiversity lnstitute is encouraging discovery and documentation to address gaps in knowledge, particularly of invertebrates. Museums are supported with grants for surveys, systematic studies and data mobilisation. The Department of Science and Innovation is investing in collections as irreplaceable research infrastructure through the Natural Science Collections Facility, whereby 16 institutions, including those holding mollusc collections, are assisted to achieve common targets and coordinated outputs. Significance: Mollusc collections are among the oldest natural science collections in South Africa, dating from just before 1900. They provide an invaluable resource of morphological and genetic diversity, with associated spatial and temporal data. They are spread across the country in three comprehensive and seven smaller, thematic collections and this paper puts together available information about these scattered and diverse collections. Each has its own strengths and specialisations, and together they cater to a variety of the country's identified research priorities. Although staff complements are small, mollusc collections are well curated and conserved, expanding, actively researched and associated data are available online or on request. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to introduce into the literature a competing risks methodology that can be used to help identify some student-specific and/or institutional factors which may be influencing the type of outcome experienced by a student when they leave the university system. Focusing on the length of time that it takes students to graduate or drop out from their studies, this new methodology was applied to a database comprising all students enrolled for a degree at the University of KwaZulu-Natal between the years 2004 and 2012. Financial aid and residence-based accommodation were found to help students who will eventually graduate to do so quicker in terms of the number of credit points that they have to repeat. These same factors, however, also cause someone who will eventually be excluded on academic grounds to linger longer in the system. By focusing on the number of extra credit points that it takes to reach a particular exit point, this paper introduces into the literature a new measure whose use will help to overcome some of the more obvious problems that can occur when one uses calendar time to measure the length of time that it takes to reach a particular exit point. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across South Africa, a wide range of activities is influenced by differences in seasonality. In a South African context, there is little consensus on the timing of seasonal boundaries. Inconsistency exists through the use of ad-hoc approaches to define seasonal boundaries across South Africa. In this paper, we present one of the very first uniform statistical classifications of South African seasonal divisions on the basis of daily temperature data. Daily maximum and minimum temperature data were obtained from 35 selected South African Weather Service meteorological stations that had sufficiently complete data sets and homogeneous time series, spanning the period 1980--2015. An Euclidean cluster analysis was performed using Ward's D method. We found that the majority of the stations can be classified into four distinct seasons, with the remaining 12 stations' data best classified into three seasons, using Tavg as the classifier. The statistically classified seasonal brackets include summer (October/November/December/ January/February/March), early autumn (April) and late autumn (May), winter (June/July/August), and spring (September). Exploring the boundaries of seasons, the start of summer and end of winter months follow a southwest to northeastwards spatial pattern across the country. Summers start later and winters end later in the southwestern parts of the country, whereas in the northeast, summers start earlier and winters end earlier. Significance: * The findings contribute to the common knowledge of seasonality in South Africa. * New seasonal divisions in South Africa are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past performance is a key consideration when rationalising the allocation of grants and other opportunities to individual researchers. The National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF) has long used a highly structured system of 'rating' the past performance of individual researchers. This system relies heavily on peer review, and has seldom been benchmarked against bibliometric measures of research performance such as Hirsch's h-index. Here I use data for about 600 rated researchers in the biological sciences to evaluate the extent to which outcomes of peer review correspond to bibliometric measures of research performance. The analysis revealed that values of the h-index based on the Scopus database are typically 5--20 for researchers placed in the NRF's C rating category ('established'), 20--40 for those in the B rating category ('considerable international recognition') and >40 for those in the A rating category ('leading international scholars'). Despite concerns that citation patterns differ among disciplines, the mean h-index per rating category was remarkably consistent across five different disciplines in the biological sciences, namely animal sciences, plant sciences, ecology, microbiology and biochemistry/genetics. This observation suggests that the NRF rating system is equitable in the sense that the outcomes of peer review are generally consistent with bibliometric measures of research performance across different disciplines in the biological sciences. However, the study did reveal some notable discrepancies which could reflect either bias in the peer-review process or shortcomings in the bibliometric measures, or both. Significance: * NRF rating categorisations (estimates of standing in a research field based on peer review) are a reasonably good predictor of the h-index of individual researchers in the biological sciences. * The relationships between rating categorisations and the h-index are remarkably consistent across five sub-disciplines in the biological sciences. * Peer review and the h-index were compared in terms of their relative advantages and disadvantages and the combined use of both approaches is advocated for measurement of research performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A characterisation of the medical device development landscape in South Africa would be beneficial for future policy developments that encourage locally developed devices to address local healthcare needs. The landscape was explored