Access to Justice for Indigenous Peoples in Africa

In preparation for the 2014 World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous community representatives from across Africa traveled to Nairobi for a conference in December 2012. The participants identified access to justice as a primary concern for Indigenous Peoples in Africa—whether political recognition and participation, criminal justice, or land rights, Indigenous representatives were clear that their communities struggle to access remedies for violations of their rights. This paper provides a broad overview of the situation for access to justice on the continent—from national legal frameworks, to judicial decisions, to regional human rights bodies, to transitional justice mechanisms. While African Indigenous Peoples’ access to justice concerns are similar to those of Indigenous Peoples around the globe, some specific issues emerge in the African context, such as how to understand the very existence of Indigenous Peoples on the continent. Ultimately, the paper makes clear that access to justice for Indigenous Peoples is more a political than legal issue, and that State political will to implement positive decisions in favor of Indigenous rights is one of the primary challenges for Indigenous Peoples

Case Study of Zero Waste Bag Design Utilizing Pre-Consumer Upholstery Fabric Waste

The upholstery industry generates tremendous fabric waste each year, which negatively impacts the environment. The researchers aimed to explore a potential use of pre-consumer upholstery fabric waste through the creation of reusable grocery bags, under the frame of Barquet et al.\u27s (2016) five sustainability factors for product service system business model. By utilizing 98.88% of 234.48 ounces of upholstery fabric waste provided by an upholsterer, this study resulted in the creation of 30 reusable grocery bags with a total estimated retail value of $1,300. We revealed the positive linkage of our reusable bag design process to four of the sustainability factors: Apply Designs for Environment, Identify Economic Value, Promote Behavior Change, and Act Towards Social Well-being. Findings also suggest this upholstery fabric waste should no longer be considered waste, as it performs as valuable resources for the creation of other durable products

Above and belowground community strategies respond to different global change drivers

Environmental changes alter the diversity and structure of communities. By shifting the range of species traits that will be successful under new conditions, environmental drivers can also dramatically impact ecosystem functioning and resilience. Above and belowground communities jointly regulate whole-ecosystem processes and responses to change, yet they are frequently studied separately. To determine whether these communities respond similarly to environmental changes, we measured taxonomic and trait-based responses of plant and soil microbial communities to four years of experimental warming and nitrogen deposition in a temperate grassland. Plant diversity responded strongly to N addition, whereas soil microbial communities responded primarily to warming, likely via an associated decrease in soil moisture. These above and belowground changes were associated with selection for more resource-conservative plant and microbe growth strategies, which reduced community functional diversity. Functional characteristics of plant and soil microbial communities were weakly correlated (P = 0.07) under control conditions, but not when above or belowground communities were altered by either global change driver. These results highlight the potential for global change drivers operating simultaneously to have asynchronous impacts on above and belowground components of ecosystems. Assessment of a single ecosystem component may therefore greatly underestimate the whole-system impact of global environmental changes

Mindfulness Meditation: A Primer for Rheumatologists

Over the past decade, there has been an increasing interest in meditation as a mind-body approach, given its potential to alleviate emotional distress and promote improved well being in a variety of populations. The overall purpose of this review is to provide the practicing rheumatologist with an overview of mindfulness and how it can be applied to Western medical treatment plans to enhance both the medical and psychological care of patients

Using a Case Study to Teach Leaders How to Enact Positive Organizational Change

https://digitalcommons.usmalibrary.org/books/1062/thumbnail.jp

An Adolescent Nutrition Learning Model to Facilitate Behavior Change in Overweight Teens

Understanding the process by which adolescents learn about nutrition is necessary for developing tailored education that leads to sustainable behavior change. Teens aged 15–17 participating in an obesity prevention program were interviewed. From the data, three themes emerged and informed development of an adolescent nutrition learning model. The themes were (a) valuable nutrition information provided by a reputable source, (b) hands-on learning as a learning preference, and (c) the linking of concepts learned to behavior change. The adolescent nutrition learning model that resulted encapsulates obese adolescents\u27 process for learning about nutrition to bring about behavior change and can be integrated into nutrition education programs and interventions

Bristles reduce the force required to ‘fling’ wings apart in the smallest insects

ABSTRACT The smallest flying insects commonly possess wings with long bristles. Little quantitative information is available on the morphology of these bristles, and their functional importance remains a mystery. In this study, we (1) collected morphological data on the bristles of 23 species of Mymaridae by analyzing high-resolution photographs and (2) used the immersed boundary method to determine via numerical simulation whether bristled wings reduced the force required to fling the wings apart while still maintaining lift. The effects of Reynolds number, angle of attack, bristle spacing and wing–wing interactions were investigated. In the morphological study, we found that as the body length of Mymaridae decreases, the diameter and gap between bristles decreases and the percentage of the wing area covered by bristles increases. In the numerical study, we found that a bristled wing experiences less force than a solid wing. The decrease in force with increasing gap to diameter ratio is greater at higher angles of attack than at lower angles of attack, suggesting that bristled wings may act more like solid wings at lower angles of attack than they do at higher angles of attack. In wing–wing interactions, bristled wings significantly decrease the drag required to fling two wings apart compared with solid wings, especially at lower Reynolds numbers. These results support the idea that bristles may offer an aerodynamic benefit during clap and fling in tiny insects

Fluid-loading solutions and plasma volume: Astro-ade and salt tablets with water

Fluid loading with salt and water is a countermeasure used after space flight to restore body fluids. However, gastrointestinal side effects have been frequently reported in persons taking similar quantities of salt and water in ground-based studies. The effectiveness of the Shuttle fluid-loading countermeasure (8 gms salt, 0.97 liters of water) was compared to Astro-ade (an isotonic electrolyte solution), to maintain plasma volume (PV) during 4.5 hrs of resting fluid restriction. Three groups of healthy men (n=6) were studied: a Control Group (no drinking), an Astro-ade Group, and a Salt Tablet Group. Changes in PV after drinking were calculated from hematocrit and hemoglobin values. Both the Salt Tablet and Astro-ade Groups maintained PV at 2-3 hours after ingestion compared to the Control Group, which had a 6 percent decline. Side effects (thirst, stomach cramping, and diarrhea) were noted in at least one subject in both the Astro-ade and Salt Tablet Groups. Nausea and vomiting were reported in one subject in the Salt Tablet Group. It was concluded that Astro-ade may be offered as an alternate fluid-loading countermeasure but further work is needed to develop a solution that is more palatable and has fewer side effects