Earthen housing remains vulnerable to microcracks that widen when seasonal humidity cycles weaken clay bridges. We embed short sisal fibers in laboratory blocks and drive a phase-field model with moisture-dependent fracture energy. Simulated coalescence paths match digital image correlation patterns, highlighting optimal fiber volume fractions that delay through-thickness cracking without raising thermal conductivity excessively.

Multigrade schools combine age groups when teachers are scarce, complicating how confidence and home support translate into scores. Survey and test data from 38 schools are fit to a latent model with cluster-robust standard errors. Parental homework assistance mediates part of the self-efficacy pathway, while peer tutoring within mixed-age groups adds a direct effect not seen in single-grade comparisons.

Tertiary disinfection is increasingly installed to limit environmental dissemination of resistance determinants. Shotgun sequencing of influent and effluent across four seasonal campaigns shows broad reductions in mobile genetic element abundance after medium-pressure UV, yet blaCTX-M-like reads rebound when hydraulic retention shortens during storm overflow events. Results support coupling UV with flow monitoring rather than capacity alone.

Chronic fluorosis screening depends on laboratory capacity that outreach teams cannot carry. We prototype a printed electrode array calibrated against ion chromatography on 240 tubewell samples. Field trials with community health workers achieve median error below 0.15 mg L-1 across the WHO band relevant to enamel mottling, enabling same-day counseling without cold-chain reagents.

Formal catalog varieties coexist with farmer-managed pools that move through kin and market ties. We map exchange networks in three districts after contrasting rainfall seasons and quantify how bridge households connect otherwise isolated clusters. Drought years increase reliance on reciprocal gifts rather than cash purchases, implying that conservation programs should strengthen trusted intermediaries instead of only subsidizing certified seed.

Short-season vegetable rotations emit disproportionate nitrous oxide when nitrogen fertilizer is split across harvests. In a two-year field trial, hardwood biochar at 15 Mg ha-1 lowers cumulative fluxes during fertigation windows without reducing marketable yield. Isotope tracing suggests tighter coupling between nitrification and immobilization rather than simple aeration changes in the root zone.

Early warning systems for arboviruses rarely fuse climate products with neighborhood-scale heat exposure. We assemble weekly case counts from municipal surveillance with MODIS vegetation health and land-surface temperature anomalies at 1 km resolution. Gradient boosted trees with SHAP summaries identify lagged humidity and impervious-surface warming as dominant predictors, outperforming univariate autoregressive baselines three weeks ahead in cross-city validation.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of online learning in higher education institutions globally, renewing interest in blended learning as a sustainable post-pandemic pedagogical approach. Guided by blended learning theory, which emphasises the integration of online and face-to-face modalities to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes, this qualitative study investigated the evolution of online learning practices at a selected University of Technology in Gauteng, South Africa. The methodology for this study was qualitative in nature and data was collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with 42 students and 12 lecturers to capture diverse perspectives on learning design, engagement, and academic development. The survey instrument was adapted from validated Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) constructs, including perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude toward use, and behavioural intention. Findings revealed that students valued the flexibility and convenience of online learning, which supported participation and academic performance. However, challenges such as limited digital access and inconsistent technical support hindered effective engagement. Lecturers reported concerns about reduced opportunities for experiential learning and practical skills development. The study highlighted the importance of blended learning models that balance online flexibility with structured face-to-face interaction. These findings contribute to ongoing discourse on technology-enabled learning and provide practical insights for higher education institutions seeking to implement sustainable blended learning strategies.

Ubuntu has been described as an African philosophy articulated by the African proverb, "I am because we are." The objective of this scoping review is to evaluate how Ubuntu can inform the decolonization of community engagement in higher education, drawing on Arksey and O'Malley's (2005) methodology and Levac et al.'s (2010) refinements. This scoping review aimed to map the literature on Ubuntu-informed community engagement; identify gaps in translating Afrocentric philosophical literature into research, policy, and practice on community engagement; and offer evidence-based recommendations to promote socially just and culturally grounded community engagement informed by Ubuntu. We found that Ubuntu has been commonly referenced philosophically as an approach or framework to inform academics' thinking, but its actual application to community engagement efforts is lacking. Currently, there is little evidence-based work being conducted to inform Ubuntu-informed community engagement. Ubuntu offers academics and institutions of higher education an opportunity to decenter Western-hegemonic notions of charity and instead partner authentically and reciprocally with surrounding communities.

The study utilises social media as a research lens to attempt answering how technology can promote inclusive learning in higher education institutions in South Africa. Structural inequalities that influence access to digital learning spaces remain stubbornly uneven within South Africa, with students from rural and poor communities remaining disadvantaged learners facing many barriers such as the prohibitive cost of data, connectivity issues and access to digital devices. Despite increased implementation of online learning and blended learning models in universities. The study uses a qualitative desktop research design, where secondary data was collected from peer-reviewed journal articles, institutional documents and policy briefs published between 2020 and 2025. A thematic analysis was conducted, looking at how students and lecturers utilise platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube during teaching and learning. Theory emanates from the Technology Acceptance Model coupled with the Web Trust and Confidence Model that draws understanding of users' perceptions and adoption behaviour of digital platforms, as well as trust and risk beliefs towards websites. Findings of the study show that social media platforms provide convenient opportunities for participation, collaboration and engagement due to low data needs and students' familiarity with these platforms. Functions such as peer support, resource sharing and continuous interaction outside of Learning Management Systems were also mentioned. Limitations such as unequal access to devices, low levels of digital literacy, information credibility and lack of institutional policy structure the use of social media for learning and these challenges are amplified for students living with disabilities. It can therefore be concluded that social media platforms have great potential to facilitate inclusive learning if purposefully embedded into teaching and learning activities. Recommendations made include building policy around the use of social media for learning within institutions, resourcing upskilling of staff and students in digital skills and finding ways to provide cheaper data.

South African municipalities are facing a deepening financial quagmire, characterised by escalating irregular, fruitless, and wasteful expenditure, declining revenue bases, and mounting debt, which undermines their constitutional mandate to deliver basic services to communities. Guided by an integrated theoretical framework that combines perspectives on public financial management, governance, and institutional accountability, this study examines the financial and administrative dynamics that contribute to municipal financial distress, using Emfuleni Local Municipality and comparative national evidence as illustrative cases. The study adopts a qualitative, theory-building literature review methodology, synthesising peer-reviewed scholarship, audit reports, policy documents, and government publications sourced from databases including Google Scholar, JSTOR, and EBSCOhost, as well as institutional reports from the Auditor-General of South Africa, National Treasury, and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs. The findings reveal that municipal financial collapse is driven by an interconnected cycle involving weak revenue collection, poor financial management, governance failures, irregular expenditure, and ineffective accountability mechanisms. These failures are further exacerbated by overreliance on external consultants, weak institutional capacity, and the absence of consequence management, which collectively entrench a culture of financial impunity and institutional dysfunction. The study concludes that municipal financial sustainability requires structural reforms to the municipal funding model, strengthening internal financial capacity, enhancing accountability and oversight mechanisms, and institutionalising consequence management. These interventions are essential to restoring financial stability, improving governance, and enhancing sustainable service delivery within South African local government.