through a bibliometric analysis (2000–2013) of relevant scientific papers using co-authorship as an indicator of collaboration. Collaborating institutions thus found were divided into four sectors: academia (A); healthcare (H); industry (I); and science and support (S). A collaboration network was drawn to show the links between the institutions and analysed using network analysis metrics. Centrality measures identified seven dominant local institutions from three sectors. Group densities were used to quantify the extent of collaboration: the A sector collaborated the most extensively both within and between sectors; local collaborations were more prevalent than international collaborations. Translational collaborations (AHI, HIS or AHIS) are considered to be pivotal in fostering medical device innovation that is both relevant and likely to be commercialised. Few such collaborations were found, suggesting room for increased collaboration of these types in South Africa. Significance: • Results could inform the development of strategies and policies to promote certain types of medical device development. • Further studies could identify drivers and barriers to successful medical device development in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses the article on the new specimens of Australopithecus sediba from the fossil site of Malapa in South Africa. He mentions the importance of the anatomical areas cited in the paper on the understanding of the nature of human evolution. He refers to the analyses as thorough and elegant, but he is critical on the small sample size that was used in the research study.

Boris Ivan Balinsky (1905-1997) was Professor and Head of the Department of Zoology at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, South Africa. He came to Wits in 1949 (via Munich and Edinburgh) from Kiev, where he was Professor of Embryology. As an acclaimed experimental embryologist he was especially famous for inducing a supernumerary limb in a newt when he was a 19-year-old student in Ivan Schmalhausen's laboratory in Kiev 1924. In Johannesburg he wrote his famous textbook of embryology, which influenced generations of students around the world. In addition to pioneering the application of electron microscopy to the study of early development, he tackled a variety of projects of general zoological interest. Lesser known is his latter day work, carried out during his retirement, on variation and hereditability (especially of wing colouration) in the butterfly Acraea horta, on which he published five papers from 1974 to 1986. His butterfly work showing the loose connection between the genotype and phenotype, with the genotype expressing itself in a variable way in the face of a constant physical environment, is of special interest in the current era of evolutionary and ecological developmental biology. His exposure to the stimulating evolutionary ideas of Schmalhausen during his early Kiev years no doubt provided a context for his butterfly work. Some ideas about how the 'loose connection between the genotype and phenotype' may be achieved through behavioral modification or positional information during development are addressed in this paper in the light of recent work. In his eighties Balinsky worked on the classification of microlepidoptera on which he published several papers. He died in September 1997, just short of his 92nd birthday. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents two recent developments in the targeting and design of cooling-water systems using process integration. The basis of this work is the observation that true optimization of any cooling-water system, comprising a cooling tower and a network of operations that use cooling water, can be realized only by considering the system as a whole. Traditional approaches have focused separately on either the cooling tower or the operational network. Optimality, in the context of this paper, refers to minimum cooling-water flowrate to the network or maximum return temperature to the source of the cooling water (a cooling tower). Only systems with at least two cooling towers instead a single one are considered here, to highlight the complexity of a typical cooling-water system. The first exercise is based on a graphical technique in which targeting for the minimum cooling water precedes design of the cooling-water network to achieve the target. The second exercise uses mathematical modelling to optimize a superstructure that entails all possible topological arrangements of the cooling-water network. An industrial case study involving a South African explosives manufacturing plant is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of both techniques. Cooling-water savings of more than 20% were realized with modest capital investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The BENEFIT programme is a collaborative training and research initiative between Angola, Namibia and South Africa, and donor countries which include Norway, Germany, Iceland and France; it has been described more fully elsewhere in this issue? Seven cruises were planned for 1999, based on discussions, in January 1999 in Cape Town, between German, Namibian, South African and Angolan scientists and a representative of the Southern African Development Community. The recruitment of tutors and trainees began immediately and the first of the training and research cruises took place on board the German vessel RV Poseidon the following March. This article is a synthesis of selected research findings obtained during the various cruises and reported in the preceding papers in this issue and, in part, in a compendium of papers(n2) presented at a symposium in 1999. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The built environment is a critical part of the climate change problem in cities, and urban buildings can act as a scaled response to mitigating anthropogenic climate change. Buildings last for well beyond a hundred years and thus have the potential to provide cities with a healthier and safer environment for urban dwellers well into the future. The role of the building sector toward reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is now better understood, and has resulted in various initiatives globally to move toward being a net-zero carbon sector. The objective of this study was to provide an assessment of the costs in achieving the emissions-reduction potential for each high-emitting sector in the eThekwini Municipality (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) through the determination of a marginal abatement cost curve (MACC). The MACC was developed for 2030, 2040, and 2050 across key sectors and aligned with the approach used by the eThekwini Municipality by employing the GHG Protocol's BASIC level of reporting that excludes the Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land-use (AFLOU) and Industrial Processes and Product Use (IPPU) sectors. We found that the building sector offers the lowest cost to mitigate each tonne of GHGs when compared to other sectors in the eThekwini Municipality. Several interventions within the building sector further display positive payback periods throughout its life cycle. The MACC produced in this study is the first of its kind for any municipality in South Africa and will provide insights into the net cost of interventions that would mitigate a tonne of carbon emissions. Significance: • The MACC produced in this study is the first of its kind for any municipality in South Africa. Developing a MACC adds to an important basket of factors that need to be considered when planning for future climates in cities and is of benefit in prioritising actions in addressing climate change. The MACC in this study demonstrates that energy efficiency interventions in the building sector offer substantial mitigation potential within the most feasible payback periods when compared to other sectors. • The MACC may be replicated by other municipalities, to support the prioritisation of actions needed to address climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significance: • This Commentary provides an updated picture of the contribution of female academics to university research output in South Africa over the past 16 years. • From 2005 to 2020, participation and productivity of women, and especially black women, have increased, particularly in the areas of agriculture and engineering. • Despite the substantial increases in the share of female-authored publications and participation of female academic staff, there remains a large gender gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition towards a circular economy is becoming a priority in many countries globally. However, the circular bioeconomy has received relatively less attention. In South Africa, the valorisation of organic waste is a priority area as demonstrated by national goals to divert organic waste from landfill. To support the growth of the organic waste value chain it is important to gain an understanding of the different value chain actors and their activities. Through a series of semi-structured interviews across the industry, this paper unpacks the organic waste value chain including the roles of different actors and the interlinkages amongst them. Interviewed actors were those involved in the waste treatment sector, including consultants, composters and technology providers and installers. The value chain is characterised by a number of partnerships, including sub-contracting and outsourcing, which enable value chain actors to offer services that they do not necessarily have the in-house skills or capacity to deliver on their own. The majority of actors were not directly engaged in activities related to the treatment of waste, with many of them engaging in support activities to facilitate the treatment of waste. This finding may be attributed to the fact that support activities have relatively lower barriers to entry. This has the potential to create a bottleneck, in which there will be limited capacity for waste treatment as new entrants opt for engaging in support activities. Greater investment is needed from both private and public sources in the waste treatment sector, including support for new entrants. This investment will help enable the country to meet its goals for organic waste diversion whilst contributing to job creation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic waste (e-waste) recycling presents an opportunity to reclaim materials trom a secondary resource and to create jobs and other economic opportunities. E-waste consists of various materials such as metals, plastics, glass, and other chemical substances. Some of these materials are hazardous if processed or disposed of improperly. Therefore, e-waste is classified as hazardous in South African law up until the hazardous components are removed. With the appropriate infrastructure and technology, a large portion of materials contained in e-waste can be reclaimed, and any adverse impacts of irresponsible management prevented. The private sector has played a proactive role in shaping the South African waste economy, and the government is taking strides to draw up enabling regulatory frameworks. Through a literature review and stakeholder engagements, this paper unpacks the organisation of the South African e-waste recycling industry. We consider whether the legal environment drives a common vision for a circular e-waste economy and probe the barriers to e-waste recycling across the value chain. The findings indicate that the development of the e-waste recycling sector in South Africa is dependent on a robust collection network and the enabling of local end-processing, refining, and manufacturing capacity. The availability and quality of input material and the development of local refining and manufacturing capacity are co-dependent and should be addressed simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we estimate the price elasticity of electricity for various industrial sectors of the South African economy from 2002 to 2011. The data used include sectoral electricity consumption data and electricity tariff data, both courtesy of Eskom as well as output data based on national statistics. The most important contribution this paper makes is that it includes the period after the sharp rises in electricity tariffs in 2007/2008 following a period of load-shedding and insecurity in electricity supply. Previous studies have included data only until 2007 and, for the most part, have found statistically insignificant, positive elasticities. However, for the period post-2007, we found statistically significant and negative elasticities for 9 of the 11 sectors considered. Our results show that the majority of industrial sectors have become much more sensitive to changes in the price of electricity following 2007/2008, indicating to policymakers that tariff restructuring might influence consumer behaviour significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compares the use of the computer-aided package SERGO to that of paper-based exercises in providing pre-matriculation examination revision in mathematics in a Computer Learning Center in KwaZulu, South Africa. Classical pre- and post-testing of experimental groups; Low level of performance by experimental and control students.

