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Artificial intelligence-powered decision support system for operational decision-making in the ICT department of a selected African university
(Taylor and Francis Group, Routledge, 2024-09-16) Funda, Vusumzi; Francke, Errol
This paper aims to explore the effect of an artificial intelligence-enabled decision support system (AIDSS) on decisionmaking processes within a university setting, focusing on the ICT department of a selected South African university. The research objectives revolve around the effectiveness of AIDSS in enhancing decision-making in higher education institutions. Convenience sampling was employed in this study and a questionnaire administered to 28 participants. These methods were chosen to gather insights into the practical application of AI technology in the context of IT operational decision-making. The major findings of this research reveal that AIDSS has the potential to significantly improve decision-making processes in higher education. Despite these advancements, the research acknowledges the ethical and societal implications arising from AI integration, underscoring the importance of achieving a balance between technical advancement and the upholding of human values. As a major policy implication, this study underscores the importance of embracing AI technologies in higher education institutions to enhance decision-making processes, thus improving the efficiency and effectiveness of IT operations. The original contribution of this research lies in its exploration of the practical use of AIDSS in South African higher education, offering insights into how AI
can be harnessed to advance decision-making.
Integration of routine core data and petrographic analysis to determine the sandstone reservoir flow units in the Bredasdorp Basin, Offshore South Africa
(University of Fort Hare, 2024-11) Tyhutyhani, Nobathembu; Magoba, M.; Gwavava, O.
The integration of routine core data and petrography to determine the sandstone reservoir flow units was extensively performed in four selected wells: F-A10, F-A13, FO1, and F-O2 in the Bredasdorp Basin, offshore South Africa. Determining the quality of reservoirs and identifying minerals present is crucial for defining the best reservoir interval for hydrocarbon flow and storage and avoiding exploration errors by using suitable drilling and hydraulic fluids. Moreover, it also helps select the best Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) methods. The analysed wells were randomly chosen throughout the upper shallow marine interval to examine the impact of diagenetic minerals on reservoir flow units using geophysical wireline logs, routine core analysis, and core samples. The routine core analysis data consisted of nine hundred core plugs, which were used to establish reservoir flow units from four independent methods, namely: Pore Throat Radius, Flow Zone Indicator, Stratigraphic Modified Lorenz Plot, and Improved Stratigraphic Modified Lorenz Plot. The analysis of seventeen thin sections and fifteen scanning electron microscopy samples were employed to determine the impact of diagenetic minerals on petrophysical properties. The gamma-ray log and core samples identified one reservoir from each well. The permeability and porosity of the four identified sandstone reservoirs ranged from 0–22% and 0–2250 mD, respectively. The Stratigraphic Modified Lorenz Plot results showed five flow units classified as high, moderate, low, very low, and tight reservoir rock. In contrast, the Improved Stratigraphic Modified Lorenz Plot showed six flow units: fractured, super-conductive, conductor, semi-conductor, baffle, and semi-barrier. The Improved Stratigraphic Modified Lorenz Plot method proved more effective than the Stratigraphic Modified Lorenz Plot method in identifying flow units. The pore throat radius revealed that the pores ranged from nano-porous (≤ 1 𝜇𝑚) to megaporous (≥ 10 𝜇𝑚). The best reservoir intervals had megaporous radii and were classified as high or super-conductive flow units. In contrast, the poorer or impervious reservoir intervals had nanoporous radii and were classified as tight or baffle flow units. Four hydraulic flow units were identified and ranked as impervious, poor, fair, and good. Core logging of selected reservoirs revealed that FA10 and F-A13 were composed of glauconitic, medium-grained sandstone, fine-grained sandstone, and claystone. F-O1 was composed of fine-to-coarse grained sandstone that was moderately to well-sorted. F-O2 comprised of fine-grained, argillaceous sandstones that were poorly to moderately sorted. The Scanning Electron Microscopy analysis revealed that the clay minerals in the selected wells were smectite, illite, and chlorite. The effect of diagenetic minerals on petrophysical properties was apparent in the pore-filling minerals (glauconite, siderite, smectite, illite, chlorite, quartz and feldspar overgrowth, calcite, and calcareous sponge), which affected intergranular pore spaces and pore connectivity. Various diagenetic processes, such as cementation, compaction, and pore-filling minerals, significantly impacted the reservoir petrophysical characteristics of the studied reservoirs, particularly the F-O2 reservoir. These results can serve as input parameters for the Bredasdorp Basin's static and dynamic reservoir models.
