TUT DIGITAL OPEN REPOSITORY

This study aimed to assess the developmental effects of economic integration on SADC member countries using the system of innovation approach. In order to achieve this aim, the following research objectives were formulated: ▪ To evaluate the degree of regional trade integration among SADC member states ▪ To examine the level of institutional integration among SADC member states ▪ To assess the national systems of innovation of SADC member states and the SADC regional system of innovation ▪ To determine the degree of alignment between national systems of innovation of SADC member states and the SADC regional system of innovation. A qualitative research approach which combined a systematic literature review with document analysis using content analysis was adopted for this study. The critical literature review yielded contradictory results, with some studies finding that regional integration had positive developmental effects and others finding that regional integration had negative developmental effects. Some did not find any effect. Document analysis revealed, firstly, that SADC member countries had mainly failed to meet the targets of regional trade integration set out in the original SADC RISDP 2005-2020. Secondly, national economies of SADC countries remained undiversified, dominated mainly by the agricultural and mining sectors. The study found that there was still a low possibility of establishing a viable SADC regional system of innovation.

Sows are selected for their prolificacy. Therefore, assessing difficulties that can be associated with large litters is crucial. This review aims to highlight the factors that can affect reproductive performance such as breed, parity, litter size, environment, and nutrition. Understanding these factors can help producers make informed decisions about sow management and other aspects. Higher within-litter variation is the result of a high number of piglets born. It has been determined that large litter sizes pose a risk to animal welfare in the pig industry. Moreover, large litters bring more piglets with low birth weight leading to high pre-weaning losses. Lighter littermates struggle to get enough colostrum due to the competition with heavy littermates, which lowers their chances of survival causing high mortality. Larger litters may cause greater stress and discomfort of the sow. Therefore, applying stress-free environment and treating the sow with anti-inflammatory compounds may enhance the sow performance and consequent survival of piglets. The litter size is positively correlated with the variation in birth weight within a litter, while the average weight at birth is negatively related to litter size. Producers should therefore focus on potential management strategies that can improve piglet performance, survival and welfare such as proper supervision and adequate colostrum intake. This review highlights the historical development of the pig industry and literature on the variation in piglet weight at birth within a litter, factors influencing weight at birth, and the potential effects on the piglet performance before weaning. Also, the difficulties amongst large litters and possible strategies for managing survival in large litters were also reviewed.

Transfer learning (TL) has been proven to be one of the most significant techniques for cross-subject classification in electroencephalogram (EEG)-based brain-computer interfaces (BCI). Hence, it is widely used to address the challenges of cross-session and cross-subject variability with more accurate intention prediction. In this case, TL utilizes knowledge (signal features) in the source domain(s) to improve the classification in the target domain. However, current existing transfer learning approaches on EEG-based BCI are mostly limited to two-class cross-subject classification problems, while multi-class problems are only implemented with a focus on within-subject classification due to the complexity of multi-class cross-subject classification problems. In this paper, we first extended the transfer learning approaches to a multi-class cross-subject scenario, then investigated the reason for transfer learning performance being poor in multi-class cross-subject classification. Secondly, we address the challenge of significant sessional and subject-to-subject variations originating from both known and unknown factors. It is discovered that such variations have a massive influence on the classification because of the negative transfer (NT) across domains. Based on this discovery, we propose a multi-class transfer learning approach based on multi-source manifold feature transfer learning (MMFT) framework and an enhanced version to minimize the effects of NT. The proposed multi-class transfer learning approach extends the existing MMFT to multi-class cases. Then enhanced multi-class MMFT firstly searches for domains with high transferability and selects only the best combination among source domains (SD), then utilize the best-selected combination of domains for transfer learning. Experimental results illustrate that the proposed multi-class MMFT can be employed in the cross-subject classification of both three-class and four-class problems. Experimental results also demonstrated that the enhanced multi-class MMFT could effectively minimize the effect of negative transfer and significantly increase the prediction rates across individual target domains (TD). The highest classification accuracy (CA) of 98% is obtained by the enhanced multi-class MMFT.

