Correcting the World's Greatest Market Failure: Climate Change and the Multilateral Development Banks

Outlines efforts by multilaterals to link economic development and environmental policies. Discusses the need for more progress in realizing low carbon development in the developing world, the political and financial challenges, and recommendations

Investing in Sustainable Energy Futures: Multilateral Development Banks' Investments in Energy Policy

Analyzes MDB loans for electricity projects and lays out policy reforms, regulations, and institutional capacities needed to enable public and private investment in sustainable energy and ways for MDBs to address them consistently and comprehensively

Power, Responsibility, and Accountability: Re-Thinking the Legitimacy of Institutions for Climate Finance

Offers lessons from current mechanisms to finance climate mitigation and adaptation and considerations for legitimacy in new ones: the capacity to determine outcomes, the exercise of power as intended, and standards and systems to ensure accountability

A translanguagepedagogy to promote Biotechnology concept engagement and academic literacy in a linguistically-diverse university context

Following the call for transformation, higher education institutions in South Africa were required to promote and implement indigenous languages in teaching and learning. This has led to various strategies and resources being explored and implemented, multilingual glossaries among them. In science, where English remains the global means of communication, our experience has been that such interventions are often underutilized. A more inclusive, holistic pedagogy is required to adequately prepare students, especially non-English speakers, for international scientific engagement. One such pedagogy is presently proposed and tested. Its purpose is to harness the dominant language - that which is most active in the learners’ minds - to first promote epistemological access to difficult scientific concepts, and after concept acquisition, develop the required English, scientific, and academic literacy. Biotechnology undergraduate students at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) - many of whom are international - reported enhancing their learning experience and recognised the significance of their dominant language in deep learning as a result of this translanguage pedagogy. Such a pedagogy demonstrates that multilingualism, far from being viewed as an impediment to teaching and learning, should be seen as a rich resource that needs to be harnessed to facilitate epistemic access, cognitive development, transformation, social cohesion, and respect for all languages

The actions of, and interactions between, auxins and cytokinins and their effect on in vitro rooting of selected Eucalyptus clones.

Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2011.Clonal propagation of Eucalyptus spp. and its hybrids allows for competitiveness in the commercial forestry industry through the propagation and preservation of superior/elite genotypes. Vegetative propagation through rooted cuttings is the industry‟s standard and the choice of clones selected for plantations are determined by their rooting ability. However, as many potentially valuable genotypes are recalcitrant to adventitious rooting, micropropagation is the only effective means of propagating them. Micropropagation results in high plantlet yields, achieved primarily through the empirical use of the key plant growth regulators (PGRs) cytokinins and auxins, for shoot and root production, respectively. Their selection for use in vitro is driven by their effects on percent rooting rather than root quality. Little is known regarding the quality of the roots of the plantlets ex vitro, but there is some evidence that they are different from those of seedlings and cuttings. It was therefore hypothesized that the properties of exogenous PGRs and their interaction with other exogenous and endogenous PGRs, influenced root development and subsequent root quality. This was tested in vitro using a good-rooting E. grandis (TAG31) and two poor-rooting E. grandis x nitens hybrid clones (GN155 and NH58). In the former, the auxins supplied during the pre-rooting culture stages (multiplication and elongation) were sufficient for 100% rooting in an auxin-free rooting medium. Different combinations of PGRs in the two pre-rooting stages, followed by rooting without auxins, revealed a direct relationship between the stability of the supplied auxin and the rooting ability of TAG31. Gas chromatographymass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses indicated that endogenous shoot levels of indole- 3-acetic acid (IAA) influenced graviperception. Also, low IAA content was associated with atypical starch grain accumulation or its absence from root tips (53.1 nmol IAA gˉ¹ DW compared with 325.7 nmol IAA g-¹ DW in gravisensing roots). The specific roles of the natural auxins IAA and IBA on root morphogenesis were then investigated using 2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid (TIBA; inhibits IAA transport), ρ-chlorophenoxyisobutyric acid (PCIB; inhibits auxin signal transduction), and the auxin antagonist kinetin in the rooting medium, following root induction. After 3 weeks, the mean root diameter was significantly reduced from 552.8μm (control) to 129.2μm (with PCIB) and 278.6μm (with kinetin). TIBA increased root diameter to 833.4μm, decreased Δ root length, increased root vasculature and resulted in agravitropism. Hence, whereas rooting could be induced by IBA, IAA was necessary for the maintenance of vascular integrity and graviperception. This critical role of IAA in root development is of importance as IBA, owing to its higher stability, has been traditionally relied upon for root induction in the majority of micropropagation protocols. The potential of incorporating IAA into the media formulations of in vitro protocols for poor-rooters that do not respond well to IAA was then investigated, using GN155 and NH58. While PCIB in the rooting medium of GN155 completely inhibited rooting, the addition of dihydroxyacetophenone (DHAP), an inhibitor of auxin conjugation, to the rooting medium, did not significantly increase % rooting in the presence of 0.1 mg 1ˉ¹ IBA (i.e. 50% rooting with 2mM DHAP and IBA, compared with 45% with IBA alone). The results suggested that the inability of some eucalypts to induce roots easily in vitro was not due to a deficiency in auxin signal transduction or to auxin conjugation. Instead, rooting was inhibited by an accumulation of kinetin within shoots during the pre-rooting culture stages. The endogenous levels of PGRs in shoots of GN155 and NH58 showed a strong relationship (R² = 0.943) between the shoot kinetin:auxin and shoot rootability. Substituting kinetin with the relatively less stable natural cytokinin trans-zeatin in the elongation stage resulted in a significant increase in % rooting in both clones, from 19% to 45% (GN155) and from 31% to 52% (NH58), with 0.1 mg 1ˉ¹ IAA in the rooting medium. However, omitting all cytokinins from the elongation medium, resulted in over 95% and 75% rooting of shoots of GN155 and NH58, respectively, with 0.1 mg 1ˉ¹ IAA. These results suggest that IAA is a requirement for root development and cannot be substituted by its analogues in certain root developmental events. Hence, IAA should be the preferred auxin for eucalypt micropropagation. As fundamental research, the approach taken in this study circumvents the empirical method used in improving micropropagation protocols. The importance of the properties and the interactions between endogenous and exogenous PGRs in regulating root morphogenesis, and the practical implications of these findings is emphasised

Development of a fluidised-bed bioreactor system for the treatment of acid mine drainage, using sulphate reducing bacteria

Dissimilatory sulphate reduction, brought about by the action of sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB) was used in the treatment of acid mine drainage (AMD) in a fluidised bed bioreactor. Biologically produced hydrogen sulphide and bicarbonate ions, by SRB, facilitated the precipitation of heavy metals and the generation of alkalinity in the synthetic acid mine water, respectively. The SRB that had been selected were able to utilize acetate as the sole carbon source and were capable of growing in the bioreactors at low pHs, facilitating an increase in the influent pH from 2.75-7.0 to 5.4-7.8, after a 24-hour hydraulic retention time (HRT). The precipitation efficiencies for Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Cr and Al after a HRT of 24 h as metal sulphides ranged between 84- 99% for influent pH values of between 4 and 7, and above 54% for influent pH values between 2.75 and 4. Microbial metabolic activity decreased with decreasing influent pH. This was inferred from the decreasing differences in chemical oxygen demand (COD) depletion rate over a 24 h HRT, as influent acidity levels approached pH 2.75. Molecular studies, using PCR-DGGE analysis on the microbial consortium in the bioreactor, revealed the presence of at least 8 different bacterial species in the consortium. Attempts at sequencing these bands yielded inconclusive results, with the bands showing sequence homology to a large number of previously uncultured and undescribed bacteria. Scanning electron microscopy confirmed the presence of bacteria of different morphology, as well as the presence of biofilms, which account for the heavy metal and low pH tolerances that the bacteria sustained

The properties and interaction of auxins and cytokinins influence rooting of shoot cultures of Eucalyptus

