Ethical decision-making in forensic psychology

The purpose of this article is to develop a comprehensive process for identifying and addressing primarily ethical issues related to the psychology profession in South Africa. In fulfilling this purpose, research was conducted of relevant ethical and to a lesser extent, legal aspects pertaining to the psychology profession. In an attempt to prevent unprofessional conduct claims against psychologists from succeeding and to alert psychologists to the concurrent ethical problems that may lead to malpractice suits, this article offers material on some important issues – in the context of forensic psychology – such as ethical decision-making and principles, professional ethics, the regulation of psychology as a profession, the Ethical Code of Professional Conduct to which a psychologist should adhere, ethical aspects and issues pertaining to forensic psychology in general, some ethical issues pertaining to child forensic psychology, summary guidelines for ethical decision-making and some steps to follow to ensure sound ethical decisionmaking

Between a rock and a hard place: COVID-19 and South Africa’s response

Abstract The spread of COVID-19 across China, Asia, Europe and the United States of America was met with public health responses that initially encouraged hand washing and social distancing. They quickly turned to restrictions on the freedom of movement and assembly in the form of forced isolation, mandatory quarantines and lockdowns. Africa’s first confirmed case was not until 14 February in Egypt and March saw a steady spread of the virus throughout the African continent. Concern began to rise about the impact that the virus would have on a continent that is currently facing HIV and TB epidemics and sporadic outbreaks of Ebola and Lassa Fever. There were fears that the already weakened health systems in many African jurisdictions may be unable to cope with another pandemic and quick and decisive action to stop the spread of the virus was considered to be essential. On 15 March 2020, nine days after the first recorded case in South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a State of Disaster. Over the following weeks, a series of regulations were promulgated that limited the freedom of movement and assembly, limited the sale of certain items, specifically prohibited the sale and transportation of alcohol and cigarettes and criminalised the spread of disinformation on COVID-19. Together they represent the greatest limits on the Bill of Rights in post-apartheid South Africa. However, public health strategies such as social distancing and regular hand washing are a privilege many in South Africa cannot afford, especially for thosein crowded informal settlements and who use mass public transport systems. In this paper, we consider these regulations and argue that two major issues are a lack of a community informed response and an over-reliance on the criminal law to this major public health crisis

Examining waist and neck circumferences as screening tools for metabolic syndrome in a sub-Saharan Caucasian cohort at three year follow-up: the SABPA prospective cohort

Objectives: Waist circumference (WC) cut-off points specific to  sub-Saharan Caucasians do not exist with which to identify metabolic syndrome. Neck circumference (NC), as an additional measure, was previously found to be a worthy identifier of metabolic syndrome.  Therefore, the aim was to determine NC and WC cut-off points specificto our Caucasian cohort, to confirm baseline cut-off points and to  determine whether or not WC cut-off points specific to this cohort differed from the Joint Interim Statement (JIS) WC guidelines.Design, subjects and setting: A target population study, nested in a prospective cohort, was assessed and included 90 and 96 Caucasian men and women aged 24-65 years from the Dr Kenneth Kaunda Municipality District, North West province.Outcomes measures: Anthropometric and fasting biological markers for metabolic syndrome, e.g. systolic and diastolic blood pressure, glucose, triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein, were obtained.Results: Cut-off points were determined with the use of a receiver operating characteristic. With the use of cohortspecific WC cut-offs, metabolic syndrome prevalence did not change. WC cut-off points were 96 cm for men and 88 cm for women. NC cut-off points were 42 cm and 35 cm, for men and women, respectively.Conclusion: WC cut-off points specific to these Caucasians differed to those from the JIS guidelines, but corresponded with the baseline findings of the prospective cohort. From a clinical perspective, we cautiously suggest the application of NC, rather than WC, as an anthropometric measure of metabolic syndrome in women as it was a stronger predictor of metabolic syndrome and is not influenced by menopausal status per se

Optimisation of the Quantification of Total Soluble Solids, pH and Titratable Acidity in South African Grape Must using Fourier Transform Mid-infrared Spectroscopy

Calibration models for Fourier transform mid-infrared (FT-MIR) spectroscopy were developed for the simultaneousquantification of total soluble solids (TSS, measured as °Brix), pH and titratable acidity (TA, expressed as g/Ltartaric acid) in South African (SA) grape must. An exploratory data analysis of the FT-MIR spectra of 1170 grapemust samples (647 for °Brix, 252 for pH and 271 for TA) was done by principal component analysis, and partialleast squares regression was used for the computation of the regression models. The prediction errors for TSS (0.34°Brix), pH (0.04 units) and TA (0.51 g/L) provided analytical data of satisfactory accuracy. The evaluation of readyto-use global calibrations to quantify these three parameters in SA samples presented standard error of prediction(SEP) values of 0.46°Brix, 0.10 pH units and 3.13 g/L for TA. After slope and intercept adjustments of the originalglobal calibration algorithms, the SEP values were reduced to 0.38 °Brix, 0.05 pH units and 0.49 g/L for TA. Theseresults show the necessity for optimisation of the global FT-MIR WineScan calibrations to provide a better fit tosamples of South African origin. The results demonstrate that FT-MIR spectroscopy is a useful technique for therapid quantification of major grape must parameters and for quality control purposes in an industrial cellar

The Development of the Interface between Law, Medicine and Psychiatry: Medico-Legal Perspectives in History