A Ti-Fe-Si-Cr-Nb alloy was fabricated using laser metal deposition (LMD) technique. The laser power and scanning speed were varied during fabrication to optimize the processing parameters. The thermal behavior during LMD processing was modeled and simulated by means of COMSOL Multiphysics 6.0 software. The samples produced were characterized using an optical microscope, X-ray diffractometer, and scanning electron microscope coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy. The microhardness and wear behavior of the alloy were tested using a diamond indenter and ball-on-disk wear machine. The results obtained showed that the alloys exhibited similar dendritic microstructure for all processing parameters. The formation of cracks and pores were evident mainly in samples that were produced at high scanning speed and low laser power. A decrease in microhardness was noticed when the laser power was increased, while an increase in scanning speed yielded samples with high microhardness values. The alloy showed good tribological behavior, but no clear relationship between the wear resistance of the alloy and the variation of the laser processing parameters could be established.

The aim of the study was to develop a framework for understanding sustained sales revenue and equity value during the COVID-19 pandemic. The specific objectives were: to determine the relationship between corporate branding and sales revenue during the Covid-19 pandemic; to determine the relationship between corporate innovation and sales revenue during the Covid-19 pandemic; to identify the relationship between corporate diversity and sales revenue during the Covid-19 pandemic; to determine the relationship between corporate branding and equity value during the Covid-19 pandemic; to determine the relationship between corporate innovation and equity value during the Covid-19 pandemic, and finally, to determine the relationship between corporate diversity and equity value during the Covid-19 pandemic. These objectives were pursued while controlling for corporate entities’ marketing expenses, size, age, and leverage. The study applied a quantitative analytical method, drawing on a sample of 74 global companies from various industries that the Financial Times identified (and ranked) as having prospered during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were collected from the financial years 2019 to 2021 and analyzed using a Pearson pairwise correlation matrix and by performing a cross-sectional regression analysis. The study found a positive and statistically insignificant impact between sales revenue and corporate branding. The study also found that corporate innovation has a positive but insignificant effect on sales revenue, while it has a significantly negative effect on equity value. Moreover, corporate diversity was found to have a significantly negative influence on sales revenue. The impact of corporate branding and diversity on equity value was positive but statistically insignificant. Furthermore, the findings remain consistent after taking into account sector heterogeneity. The findings from the analysis achieve the six secondary research objectives. The research contributes to knowledge of business processes through the development of a framework for understanding factors that support the attainment of sustained corporate sales revenue and equity value during crisis. No similar framework of this nature had been developed prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, and as yet nothing similar has been attempted either.

Translating between two languages with different cultural backgrounds, such as English and Tshivenḓa, is problematic due to the lack of equivalent concepts in specific disciplines, such as Geography. Hence, a study that proposes ways to circumvent non-equivalence is essential. Therefore, this study aims to identify and analyse the translation strategies used by Tshivenḓa translators to address problems of non-equivalence at the word level when translating Grade 4 Geography concepts. To conduct this qualitative phenomenology investigation, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 5 purposefully selected Tshivenḓa translators, and the text analysis method was also used to collect data. Inductive thematic analysis was conducted to analyse data collected for the study. Moreover, the Skopos and the Scan and Balance theoretical frameworks were adopted in this study to analyse and evaluate the data that was collected. The results of this study have shown that the main issue for Tshivenḓa translators is the lack of terminologies in fields like Geography. This is due to the difficulty of translating between two languages that have diverse cultural traditions. The findings show that Tshivenḓa translators used different methods to address problems of non-equivalence. They consist of paraphrasing, more general words, related words, transliteration, and omission. The findings may help Tshivenḓa, one of South Africa's minority languages, develop as a language by facilitating translation processes. The study recommends using the translation techniques identified to solve issues while translating English Grade 4 Geography concepts into Tshivenḓa.