UWCScholar

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 11

Recent Submissions

Ethical transgressions by registered psychologists in South Africa during the period 2014–2023
(SAGE Publications Inc., 2026) Nortje, Nico; Nortje, Mila; Gezu, Yanet
This study examines the ethical transgressions of registered psychologists in South Africa between 2014 and 2023, following a similar analysis conducted by Nortje et al. The research aims to determine whether the ethical recommendations from the previous study have resulted in a reduction of ethical transgressions among registered psychologists. The data were gathered from the records published by the Health Professions Council of South Africa. It focuses on the frequency of ethical transgressions, the nature of the misconduct cases, and the penalties imposed for professional misconduct. The results indicate that fraudulent conduct, particularly the charging for services not rendered, has now become the most prevalent type of ethical transgressions. While the overall number of transgressions showed a slight decrease throughout the study, financial penalties were again the most common form of punishment. Although previous recommendations were to take part in a regular group reflection on ethical issues that might occur, it seems there is still a gap pertaining to the need for continued ethics education and it is recommended that continued efforts are required to address the ongoing systemic factors contributing to ethical transgressions among registered psychologists.
Deep learning-based pairs trading: real-time forecasting of co-integrated cryptocurrency pairs
(Frontiers Media SA, 2026) Makatjane, Katleho; Tsoku, Johannes Tshepiso
Statistical arbitrage strategies, including pairs trading, rely on identifying co-movements and static long-term equilibrium relationships between assets, where conventional methods fail to capture non-stationary dynamics, hence reducing trading effectiveness. This study, therefore, addresses this challenge by employing a dynamic co-integration approach combined with deep learning techniques to select suitable cryptocurrency pairs and forecast spread dynamics. The study examines multiple cryptocurrencies, namely: BNB, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, and USDT, using dynamic Johansen co-integration tests to identify pairs with time-varying equilibrium relationships, and model the spread through a Dynamic Weighted Ensemble of Deep Neural Network and Long Short-Term Memory. Forecasting accuracy, trading performance, and predictive uncertainty are evaluated using error metrics, trading outcomes, and 99% prediction intervals. The results indicate that only those cryptocurrencies with dynamically coherent relationships are suitable for mean-reversion strategies. Furthermore, the study found that the Dynamic Weighted Ensemble achieves the best predictive accuracy. At the same time, LSTM captures proportional temporal dynamics effectively, and the ensemble-driven trading signals generate timely buy and sell decisions with low-lag execution and robust management of market volatility. These findings, therefore, highlight the advantages of combining dynamic co-integration and adaptive deep learning for statistical arbitrage.
A critical analysis of the judicial attitude to the right to culture in the context of African customary laws
(University of the Western Cape, 2026) Silo, Anda
This research critically examines the judicial attitude to the right to culture in the context of African customary laws in South Africa. Despite the constitutional recognition of customary and common law as equal sources of law, the former is subordinated to Western legal standards in judicial decision-making. The research traces the historical marginalisation of African customary law through colonialism and apartheid and ongoing challenges in the post-1994 democratic dispensation. It explores how judges, trained in Western legal traditions, often adopt a jurispathic approach that distorts or abolishes indigenous norms rather than develop them under constitutional imperatives. Through an analysis of case law, the study reveals the judiciary’s tendency to prioritise common law principles/state law over cultural rights, thereby undermining genuine legal pluralism. The research further critiques legislative and policy efforts to reconcile African customary law with common law, arguing that such measures often impose Western legal values on indigenous traditions. To address these challenges, the study proposes judicial reform, legislative amendments, and curriculum transformation to ensure a culturally sensitive approach to adjudication. Ultimately, this study calls for a jurisprudence that genuinely embraces deep legal pluralism, ensuring that the right to culture is upheld alongside other constitutional rights in South Africa’s diverse legal landscape.
comparative assessment of the remineralization potential of five modern oral health products on bovine enamel
(MDPI, 2026) Lampousi, Aggeliki; Adam, Razia Z.; Dionysopoulos, Dimitrios
The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the remineralization effect of five preventive treatments on bovine enamel after artificial caries challenge. Sixty sound bovine incisors were randomly distributed into six experimental groups (n = 10). Each group received the following daily preventive treatments for two weeks during pH cycling to assess remineralization efficacy: Group 1—no treatment (control), Group 2—CPP-ACPF treatment, Group 3—fluoride-containing bioactive glass treatment (BioMin™F), Group 4—SnF2 treatment, Group 5—toothpaste containing fluoride and hydroxyapatite (HA), and Group 6—toothpaste containing HA. Surface hardness changes were evaluated using a nanoindentation tester. Scanning electron microscopy was used to observe changes in surface morphology, and the mineral composition of enamel in each group was analyzed using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Groups 2, 3 and 6 exhibited the highest surface hardness values after pH cycling, with no statistically significant differences among them (p > 0.05), whereas groups 4 and 5 presented significantly lower values (p < 0.05). Although all treatments demonstrated significant remineralization potential—resulting in an 18.7–35.2% increase in surface hardness—none of them fully restored the hardness loss caused by demineralization. SEM observations revealed precipitations mainly in groups 2–4 after the treatments. EDS showed a similar elemental composition on enamel across the groups with no differences compared to the control. Additionally, line scans of the Ca and P content from the surface to the deeper layers resulted higher values in the tested groups compared to the control corresponding to the surface hardness values. The tested remineralizing treatments may be useful to limit the demineralizing effect during caries formation.
An analysis and critique of the conceptual relationship between selfhood and narrative in philosophy
(University of the Western Cape, 2025) Romeo, Adrian
Narrativity is a popular concept with which to explain the concept of selfhood and the identity of the self in philosophy and other academic fields. It is a natural and easily accessible vehicle for selfhood in philosophy as fictional stories, and indeed the stories we tell about our lives, are instrumental in the way we understand the world and each other. This thesis will argue that some of the most influential narrative theories of selfhood fail to account for a complete notion of the experiencing subject as a fundamental part of the self. The argument will take two interconnected approaches. Firstly, to present the most well-established and defined concept of the self and experiencing subject from the phenomenological tradition in the work of Dan Zahavi. Then, secondly, and as the main thrust of the argument, will be to argue that these influential theories of narrative selfhood do in fact incorporate - either explicitly or implicitly - an experiencing subject; however, the consequences of doing so are not fully appreciated in these theories. It will then be possible to look at the consequences which must follow for a narrative theory of selfhood from the inclusion of a full notion of the experiencing subject. Doing so will help to resolve the current debate on why some narrative theories of selfhood are mistaken in assuming that the self is wholly narrative in nature. Furthermore, it will clarify the distinction between selfhood and personhood, showing that when selfhood is, mistakenly, expressed purely as narrative in nature it is easily confused with the identity questions pertain to persons and not the self. This thesis will conclude that the self does have an important relationship to the way we understand our lives as narrative, however, this relationship is much weaker than the narrative theories of selfhood offered by Marya Schechtman, Anthony Rudd, Alasdair MacIntyre and others claim.