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10 July 2018 Photo Johan Roux
Global Leadership Summit starts off on a high note
Students have robust discussions on global issues of social justice and politics

 Global Leadership Summit 2018

The 2018 Global Leadership Summit opened on 8 July 2018 on the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS) with an exciting Africa-themed event where local and international students and faculty members from more than 14 universities were in attendance. Prof Puleng LenkaBula, Vice Rector: Institutional Change, Student Affairs, welcomed delegates to the UFS, encouraging them to explore the opportunities which the summit presents to them, to learn, engage and take back valuable lessons to their home institutions, and to impart valuable knowledge that they bring to their peers.

Students play a key role in social justice
Prof Francis Petersen, UFS Rector and Vice-Chancellor, welcomed delegates at the summit’s grand opening session on 9 July, at which he highlighted the importance of the participation of young people in social justice and leadership. He emphasised the drive which the university has towards engaged scholarship and the role it has in effecting positive change to communities around it, the country and the world at large. Prof Petersen engaged with Mr Jay Naidoo, founding General Secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and cabinet minister. Mr Naidoo was the keynote speaker and addressed the issues surrounding indigenous knowledge, the values that can be found in it, and the role students can have in protecting and highlighting the value of such knowledge systems to bring future change in the world. “Where do we start in decolonising history? The next generation is rising up to that as more young people want to know about the beginning of the beginning,” Mr Naidoo said.

Human value is central to role of universities
A panel discussion was presented on the topic of the challenges of human value and what universities are doing about it, with Dr Vivienne Felix from New York University in the US, Prof Allen Kim, International Christian University in Japan, Dr Caroline Suranksy, University of Humanistic Studies in the Netherlands, and Dr WP Wahl from the UFS, facilitated by Adjunct Associate Professor Ashraf Mahomed from the University of Cape Town. Dr Suransky said: “If we were to identify ourselves as earthlings rather than with our nationalities, what do you reckon we would learn at universities? How do we inter-connect with the earth rather than try to change it?” she asked.

More than just a summit
The summit, which is a joint programme between the International Office, Student Affairs and the Institute of Reconciliation and Social Justice, will continue with more panel discussions, robust engagements and more activities. It will increase focus on critical thinking, on modalities capable of developing students to function effectively in an increasingly interdependent and complex world. It will also focus on building capacity in intercultural competencies, and grow an appreciation of cultural, historical, religious, linguistic, and political angles. The summit will include an excursion to Kimberley and to Galeshewe township in Northern Cape. Delegates will have the opportunity to attend South African cultural events such as the annual Vrystaat Kunstefees/Free State Arts Festival which will be held on the Bloemfontein Campus from 10-14 July, as well as other African theatre productions. 

News Archive

Fight against Ebola virus requires more research
2014-10-22

 

Dr Abdon Atangana
Photo: Ifa Tshishonge
Dr Abdon Atangana, a postdoctoral researcher in the Institute for Groundwater Studies at the University of the Free State (UFS), wrote an article related to the Ebola virus: Modelling the Ebola haemorrhagic fever with the beta-derivative: Deathly infection disease in West African countries.

“The filoviruses belong to a virus family named filoviridae. This virus can cause unembellished haemorrhagic fever in humans and nonhuman monkeys. In literature, only two members of this virus family have been mentioned, namely the Marburg virus and the Ebola virus. However, so far only five species of the Ebola virus have been identified, including:  Ivory Coast, Sudan, Zaire, Reston and Bundibugyo.

“Among these families, the Ebola virus is the only member of the Zaire Ebola virus species and also the most dangerous, being responsible for the largest number of outbreaks.

“Ebola is an unusual, but fatal virus that causes bleeding inside and outside the body. As the virus spreads through the body, it damages the immune system and organs. Ultimately, it causes the blood-clotting levels in cells to drop. This leads to severe, uncontrollable bleeding.

Since all physical problems can be modelled via mathematical equation, Dr Atangana aimed in his research (the paper was published in BioMed Research International with impact factor 2.701) to analyse the spread of this deadly disease using mathematical equations. We shall propose a model underpinning the spread of this disease in a given Sub-Saharan African country,” he said.

The mathematical equations are used to predict the future behaviour of the disease, especially the spread of the disease among the targeted population. These mathematical equations are called differential equation and are only using the concept of rate of change over time.

However, there is several definitions for derivative, and the choice of the derivative used for such a model is very important, because the more accurate the model, the better results will be obtained.  The classical derivative describes the change of rate, but it is an approximation of the real velocity of the object under study. The beta derivative is the modification of the classical derivative that takes into account the time scale and also has a new parameter that can be considered as the fractional order.  

“I have used the beta derivative to model the spread of the fatal disease called Ebola, which has killed many people in the West African countries, including Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, since December 2013,” he said.

The constructed mathematical equations were called Atangana’s Beta Ebola System of Equations (ABESE). “We did the investigation of the stable endemic points and presented the Eigen-Values using the Jacobian method. The homotopy decomposition method was used to solve the resulted system of equations. The convergence of the method was presented and some numerical simulations were done for different values of beta.

“The simulations showed that our model is more realistic for all betas less than 0.5.  The model revealed that, if there were no recovery precaution for a given population in a West African country, the entire population of that country would all die in a very short period of time, even if the total number of the infected population is very small.  In simple terms, the prediction revealed a fast spread of the virus among the targeted population. These results can be used to educate and inform people about the rapid spread of the deadly disease,” he said.

The spread of Ebola among people only occurs through direct contact with the blood or body fluids of a person after symptoms have developed. Body fluid that may contain the Ebola virus includes saliva, mucus, vomit, faeces, sweat, tears, breast milk, urine and semen. Entry points include the nose, mouth, eyes, open wounds, cuts and abrasions. Note should be taken that contact with objects contaminated by the virus, particularly needles and syringes, may also transmit the infection.

“Based on the predictions in this paper, we are calling on more research regarding this disease; in particular, we are calling on researchers to pay attention to finding an efficient cure or more effective prevention, to reduce the risk of contamination,” Dr Atangana said.


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