Exploring the Legacies of Armed Rebellion in Burundi's Maquis par Excellence

This contribution explores the legacies of armed rebellion in post-war Burundi, where two of the main political parties, the ruling CNDD-FDD and the FNL, are former rebel movements. It aims to add a micro-political perspective to the discussion on the transformation of rebel groups into political parties, and bring some nuance to the normative underpinnings of this debate. Based on observations of the role of local leaders with an FNL past, and of retrospective popular appreciation for wartime governance by the FNL in its stronghold of Bujumbura Rural, the paper argues that beyond the symptoms of a violent political culture, this legacy should also be understood as a complex source of post-war power and legitimacy.In diesem Beitrag wird untersucht, inwieweit das politische Erbe des bewaffneten Aufstands in der Nachkriegsgesellschaft Burundis nachwirkt, wo zwei der wichtigsten politischen Parteien, die regierende CNDD-FDD und die FNL, aus früheren Rebellenbewegungen hervorgegangen sind. Der Autor möchte die Diskussion zur Transformation von Rebellengruppen in politische Parteien durch eine mikropolitische Perspektive ergänzen und zugleich die normative Seite der Debatte nuancieren. Aus seinen Beobachtungen zur Rolle lokaler Führungspersönlichkeiten mit FNL-Vergangenheit und aus der Popularität der Verwaltungsstrukturen der FNL während des Krieges in ihrer Hochburg Bujumbura Rural folgert er, dieses Erbe des Krieges sei nicht nur Symptom einer politischen Kultur der Gewalt, sondern müsse auch als eine differenziert zu bewertende Quelle von Macht und Legitimität in der Nachkriegsgesellschaft Burundis gesehen werden

Phytochemical Screening and Polyphenolic Antioxidant Activity of Aqueous Crude Leaf Extract of Helichrysum pedunculatum

We evaluated the in vitro antioxidant property and phytochemical constituents of the aqueous crude leaf extract of Helichrysum pedunculatum. The scavenging activity on superoxide anions, DPPH, H2O2, NO and ABTS; and the reducing power were determined, as well as the flavonoid, proanthocyanidin and phenolic contents of the extract. The extract exhibited scavenging activity towards all radicals tested due to the presence of relatively high total phenol and flavonoids contents. Our findings suggest that H. pedunculatum is endowed with antioxidant phytochemicals and could serve as a base for future drugs

Perspectives on the use of transcriptomics to advance biofuels

As a field within the energy research sector, bioenergy is continuously expanding. Although much has been achieved and the yields of both ethanol and butanol have been improved, many avenues of research to further increase these yields still remain. This review covers current research related with transcriptomics and the application of this high-throughput analytical tool to engineer both microbes and plants with the penultimate goal being better biofuel production and yields. The initial focus is given to the responses of fermentative microbes during the fermentative production of acids, such as butyric acid, and solvents, including ethanol and butanol. As plants offer the greatest natural renewable source of fermentable sugars within the form of lignocellulose, the second focus area is the transcriptional responses of microbes when exposed to plant hydrolysates and lignin-related compounds. This is of particular importance as the acid/base hydrolysis methods commonly employed to make the plant-based cellulose available for enzymatic hydrolysis to sugars also generates significant amounts of lignin-derivatives that are inhibitory to fermentative bacteria and microbes. The article then transitions to transcriptional analyses of lignin-degrading organisms, such as Phanerochaete chrysosporium, as an alternative to acid/base hydrolysis. The final portion of this article will discuss recent transcriptome analyses of plants and, in particular, the genes involved in lignin production. The rationale behind these studies is to eventually reduce the lignin content present within these plants and, consequently, the amount of inhibitors generated during the acid/base hydrolysis of the lignocelluloses. All four of these topics represent key areas where transcriptomic research is currently being conducted to identify microbial genes and their responses to products and inhibitors as well as those related with lignin degradation/formation.clos

Exploring the Legacies of Armed Rebellion in Burundi’s Maquis par Excellence

This contribution explores the legacies of armed rebellion in post-war Burundi, where two of the main political parties, the ruling CNDD-FDD and the FNL, are former rebel movements. It aims to add a micro-political perspective to the discussion on the transformation of rebel groups into political parties, and bring some nuance to the normative underpinnings of this debate. Based on observations of the role of local leaders with an FNL past, and of retrospective popular appreciation for wartime governance by the FNL in its stronghold of Bujumbura Rural, the paper argues that beyond the symptoms of a violent political culture, this legacy should also be understood as a complex source of post-war power and legitimacy

Das Erbe des bewaffneten Aufstands in Burundis Maquis par Excellence

This contribution explores the legacies of armed rebellion in post-war Burundi, where two of the main political parties, the ruling CNDD-FDD and the FNL, are former rebel movements. It aims to add a micro-political perspective to the discussion on the transformation of rebel groups into political parties, and bring some nuance to the normative underpinnings of this debate. Based on observations of the role of local leaders with an FNL past, and of retrospective popular appreciation for wartime governance by the FNL in its stronghold of Bujumbura Rural, the paper argues that beyond the symptoms of a violent political culture, this legacy should also be understood as a complex source of post-war power and legitimacy.In diesem Beitrag wird untersucht, inwieweit das politische Erbe des bewaffneten Aufstands in der Nachkriegsgesellschaft Burundis nachwirkt, wo zwei der wichtigsten politischen Parteien, die regierende CNDD-FDD und die FNL, aus früheren Rebellenbewegungen hervorgegangen sind. Der Autor möchte die Diskussion zur Transformation von Rebellengruppen in politische Parteien durch eine mikropolitische Perspektive ergänzen und zugleich die normative Seite der Debatte nuancieren. Aus seinen Beobachtungen zur Rolle lokaler Führungspersönlichkeiten mit FNL-Vergangenheit und aus der Popularität der Verwaltungsstrukturen der FNL während des Krieges in ihrer Hochburg Bujumbura Rural folgert er, dieses Erbe des Krieges sei nicht nur Symptom einer politischen Kultur der Gewalt, sondern müsse auch als eine differenziert zu bewertende Quelle von Macht und Legitimität in der Nachkriegsgesellschaft Burundis gesehen werden