Grillz and Gold Teeth – Esthetic, Economics and Ethics

My laboratory has been providing services to a modest number of dental professionals for a while now. As part of prosthodontic work I have done, one has witnessed a generalised upsurge, albeit steady, in the request for gold inlays, followed by silver and grills overtime. The demand for these services is correlated with the location, period and ethos of the practice. Our practice has seen a drastic tapering down of requests during the Covid -19 period. Ultimately, there is a discernable driver for the demand of these services. We have also observed from dental casts that, the dentition appeared to be without any noticeable pathology. This implies that most patients requiring these prosthesis, have “virgin” teeth prepared. Being a small laboratory, our numbers, are insignificant compared to bigger laboratories. Additionally, unregistered laboratories and jewellers have entered this space and are providing ‘affordable’ alternatives. On a typical month, our laboratory fabricates a total of 320 prosthesis of which gold inlays, constitute about 60%, silver, 30% and grills, 10%. These numbers are an under-representation of the extent of this phenomenon and the potential ‘subdued’ and untapped market, especially during this fierce Covid -19 economic downturn. We hypothesise that we are witnessing the tip of an iceberg, and that under the right conditions, this grills and gold teeth epidemic will go beyond the tipping point. Given the cultural, economic and other factors, more and more youth will sustain the demand for these services in perpetuity

The safety risk assessment and mitigation measures of the LV networks with embedded generators.

Master of Science in Electrical Engineering.Electricity industry liberalization across the world has seen a significant growth in the utilization of autonomous- and distributed power sources deployed at sub-transmission (132 - 33 kV) and reticulation levels (<33kV) in stand-alone or grid connection notations. With the electricity industry reform, an open access regime is a standard policy governing the transmission grid, and this provides for full competition at generation and distribution end of the delivery value chain. The National Electricity Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) is currently examining a roll out plan for a nation-wide rooftop photovoltaic (PV) system. Most of these roof top PV systems are expected to be connected on the low voltage (LV) networks (<1kV). The widespread deployment of such PV installations have associated risks to personnel and could pose challenges to system operations. Most utility field service engineers are not aware of the dangers posed by such installations. Dangers may include but are not limited to reverse power flow from installed PV systems should the anti-islanding protection fail after the loss of utility supply. This research investigation presents results from the analyses of the impact of statutory requirement, load demand and load type on the embedded generator (EG) grid–tied inverter anti-islanding protection settings and anti-islanding non-detection zone to minimize or reduce LV network operating safety risk upon the loss of utility supply

The nexus between savings, investment and foreign capital in South Africa : an application of the Feldstein-Horioka puzzle

This study investigates the relationship between savings, investment and foreign capital in South Africa, with special focus on the application of the Feldstein-Horioka theory. South Africa is a country that is still faced with relatively low saving levels. Given the low savings experienced by the country, available literature has alluded that foreign capital has played a greater role as the major driver of private investment expenditure in South Africa. Based on this background, the study empirically investigates the relationship between savings, investment and foreign capital utilising the Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model estimation technique for the period 1965 to 2015. The empirical results revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between savings and investment in South Africa. The empirical results also show that for the period 1995 to 2015, the different types of external financial flows utilized in the study and investment have a positive relationship. These results have been consistent with our apriori expectations and other prior studies. This suggests that, in the case of South Africa, apart from interest rates, there are other factors that determine investment. The positive relationship between investment and foreign capital flows suggest that policies which are aimed at attracting the different types of foreign financial flows should be implemented

The translatability of English academic discourse into isiZulu with reference to the discourse of mathematics.

Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.This research investigates the translatability of English Academic Discourse into isiZulu with specific reference to the discourse of Mathematics. The focus is on the translation processes and strategies used in the translations to maintain the core meaning of concepts. The reason for the research is that African-language speaking learners experience problems in understanding and using crucial academic concepts in English and the language that contextualizes them. The research thus analyses translated texts from the mathematics and mathematical literacy learning areas selected from a Multilingual Teachers’ Resource Book written for learners at the GET Level (Grade 7-9) in order to explore the process of translation by examining the isiZulu translated texts (target texts) of English source texts, and their subsequent back-translations. The main focus is on the quality of the translation and the strategies translators use in order to retain the core meaning of the original text, especially when languages are non-cognate. The study found that although formal equivalence between non-cognate languages is difficult to achieve, functional or near-equivalence is not always appropriate either, especially in specialized discourses of a scientific or technical nature. The solution lies in building up the technical discourse in the African Languages. This research also explores possible limitations in the translator-training offered for bilingual translators of English and isiZulu and leads to recommendations as to what the translator-training should focus on in the long term. Findings from this research should contribute to the language policy debate on isiZulu as a viable medium of instruction as well as to the process of terminology development

An investigation of the role of settled restitution land to the economy of Thabo Mofutsanyana District, Free State.

