Momentum trading strategy on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange

Includes bibliographical references.This research report documents an example of evidence of investor overreaction in the marketplace, with overreaction to short-term information found to be exploitable via price corrections in order to generate market-beating returns. An efficient market should render any consistent abnormal returns unattainable. Hence any technical analysis allowing an investor to obtain such returns would indicate a degree of market inefficiency. Three signal generation strategies are employed to test for momentum and price corrections in the market, namely using a stock's price and moving average, ranking stocks based on prior returns, and allocating stocks as overbought and oversold. The strategies are employed on data comprising the top 60 stocks on the JSE as at August 2012. The period tested runs from January 1998 to August 2012. Signal generation by means of price and moving average encompasses trade signals being generated by a stock's price moving above or below a variable moving average. Returns to this strategy tend to be maximized when employing a short-term (20-day) moving average, with an annualised above market return of 14,9 achievable. Using the returns of a stock in an immediately preceding formation period as a ranking criterion to classify stocks into a portfolio is found to be a superior method to generate trading signals. A portfolio of the best performing stocks in a preceding period ("the winner portfolio") is found to be able to outperform the market. Given a minimum formation period of 50 days, price continuation is achieved after holding the portfolio for at least 30 days, with annualized market excess returns greater than 10 achieved at longer formation and holding periods. A portfolio of the worst performing stocks in the same period ("the loser portfolio") is able to outperform the winner portfolio, and is capable of achieving returns of 20 in excess of the market, given a formation period as low as 10 days, while closing the investment position after no more than 10 days

The influence of a song on school children’s knowledge growth for sustainable malaria prevention

Music as a potential prevention strategy can play a pivotal role in developing behavioural changes and creating awareness about malaria and malaria prevention. The study was conducted in a moderate-risk malaria district in sub-Saharan Africa. A comparative analysis and pre-and post-intervention evaluation of three teaching intervention methods to teach and educate young children about malaria, e.g., song intervention, drama intervention, and song-and-drama combination, was evaluated. Data were collected by means of pre-and post-intervention interviews with Grade 3 primary school children and teachers, as well as a post-intervention questionnaire with teachers, parents, guardians, and caregivers. The purpose of the study was to investigate knowledge gains on malaria in relation to malaria awareness interventions. The results revealed that the songonly intervention was the most effective learning intervention strategy in this population and that behavioural changes and knowledge growth occurred regarding malaria and malaria prevention in this population. Independent of the teaching styles of each teacher in teaching the song to the children, the findings established that culturally and age-appropriate songs contributed to increasing children’s knowledge growth regarding sustainable malaria prevention.https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainabilityam2023Educational PsychologySchool of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH

Could a culturally and age-appropriate song contribute towards malaria prevention in primary school learners?

BACKGROUND : Although it is a preventable disease, malaria continues to present one of the major global health challenges. The disease is especially deadly to children under the age of 5 years. This is partly due to the fact that they have yet to build up an immune system to help protect them against malaria. As a prevention strategy, music is one way of communicating knowledge to young children and could therefore potentially be used to change children’s behaviour in order to avoid getting sick from malaria. This exploratory study aimed to compare intervention strategies designed to educate and improve knowledge growth about malaria and its prevention in Grade 3 learners in a high-risk malaria region in Vhembe District, Limpopo Province, South Africa. METHODS : Various intervention strategies were employed and evaluated to determine the most effective intervention method. The study was split into two Phases. Phase 1 used a culturally and age-appropriate song as an intervention, along with a drama piece, a song and drama piece combination, and a control group. The most effective intervention strategy determined during Phase 1 was then subjected to Phase 2, against a control group to validate its efficacy. Questionnaires were used during pre-intervention and post-intervention interviews to evaluate the knowledge growth, if any, of the learners of selected primary schools in two different areas in Vhembe District. Pre-intervention interviews were followed by a specific intervention, based on the respective study groups. After 6 weeks, the post-intervention interviews were done to determine how much learners managed to learn and retain from the intervention received. RESULTS : The study found that the group that had only the song as intervention was the most effective learning intervention method in both Phases 1 and 2. Both phases showed that there was statistical significance in almost all of the nine questions asked on the questionnaires. CONCLUSIONS : The study concluded that a culturally and age-appropriate song can play a significant role in developing behavioural changes and spreading awareness against disease in a high-risk malaria region.The University of Pretoria Institute for Sustainable Malaria Control and MRC Collaborating Centre of Malaria Research provided a small amount of funding for the data collection trips. Financial assistance from Rotary International District 6460 was also provided.https://malariajournal.biomedcentral.comhj2023Educational PsychologySchool of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH)UP Centre for Sustainable Malaria Control (UP CSMC

Antibacterial, Anti-HIV-1 Protease and Cytotoxic Activities of Aqueous Ethanolic Extracts from Combretum Adenogonium Steud. Ex A. Rich (Combretaceae).