The article comments on scientific publishing in South Africa including changes in patterns of research output and cooperation. It mentions the some major changes that have taken place in the nature of South African scientific publishing in the last 17-years including the significant increase in research publication, collaboration of South African scientists and increase in South Africa's publication output.

In this paper, we locate open access in the South African higher education research context where it is, distinctively, not shaped by the policy frameworks that are profoundly changing research dissemination behaviour in other parts of the world. We define open access and account for its rise by two quite different routes. We then present a case study of journal publishing at one South African university to identify existing journal publishing practices in terms of open access. This case provides the springboard for considering the implications – both positive and negative – of global open access trends for South African – and other – research and researchers. We argue that academics' engagement with open access and scholarly communication debates is in their interests as global networked researchers whose virtual identities and online scholarship are now a critical aspect of their professional engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biomass (woody material and foliage) of invasive Australian waffles (Acacia cyclops, A. saligna and A. mearnsii) was estimated in stands where crown cover exceeded 50% on the west coast, Agulhas and Eastern Cape coastal plains. Tree-level models were constructed to estimate biomass of the different plant components of A. cyclops and A. saligna from stem diameter at knee height. An existing volume regression equation for A. mearnsii was adapted and the estimated volumes, based on diameter at breast height, and tree height, were converted to mass. Sample plots were used to estimate mass per unit area by tree component, species and region. Satellite remote sensing conservatively estimated the densely (>50% cover) infested areas at >100 000 ha. The total green (wet) woody biomass with a minimum diameter of 2.5 cm was estimated to be almost 10 Mt or 12 million m³. This is equivalent to the annual intake of roundwood by South African pulp, paper and board mills. A substantial quantity of raw material is therefore available for charcoal, wood composites and paper. Other products could possibly be developed from bark and foliage. Large-scale utilization of biomass will be a demanding task, with potential risks. Risks include environmental damage, and the creation of a dependency, and these will need to be managed carefully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water is fundamental to human well-being and economic growth. Measuring how water contributes to sustainable development is an important aspect of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, 'Water and sanitation for all'. This importance is especially significant for water-scarce developing countries such as South Africa. Appropriate indicators can support decision-making and highlight key issues on inequality, unemployment and sustainability. In this paper, additional indicators for SDG 6.4 on water-use efficiency are proposed that focus on how individuals and households benefit, both directly and indirectly, from the allocations and use of water resources. The Berg Water Management Area (WMA) in the southwest corner of South Africa is used as a case study to illustrate the results. Residential per capita water use and municipal water losses were determined for all towns in the area. Figures for jobs and income per unit of water use were calculated for the heavily water-dependent industries, namely, agriculture, agriprocessing, freshwater aquaculture, mining and steel processing. This approach to measuring the socioeconomic benefits of water use are relevant for other countries seeking to measure the role that water plays in achieving inclusive sustainable development, and could be included in the final SDG 6 indicator suite. Significance: • New measures of water-use efficiency based on jobs and income are proposed. • New indicators are proposed for SDG 6. • Water use, jobs and annual income are estimated for all heavily water-dependent sectors in the Berg WMA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classic depictions of human evolutionary ecology cast Homo as predator and other hominins, including Paranthropus robustus, as prey. Such hypotheses rest on a small number of fossils that exhibit evidence of carnivore predation, including the iconic SK 54 cranium from Swartkrans in South Africa. Here we demonstrate that the SK 54 cranium shares its closest affinities with H. erectus sensu lato rather than P. robustus. Demonstrating that Homo was prey for leopards at Swartkrans weakens the historically significant hypothesis that Homo was better able to avoid predation because of being behaviourally and technologically advanced compared to Paranthropus. Subsequent ideas about hominin palaeobiology derived from this hypothesis warrant reconsideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selection of content for a school syllabus is important in achieving progress towards inclusive generalisations which characterise powerful knowledge. Biology as a discipline