Embedding social justice in Ugandan adoption and legal guardianship cases

International adoptions of Ugandan children rose by 400 percent from 2010 to 2011, many under irregular and suspicious circumstances (Lumu 2014) due to a ‘legal guardianship loophole’ that allows prospective adoptive parents to take children under their guardianship out of the country even before a child’s adoptability has been determined. Ugandan courts then lose jurisdiction because such adoptions are finalized in the adoptive country. This article highlights the emerging social justice issues associated with these trends, as well as the irreversible damage of such actions on children’s growth and development. The courts play a critical role in adoption and legal guardianship cases, using their discretionary power to promote the best interests of children and ensure their safety, survival and development. Because judicial officers are more empowered than any other authority, we argue that they must exercise this discretion with social justice in mind; a fair and transparent process of judicial decision-making that recognizes human value, children’s capabilities, and wellbeing as well as treats all parties equally – regardless of their social status – is essential if children are to be protected from adoption abuses and traf

Planning a Family:priorities and concerns in rural Tanzanmia

A fertility survey using qualitative and quantitative techniques described a high fertility setting (TFR 5.8) in southern Tanzania where family planning use was 16%. Current use was influenced by rising parity, educational level, age of last born child, breastfeeding status, a\ud preference for longer than the mean birth interval (32 months), not being related to the household head, and living in a house with a tin roof. Three principal concerns amongst women were outlined from the findings. First, that there is a large unmet need for family planning services in the area particularly among teenagers for whom it is associated with induced abortion. Second, that family planning is being used predominantly for spacing but fears\ud associated with it often curtail effective use. Third, that service provision is perceived to be lacking in two main areas — regularity of supply, and addressing rumours and fears associated with family planning. Reproductive health interventions in the area should ultimately be more\ud widespread and, in particular, abortion is highlighted as an urgent issue for further research.\ud The potential for a fast and positive impact is high, given the simplicity of the perceived needs of\ud women from this study. (Afr J Reprod Health 2004; 8[2]:111-123)\u

\u3csup\u3e40\u3c/sup\u3eAr-\u3csup\u3e39\u3c/sup\u3eAr Age constraints on volcanism and tectonism in the Terror Rift of the Ross Sea, Antarctica

Volcanic sills and dikes inferred from seismic reflection profiles and geophysical studies of the Ross Sea are thought to be related to the rift basins in the region, and their emplacement to be coeval with extension. However, lack of precise geochronology in the Terror Rift of the Ross Sea region has left these inferred relationships poorly constrained and has hindered neotectonic studies, because of the large temporal gaps between seismic reflectors of known ages. New 40Ar/39Ar geochronology presented here for submarine volcanic rocks provides better age constraints for neotectonic interpretations within the Terror Rift. Several samples from seamounts yielded young ages between 156 ± 21 and 122 ± 26 Ka. These ages support interpretations that extension within the Terror Rift was active at least through the Pleistocene. Three evenly spaced samples from the lowermost 100 m of Franklin Island range in age from 3.28 ± 0.04 to 3.73 ± 0.05 Ma. These age determinations demonstrate that construction of a small volcanic edifice such as Franklin Island took at least several hundred thousand years, and therefore that much larger ones in the Erebus Volcanic Province are likely to have taken considerably longer than previously inferred. This warrants caution in applying a limited number of age determinations to define the absolute ages of events in the Ross Sea region

Occurrence of rice yellow mottle virus resistance breaking isolates in lowland catchment zones of Uganda

Rice (Oryza spp; 2n=24.) production in Uganda and Africa in general, is seriously threatened by the Rice yellow mottle virus disease (RYMVD), a disease caused by Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) within the genus Sobemovirus; family Sobemoviridae. This study investigated the existence and distribution of resistance-breaking RYMV pathotype in the three major lowland rice catchment areas in Uganda. Four known rice accessions resistant to Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) namely; Gigante, Tog5672, Tog5674 and Tog5681, carrying resistant allele’s rymv1-2, rymv1-4 & RYMV3, rymv1-5 and rymv1-3, respectively, were tested for their response to different RYMV isolates. The isolates were collected from three major lowland rice catchment areas of Doho, Kibimba, and Olweny in Uganda. Out of 100 leaf samples collected from the field and assayed for RYMV and confirmed to be positive using RT-PCR, 83 isolates induced symptoms on IR64- the RYMV susceptible line. Seventy-seven (92.8%) isolates were able to overcome resistance in at least one of the four differential rice accessions, as confirmed by the presence of RYMV symptoms; while 6 (7.2%) isolates were asymptomatic. Variation in time (days) for symptom development post-inoculation (dpi) and AUDPC were observed. Symptoms appeared within 5-7 days on IR64; while it took on average 11, 18, 36, and 18 days to appear on Gigante, Tog5672, Tog5674 and Tog5681, respectively. The highest AUDPC was observed on IR64 (254.7); while the lowest was observed on Tog5681 (74.1). Two major patho-groups were observed; those that broke down resistance in Gigante only (25.3%) and Gigante & Tog5672 (33.7%). Five isolates from Doho (Budaka & Bugiri districts) and Kibimba (Butaleja district) catchment areas broke down RYMV resistance in three accessions i.e. (Tog5681, Gigante & Tog5672) and (Tog5674, Gigante & Tog5672), respectively. Resistance breaking isolates were confirmed in all  the three sampled catchment zones, however, Doho and Kibimba had some unique isolates that broke down resistance in accessions carrying resistance allele rymv 1-3 and rymv1-5 in addition to rymv1-2. Results from this study showed that RYMV isolates in Uganda can break down resistance conferred by the rymv1-2 resistance gene allele. However, accessions Tog5681 and Tog5674 seem to hold stable RYMV resistance and, thus are recommended for RYMV breeding

Influence of spectral properties on cassava leaf development and metabolism

Cassava’s importance as a food security crop in Sub Saharan Africa will be enhanced by its special traits such as tolerance to drought and high yields under hydrothermal stress. Some of the special traits which include the light reflective and absorptive properties of the leaves that depend on the surface characteristics of the leaves, are variety dependent and may influence the plants’ reaction to light; hence, its photosynthetic capacity. We investigated the differences in the leaf spectral properties in different cassava varieties and related them to leaf biochemical properties using 20 cassava varieties established in a randomized complete block design in Kasese, western Uganda. Time dependent changes in leaf spectral characteristics were studied using Digimizer software and related to changes in sugar and pigment properties. Changes in the amount of reflected light were observed for the three main wavelengths used by plants (blue, green and red) with the blue being the most preferred. Total soluble free sugars exhibited a diurnal pattern from lower values (0.07 mg/g) after the dark period to higher values (0.313 mg/g) as the day progressed and was different from those of translocatable sugars such as sucrose. Chlorophyll a exhibited a curved pattern in all varieties increasing with increase in light intensity from 09:00 h (0.18 ug/g), peaking at 15:00 h (0.22 ug/g) and dropping down in concentration by 18:00 h (0.16 ug/g). Significant differences were observed in cassava varieties for the concentration of chlorophylls and carotenes. The results were obtained at a time of optimal growth conditions (four months after planting) and were used to classify these varieties into three broad groups showing that studies on spectral properties of leaves can still give a lot of insights in selection for stress tolerance under less optimal stress. The significant changes observed in the phenotype especially the foliar portion of the plant with the stay green and early recovering mechanisms of tolerance identified also tarried well with observed spectral differences. The results show that studies on plant spectral properties can be important in making inferences on the plants physiological and growth status.Keywords: Spectral properties, tolerance mechanisms, physiology, reflectance