Applied Development Communication: CMS 225, Degree Examinations October/November 2025
(University of Fort Hare, 2025-10) Metula, N.; Onyenankeya, K.U.
Compassion, secure flourishing, and organizational commitment of managers
(Frontiers Media, 2024-05-01) Mari, Ford; Rothmann, Sebastiaan; Van Zyl, Llewellyn Ellardus; Toker, S.
Introduction:
Compassion is important for facilitating individual wellbeing and commitment. However, little is known about its importance and function within organizational contexts. This study aimed to assess the associations between compassion for others, experienced compassion, secure flourishing, and organizational commitment within a sample of managers from South Africa. Given that Pommier’s Compassion Scale (which was used in this study) was not previously validated in South Africa, the study investigated its factorial validity and measurement invariance across genders.
Methods:
A cross-sectional online survey-based research design with a purposive sampling strategy was employed to sample 390 managers to participate in this study. The Compassion Scale, Experienced Compassion Scale, Secure Flourishing Index and Organizational Commitment Scales were administered. A competing measurement modeling strategy was employed to test the factorial validity of the compassion scale. McDonalds Omega was computed to test the reliability of the instrument. Measurement invariance was employed to test the factorial equivalence of the compassion scale across genders. A structural model was tested to determine the relationships between factors.
Results:
The results supported a bifactor ESEM Model with one general compassion factor and four specific subscale factors (mindfulness, kindness, indifference, and common humanity). Managers’ general compassion and belief in common humanity (a compassion subscale factor) significantly affected their secure flourishing, yet not their organizational commitment. Compassion experienced from others, however, had a strong and significant effect on their secure flourishing and organizational commitment.
Discussion:
The results indicate that the Compassion Scale is a valid, gender invariant, and reliable measure of compassion for others, and is suitable for organizational research. Giving and receiving compassion at work has significant
benefits for managers and organizations.
Synthesis and characterization of hybrid compounds containing ferrocene scaffold as potential anticancer drugs
(University of Fort Hare, 2024-11) Ndlovu, Sijongesonke; Aderibigbe, B.A.
Cancer is one of the diseases, and its treatment suffers from several limitations. For instance, there are several commercially available drugs to treat this lethal disease. However, they still display shortcomings such as drug toxicity and resistance, poor water solubility, poor bioavailability, and severe side effects. Thus, their efficacy is compromised by these limitations. The emerging drug repurposing strategy is gaining momentum from medicinal researchers. This comes after several compounds have been reported to possess various biological activities. Thus, the hybridization approach via drug reprofiling has been an interesting field of research. Hence, this study reports the synthesis of hybrid compounds as potential anticancer drugs. Two ferrocene scaffolds (ferrocene and ferrocene carboxaldehyde) were modified to keto-ferrocene butanoic acid (16) and methyl-ferrocenol (18) and hybridized with several selected pharmacophores via esterification and amidation reactions using suitable functional groups, resulting in a class of eleven esterlinked (19-29) and five amide-linked (30 34) hybrids. The characterization techniques including Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) confirmed the successful development of these hybrids by displaying the expected signals at the expected regions of the spectra.
Most importantly, the molecular weights calculated corresponded with those obtained by the LCMS on the samples. In vitro, two hybrid compounds, 20 ( thymol-keto-ferrocene butanoate) and 27 (ursolic-ferrocenoate), were the most promising anticancer compounds, displaying a 50% cytotoxic effect against cervical cancer (HeLa) and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines and less than 20% on normal cells (VERO). Noteworthy, the cytotoxicity was concentrationdependent. Furthermore, hybrid 20 was the most effective compound with a selective index greater than one from the series. Thus, the findings from the molecular docking of these two most promising hybrids further confirmed the in vitro findings, which revealed high negative docking scores, signifying binding interactions and good binding affinity of the compounds towards the biological targets. The in silico predictions of the two also showed they are non-toxic, have a good bioavailability score (0.55<), are P-gp substrates, and do not inhibit most of the CPY enzymes. Hence, this study reveals the efficacy of synthesizing hybrid compounds containing ferrocene scaffolds and plant-based pharmacophores, such as thymol and ursolic acid. Developing hybrid molecules is a promising synthetic approach for potent anticancer agents.