Medicine and law were related from early times. This relation resulted as a necessity of protecting communities from the irresponsible acts of impostors. Various legal codes dealing with medical malpractice existed in Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, Islam, Greece, Rome, Persia and India. Over the course of the past 30 years, interest in the history of psychiatry has boomed. Much of this proliferation of interest has taken place under the broad influence of postmodernism and has resulted in multiple and diverse histories that no longer seek to provide a linear narrative of constant evolutionary progress. Rather, these new histories explore and disrupt taken for granted assumptions about the past and provide a starting point for discussion and debate about the some of the very foundations of mental health care in South Africa. As a matter of practical importance knowledge of how knowledge accrues and knowledge of the mistakes of the past is of prime importance in preventing similar mistakes in present and future work. An important reason for specifically understanding historical psychiatry is the fact that many of the uncertainties experienced in the present are a direct result of decisions made in the past. The key issue is that while it is tempting to experience current psychiatric and legal approaches towards the mentally disordered as natural and permanent, an understanding of the past helps mental health and legal practitioners to see things in a different perspective. Psychiatric and legal approaches towards the mentally disordered have changed over time and can undoubtedly also be changed in future. Therefore, the research conducted in this article focuses on the history and development of law and psychiatry including prehistoric times, the Arabian countries, the Nile Valley as well as Greece and Rome

The Fermat-Torricelli problem in normed planes and spaces

We investigate the Fermat-Torricelli problem in d-dimensional real normed spaces or Minkowski spaces, mainly for d=2. Our approach is to study the Fermat-Torricelli locus in a geometric way. We present many new results, as well as give an exposition of known results that are scattered in various sources, with proofs for some of them. Together, these results can be considered to be a minitheory of the Fermat-Torricelli problem in Minkowski spaces and especially in Minkowski planes. This demonstrates that substantial results about locational problems valid for all norms can be found using a geometric approach

The snacking habits of white preschool ·children

Three-day estimated dietary records were kept for 194 white 3- and 4-year-old children to deterMine and evaluate the extent, nature and quality of their snacking. All but 1 child ate between meals, with morning and afternoon snacking being favoured in terms of frequency and quantity. Soft drinks were .consumed most frequently, followed by fresh fruits and fruit juices, sweets and chocolates, milk and sugar. Between-meal eating contributed more than one-third of the average day's energy and approximately one-quarter of most vitamins and minerals to the children's diets. Foods eaten between meals were, however, significantly less nutrient-dense than mealtime foods. Non-basic foods supplied more energy to the diet than _ any of the five basic food groups, but minimal quantities of micronutrients. Sugar consumption, mostly in the form of sugary foods and drinks, was high, but was not consumed exclusively between meals. Such children should be encouraged to make more use of basic commodities, particularly when snacking

Interprofessional knowledge and perceptions of selected South African healthcare practitioners towards each other

Background. Interprofessional collaboration is internationally and popularly envisioned as a successful paradigm for the management of disease, disabilities and injuries. Despite this, the opinion of South African (SA) healthcare practitioners towards this idea is incoherent; this division of opinion needs to be changed to serve the common goal of better patient care.Objective. To provide a narrative overview of literature-based evidence of interprofessional knowledge and perceptions of SA doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dieticians, speech and hearing therapists, as well as biokineticists regarding interprofessional collaboration.Methods. An electronic search of Google Scholar, Crossref, PubMed and Sabinet databases identified 701 records, which were synthesised to 11 articles that were published during 2005 - 2016. Individual article quality was appraised using the modified Downs and Black scale.Results. Of the 11 records, 3 were Master’s theses reviewing the interprofessional knowledge and perceptions of doctors, physiotherapists and biokineticists towards the profession of chiropractic therapy; 3 examined the perceptions of chiropractic therapy, occupational therapy, speech and hearing therapy and biokinetics towards physiotherapy and chiropractic therapy; while the remaining 5 were supportive of interprofessional collaboration. The nature of the research designs of the selected studies were: survey (n=6), short communication (n=1), clinical commentary (n=1), randomised controlled trial (n=1) and focus group interview (n=2). An incoherence underlies the perceptions of the abovementioned practitioners regarding interprofessional collaboration owing to lack of interprofessional knowledge regarding each given discipline’s scope of profession (SoP). This is compounded by uneasiness with regard to patient competition. Some physiotherapists are against collaborative relationships, while occupational therapists, biokineticists and chiropractors are inclined to support the notion of a multidisciplinary physical rehabilitation team. There is a paucity of literature-based evidence reviewing the knowledge and perceptions of medical doctors, nurses and physiotherapists with regard to the SoP of occupational therapists, speech and hearing therapists, biokineticists, dieticians and chiropractors, thereby warranting future investigation.Conclusions. There are mixed perceptions of interprofessional collaboration among the selected healthcare practitioners owing to negative perceptions

Movement patterns and athletic performance of leopards in the Okavango Delta

Although leopards are the most widespread of all the big cats and are known for their adaptability, they are elusive and little is known in detail about their movement and hunting energetics. We used high-resolution GPS/IMU (inertial measurement unit) collars to record position, activity and the first high-speed movement data on four male leopards in the Okavango Delta, an area with high habitat diversity and habitat fragmentation. Leopards in this study were generally active and conducted more runs during the night, with peaks in activity and number of runs in the morning and evening twilight. Runs were generally short (less than 100 m) and relatively slow (maximum speed 5.3 m s−1, mean of individual medians) compared to other large predators. Average daily travel distance was 11 km and maximum daily travel distance was 29 km. No direct correlation was found between average daily temperature and travel distance or between season and travel distance. Total daily energy requirements based on locomotor cost and basal metabolic rate varied little between individuals and over time. This study provides novel insights into movement patterns and athletic performance of leopards through quantitative high-resolution measurement of the locomotor, energetic, spatial and temporal movement characteristics. The results are unbiased by methodological and observational limitations characteristic of previous studies and demonstrate the utility of applying new technologies to field studies of elusive nocturnal species