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The pace at which Next Generation Sequence data is being produced continues to accelerate as technology improves. As a result, such data are increasingly becoming accessible to biologists outside of the field of bioinformatics. In contrast, access to training in the methods of genome assembly and annotation are not growing at a similar rate. In this issue, we report on a Genome Assembly Workshop for Mycologists that was held at the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI) at the University of Pretoria, South Africa and make available the 12 draft genome sequences emanating from the event. With the aim of making the process of genome assembly and annotation more accessible to biologists, we provide a step-by-step guide to both genome assembly and annotation, intended to encourage and empower mycologists to use genome data in their research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With renewed interest in the optimisation of the hydraulic performance of new and existing culverts, particularly relevant to South Africa's evolving road network and anticipated climate-induced rainfall changes, this research investigated the benefit of angled wingwall and headwall combinations and considered the installation of a ventilation device in order to improve culvert performances. Through experimental modelling at the University of Pretoria Water Laboratory, the angled wingwall and headwall combinations demonstrated significant flow improvements compared to square inlets. It was also demonstrated that a ventilation device could cause flow through culverts to flow under inlet control conditions where it would otherwise have flowed under outlet control conditions. Additionally, the study proposes design coefficient adjustments for square inlet culverts operating under inlet control conditions. The proposed improvements can be applied during design stages, but the findings also propose prefabricated inlet elements as cost-effective solutions for existing culverts, thereby facilitating quick upgrades without the need for lengthy road closures while potentially enabling benefits for pedestrian traffic. Ultimately, this study underscores the potential of innovative and novel design modifications to enhance culvert performance, offering sustainable and economical alternatives to conventional replacement practices while advancing hydraulic engineering resilience in response to evolving infrastructural and environmental demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the cognitive effectiveness of watching subtitled discipline-specific videos to determine how subtitling, as an emerging technology, encourages language equity, social justice, and the rise of technomultilinguialism. Cognitive effectiveness is investigated using gaze duration in eye-tracking as a proxy for attention allocation and gist comprehension together with scene and word recognition. It also considers whether academic English subtitles permit students enough time to look at both on-screen images and text. This study uses eyetracking data from seven student participants in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Pretoria. The students were offered subtitles in English, Afrikaans, isiZulu, and Sepedi. However, the participants who volunteered for the study selected largely English and Afrikaans subtitles, and the isiZulu and Sepedi subtitles were unfortunately not utilised during this particular study. This paper concludes that the participants preferred English subtitles and remembered certain concepts from the videos better when their focus was on the subtitles themselves rather than exclusively on the on-screen image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering that wind power is proportional to the cube of the wind speed variable, which is highly random, complex power grid management tasks have arisen as a result. Wind speed prediction in the short term is crucial for load dispatch planning and load increment/decrement decisions. The chaotic intermittency of speed is often characterised by inherent linear and nonlinear patterns, as well as nonstationary behaviour; thus, it is generally difficult to predict it accurately and efficiently using a single linear or nonlinear model. In this study, wavelet transform (WT), autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), extreme gradient boosting trees (XGBoost), and support vector regression (SVR) are combined to predict high-resolution short-term wind speeds obtained from three Southern African Universities Radiometric Network (SAURAN) stations: Richtersveld (RVD); Central University of Technology (CUT); and University of Pretoria (UPR). This hybrid model is termed WT-ARIMA-XGBoost-SVR. In the proposed hybrid, the ARIMA component is employed to capture linearity, while XGBoost captures nonlinearity using the wavelet decomposed subseries from the residuals as input features. Finally, the SVR model reconciles linear and nonlinear predictions. We evaluated the WT-ARIMA-XGBoost-SVR's efficacy against ARIMA and two other hybrid models that substitute XGBoost with a light gradient boosting machine (LGB) component to form a WT-ARIMA-LGB-SVR hybrid model and a stochastic gradient boosting machine (SGB) to form a WT-ARIMA-SGB-SVR hybrid model. Based on mean absolute error (MAE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), root mean square error (RMSE), coefficient of determination (R2), and prediction interval normalised average width (PINAW), the proposed hybrid model