Biopiracy of plant resources and sustainable traditional knowledge system in Africa

The relationship between plant resources and traditional communities in Africa is inseparable. For centuries, indigenous communities have been depending on their cultural innovations and practices for health and food. Plant resources are part of the traditional knowledge system of indigenous communities in Africa. Colonialism and the scramble for Africa led to plant resources being opened to bioprospecting by western scientists and multinational pharmaceutical firms. They engage in secluded locations around Africa in order to find ‘new drugs from exotic plants’ for profit-making or patent rights. The advent of technology has witnessed a lot of illegal exploitation and commercialization of plant resources (biopiracy). The traditional knowledge system is being eroded with disregard to the welfare of the owners of the knowledge to sustainably manage it. The paper looks at the challenges, the existing legal framework to appreciate if it’s adequate to ensure the sustainability of the traditional knowledge system in Africa.https://brill.com/gjcl2020-09-25hj2019Plant Production and Soil SciencePrivate La

Legal justification to innovation of indigenous knowledge and the right to development in Africa

Economic and social development of an individual or a community depends on the freedom to innovate and enjoy their common heritage. Discrimination from the freedom to enjoy this common heritage is a violation of their basic rights. Due to colonialism and Western concepts of innovation, innovations of indigenous knowledge in Africa are often not accepted in the face of competition within the international market. The intellectual property standards to recognise and protect innovations, especially within the context of the international market, are generally not suitable for innovations in indigenous knowledge. As a result of this, indigenous knowledge is now heavily appropriated by foreign firms in order to gain protection or incentives out of Africa. African states have a duty with respect to the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR, also referred to as the African Charter) to enact suitable legislation to provide recognition or protection of innovation in indigenous knowledge in Africa so as to exercise their God-given right to development. African states practices to implement this right include assessing trade policies and technology transfer that support local innovations. My analysis in this paper includes an examination of the effective implementation of the provisions of the African Charter, the protection of local innovations without intellectual property right standards and an African model that takes into account socio-economic development as a fundamental right.http://www.ajol.info/index.php/aiam2019Private La

Intellectual property protection of African traditional medicine within the legal framework of the right to development

In this article, we examine the prospect of securing intellectual property protection of African traditional medicine within the legal framework of the right to development in Africa. We do so with the aim to advance the right to development as an imperative to improving living standards for the peoples of Africa. Our analysis involves determining to what extent adequate protection could be secured to the benefit of the communities that engage in the practice of traditional medicine as a livelihood. Despite the imposition of western medicine, which has dominated traditional medicine since the colonial era, the latter has survived and, as we argue, deserves protection for gainful purpose as part of the common heritage, which the peoples of Africa are entitled by law to benefit from. With the renewed impetus directed towards re-establishing African value systems against the iniquities of imperial domination, our central focus in this article is to demonstrate that the practice of traditional medicine is deeply rooted in African culture, which under the African human rights system is granted as a human right. In essence, the advancement of African culture constitutes an integral aspect of the right to socio-economic and cultural development enshrined in the African Charter. Unlike other intellectual property regimes, which we argue are not sufficiently protective, we posit that the right development provides a sui generis framework within which intellectual property protection of African traditional medicine could effectively be claimed as a measure to secure redistributive justice, which the peoples of Africa have been deprived of over the decades.http://www.euppublishing.com/journal/ajiclhj2019Private La

Processing, Structure and Tribological Property Relations of Ternary Zn-Ti-O and Quaternary Zn-Ti-Zr-O Nanocrystalline Coatings

