Africa and Pax-Africana in The Age of Interventionism

This article, drawing data from library and online sources, examines and engages issues in Africa’s quest for pax-Africana in the age of interventionism. It notes that Africa’s quest for pax-Africana in the age of interventionism is undercut by many factors, chief among which is the dependency and weaknesses of African states which always predispose extra-African powers to intervene in matters that should exclusively be handled by Africans. It concludes that as long as Africa remains trapped in dependent relations and the climate of disunity persists among African statesmen, its quest for pax-Africana would remain daunting

NIGÉRIA PÓS-AUTORITÁRIA: DEMOCRATIZANDO SOB CORRUPÇÃO GENERALIZADA

This article, adopting descriptive, historical and analytical methods of inquiry and using the post-authoritarian Nigeria as research backdrop, examines the contours and terrains of democratization processes, in Africa, under condition of pervasive corruption. It observes that democratic institutions, in Nigeria since the termination of the authoritarian order in 1999, have performed abysmally in checking the incidences of corruption contrary to the expectations in the donor community, based on the experiences of the advanced democracies, that democracy and its appurtenances once launched, could reduced the incidence of corruption. It notes and argues that this state of affairs is not unconnected to a non-autonomous and a prebendal state, which offers almost limitless opportunities for official corruption to thrive.   Este artigo, adotando métodos descritivos, históricos e analíticos de investigação e utilizando a Nigéria pós-autoritária como pano de fundo da investigação, examina os contornos e terrenos dos processos de democratização na África, sob condições de corrupção generalizada. Observa-se que as instituições democráticas na Nigéria, desde a cessação da ordem autoritária em 1999, têm tido um desempenho abismal na verificação dos casos de corrupção, contrariamente às expectativas da comunidade de doadores, com base nas experiências das democracias avançadas, de que a democracia e os seus apetrechos, uma vez lançados, poderiam reduzir a incidência da corrupção. Ele observa e argumenta que esta situação não está desligada de um Estado não autônomo e prebendal, que oferece oportunidades quase ilimitadas para que a corrupção oficial prospere

GRUPOS DE VIGILANTES E DE POLICIAMENTO EM UMA NIGÉRIA DEMOCRATIZADA: NAVEGANDO NO CONTEXTO E QUESTÕES

In the last few years, vigilante groups and other informal policing structures have assumed a greater role in the security architecture of many countries, especially those that exited from authoritarian order. In spite of this development, however, issues and concerns are constantly being raised about them regarding whether they could really be agents of democratic policing against the backdrop of their penchant for human rights violations and extra-judicial killings. It is against this background that this article examines the balance sheet of vigilante groups in a democratizing Nigeria. Following an extensive review of extant literature on police, policing, vigilantism and vigilante groups, as well as relevant studies on vigilante groups in Nigeria, it observes and notes that unlike the practice in liberal democracies, where vigilante groups - in conduct and practice - conform to principles of rule of law and constitutionalism, the opposite is the case in a democratizing Nigeria. It argues and concludes that as long as the vigilante groups, like the formal policing establishments, remain the instruments of intimidation of political opponents by the politicians that control them; the terrain of vigilantism would continue to be in the realm of ‘anocracy’. Nos últimos anos, grupos de vigilantes e outras estruturas informais de policiamento assumiram um papel maior na arquitetura de segurança de muitos países, especialmente aqueles que saíram da ordem autoritária. Apesar deste desenvolvimento, no entanto, questões e preocupações são constantemente levantadas sobre se eles realmente poderiam ser agentes do policiamento democrático contra o pano de fundo de sua propensão para violações de direitos humanos e assassinatos extrajudiciais. É contra esse cenário que este artigo examina o balanço de grupos de vigilantes em uma Nigéria em democratização. Após uma extensa revisão da literatura existente sobre grupos policiais, de policiamento, de vigilantismo e grupos de vigilantes, bem como estudos relevantes sobre grupos vigilantes na Nigéria, observa-se que ao contrário da prática em democracias liberais, onde grupos de vigilantes, - em conduta e prática - , seguem os princípios do estado de direito e constitucionalismo, o oposto é o caso de uma Nigéria em democratização Argumenta-se e conclui-se que enquanto os grupos de vigilantes, como os estabelecimentos formais de policiamento, continuam sendo instrumentos de intimidação política de opositores políticos pelos políticos que os controlam; o terreno do vigilantismo continuaria a ser no reino da "anocracia"

Between the Rock and a Hard Place: The Africa Union and Democracy Promotion in Africa

While the Cold War lasted, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) never considered democracy promotion in member states as a priority. What mattered to the body was the safeguard of the sovereignties of member states? The globalization of the third democratic wave however, changed that as democracy promotion, courtesy of Donor’s aid agenda became a core objective of the OAU/AU. Deploying descriptive, historical, and analytical methods of inquiry with a focus on the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance (ACDEG), this article assesses the extent of AU’s commitments to promoting democracy in Africa. Following an extensive review of conceptual literature on democracy, as well as relevant studies on OAU/AU’s democracy promotion initiatives in Africa, it notes that OAU/AU, no doubt, has robust normative frameworks for dealing with an unconstitutional change of government and other actions that could constitute a threat to the growth of democracy in Africa but in enforcing these frameworks, it is often stuck between a rock and a hard place. It suggests, among others, the strengthening of the enforcement mechanisms of the organization

