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20 March 2019 | Story Zama Feni | Photo Rulanzen Martin
Prof Henning Melber
Prof Henning Melber, taking over the editorial-ship of the Acta Academica Journal.

The newly appointed editor of the University of the Free State(UFS) journal for humanities Prof Henning Melber had vowed to give the publication a deeper insight on critical issues ranging from decolonisation of knowledge to knowledge production.

In his first editorial opinion as the new Editor of the Acta Academica journal, Prof Melber said the publication has the declared intention to apply a critical social theory perspective.

“Dedicated to scholarship in the humanities, Acta Academica will henceforth be published annually with a minimum of two issues, plus an optional additional issues per year,” he said. 

Former Editor Professor Lis Lange, previously Vice-Rector: Academic at the University of the Free State (UFS), has moved to the University of Cape Town as Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Teaching and Learning.

The journal publishes scholarly articles that examine society, culture and politics from a critical social theory perspective and it is also interested on scholarly work that examines how the humanities in the 21st century are responding to the double imperative of theorising the world and changing it.

Analysis on Africa encouraged for Acta Academica

As a journal promoting humanist values and ethics, Prof Melber stated that he would like to see Acta Academica publishing scholarly analysis and think pieces that engage with such challenges in a critical (and gendered) theoretical perspective. 

“We welcome in particular contributions that link to current themes and processes on the African continent and especially to Southern Africa, without abandoning the global context and the shared perspectives of committed
scholarship elsewhere,” he said.

Decolonisation of knowledge

“We will promote an emphasis on contributions in the fields of post-colonial, development, cultural, gender, international and African Studies aiming to support current efforts towards a decolonisation of knowledge and knowledge production. 
He said the journal will combine an international post-colonial discourse inspired by critical theory and other relevant schools of thought applied to and/or generated in a local and regional (African) context. 

“We also welcome efforts to contribute to the decolonisation of knowledge, which still to a large extent is anchored in the global asymmetries. We cannot pretend these asymmetric power relations and inherited structures do not exist.  “Nor will we be able to avoid their reproduction completely. But we can promote ownership of authors over their intellectual product and will disseminate the work as widely as possible,” he said.

New Editor calls for diversification of knowledge

In another efforts to decolonise, Prof Melber said they would also make special efforts to empower aspiring African scholars. As part of this endeavour, the UFS’s Centre for Gender and Africa Studies has for several years, been the partner institution of Africa Spectrum for the annual Young African Scholars Award. 

“We will try to create similar opportunities, encouraging early career scholars to submit articles. In addition, we would like to expand the character of contributions, by further diversification of forms of knowledge transmission through debate articles, reports, comments, review essays and other thought-provoking interventions. We hope to receive your support, as potential authors or as readers who contribute to or benefit from Acta Academica’s efforts to further a stimulating debate,” he said

News Archive

Nanotechnology breakthrough at UFS
2010-08-19

 Ph.D students, Chantel Swart and Ntsoaki Leeuw


Scientists at the University of the Free State (UFS) made an important breakthrough in the use of nanotechnology in medical and biological research. The UFS team’s research has been accepted for publication by the internationally accredited Canadian Journal of Microbiology.

The UFS study dissected yeast cells exposed to over-used cooking oil by peeling microscopically thin layers off the yeast cells through the use of nanotechnology.

The yeast cells were enlarged thousands of times to study what was going on inside the cells, whilst at the same time establishing the chemical elements the cells are composed of. This was done by making microscopically small surgical incisions into the cell walls.

This groundbreaking research opens up a host of new uses for nanotechnology, as it was the first study ever in which biological cells were surgically manipulated and at the same time elemental analysis performed through nanotechnology. According to Prof. Lodewyk Kock, head of the Division Lipid Biotechnology at the UFS, the study has far reaching implications for biological and medical research.

The research was the result of collaboration between the Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology, the Department of Physics (under the leadership of Prof. Hendrik Swart) and the Centre for Microscopy (under the leadership of Prof.Pieter van Wyk).

Two Ph.D. students, Chantel Swart and Ntsoaki Leeuw, overseen by professors Kock and Van Wyk, managed to successfully prepare yeast that was exposed to over-used cooking oil (used for deep frying of food) for this first ever method of nanotechnological research.

According to Prof. Kock, a single yeast cell is approximately 5 micrometres long. “A micrometre is one millionth of a metre – in laymen’s terms, even less than the diameter of a single hair – and completely invisible to the human eye.”

Through the use of nanotechnology, the chemical composition of the surface of the yeast cells could be established by making a surgical incision into the surface. The cells could be peeled off in layers of approximately three (3) nanometres at a time to establish the effect of the oil on the yeast cell’s composition. A nanometre is one thousandth of a micrometre.

Each cell was enlarged by between 40 000 and 50 000 times. This was done by using the Department of Physics’ PHI700 Scanning Auger Nanoprobe linked to a Scanning Electron Microscope and Argon-etching. Under the guidance of Prof. Swart, Mss. Swart en Leeuw could dissect the surfaces of yeast cells exposed to over-used cooking oil. 

The study noted wart like outgrowths - some only a few nanometres in diameter – on the cell surfaces. Research concluded that these outgrowths were caused by the oil. The exposure to the oil also drastically hampered the growth of the yeast cells. (See figure 1)  

Researchers worldwide have warned about the over-usage of cooking oil for deep frying of food, as it can be linked to the cause of diseases like cancer. The over-usage of cooking oil in the preparation of food is therefore strictly regulated by laws worldwide.

The UFS-research doesn’t only show that over-used cooking oil is harmful to micro-organisms like yeast, but also suggests how nanotechnology can be used in biological and medical research on, amongst others, cancer cells.

 

Figure 1. Yeast cells exposed to over-used cooking oil. Wart like protuberances/ outgrowths (WP) is clearly visible on the surfaces of the elongated yeast cells. With the use of nanotechnology, it is possible to peel off the warts – some with a diameter of only a few nanometres – in layers only a few nanometres thick. At the same time, the 3D-structure of the warts as well as its chemical composition can be established.  

Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt@ufs.ac.za  
18 August 2010
 

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