Les réparations en Afrique australe

Cette étude vient compléter une littérature toujours plus importante sur les réparations aux victimes de violations des droits de l’homme dans le contexte d’une transition politique. Nous examinerons comment l’Afrique du Sud, le Malawi, le Zimbabwe, la Namibie et le Mozambique ont élaboré des programmes officiels et non judiciaires de réparations aux victimes/survivants de violations des droits de l’homme. Les recherches empiriques, regroupées avec la collaboration des organisations de droits de l’homme en Afrique australe, complètent une littérature et un cadre théorique sous-développés sur la question des réparations en général et en Afrique en particulier. Les réponses apportées dans cette analyse offrent une base de réflexion pour les futures études sur ce sujet dans le domaine de la justice transitionnelle. Tous les cas abordés ici montrent que la réparation n’a pas grand sens sans « redevabilité » et sans reconnaissance – deux objectifs de la justice transitionnelle. Tout en étant un élément du processus plus large de justice transitionnelle, un programme de réparations global doit aborder des thèmes tels que la vérité, de la justice et de la « redevabilité ». Ces processus sont à l’origine d’une prise de conscience sociale des violations qui place la demande de réparations dans l’arène publique. Les mesures de réadaptation, de mise en mémoire symbolique et de cicatrisation collective occupent une place importante dans le discours sur les réparations dans ces cinq pays. Sans faire abstraction des forces politiques en jeu, il est évident que les décisions des gouvernements en matière de justice transitionnelle influencent (de manière positive et négative) l’élaboration (ou la non-élaboration) des programmes de réparations. Bien que la réparation soit considérée comme un mécanisme parmi d’autres dans le cadre plus large de la justice transitionnelle, elle doit être aussi perçue comme un processus dynamique qui, comme le processus de décision en justice transitionnelle en général, dépend de forces culturelles, économiques, politiques et sociales qui varient selon les contextes. Cette étude propose que la réparation soit désagrégée et démêlée pour être analysée comme un élément permanent de la justice transitionnelle. Il est aussi important d’abandonner les idées traditionnelles selon lesquelles la « réparation » n’est qu’un synonyme de restitution ou d’indemnisation.Reparation in Southern Africa. – The present study seeks to add to the growing literature on reparations to victims of human rights abuses in the context of a political transition, by examining the experiences of Malawi, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Mozambique, as well as South Africa, in developing official, non-judicial reparation programs for victims/survivors of human rights abuses. The use of empirical research, gathered in collaboration among human rights organizations in southern Africa, augments the under-developed literature and theory around reparations, in general, and in Africa, more specifically. The answers found in this analysis provide a foundation for future study of this topical and seminal issue in transitional justice. A constant theme running through the cases is that reparation holds little meaning without accountability and acknowledgment–twin aims of transitional justice.  While a component of a broader transitional justice process, a more holistic reparations program is facilitated by programs that address truth, justice and accountability. These processes create a momentum and social awareness of abuses that push the demand for reparations into the public arena.  Measures aimed at rehabilitation, symbolic memorialisation and collective healing figure prominently in the discourse on reparations in these five countries. Not discounting the political forces at play in each country, it is evident in these cases that the country’s decisions vis-à-vis transitional justice impact (both positively and negatively) on the eventual development (or non-development) of reparation programs. Though reparation is considered one mechanism in the menu of choices within the broader transitional justice framework it nonetheless needs to be seen as a dynamic process that, much like the transitional justice decision-making process in general, is informed by cultural, economic, political and social forces unique to different contexts.  This study, then, suggests an opportunity to disaggregate and unravel “reparation”, so that its value to transitional justice may be more carefully studied as a permanent application thereof.  There is also clearly a need to depart from traditional ways of thinking about reparation, where “reparation” is synonymous with restitution and compensation or, more bluntly, where it denotes a “pay-off”

The Surfactant Dipalmitoylphophatidylcholine (DPPC) Modifies Acute Responses in Alveolar Carcinoma Cells in Response to Low Dose Silver Nanoparticle Exposure

Nanotechnology is a rapidly growing field with silver nanoparticles (AgNP) in particular utilized in a wide variety of consumer products. This has presented a number of concerns relating to exposure and the associated toxicity to humans and the environment. As inhalation is the most common exposure route, this study investigates the potential toxicity of AgNP to A549 alveolar epithelial carcinoma cells and the influence of a major component of lung surfactant dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) on toxicity. It was illustrated that exposure to AgNP generated low levels of oxidative stress and a reduction in cell viability. While DPPC produced no significant effect on viability studies its presence resulted in increased reactive oxygen species formation. DPPC also significantly modified the inflammatory response generated by AgNP exposure. These findings suggest a possible interaction between AgNP and DPPC causing particles to become more reactive, thus increasing oxidative insult and inflammatory response within A549 cell

Physical activity and exercise: Strategies to manage frailty

Frailty, a consequence of the interaction of the aging process and certain chronic diseases, compromises functional outcomes in the elderly and substantially increases their risk for developing disabilities and other adverse outcomes. Frailty follows from the combination of several impaired physiological mechanisms affecting multiple organs and systems. And, though frailty and sarcopenia are related, they are two different conditions. Thus, strategies to preserve or improve functional status should consider systemic function in addition to muscle conditioning. Physical activity/exercise is considered one of the main strategies to counteract frailty-related physical impairment in the elderly. Exercise reduces age-related oxidative damage and chronic inflammation, increases autophagy, and improves mitochondrial function, myokine profile, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) signaling pathway, and insulin sensitivity. Exercise interventions target resistance (strength and power), aerobic, balance, and flexibility work. Each type improves different aspects of physical functioning, though they could be combined according to need and prescribed as a multicomponent intervention. Therefore, exercise intervention programs should be prescribed based on an individual's physical functioning and adapted to the ensuing response.pre-print2.493 K

Reparation as a mechanism of transitional justice in southern Africa : a case study analysis

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-111)

Protease supplementation improves muscle function after eccentric exercise

The purpose of this article is to determine the effectiveness of protease supplementation in attenuating eccentric exercise-induced skeletal muscle damage and inflammation

Emergence of Animals from Heat Engines – Part 1. Before the Snowball Earths

The origin of life has previously been modeled by biological heat engines driven by thermal cycling, caused by suspension in convecting water. Here more complex heat engines are invoked to explain the origin of animals in the thermal gradient above a submarine hydrothermal vent. Thermal cycling by a filamentous protein ‘thermotether’ was the result of a temperature-gradient induced relaxation oscillation not impeded by the low Reynolds number of a small scale. During evolution a ‘flagellar proton pump’ emerged that resembled Feynman’s ratchet and that turned into today’s bacterial flagellar motor. An emerged ‘flagellar computer’ functioning as Turing machine implemented chemotaxis