Conventional liquid lubricants are faced with limitations under extreme cyclic operating conditions, such as in applications that require lubrication when changing from atmospheric pressure to ultrahigh vacuum and ambient air to dry nitrogen (e.g., satellite components), and room to elevated (>500°C) temperatures (e.g., aerospace bearings). Alternatively, solid lubricant coatings can be used in conditions where synthetic liquid lubricants and greases are not applicable; however, individual solid lubricant phases usually perform best only for a limited range of operating conditions. Therefore, solid lubricants that can adequately perform over a wider range of environmental conditions are needed, especially during thermal cycling with temperatures exceeding 500°C. One potential material class investigated in this dissertation is lubricious oxides, because unlike other solid lubricant coatings they are typically thermodynamically stable in air and at elevated temperatures. While past studies have been focused on binary metal oxide coatings, such as ZnO, there have been very few ternary oxide and no reported quaternary oxide investigations. The premise behind the addition of the third and fourth refractory metals Ti and Zr is to increase the number of hard and wear resistant phases while maintaining solid lubrication with ZnO. Therefore, the major focus of this dissertation is to investigate the processing-structure-tribological property relations of composite ZnO, TiO2 and ZrO2 phases that form ternary (ZnTi)xOy and quaternary (ZnTiZr)xOy nanocrystalline coatings. The coatings were processed by atomic layer deposition (ALD) using a selective variation of ALD parameters. The growth structure and chemical composition of as-deposited and ex situ annealed ternary and quaternary oxide coatings were studied by combined x-ray diffraction/focused ion beam microscopy/cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy/Auger electron spectroscopy, respectively. It was determined that the structure varied from purely nanocrystalline (ternary oxides) to composite amorphous/nanocrystalline (quaternary oxides) depending on ALD parameters and annealing temperatures. In particular, the ZnTiO3 ilmenite phase with (104) textured nanocolumnar grains, exhibiting high stacking fault/partial dislocation densities >1012/cm2, was responsible for the excellent tribological behavior. Steady-state sliding friction coefficients down to 0.12 in humid air and 0.2 in dry nitrogen were measured along with sliding and fretting wear factors in the range of 10-6 to 10-7 mm3/N·m, even after ex situ annealing to 550°C. Additionally, the quaternary oxide phase Zn(Ti,Zr)O3 in solid solution exhibited a low fretting wear rate of 1x10-6 mm3/N·m. In contrast, certain phases, such as Zn2TiO4 cubic spinel, that form at annealing temperatures >550°C were responsible for high friction and wear. Mechanistic studies using the above techniques revealed low friction and wear-reducing surfaces and subsurfaces were due to different velocity accommodation modes (VAM). In the case of the ternary system, sliding-induced plastic deformation was possible when ZnTiO3 (104) stacking faults, bordered by partial dislocations, serve as a pathway for the dislocations to glide parallel to the sliding direction and hence achieve low friction and wear via an intrafilm shear VAM. It was evident that the individual nanocolumnar ZnTiO3 grains were plastically sheared as opposed to being fractured during wear. Conversely for the quaternary system, an interfacial sliding VAM between the counterface and a mechanically mixed layer (tribofilm) composed of the refined coating and counterface material, that also served as a source for the formation of cylindrical rolls, was responsible for wear reduction. Therefore, these lubricious oxides are a potential candidate for solid lubrication at high temperatures (up to 550 °C) and in space environments

Legal framework to gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health rights of indigenous women in Cameroon

Men and women have different health profiles which necessitate different health needs, as a result of their biology and their distinct status in society. Discrimination and harmful traditional practices in many societies in the global south further affect the reproductive health of indigenous women. The paper will highlight discrimination against women in patriarchal indigenous communities in Cameroon. The paper focuses on violations that affect women’s reproductive health. The paper will discuss these violations in light of the country’s commitment to Sustainable Development Goal No. 3 on good health and well-being and Goal No. 5 on gender equality. The paper will also highlight the national and international laws addressing the right to the reproductive health of indigenous women. It will also examine gender-sensitive interventions, legislation and policies put in place by the indigenous community and the Government of Cameroon if any. The paper will end with conclusion and suggestions/recommendations on ways to improve the reproductive health of indigenous women in Cameroon.http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/170873842020-12-01hj2020Private La

Ethical dilemma with respect to CBD regulations in genetic modification of biological resources in Cameroon

The quest for patent rights has seen bioprospecting as a scientific and commercial research paradigm in which bioprospectors explore secluded locations around Cameroon in order to find ‘new drugs from exotic plants’. Bioprospectors derive genetic and biochemical materials that are both scientifically and commercially valuable, and they subsequently patent these materials abroad away from the original source to justify legal ownership through intellectual property law. An almost unprecedented amount of discussion has been stimulated on the merits and demerits of genetic engineering of crop plants and biodiversity exploitation and has divided both the public and scientific communities. The arguments for and against genetic engineering are invariably based on visions or missions of the new technology from widely different ethical perspectives. Fundamental issues of man's relationship with nature and theological matters are issues of concern. The genetic engineering of living cells, plants, animals and human beings has brought ethical concerns and issues to the conservation of biodiversity. Agricultural productivity depends in part on the availability of biodiversity for the development of improved cultivars. Until the 1970s, biodiversity was considered to be part of the ‘common heritage of humanity’. Under the regime of patent rights, biological resources are treated as belonging to the ‘public domain’ and are not owned by any individual, group, or state. From a common heritage of mankind, biodiversity is evolving into a resource under the sovereignty of nation states and is subject to intellectual property rights (IPRs). The new technology has witnessed a lot of illegal exploitation and commercialisation of these biological resources which is considered as biopiracy.http://www.euppublishing.com/journal/ajiclhj2018Private La

"I was the only one in my famliy who lived a life 'outside' the society" : A qualitative study of the individual's experience of reintegration into society after a prison sentence