\ud \ud Records have shown that Combretum adenogonium Steud. Ex A. Rich (Combretaceae) is used in traditional medicine systems of several tribes in Tanzania. This study focused on the investigation of antibacterial activity, anti-HIV-1 protease activity, toxicity properties and classes of phytochemicals in extracts from C. adenogonium Steud. Ex A. Rich (Combretaceae) to evaluate potential of these extracts for development as herbal remedies. Dried plant material were ground to fine powder and extracted using 80% aqueous ethanol to afford root, leaf and stem bark extracts. The extracts were assayed for anti-HIV-1 protease activities, antibacterial activities using microdilution methods and cytotoxicity using brine shrimps lethality assay. Screening for major phytochemical classes was carried out using standard chemical tests. All extracts exhibited antibacterial activity to at least one of the test bacteria with MIC-values ranging from 0.31-5.0 mg/ml. Two extracts, namely, root and stem bark exhibited anti-HIV-1 PR activity with IC50 values of 24.7 and 26.5 μg/ml, respectively. Stem bark and leaf extracts showed mild toxicity with LC50 values of 65.768 μg/ml and 76.965 μg/ml, respectively, whereas roots were relatively non-toxic (LC50 = 110.042 μg/ml). Phytochemical screening of the extracts indicated presence of flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, tannins, glycosides and saponins. These results provide promising baseline information for the potential development of C. adenogonium extracts in treatment of bacterial and HIV/AIDS-related opportunistic infections

Conservation law enforcement : policing protected areas

This article examines how recent increases in commercial poaching of wildlife intensify the dictates that underpin conservation law and its enforcement; namely, the securing of space, punishing of transgressors, and protecting of nonhuman life. Drawing on ethnographic research with antipoaching personnel in Mozambique, I examine how rangers translate these legal and normative manifestations of conservation law enforcement on the ground and in their daily practices to police protected areas and the wildlife within them. This article makes two contributions. First, drawing on insights from the political geography and ecology of conservation with the political geography of policing, I demonstrate how territorial, sovereign, and biopolitical practices and logics coalesce to secure the spaces and the lives of the nonhuman from ostensible human threats. Second, it is rangers who are deployed as petty environmental sovereigns to achieve these objectives through often violent practices. Although many rangers might feel uncomfortable with the use of violence, their agency to commit or resist using violence is authorized, enabled, and constrained by the normative and legal structures of conservation law enforcement within which they operate. The social differentiation among rangers also means that some have more agency to navigate these structures than others. These insights help understand the actually existing operationalization of delegated and performative power over bodies, space, and the use of direct violence. I suggest that critiques of conservation violence, and the use of violence by those acting as petty sovereigns more broadly, should be primarily oriented at the broader structures within which they operate

The Ritvo Autism Asperger Diagnostic Scale-Revised (RAADS-R): A Scale to Assist the Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Adults: An International Validation Study

The Ritvo Autism Asperger Diagnostic Scale-Revised (RAADS-R) is a valid and reliable instrument to assist the diagnosis of adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The 80-question scale was administered to 779 subjects (201 ASD and 578 comparisons). All ASD subjects met inclusion criteria: DSM-IV-TR, ADI/ADOS diagnoses and standardized IQ testing. Mean scores for each of the questions and total mean ASD vs. the comparison groups’ scores were significantly different (p < .0001). Concurrent validity with Constantino Social Responsiveness Scale-Adult = 95.59%. Sensitivity = 97%, specificity = 100%, test–retest reliability r = .987. Cronbach alpha coefficients for the subscales and 4 derived factors were good. We conclude that the RAADS-R is a useful adjunct diagnostic tool for adults with ASD

Mobilising Knowledge through Global Partnerships to Support Research-informed Teaching: Five Models for Translational Research

Education Futures Collaboration Charity The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Improving the quality of teaching is of global concern: UNESCO’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4c in the Education 2030: Framework for Action calls for high quality teaching for all. The OECD challenges the education system to improve Knowledge Management. JET’s (2015) special issue: Translational Research (TR) and Knowledge Mobilisation in Teacher Education introduced the concept of ‘translational’ or ‘theory to practice’ research - well-established in medicine but not in education. Five TR models were subsequently developed by the MESH charity’s international network with organisations in South Africa, Bangladesh, Australia, Pakistan, UK. These distinct models engage 1) university staff and teachers 2) subject associations, 3) research units, 4) an international NGO working in crisis settings, 5) PhD tutors and students. Each model shares common features forming the MESH Translational Research methodology introduced in this article. A TR repository is part of the MESH knowledge mobilisation strategy giving teachers access to research summaries which, overtime, accumulate knowledge. TR publications called MESHGuides (www.meshguides.org) complement existing forms of publication. This article proposes the MESH TR methodology as one affordable and scalable solution to OECD and UNESCO’s challenges of keeping teachers up-to-date and making new knowledge accessible to teachers regardless of location