Master’s Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.Abstract The study was undertaken to investigate and analyse the economic role of settled Restitution land to the economy of Thabo Mofutsanyana District in the Free State and to analyse the contribution of different stakeholders, such as Government and Non-Governmental Organisations post land transfer. South Africa is a post-colonial and apartheid country that was oppressed by white settlers, due to the Land Native Act of 1913, with the majority of Black South Africans evicted from their land by the white minority government. The Restitution of Land Rights Act, No. 22 of 1994, was implemented to assist in reclaiming the land, with land claims opened in 1995 until 1998, for previously evicted people to lodge their claims. The Government recorded 80 664 claims in the country, with 2 691 claims from the FS province. Currently, Black farmers are struggling to maintain the land, hence the main study purpose was to investigate the role of transferred land to the economy of the District. A probability, simple random sampling was used to select 11 representatives from a population of 15 Restitution farms in the district, and semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data. The researcher did manual analysis to obtain study findings, which showed Restitution farms were not making a meaningful contribution to the District economy and a lack of support from Government, post land transference, was discovered to be the main challenge hindering beneficiaries from full economic participation. The study also discovered that, while the number of Restitution land transferred was increasing, the economy has deteriorated, due to various reasons, including a lack of Skills and Resources. Furthermore, the private sector needs to participate in the development of these farmers, as it was found they do not support them with resources, while utilising their produce. Recommendations were done to rectify the current situation. Key words: Settled Restitution Land, Gross Domestic Product and Employment Rat

Walking at the intersection of Seamon’s place ballet and Relph’s insideness: understanding how students experience the university as a place through their everyday habitual walking

Walking as a way to experience a place is a relatively understudied area of phenomenological study. Furthermore, globally (the world) and locally (South Africa) the study of the experience of tertiary education institutions as walked environments is minimal (see Puig-Ribera et al., 2008; Speck et al., 2010; Mtolo, 2017). However, the events of the South African #MustFall moment – especially the #RhodesMustFall part of the moment and how it began with the desecration of a statue that was walked past and found to be a misplaced artefact in a society that is in postcolonial/post-Apartheid times and space – highlighted the pressing need to study the experience of the university as a place through which habitual walking takes the student through moments of movement, rest, and encounter that are a highly consequential way in which placeness is experienced. This study is a way to document how students at Rhodes University experience the university’s placeness quality, through habitual walking, in an example of the way in which a place is experienced through moments of movement, rest, and encounter. For this study in-depth mobile interviews were conducted with 12 student participants from Rhodes University. The interviews were video-recorded as the participants talked while traversing through habitually walked areas of the campus that are the meaning-infused spaces which make up the Rhodes University that they traverse through on a daily basis. The dissertation found that in the experience of Rhodes University, through habitually walking its placeness, people experience moments of movement, rest, and encounter that are highly targeted and personalised. The experience of the Rhodes University campus is an experience of people and the built-up and decorated environment along similar lines. People bring to the experience of their walked space past experiences which inform consequentially how any space that is walked is experienced. People further employ strategies to ensure that the experience of walking a space is more to their desired quality as an experience, which ends up being meaningful and most likely to affect future instances of walking through meaning-infusing and meaning-infused space. Ultimately, the habitual walking of Rhodes University consequentially informs the relationship between students and Rhodes University’s placeness, as the walking is a way of learning how to be within a placeness that is engaged through alternating moments of movement, rest, and encounter that incrementally ‘open’ for experience Rhodes University in such a targeted manner that every student eventually has their personal and customised Rhodes University by virtue of it being just those sites and situations which have been engaged through habitual walking

Tertiary students' perceptions of secondary school career guidance : a consumer perspective.

Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg.The aim of this study was to focus on tertiary students' perceptions of career education which they received at secondary school level. It will try to determine the extent to which the role of the guidance teacher is known and also determine whether guidance as an auxiliary service is considered helpful by students. The,:sample consists of 92 male and female respondents drawn from the university and the technikon in Pietermaritzburg. The measuring instrument used is the questionnaire constructed by Skuy et al (1985) revised by Haffajee (1991) but included a number of questions were devised by the author to address the needs of her study. As a number of the questions in the questionnaire were constructed by the author, it was realised when analyzing the questionnaire that questions on parental influence were not included. Therefore, the results of this study must be interpreted with caution. The results of this study indicate that students received inadequate exposure to career guidance at school. This is linked to the fact that most of the guidance teachers themselves did not have adequate training in guidance and career guidance. The guidance periods were also used for examination subjects and also used by students as self-study or free periods. It is also indicated that most students changed their secondary school choice because the career assistance received at school was not adequate. Visits to tertiary institutions by pupils were " found helpful as it helps one in career decision-making. The results of this study indicate that guidance and career guidance should be enforced at school as this will help students to make responsible career choices. If career guidance is made compulsory at school, students will realize that uninformed career decisions made can be costly in time and in money. The results of this study also suggest that friends and guidance teachers are considered to be the most important helping agents in relation to career choice. The parents are found to have had little influence on their childrens' career choices in this study.1t is also indicated in the results of this study that environmental influences affected the respondents career knowledge. Since some limitations of this study were found, these results must be interpreted with caution and one should be cautious in applying them to a wider population

“That other student population group”: an investigation of academic, social, and psychological support services offered to students on augmented curriculum programmes: a case of UKZN BSS4 students’ (mis)perceptions and persistence”.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The main aim of this exploratory and descriptive qualitative study was to obtain an in-depth understanding of the university’s academic support services offered to students on the Extended Curriculum Programme (ECP). Therefore, the study interrogated how university academic support strategies, initiatives, mechanisms, and services assisted ECP students in attaining their academic goals. In this regard, three objectives of the study were developed, namely, (a) To explore (mis) perceptions and persistence of students towards UKZN BSS4’s academic, social, and psychological support services; (b) To determine the scope of academic, social, and psychological challenges faced by students within the UKZN BSS4 Extended Curriculum Programme in realizing their academic goals; and (c) To explore the role of Extended Curriculum Programme in facilitating academic equity. Using qualitative methods of data collection, the study found that misperceptions about the BSS4 emanated from the lack of proper academic guidance and misinformation; challenges faced by ECP students are multifaceted, intricately intertwined, and commonly shared, and responsive measures are reasonably efficient but there is still a need to improve and maintain their quality to more appreciated standards. This is fundamental because the failure of student support services to address the implicit existence of stereotypes, academic, and socio-psychological challenges has the potential of diminishing the sense of belonging, motivation, persistency, and self-efficacy with adverse academic consequences

Mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for oral health professionals (OHPs) - Ethical appraisal

The recently detected South African variant, Covid-19, 501Y.V2 is more transmissible, though not virulent as the initial strain.1 The morbidity and mortality rates due to this variant have risen exponentially, putting huge pressure on the healthcare system, locally and globally. As a consequence the South African government imposed hard lockdown measures (level 3) as a means to curb the pandemic. Governments around the world are scrambling to obtain and roll-out Covid-19 vaccination programs to save lives and livelihoods. Most developed countries have initiated inoculations, amid widespread misinformation and hesitancy. Literature indicate that healthcare professionals (HCPs) are generally complacent and hesitant about vaccination. The COVID-19 uptake is likely to be suboptimal among HCPs and the general populations. The voluntary immunization program will commence in February 2021, and the Healthcare professionals will be among the first to be vaccinated. It remains to be seen if this cohort will achieve the desired vaccinations rates. Failure for this influential group to vaccinate could derail the program and lead to failure to achieve herd immunity. In the face of emerging vaccine hesitancy among HCPs, should oral health professionals be compelled to vaccinate? Will any refusal by OHPs to be immunized be morally justified? Oral health professionals in this context of this paper, represent all oral health professionals involved in the management dental patients. No singular ethical framework is held as sufficient to resolve these questions. This paper interrogates aspect of clinical ethics, including the Hippocratic Oath, principilism, public health ethics (Utilitarianism) and Kantian deontology,&nbsp;to tackle the questions raised. We conclude that OHPs have a moral duty to be vaccinated against Covid-19

To extract or not to extract – Felicific calculus to the rescue

Contestations about the most appropriate clinical intervention and preferred treatment modality remains a serious challenge in dental practice. Dentists must straddle a delicate line between coercion, medicalpaternalism and respecting patient’s interests and concerns. This paper explores a moral debate using a dental extraction case study, and felicific calculus as a tool for joint decision-making. We argue that this instrument offers an invaluable opportunity for building rapport and mutual engagement. Additionally, recognition of patient’s preferences must also be considered in the proposed clinical intervention to inculcate a sense of ownership of the interventions proposed for and by the patient. It is argued that, this will instill a sense of shared-decision making in the interaction between the patient and the clinician.&nbsp