Abstract: Clam shrimps (Spinicaudata) are a widespread and diverse crustacean group that frequent temporary aquatic habitats, but few complete mitochondrial genomes have been published for this group. Here,we report the mitogenome of an undescribed Gondwanalimnadia species from Botswana. Raw sequences were assembled into a single circular genome with a total length of 15,663bp. Thirteen protein-coding genes, 22 tRNAs, and 2 rRNAs were identified using the MITOS pipeline. The mitogenome’s G...
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to propose and investigate an algorithm for solving a fixed point of η-demimetric mappings. We establish the strong convergence of the proposed algorithm under some mild conditions in Banach spaces. We apply these results to obtain new strong convergence theorems which are connected with the η-demimetric fixed point problems in Hilber/Banach spaces.
Abstract: This work is primarily focused on probing quantum gravity through astrophysical observations based on the theoretical framework of the Nexus Paradigm of quantum gravity. The Nexus Paradigm is a theoretical framework that is still in development and offers a different approach to the problem of quantum theory of gravity. In this framework gravity, Dark Energy (DE) and Dark Matter (DM) are seen as different manifestations of the quantum gravity. Astrophysical observations offer a...
Abstract: Reconstruction of climate dynamics in southern Africa has been immensely constrained by the absence of continuous proxies records. Sediments provide potential sources of studying past environments because their makeup is a direct response to variabilities in the environment and climate. In this study a multiple geochemical proxy approach was used to investigate two 30 m deep sediments cores from northern Botswana to construe their various geological processes and environments ...
Abstract: An integrated geophysical approach (using induced polarization together with resistivity) geophysical techniques was applied in the research area (Phitshane Molopo area, Botswana) in search for potential gold mineralization from the interpreted data to delineate potential sites for mineralization. Reports on historic exploration suggest that gold mineralization is associated with quartz ± carbonate veins that cut across the banded iron formations. The 2D IP/ERI measurements w...
Abstract: A technique for estimation of measurement uncertainty of routine pH measurement using pH meters; Thermo scientific Orion Star and Basic 20 is presented. There are issues associated with pH measurements, what we actually measure is not usually what we would expect or even intend, and it is common practice that analysts just take the immediate reading without doing repetitions. The pH measurements made from one chemical laboratory are not consistent with those made in a differen...
Abstract: Heart rate variability refers to the variations in time interval between successive heart beats. An understanding of its dynamics can have clinical importance since it can help distinguish persons with healthy heart beats from those without. Our aim in this thesis was to characterise the dynamics of the human heart rate variabilty from three different groups: normal, heart failure and atrial fibrillation subjects. In particular, we wanted to establish if the dynamics of heart rat...
Abstract: Lead pollution of soil arising from use of leaded ammunition in shooting ranges has received considerable attention from researchers, scientists, policy makers and legislatures. This is due to the adverse health effects associated with exposure to Pb. Eight military shooting ranges found in Botswana were used in this research project. All the eight shooting range soils were polluted with Pb with total Pb concentrations in the range 13-38 386 mg/kg. TAB shooting range soils acc...
Abstract: Plasmids are extra-chromosomal mobile DNA elements found in bacteria, and often serve as vectors for accumulation and transfer of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) within bacterial populations in different environments. Plasmid mediated transfer of ARGs has accounted for the spread of antibiotic resistance within clinically relevant pathogenic bacteria; this has escalated into a global health problem. Plasmids can be classified into several groups based on their genetic incompatib...
Abstract: The NW trending Archean Tati Greenstone Belt is located in the southwestern part of the Zimbabwe Craton, in northeastern Botswana and consists of mafic to felsic volcanic rocks and metasediments. All rocks in the TGB have undergone greenschist facies metamorphism at 2630 ± 70 – 2570 ± 70 Ma and intrusion of granitoids that comprises of granodiorite, tonalites, quartz diorite and monzonite occurred at 2.65- 2.73 Ga. The TGB is host to numerous Au deposits including from NW to...
Abstract: Automatic Sign Language Recognition (ASLR) helps with converting hand gestures to spoken language, therefore, enabling communication between those able to hear and those unable to hear. There is abundant research work on ASLR of British Sign Language and American Sign Language. However, Botswana Sign Language has received less attention at least in terms of computational representation leading to automatic sign language recognition which can be attributed to lack of a Botswana ...
Abstract: The explosive growth of biological sequences over the last decade has consequently led to a lot of research on effective techniques for storing and analysing this big data. Generating Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) sequences has become more reliable, faster, easier and cheaper due to latest sequencing technology leading to big data sequences. This poses a challenge to efficient analysis to such massive sequences. Advanced indexing algorithmic techniques are required to facilitate effi...
Abstract: This research presents a new approach in modeling and implementing a framework for linear image change detection using Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) based implementations. Detecting changes between digital images of the same location or region of interest have attracted huge interest in research due to its wide range of applications such as medical diagnosis, astronomy and forensics. In recent years, the steady increase in the use of hardware implementation in image pr...
Abstract: Zinc Oxide (ZnO) is a promising semiconductor material suitable for the application in electronic and optoelectronic systems. ZnO tailored into nanorods has a potential to be used in photovoltaic cells due to its large surface area to volume ratio that allows for maximum light harvesting and improved electron transportation efficiency. ZnO nanorods that are less compact, thin and long with fewer defects can be used for organic/inorganic solar cells application. In this study ch...
Abstract: This thesis addresses the problem of biometrics security and accuracy through the fusion of fingerprint and face images. The Biometrics community in recent years came up with different approaches to improve the accuracy and security of systems. Multimodal authentication has attracted a lot of attention because of its advantage over single biometrics matchers. Even though efforts were made to improve these systems, they are, however, still vulnerable to security threats such as spoo...