Stock returns and Friday the 13th effect in five African countries

This study is concerned with Friday the 13th and daily stock market returns in five African countries. Using the MSCI Global Equity Indices during various periods, the evidence overwhelmingly suggests that there is no Friday the 13th effect. Keywords: Friday the 13th, stock returns, anomalies, Afric

Numerical simulations of rotating sunspots

A numerical model of idealized, axisymmetric, rotating sunspots is presented. The model contains a compressible plasma described by the nonlinear MHD equations, with density and temperature gradients simulating the upper layer of the sun’s convection zone. The solution forms a central flux tube in the cylindrical numerical domain, with convection cells pushing the magnetic field to the axis. When the numerical domain is rotated with a constant angular velocity, the umbra rotates as a rigid body while the surrounding convection cells show a swirling, vortical flow. As a result, the azimuthal velocity and magnetic field have their maximum values close to the flux tube, inside the innermost convection cell

En-visioning the dance : the audience as mirror

The current article is focused upon an exploration of the question of the nature of the art audience, with a specific emphasis on dance considered as a performing art. Five possible kinds of perceiver involved in the reception of dance as an art are discussed in order to demonstrate that the much criticized metaphor of the mirror can indeed function as a fruitful means to develop an understanding of how dance as an art is perceived, specifically if a more nuanced understanding of the mirror metaphor is applied. In its attempt to rehabilitate this metaphor, the paper draws upon and develops selected aspects of the philosophy of art proposed by John Dewey in his often overlooked Art as Experience (1934)

Nietzsche on embodiment : a Proto‐Somaesthetics?

Abstract: This chapter considers Richard Shusterman’s claim in his The Silent, Limping Body of Philosophy2 that Friedrich Nietzsche’s work constitutes a mere inversion of the mind‐body hierarchy, by providing an interpretation of selections from the Nietzschean corpus. The aim of the chapter is to show that Nietzsche’s position on the self is able to avoid falling into the “logic of reversal” that Shusterman diagnoses in his thinking. The chapter’s arguments then provide support for the conclusion that Nietzsche’s writings on the singing, dancing body could be seen as an example of a (proto‐) phenomenology, and indeed, a (proto‐) somaesthetics

Rethinking the ego/reconceptualising philosophy : Shusterman’s “Man in Gold”

Abstract: The paper provides a reading of Richard Shusterman’s 2016 The Adventures of the Man in Gold: Paths between Art and Life. I contend that this book, that brings together philosophy, literature and photography, provides a compelling, albeit implicit, expression of two of the challenges that somaesthetics poses to philosophy – first, a rethinking of the foundations of subjectivity in the Western philosophical tradition by way of the concept of the alter ego; and second, a challenge to the received perception of the nature and relation of philosophy and art

Ripening-related gene expression during fruit ripening in Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon and Clairette blanche

The gene expression patterns in ripening fruit of a high quality wine cultivar (Cabernet Sauvignon) and a poor quality wine cultivar (Clairette blanche) were studied using cDNA-AFLP fingerprinting. Total RNA from "immature" (14-weeks post flowering) and "mature" (18-weeks post flowering) berries were used to study ripening-related gene expression in post-véraison stages of berry development. A total of 1,276 fragments were analysed, of which 175 appeared to be ripening-related. Average pairwise differences of the fragments amplified from "immature" and "mature" Cabernet Sauvignon and Clairette blanche berries, revealed a high level of similarity between the two cultivars. 70 % of the ripening-related fragments were cultivar-specific. The number of cultivar-specific and/or ripening-related fragments amplified, depended on the selective nucleotides of the primers used in the cDNA-AFLP analysis. Reverse slot blot and northern blot analysis confirmed that the expression of the identified genes were ripening-related.

Labour conflict and the persistence of macro underemployment in South Africa

Something must be structurally wrong in a labour market when a well developed economy like that of South Africa is not able to absorb and allocate an accumulating surplus of labour over a period of 20 years or longer but has instead moved to the use of more capital-intensive technology. The objective of this paper is to analyse the role labour conflict plays in the persistence of macro underemployment in South Africa. For the analysis two models identified from the literature were used. In these models labour conflict originates from an over-regulated labour market where labour appropriates capital and bad or hostile labour relations. In both models the switch to technology leads to underemployment. It was found that bad labour relations contribute to the persistence of underemployment in South Africa

Die benutting van vraelyste met die oog op meer effektiewe toerusting tydens huweliksvoorbereiding

The utilization of questionnaires with the intent to make marriage preparation more effectiveThis study aims to promote the idea that questionnaires used as part of marriage preparation, could be a valuable tool. The article also attempts to identify some themes that should form part of the discussion between the pastor and a couple to prepare them for their marriage. Furthermore, the aim is to assist pastors, especially those in the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk van Afrika, utilizing questionnaires during marriage preparation

Molecular analysis of fruit ripening: The identification of differentially expressed sequences in Vitis vinifera using cDNA-AFLP technology

Differential gene expression patterns were studied during the ripening process of grape berries (Vitis vinifera cv. Chardonnay). Thirty PstI + MseI primer combinations were used to generate 213 fragments that appeared to be differentially expressed of which 94 % were successfully re-amplified. Reverse northern dot-blot analysis indicated that 35 % of the fragments had similar gene expression profiles to cDNA-AFLPs regarding developmental-stage specificity. Northern blot analyses confirmed the tissue and/or developmental stage specific expression of three of these cDNA fragments. This work illustrates that developmentally regulated sequences can be identified from grape berry tissue using cDNA-AFLP technology