Success in Eucalyptus micropropagation varies with genotype. Although some protocols have proven suitable for suites of clones, many genotypes are recalcitrant to rooting. Their micropropagation is addressed empirically through the manipulation of auxins and cytokinins, which work antagonistically to produce roots and shoots, respectively. Rooting success of three genotypes with 0.1 mg/l indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) was initially recorded as 87, 45 and 41% for clones 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Further studies using the auxin signal transduction inhibitor ñ-chlorophenoxyisobutyric acid (PCIB) or the auxin conjugation inhibitor dihydroxyacetophenone (DHAP) indicated that the poor rooting response of clone 2 was not due to deficient auxin signal perception or auxin conjugation. Omitting kinetin during elongation, followed by auxin-free rooting, significantly increased root production in clone 2 (from 45 to 80.3%), but had no effect on clone 1. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of auxins and kinetin of shoots, prior to rooting, revealed a strong relationship (R2 = 0.943) between rootability and the shoot kinetin:auxin. Replacing kinetin with the less stable trans-zeatin significantly increased rooting of clone 2 (from 19 to 45%) and clone 3 (31 to 52%). It is suggested that root induction in poor-rooters is dependent on exogenous cytokinin depletion from in vitro shoots.Key words: Eucalyptus, phytohormone interaction, root quality

The auditory effects of occupational exposure to chemical solvents.

Master of Science in Audiology. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2016.Recently emerging literature indicates that the combination of solvents and noise have the potential to cause auditory dysfunction. There is limited literature available relating to the effects of SIHL exposure on the auditory system and this highlights the need for this study. The study firstly aimed to determine the combined effects of exposure to solvents and noise on auditory function in workers by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis. The study further aimed at profiling the audiological results of a group of workers exposed to a variety of solvents at various exposure levels within high and low noise factories. A longitudinal prospective research design was used. The researcher collected data at multiple follow-up times over a six month period to obtain multiple measurements on each worker. The final study sample comprised of 12 workers. Results: Aim one: Heterogeneity was assessed in the selected studies by using the I2 test. Results revealed that significantly higher odds (p=0.006) of acquiring hearing loss when workers are exposed to a combination of solvents and noise as opposed to solvents only. Aim two: Participants were exposed to noise and solvents within the limits, however, pure tone threshold results revealed that all workers experienced hearing loss at 12KHz with a mean of 45dB across all the phases. Results for DPOAEs revealed that all workers had reduced amplitudes across all three phases with the exception of one pass result at one phase for one worker. When pure tone thresholds and OAEs were compared, the statistics indicated that there were no significant differences (p=0.68 and p =0.38) between pure tone audiometry and DPOAEs. The sample size of the study was too small to yield significant results. Participants reported on various symptoms experienced from exposure to solvents dizziness, headaches and blurry eyes. The present study supports that exposure to solvents may increase the risk of hearing loss due to noise exposure. The researcher recommends that industries should prioritize noise and solvent reduction to prevent hearing loss and the audiologist‟s role within audiological monitoring of solvent induced hearing loss is emphasized

Determining the relationship between added sugar intake and body mass index (BMI) among undergraduate students between the ages of 18-25 years studying at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg campus.

