Inuit estimates of polar bear characteristics from tracks could complement ongoing capture-mark-recapture methods to frequently monitor polar bear populations in response to climate-induced habitat changes. Before the inclusion of these Inuit track estimates, they need to be evaluated for reliability and accuracy. Building on previous work, which showed increased reliability among active Inuit hunters, this thesis research reports i) reliability in estimates of sex, age, size, and age of track of a larger number of tracks by a larger number of Inuit hunters; ii) preliminary accuracy assessments of sex and size estimates; iii) semi-structured interviews with Inuit hunters regarding their polar bear tracking experience and techniques; and iv) potential relations between Inuit hunting experience and reliability and accuracy in diagnosing tracks. The Inuit hunters were reliable and consistent as a group in making estimates of sex (α=0.74 and mean corrected item-total correlation=0.45), age (α=0.81 and mean corrected item-total correlation=0.63), and size (α=0.91 and mean corrected item-total correlation=0.73), as well as age of track estimates with the exclusion of a single participant (α=0.85 and mean corrected item-total correlation=0.63). Preliminary accuracy assessments suggest Inuit hunters are generally accurate in their estimates of sex (mean 65.28% agreement with genetic sex estimates) and potentially size from tracks, warranting further efforts to determine accuracy in these estimates as well as age and age of track. Semi-structured, open-ended interviews with each hunter revealed they use similar tracking techniques, which may explain their high agreement in making estimates. In addition, Inuit tracking experience and the use of particular tracking methods may correlate with individual reliability and accuracy in track diagnoses. These results suggest the information that Inuit hunters provide may inform any tracking-based polar bear survey. / Thesis (Master, Biology) -- Queen's University, 2010-08-15 13:06:07.948

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For 20 years, and more intensively during the last decade, indigenous knowledge has challenged the regime of intellectual property. If this field of law has been, in the past, challenged by new technology, it is now, with the problematic of indigenous medicinal knowledge, put to the test by "old invention". The present thesis examines the status of indigenous medicinal knowledge in international intellectual property law. Thus, we will proceed to the study of the main international conventions and the common regime of intellectual property law in order to determine the treatment accorded to medicinal indigenous knowledge within the actual system. The role that intellectual property could play in the future will also be examined.

Ocimum obovatum E. Mey ex Benth. var. obovatum is a traditionally used medicinal plant that grows along the KwaZulu-Natal coast and the western Cape of South Africa. The plant is noted for its hair restoration properties, remedy for infantile abdominal pain and cramps and its use as an enema to treat epigastric conditions in children. The aims of this study were to document the micromorphology and ultrastructure of the foliar secretory structures responsible for the production and secretion of the essential oils and chemical composition of the secretion, which gives the plant a distinct aroma. It is believed that these oils contain the active ingredients that contribute to the medicinal properties of the plant. A variety of microscopic methods and histochemical and phytochemical tests were used to achieve this. Leaves in all stages of development were pubescent and gland dots, characteristic of plants in the genus, were found on both adaxial and abaxial surfaces. Three types of trichomes were found on both leaf surfaces across all stages of development; non-glandular trichomes and two types of glandular trichomes. Non-glandular trichomes are single, multicellular and uniseriate with microornamentation and a supportive cellular pedestal. The glandular trichomes consisted of peltate and capitate trichomes. Peltate trichomes are made up of four head cells and a very small basal cell that gives the glands the appearance of being sessile. The capitate trichomes were further divided into two types based on the morphology of the glands. Type I capitate trichomes are smaller than the larger peltate trichomes and are composed of one basal cell and a head consisting of two broad head cells. Type II capitate trichomes consisted of one basal cell, one stalk cell and a single oval head cell. Histochemical tests showed that peltate and Type I capitate trichomes have cutinized or suberized walls in the stalk cell to prevent the apoplastic flow of secretory material into neighbouring mesophyll tissue. The histochemical stains also showed that the secretory material present in the glandular trichomes are lipid in nature and essential oils are present. Ultrastructural studies showed polymorphic leucoplasts, few Golgi bodies, numerous vesicles and mini vacuoles, mitochondria and short profiles of endoplasmic reticulum cisternae. Phytochemical tests revealed the presence of essential oils that are terpene-rich. Flavonoids, tannins, saponins, terpenoids, fixed oils and fat, phenolics and cardiac glycosides were also detected in a crude ethanolic extract of the leaves. These chemical compounds appear to be responsible for the medicinal properties for which the plant is traditionally exploited. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2011.

Cultural resources like traditional medicinal knowledge need to be recognized in their role tied to important regional practices in Zimbabwe. This is especially as a nexus of legal definitions for biological, intellectual and cultural resources will inform a National Sui Generis Legislation for the protection of these resources. Even further, because foreign pharmaceutical companies seeking plant genetic resources, called 'green-gold', benefit from derivatives of traditional medicinal knowledge it is important to protect these practices as part of an entire social and symbolic system. This system can be conceived as traditional medicinal knowledge is accessed, kept, shared, used and valued as a spiritual gift that links individuals, families and community in relationships. Change to this arrangement occurs when the derivatives of it are appropriated for local non-customary use in Zimbabwe's street markets, in a trade union of traditional-healers, as well as for research and development schemes. Acknowledging the spectrum of divergent interests and practices surrounding traditional medicinal knowledge is a prerequisite to creating a system of protections for it as a cultural resource. A National Sui Generis Legislation framework that clearly supports and protects the cultural right of local individuals and communities will thereby need to identify the important customary and non-customary regional practices around traditional medicinal knowledge and create entitlements to them accordingly.

This thesis provides an in-depth account of the Low-Country, ritual, drumming tradition of Sri Lanka. Low-Country drumming is characterized by its expressive and illusive sense of timing which makes it appear to be free of beat, pulse and metre. This makes it special in respect to other drumming cultures of the world. However, the drumming of the Low-Country is marginalized, unaccepted and unexposed. Drawing on original fieldwork from the Western province of Sri Lanka, this study analyses the drumming of three distinct rituals: devol maḍuva, Kalu Kumāra samayama and graha pūjāva of Raigama, the dominant sub-tradition of the Low-Country. The thesis reveals key features of the drumming tradition, some of which are hidden. These features include the musical structure that is beneath the surface of the drumming, timing, embellishment, improvisation and performance practice. It also documents the Low-Country drum, the yak beraya, its construction and relationship to the musician. The thesis addresses some of the changes that are occurring in the contemporary ritual and argues the need for the drumming to be brought out of its ritual context, for its survival in the future. It also documents a collaborative performance between Low-Country ritual performers and musicians from New Zealand.

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With the knowledge that risk has become an omnipresent concept used to understand various social problems, this study aims to fill a perceived gap in literature by investigating the way in which risk discourse is applied to understand different categories of crime, namely traditional crime and corporate crime. It is hypothesized that risk logic is heavily applied to the understanding of traditional crime, with minimal attribution to conversations surrounding corporate crime. The pervasiveness of risk as a technique or tactic of government renders the study of its application to different types of crime an important addition to the existing risk literature. Using the method of a comparative content analysis, the parallels and discrepancies between the ways in which risk is used to discuss traditional and corporate crime by Canadian federal criminal justice organizations are explored. The results indicate a lack of focus on risk logic with respect to corporate crime, but demonstrate that risk discourse is perhaps not altogether absent from corporate crime discussions.