In Situ Enzyme Activity in the Dissolved and Particulate Fraction of the Fluid from Four Pitcher Plant Species of the Genus Nepenthes

The genus Nepenthes, a carnivorous plant, has a pitcher to trap insects and digest them in the contained fluid to gain nutrient. A distinctive character of the pitcher fluid is the digestive enzyme activity that may be derived from plants and dwelling microbes. However, little is known about in situ digestive enzymes in the fluid. Here we examined the pitcher fluid from four species of Nepenthes. High bacterial density was observed within the fluids, ranging from 7×106 to 2.2×108 cells ml−1. We measured the activity of three common enzymes in the fluid: acid phosphatases, β-d-glucosidases, and β-d-glucosaminidases. All the tested enzymes detected in the liquid of all the pitcher species showed activity that considerably exceeded that observed in aquatic environments such as freshwater, seawater, and sediment. Our results indicate that high enzyme activity within a pitcher could assist in the rapid decomposition of prey to maximize efficient nutrient use. In addition, we filtered the fluid to distinguish between dissolved enzyme activity and particle-bound activity. As a result, filtration treatment significantly decreased the activity in all enzymes, while pH value and Nepenthes species did not affect the enzyme activity. It suggested that enzymes bound to bacteria and other organic particles also would significantly contribute to the total enzyme activity of the fluid. Since organic particles are themselves usually colonized by attached and highly active bacteria, it is possible that microbe-derived enzymes also play an important role in nutrient recycling within the fluid and affect the metabolism of the Nepenthes pitcher plant

Cause of Death and Predictors of All-Cause Mortality in Anticoagulated Patients With Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation : Data From ROCKET AF

M. Kaste on työryhmän ROCKET AF Steering Comm jäsen.Background-Atrial fibrillation is associated with higher mortality. Identification of causes of death and contemporary risk factors for all-cause mortality may guide interventions. Methods and Results-In the Rivaroxaban Once Daily Oral Direct Factor Xa Inhibition Compared with Vitamin K Antagonism for Prevention of Stroke and Embolism Trial in Atrial Fibrillation (ROCKET AF) study, patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation were randomized to rivaroxaban or dose-adjusted warfarin. Cox proportional hazards regression with backward elimination identified factors at randomization that were independently associated with all-cause mortality in the 14 171 participants in the intention-to-treat population. The median age was 73 years, and the mean CHADS(2) score was 3.5. Over 1.9 years of median follow-up, 1214 (8.6%) patients died. Kaplan-Meier mortality rates were 4.2% at 1 year and 8.9% at 2 years. The majority of classified deaths (1081) were cardiovascular (72%), whereas only 6% were nonhemorrhagic stroke or systemic embolism. No significant difference in all-cause mortality was observed between the rivaroxaban and warfarin arms (P=0.15). Heart failure (hazard ratio 1.51, 95% CI 1.33-1.70, P= 75 years (hazard ratio 1.69, 95% CI 1.51-1.90, P Conclusions-In a large population of patients anticoagulated for nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, approximate to 7 in 10 deaths were cardiovascular, whereasPeer reviewe

The Movember Global Action Plan 1 (GAP1) : Unique Prostate Cancer Tissue Microarray Resource

BACKGROUND: The need to better understand the molecular underpinnings of the heterogeneous outcomes of patients with prostate cancer is a pressing global problem and a key research priority for Movember. To address this, the Movember Global Action Plan 1 Unique tissue microarray (GAP1-UTMA) project constructed a set of unique and richly annotated tissue microarrays (TMA) from prostate cancer samples obtained from multiple institutions across several global locations. METHODS: Three separate TMA sets were built that differ by purpose and disease state. RESULTS: The intended use of TMA1 (Primary Matched LN) is to validate biomarkers that help determine which clinically localized prostate cancers with associated lymph node metastasis have a high risk of progression to lethal castration-resistant metastatic disease, and to compare molecular properties of high-risk index lesions within the prostate to regional lymph node metastases resected at the time of prostatectomy. TMA2 (Pre vs. Post ADT) was designed to address questions regarding risk of castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and response to suppression of the androgen receptor/androgen axis, and characterization of the castration-resistant phenotype. TMA3 (CRPC Met Heterogeneity)'s intended use is to assess the heterogeneity of molecular markers across different anatomic sites in lethal prostate cancer metastases. CONCLUSIONS: The GAP1-UTMA project has succeeded in combining a large set of tissue specimens from 501 patients with prostate cancer with rich clinical annotation. IMPACT: This resource is now available to the prostate cancer community as a tool for biomarker validation to address important unanswered clinical questions around disease progression and response to treatment.publishedVersionPeer reviewe