Master of Science in Dietetics. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2016.Chronic diseases of lifestyle are a major contributor towards the increased incidence of mortality and morbidity among individuals worldwide. In conjunction with this, dietary and lifestyle modifications have contributed towards the overweight and obesity problem. Recent but not conclusive evidence has suggested that the consumption of added sugars, particularly from sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) could be the driving force behind this problem. University students are vulnerable to these dietary and lifestyle changes as they are exposed to a new environment in which independent food choices have to be made. Unfortunately the influence of the food environment often results in poor dietary habits. Determining the relationship between added sugar intake and body mass index (BMI) among undergraduate students between the ages of 18-25 years studying at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Pietermaritzburg campus. To determine: the demographic characteristics of the students such as age, gender, race and place of residence; the BMI of the students; the dietary intake of added sugar from foods and beverages among the students; the association between the dietary intake of added sugar and the students’ BMI; the consumption and consumption patterns of sugar sweetened beverages; the influence of demographic characteristics on the dietary intake of added sugars and the factors that influence the intake of SSBs. A cross sectional study was conducted on 387 undergraduate students between the ages of 18-25 years attending UKZN, Pietermaritzburg. Non-probability sampling was used to recruit the students. A three part questionnaire was used to gather information on anthropometric measurements, demographic characteristics, and a 24 hour dietary recall and a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) was used to assess the added sugar intake among the subjects. The study population consisted of 33.1% male subjects and 66.9% female subjects. Most of the subjects were from the Black African race group (90.4%), followed by the Indian (7%), Coloured (2.1%) and White (0.5%) race group. A vast majority of the subjects lived away from home (76.7%). A significant number of the subjects were within the normal BMI classification (64.9%) and the mean BMI of the subjects was 23.5kgm2. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was higher among the female (22% and 11.5%) than male subjects (13.3% and 2.4%) and more male subjects were within the normal BMI category (77.3%). Significant differences were observed between the subjects BMI and the consumption of some food and beverage items listed in the FFQ. Subjects with a higher BMI consumed flavoured milks less often, and consumed a greater amount of ice cream and a smaller amount of hard boiled sweets. The frequency of consumption of the foods and beverages that contained added sugar was significantly higher among the female subjects, and the male subjects consumed significantly greater amounts of these foods and beverages. Differences were observed in the consumption of added sugars across the genders, races and place of residence. Subjects that lived at home and that were Indian and female consumed most of the food and beverage categories that contained added sugars more frequently. Taste and price significantly influenced the students’ consumption of SSBs. The most frequent place of purchase and consumption of SSBs as reported by the subjects were supermarkets and on campus respectively. Most of the subjects were within the normal BMI classification. Approximately one third of the subjects were overweight or obese, however there were more overweight subjects. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was higher among the female subjects. The subjects’ diet lacked variety, and the frequency of consumption of added sugars from the various food and beverage categories was relatively high among the sample population. Differences with regards to the consumption of added sugars were observed across the categories of gender, race and place of residence. Factors such as taste and price greatly influenced the students’ consumption of SSBs. Although significant differences between BMI and the intake of some sugar containing foods and beverages existed, this aspect requires further exploration among university students. The poor dietary habits among the university students as well as the prevalence of overweight and obesity among this population group, highlight the fact that there is a great need for strategies to be implemented in order to promote healthier dietary and lifestyle habits among young adults

The efficacy of individualised homeopathic treatment on constipation

Abstract:Background: Constipation is the term describing either infrequent bowel movements, difficult evacuation of stool, hard stool or a sensation of incomplete defecation (Longmore, 2012). The effects of constipation compound from impacting on the person’s physical health to effecting their moods and influencing their social life (Marks, 2012). Most conventional treatments strive to treat only local symptoms and do not address concomitant symptoms of constipation. Alternative treatment options such as homeopathy offer a more holistic approach and can be adopted; however, further research is needed to establish its effectiveness in treating constipation. Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of individualised homeopathic treatment on chronic constipation in adults. Methodology: This was a case study research design conducted at the University of Johannesburg Homeopathy Health Training Centre. Thirteen adults between the ages of 18 to 50 years who met the Rome II criteria for constipation were selected for participation and ten participants completed the study. The study consisted of four consultations per participant over a six week period. At the initial meeting a comprehensive case history was taken and analysed according to the principles of classical homeopathic prescribing and the best suited homeopathic remedy was administered. Data collection was in the form of case studies, which were analysed and described. The Bowel Function Diary and Bristol Stool Form Scale were used to assess changes in defecation quality and frequency and the results of these were then represented in the form of graphs. Results: The results of the case studies were positive and holistic. They indicated an improvement in stool frequency for all ten participants, and an improvement in stool form and ease of evacuation for the majority of the participants. The participants also reported that they experienced a better state of general and emotional wellbeing during the course of the research study. These results support previous findings which suggest that when an individualised homeopathic approach is correctly applied in a clinical setting, it is an effective approach for the management of chronic constipation in adults