En individs liv efter ett fängelsestraff omfattar nya anpassningar i samhället som arbete, bostad och möjligheten att återigen vara delaktig i samhället. I processen av återanpassning upplever dessa individer bemötandet av stigmatisering och stämpling, vilket har stor påverkan på individen och dess process. För fängelsedömda individer som har avtjänat sin tid kan relationen till familjen anses vara antingen en risk- eller skyddsfaktorer för återanpassning i samhället. Idag läggs inte fokus på hur individen upplever återanpassning till samhället samt hur det påverkar dem, därför tycker vi att det är ett viktigt område att belysa och uppmärksamma. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka individens återanpassning i samhället efter att ha avtjänat ett fängelsestraff, med fokus på arbetssökande och familjerelationer. Detta kommer att genomföras ur ett socialpsykologiskt perspektiv där stigmatisering och sociala band är fördjupande begrepp som kommer att belysas. Med en socialpsykologisk ansats genomförs studien utifrån stigmateorin, kontrollteorin och stämplingsteorin. Tio semistrukturerade intervjuer med män mellan 30-55 år som har avtjänat ett fängelsestraff för narkotikabrott inom loppet av 10 år genomfördes genom stödorganisationer för före detta kriminella såsom KRIS och KRAMI. Resultatet påvisar att arbete är en relevant aspekt som bidrar till en upplevd känsla av återanpassning och delaktighet i samhället. Kriminella kan förändras och bli en del av samhället igen med hjälp av stöd från familj, sociala band, stödorganisationer, myndigheter och från samhället.An individual's life after a prison sentence involves new forms of adaptations in society within spectrums like work, housing and the opportunity to participate in society again. In the process of readjustment, these individuals tend to experience the treatment of stigma and negative reproach, which has a great impact on the individual and its process. For imprisoned individuals who have served their time, the relationship with their family can either be considered as a risk or protective factor for reintegration into society. Today, there is minimal focus on how these individuals experience reintegration into society and how it affects them, therefore we think it is an important area to highlight and pay attention to. The purpose of this study is to examine the individual's reintegration into society after serving a prison sentence, focusing on the job seeking process and family relationships. This will be done from a socialpsychological perspective where stigma and social bond will be highlighted. With a socialpsychological approach, the study is carried out based on the stigma theory, the control theory and the stamping theory. Ten semi-structured interviews with men between the ages of 30-55, who have served a prison sentence for drug offenses within 10 years, were conducted through support organizations for former criminals such as KRIS and KRAMI. Results show that work is a relevant aspect that contributes to a perceived feeling of reintegration and participation in society. Criminals can change and become part of society again with the help of support from family, social ties, support organizations, government and from society.

"I was the only one in my famliy who lived a life 'outside' the society" : A qualitative study of the individual's experience of reintegration into society after a prison sentence

En individs liv efter ett fängelsestraff omfattar nya anpassningar i samhället som arbete, bostad och möjligheten att återigen vara delaktig i samhället. I processen av återanpassning upplever dessa individer bemötandet av stigmatisering och stämpling, vilket har stor påverkan på individen och dess process. För fängelsedömda individer som har avtjänat sin tid kan relationen till familjen anses vara antingen en risk- eller skyddsfaktorer för återanpassning i samhället. Idag läggs inte fokus på hur individen upplever återanpassning till samhället samt hur det påverkar dem, därför tycker vi att det är ett viktigt område att belysa och uppmärksamma. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka individens återanpassning i samhället efter att ha avtjänat ett fängelsestraff, med fokus på arbetssökande och familjerelationer. Detta kommer att genomföras ur ett socialpsykologiskt perspektiv där stigmatisering och sociala band är fördjupande begrepp som kommer att belysas. Med en socialpsykologisk ansats genomförs studien utifrån stigmateorin, kontrollteorin och stämplingsteorin. Tio semistrukturerade intervjuer med män mellan 30-55 år som har avtjänat ett fängelsestraff för narkotikabrott inom loppet av 10 år genomfördes genom stödorganisationer för före detta kriminella såsom KRIS och KRAMI. Resultatet påvisar att arbete är en relevant aspekt som bidrar till en upplevd känsla av återanpassning och delaktighet i samhället. Kriminella kan förändras och bli en del av samhället igen med hjälp av stöd från familj, sociala band, stödorganisationer, myndigheter och från samhället.An individual's life after a prison sentence involves new forms of adaptations in society within spectrums like work, housing and the opportunity to participate in society again. In the process of readjustment, these individuals tend to experience the treatment of stigma and negative reproach, which has a great impact on the individual and its process. For imprisoned individuals who have served their time, the relationship with their family can either be considered as a risk or protective factor for reintegration into society. Today, there is minimal focus on how these individuals experience reintegration into society and how it affects them, therefore we think it is an important area to highlight and pay attention to. The purpose of this study is to examine the individual's reintegration into society after serving a prison sentence, focusing on the job seeking process and family relationships. This will be done from a socialpsychological perspective where stigma and social bond will be highlighted. With a socialpsychological approach, the study is carried out based on the stigma theory, the control theory and the stamping theory. Ten semi-structured interviews with men between the ages of 30-55, who have served a prison sentence for drug offenses within 10 years, were conducted through support organizations for former criminals such as KRIS and KRAMI. Results show that work is a relevant aspect that contributes to a perceived feeling of reintegration and participation in society. Criminals can change and become part of society again with the help of support from family, social ties, support organizations, government and from society.