provided more accurate and reliable predictions with less uncertainty for all three datasets. This study is critical for improving wind speed prediction reliability to ensure the development of effective wind power management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During a lively debate between Haroon Bhorat and Michael Sachs at the University of Pretoria recently, Bhorat pleaded for supply‐side measures to alleviate poverty in South Africa, rather than demand‐side measures. (The debate took place during a session at the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences' Inaugural Research Day on 8 September, 2023).Bhorat claimed that the SRD grants could not secure a solution to unemployment in a sustainable manner. In this paper, we use the UPGEM Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model of the University of Pretoria to test the performance of wage subsidies in South Africa, in comparison to the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grants of the same expenditure magnitude, and report on the differences between the two policy measures in terms of (i) unemployment alleviation, (ii) poverty alleviation and (iii) economic impact in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Living wall systems (LWSs) can provide biophilic value and ecosystem services as part of the quest for sustainable development. Despite their benefits and potential to mitigate global challenges such as cooling, air purification, sound absorption, and human well-being, their economic feasibility, resilience, maintenance, and sustainability impact on their application and use. This article gives an overview of a pragmatic study which synthesised the factors hampering LWSs' performance as green infrastructure (GI) and analysed the performance of outdoor modular LWSs as GI. The study aims to establish criteria for selecting the most suitable LWSs as green infrastructure. Data capturing involved a mixed-method methodology. Local experts provided insight into local LWS typologies through questionnaires, which were analysed qualitatively. The six-month experimental study involved two selected LWSs of 4m2 each in extent on the University of Pretoria's Future Africa campus in Pretoria, in South Africa's Gauteng province. Variables included minimum and maximum daily temperatures, relative humidity, precipitation, soil temperature, water content and electrical conductivity, leaf biomass yield, and plant stress. The researcher monitored fresh and dry biomass yields with a calibrated laboratory balance as the primary performance indicator. Plant stress, the secondary performance indicator, was measured by chlorophyll fluorescence analysis. Experimental data were statistically analysed. The findings lay the groundwork for improving LWSs as GI, which can contribute to more sustainable cities. This is achieved by defining LWSs' technical characteristics to enhance their performance as GI. The results favour locally produced, low-technology, outdoor modular LWSs with limited, robust, lightweight, recycled components entailing uncomplicated assembly. Systems must involve low-technology irrigation. The LWS position should consider the plant crops' light requirements and pollution. Pots should receive limited sun exposure and have a soil volume of 3 litres and a minimum depth of 200mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports and reflects on an empirical investigation of the views of selected Generation Z students from South Africa and China on the role of universities in developing socially responsible graduates. In 2020, an online questionnaire was developed and distributed to three university students enrolled in engineering, built environment, and information technology degree programs. There were 417 responses from students in these three fields at the University of Pretoria, South Africa; thirtyone from students at Sichuan University, China; and twenty-three from engineering students at the Central University of Technology in Bloemfontein, South Africa. The majority of the students from all three universities strongly agreed that participation in community development projects linked to their field of study should be a required component of their degree programs. The research findings indicate that students in these fields who participated in the study consider themselves among the university's main stakeholders and believe they should be included in curriculum development. Most of these students were positive about embedding socially responsible service-learning in their curricula to prepare them for future roles in a local and global society. The limitations of the study were the following. These students from university campuses in China and South Africa are not representative of all Generation Z individuals in these countries. The validity of the research may be limited as the University of Pretoria's cohort was much larger than the other two universities. Only those students who had enrolled in courses in engineering, the built environment, and information technology were involved in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social ills are increasing globally, necessitating higher education and teacher-training institutions to produce teachers with specific attributes to address the challenges. The University of Pretoria employs a triple helix approach, combining a set of interactions between community engagement, work-integrated learning and work readiness into the curricula. The aim is to yield adaptable teachers with employability skills