Blechnum Orientale Linn - a fern with potential as antioxidant, anticancer and antibacterial agent

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Blechnum orientale </it>Linn. (<it>Blechnaceae</it>) is used ethnomedicinally for the treatment of various skin diseases, stomach pain, urinary bladder complaints and sterilization of women. The aim of the study was to evaluate antioxidant, anticancer and antibacterial activity of five solvent fractions obtained from the methanol extract of the leaves of <it>Blechnum orientale </it>Linn.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Five solvent fractions were obtained from the methanol extract of <it>B. orientale</it> through successive partitioning with petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, butanol and water. Total phenolic content was assessed using Folin-Ciocalteu's method. The antioxidant activity was determined by measuring the scavenging activity of DPPH radicals. Cytotoxic activity was tested against four cancer cell lines and a non-malignant cell using MTT assay. Antibacterial activity was assessed using the disc diffusion and broth microdilution assays. Standard phytochemical screening tests for saponins, tannins, terpenoids, flavonoids and alkaloids were also conducted.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The ethyl acetate, butanol and water fractions possessed strong radical scavenging activity (IC₅₀8.6-13.0 μg/ml) and cytotoxic activity towards human colon cancer cell HT-29 (IC₅₀27.5-42.8 μg/ml). The three extracts were also effective against all Gram-positive bacteria tested: <it>Bacillus cereus, Micrococcus luteus</it>, methicillin-susceptible <it>Staphylococcus aureus </it>(MSSA), methicillin-resistant <it>Staphylococcus aureus </it>(MRSA) and <it>Stapylococcus epidermidis</it>(minimum inhibitory concentration MIC 15.6-250 μg/ml; minimum bactericidal concentration MBC 15.6-250 μg/ml). Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of flavonoids, terpenoids and tannins. Ethyl acetate and butanol fractions showed highest total phenolic content (675-804 mg gallic acid equivalent/g).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results indicate that this fern is a potential candidate to be used as an antioxidant agent, for colon cancer therapy and for treatment of MRSA infections and other MSSA/Gram-positive bacterial infectious diseases.</p

Antibacterial activity of traditional medicinal plants used by Haudenosaunee peoples of New York State

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The evolution and spread of antibiotic resistance, as well as the evolution of new strains of disease causing agents, is of great concern to the global health community. Our ability to effectively treat disease is dependent on the development of new pharmaceuticals, and one potential source of novel drugs is traditional medicine. This study explores the antibacterial properties of plants used in Haudenosaunee traditional medicine. We tested the hypothesis that extracts from Haudenosaunee medicinal plants used to treat symptoms often caused by bacterial infection would show antibacterial properties in laboratory assays, and that these extracts would be more effective against moderately virulent bacteria than less virulent bacteria.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>After identification and harvesting, a total of 57 different aqueous extractions were made from 15 plant species. Nine plant species were used in Haudenosaunee medicines and six plant species, of which three are native to the region and three are introduced, were not used in traditional medicine. Antibacterial activity against mostly avirulent (<it>Escherichia coli, Streptococcus lactis</it>) and moderately virulent (<it>Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus</it>) microbes was inferred through replicate disc diffusion assays; and observed and statistically predicted MIC values were determined through replicate serial dilution assays.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Although there was not complete concordance between the traditional use of Haudenosaunee medicinal plants and antibacterial activity, our data support the hypothesis that the selection and use of these plants to treat disease was not random. In particular, four plant species exhibited antimicrobial properties as expected (<it>Achillea millefolium, Ipomoea pandurata, Hieracium pilosella</it>, and <it>Solidago canadensis</it>), with particularly strong effectiveness against <it>S. typhimurium</it>. In addition, extractions from two of the introduced species (<it>Hesperis matronalis </it>and <it>Rosa multiflora</it>) were effective against this pathogen.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data suggest that further screening of plants used in traditional Haudenosaunee medicine is warranted, and we put forward several species for further investigation of activity against <it>S. typhimurium </it>(<it>A. millefolium, H. matronalis, I. pandurata, H. pilosella, R. multiflora, S. canadensis</it>).</p