progresses from knowledge of individual facts to inclusive generalisations such as homeostasis, energy transformations, heredity, and evolution. The present study evaluated the selection of content in the official biology syllabus for the seventh and eighth years of schooling in four diverse jurisdictions: Kenya, South Africa, British Columbia (Canada) and Singapore. The purpose was to determine whether and how content selection enabled progression to inclusive generalisations in biology and to compare selection, sequencing and progression among the four jurisdictions. General Topic Trace Mapping was used to compare each syllabus to a generic reference syllabus structured according to inclusive generalisations. Although there was some agreement in the scope of topics selected, jurisdictions varied in the way it was organised. Kenya included more everyday knowledge than other jurisdictions. British Columbia and Singapore selected content according to unifying themes, whereas South Africa and Kenya did not. South Africa selected content that enabled progression towards inclusive generalisations, but did not explicitly identify the generalisations. This study supports the contention that powerful knowledge in biology may be construed differently in diverse jurisdictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research article, we examine why so few of the most promising young scientists in South Africa, those who obtain a P or 'prestigious' rating from the South African National Research Foundation, go on to obtain an A rating, i.e. become leading international scholars in their fields. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 36 P-rated scientists in the period 1983 to 2022, we found that personal characteristics (such as work ethic), the right international networks, and strong departmental support are among the key factors that explain the research accomplishments of highly successful achievers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for evidence on postdoctoral research fellows, or 'postdocs', has become increasingly evident globally, as many countries, including South Africa, lack information on these researchers. We used existing sources of quantitative data to provide a longitudinal profile of postdocs at South African public universities. These sources include national research-and-development surveys and data from the national Higher Education Management Information System. Our focus was on postdocs' representation and research intensity (i.e. time spent on research) within the national research system, as well as on two key demographic features, namely nationality and gender. We draw comparisons with findings reported for other countries to situate our results within the global science system. Interpretation of our results leads us to comment on global and national developments and policies relevant to postdocs. Significance: * This article provides, for the first time, longitudinal, quantitative evidence at the national level about postdocs in South Africa, a category of early-career researcher which has been growing in size and relevance but has remained largely invisible. * The findings provide the basis for a critical reflection on current discourses and policies related to postdocs in South Africa. * Interpretation of the findings allows us to identify priorities for future research on postdocs in South Africa that would be most useful to inform both national and institutional policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Africa, 40% of traffic fatalities are pedestrians -- the highest proportion globally. Yet little is known about driver characteristics that are associated with unsafe driving in African countries. We aimed to explore associations between driving practices that endanger pedestrian safety and motorists' attitudes to the law (i.e. lawlessness and normlessness), controlling for sociodemographic and personality factors. We used the Response Time Method, based on Russell Fazio's attitude paradigm, to collect information about driver behaviours, attitudes, and personality traits among a sample of 440 motorists. Male gender was associated with unsafe driving, even when controlling for the effects of personality and attitudes to the law. Unsafe driving was also associated with four dimensions of motorists' personality, namely aggression, impulsivity, risk tolerance, and altruism, even when controlling for sociodemographic factors. Lawlessness (defined as a general disregard for the law) is also an important determinant of unsafe driving, even when controlling for sociodemographic and personality factors. These findings suggest that efforts to improve pedestrian safety in South Africa should focus on changing motorists' attitudes to the law. Significance: This study addresses pedestrian safety in the context of South Africa. The fact that 40% of traffic fatalities are pedestrians highlights the urgent need to understand the factors contributing to unsafe driving practices. The study delves into uncharted territory by examining driver characteristics associated with unsafe driving. Through exploring associations between driving practices that endanger pedestrian safety and motorists' attitudes to the law, this article provides valuable insights that can inform targeted interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]