and knowledge to function in a rapidly changing, 21st-century world. This paper reports on a follow-up or Stage 2 community engagement project conducted with identified third-year pre-service teachers. The first stage or Stage 1 of the qualitative approach study within participation action research embedded in Kolb's cyclic experiential learning theory found that many learners at the school experienced learning difficulties. This paper reports the Stage 2 findings following an investigation into the systematic factors that contribute to learning difficulties. The findings suggest interrelated dynamic contributions and highlight the crucial role of universities in advancing the social development of communities. The study further proposes a fundamental shift in focus to a joint stakeholder collaboration in supporting communities and learners, thus sidestepping the social and anticipated learning difficulties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The suboccipital triangle (ST) is a clinically relevant landmark in the posterior aspect of the neck and is used to locate and mobilize the horizontal segment of the third part of the vertebral artery before it enters the cranium. Unfortunately, this space is not always a viable option for vertebral artery exposition, and consequently a novel triangle, the inferior suboccipital triangle (IST) has been defined. This alternative triangle will allow surgeons to locate the artery more proximally, where its course is more predictable. The purpose of this study was to better define the anatomy of both triangles by measuring their borders and calculating their areas. Ethical clearance was obtained from the University of Pretoria (reference number: 222/2021) and both triangles were subsequently dissected out on both the left and right sides of 33 formalin-fixed human adult cadavers. The borders of each triangle were measured using a digital calliper and the areas were calculated using Herons Formula. The average area of the ST is 969.82±153.15 mm², while the average area of the IST is 307.48±41.31 mm² . No statistically significant differences in the findings were observed between the sides of the body, ancestry, or sex of the cadavers. Measurement and analysis of these triangles provided important anatomical information and speak to their clinical relevance as surgical landmarks with which to locate the vertebral artery. Of particular importance here is the IST, which allows for mobilisation of this artery more proximally, should the ST be occluded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The City of Tshwane and University of Pretoria's Community Oriented Substance Use Programme (COSUP) is an applied research intervention to address drug use-related harms in the city by using a harm reduction community-oriented primary care approach. This is a study of stakeholder perceptions of South Africa's first publicly funded community-based harm reduction programme. In late 2021, purposively sampled respondents were surveyed using a cross-sectional survey. Electronically captured data were collected on respondent demographic characteristics, familiarity with COSUP and perceptions of COSUP's effect on service users' well-being, access to drug use services, family relationships, community integration, and on effective approaches to managing drug use. Frequencies and proportions were analysed as a total and by the degree of familiarity with COSUP, using descriptive statistics. Overall, 338 (93.1%) of the 363 stakeholders who consented to participate in the study had some familiarity with COSUP. Sociodemographically, 68.1% were female and over half (52.4%) were aged between 25-39 years. Most (70-80%) thought COSUP improved client well-being, family relationships and community re-integration. Most (80-84%) perceived COSUP to have increased service provider willingness to support people who use drugs, improved stakeholder networking and raised awareness of drugrelated services. Most (76%) considered harm reduction to be the best approach to manage harmful drug use in the city. Stakeholders exposed to the work of COSUP perceive the intervention to be beneficial for individuals, families and service-providing organisations. Most favour a harm reduction approach to drug use and believe COSUP should be sustained and expanded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article critically reflects on the facilitation of embodied practice in virtual spaces of teaching, learning and creation, specifically looking at ways of facilitating touch within the broader context of decolonising dance and movement practices in South Africa. When working without the touch of another (human)being, I explore how the affordances of environment and surfaces can offer a feedback loop for the sounding body in motion. The article draws from experiences of facilitating movement and physical theatre courses at the University of Pretoria to suggest how touch may become an embodied technique that structures practice in spaces of isolation and inertia and in times where notions of continuity and discontinuity are ruptured. I explore how walls, surfaces and objects become secondary affordances that offer an external force onto the body through tactility. Reading discourses of embodiment and decoloniality through one another, I further argue that using touch to re-initiate motion offers political possibilities to exercise the leap from inertia to activation, and trouble the colonially formed category of human. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]