UWCScholar

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 11

Recent Submissions

Tracking the cost of flying: Empirical insights into airfare volatility and price variation in South Africa’s domestic market
(East African Nature and Science Organization, 2026) Haarhoff Rene
This study examines the price competitiveness of South Africa’s domestic airline market by analysing 2,277 published fares across five airlines and three major routes. The objective is to determine how airline type, route distance, and booking horizon influence airfare levels and variability. A quantitative longitudinal design was applied. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, correlation analysis, and multiple regression were used to compare fare structures between low-cost and full-service carriers and across different booking horizons. The analysis reveals a mean airfare of USD 86.92 with substantial variation. Low-cost carriers consistently offered lower fares per kilometre than full-service carriers. Route distance emerged as a significant determinant of unit pricing, with shorter routes displaying higher costs per kilometre. Regression analysis confirmed that distance and airline type jointly explain a meaningful portion of the variation in airfares, while booking horizon exerted minimal influence. Full-service carriers exhibited greater fare volatility than low-cost carriers. The results indicate that structural and competitive factors, rather than booking timing, shape domestic airfare behaviour. The study contributes a longitudinal, airline-level comparison of domestic airfare structures based on published market data and offers insight relevant to pricing strategy, policy considerations, and consumer decision-making.
Losing their way: a cohort analysis of retention in care among adolescents on antiretroviral therapy in lusaka district, Zambia
(SAGE Publications Inc., 2025) Moomba, Kaala; Okonji, Emeka F; Crowley, Talitha; Van Wyk, Brian
Background: Retention in antiretroviral therapy (ART) is crucial for adherence, viral suppression, and preventing drug resistance. Adolescents (10-19 years) face retention challenges, affecting progress toward 95% viral suppression. Data on retention for this specific age bracket remains limited in Zambia. Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis of 3978 adolescents on ART in Lusaka examined socio-demographic, clinical, treatment, and behavioral data. Kaplan–Meier estimates analyzed retention, and Cox regression identified associated factors using SPSS v29. Results: Seventy percent remained in care, while 30% had interruptions, transfers, or death. Females (57.1%) had a higher non-retention risk (aHR: 1.21 [1.08-1.36]). Retention was lower in older adolescents (15-19 years, aHR: 0.11 [0.10-0.13]). Retention increased with early ART initiation with those starting ART at 15 to 19 years showed lowest retention (aHR: 578.50 [421.00-794.91]). Not changing ART regimens decreased retention (aHR: 0.88 [0.77-0.99]). Conclusions: Targeted interventions should prioritize females, older adolescents, early ART initiation, and regimen changes.
A reflexive performance of caution in a cryptocurrency fraud encounter
(Routledge, 2026) Lazarus, Suleman
I became both lens and landscape when I encountered a fraudster. I draw from a real-time encounter with a cryptocurrency fraudster. Using Goffman’s dramaturgical theory, I conceptualise the crypto fraudster as a performing subject who crafts trust through staged authenticity, emotional modulation, and aesthetic precision. I argue that scams are not merely deceptive acts, but performative events co-produced through platform affordances and affective labour. Methodologically, I offer a participant-situated lens, emphasising emotional reflexivity and positionality as sources of criminological insight. I reframe it as a symbolic performance embedded in the sociotechnical architectures, and call for a more situated, experiential, and attuned understanding of life online.
Raman spectroscopy-based metabolic fingerprinting of seminal plasma reveals distinct profiles among fertile men
(Elsevier Inc., 2026) Gilany, Kambiz; Jafarzadeh, Naser; Hosseini, Elham; Bi Bi Fatemeh Nobakht, M.Gh.; Henkel, Ralf; Amirjannati, Negin; Tayanloo-Beik, Akram
Traditional semen analysis provides valuable insights into male fertility but fails to capture the full biochemical complexity underlying sperm function. This study explored metabolic variability among fertile men using Raman spectroscopy to analyze the seminal plasma metabolome. In a cross-sectional design, semen samples were collected from 29 clinically fertile men (n = 29) and analyzed according to WHO guidelines. Metabolites were extracted using methanol/water (3:1), and Raman spectroscopy was applied to generate metabolic fingerprints of the seminal plasma. Multivariate statistical analyses, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Orthogonal Partial Least Squares-Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA), revealed two distinct metabolic subgroups among fertile men. Significant differences were identified in key biochemical features such as phenylalanine, alcohols, alkanes, aldehydes, and amides. The OPLS-DA model demonstrated excellent classification performance (R2X = 0.942, R2Y = 0.992, Q2 = 0.987), indicating robust subgroup separation and high predictive validity. These findings suggest that even within normozoospermic individuals, seminal plasma exhibits substantial metabolic heterogeneity. Raman-based metabolomic fingerprinting thus represents a promising complementary diagnostic tool to conventional semen analysis, offering deeper insight into male reproductive physiology and providing a foundation for future biomarker discovery in fertility research.
Photography and history: a view from Southern Africa
(British Academy, 2026) Hayes, Patricia; Edwards, Elizabeth
In this ‘Conversation’ piece, Professors Patricia Hayes and Elizabeth Edwards discuss the relationship between photography and history as it manifests itself through the photographic legacies of Southern Africa. The specific historical experience of the Southern Africa has given rise to a realisation of the potential of photographs as drivers for historical thinking and analysis, the way photographs ‘move history forward’. The Conversation addresses major questions that resonate through the discourse and politics of global photographies—about the conditions of visibility, the problematics of Western photo-theory and of the language of photographic and historiographical analysis as viewed from the Global South.