Women living in northern Nigeria face a herculean challenge of overcoming direct and indirect violence. These include domestic violence, political instability, social inequality, and the threat of Boko Haram. Boko Haram is an extremist militant group that has been known to kidnap, rape, and torture women and young girls as means of terrorizing the Nigerian community. Northern Nigerian women have also faced challenges within their own community as they are barred from participating in public activities, are under-represented in government, forced into early marriages, and are often victims of domestic violence. This study examines the lived experiences of women peacebuilders living in northern Nigeria as they negotiate regional conflicts and manage the peacebuilding process. Seven northern Nigerian females between the ages of 30 to 60 were recruited to participate in this study. All came from diverse backgrounds but shared a commonality of peace building and conflict management within their respective communities. The goal of this study was to better understand the meaning of these experiences and to uncover how these women handle these daily challenges. Feminist standpoint and structural violence theories provide the theoretical framework to dissect the essence of their experiences. The study adopted Clark Moustaka’s approach towards conducting transcendental phenomenological research methods and procedure. The results of the study will inform project design and policy formulation and serve as a source for future research and interventions by development agencies and other stakeholders interested in peace within the region.

DNA nanotechnology has developed a versatile set of methods to utilise DNA self-assembly for the bottom-up construction of arbitrary two- and three-dimensional DNA objects in the nanometre size range, and to functionalise the structures with unprecedented site-specificity with nanoscale objects such as metallic and semiconductor nanoparticles, proteins, fluorescent dyes, or synthetic polymers. The advances in structure assembly have resulted in the application of functional DNA-based nanostructures in a gamut of fields from nanoelectronic circuitry, nanophotonics, sensing, drug delivery, to the use as host structure or calibration standard for different types of microscopy. However, the analytical means for characterising DNA-based nanostructures drag behind these advances. Open questions remain, amongst others in quantitative single-structure evaluation. While techniques such as atomic force microscopy (AFM) or transmission electron microscopy (TEM) offer feature resolution in the range of few nanometres, the number of evaluated structures is often limited by the time-consuming manual data analysis. This thesis has introduced two new approaches to quantitative structure evaluation using AFM and super-resolution fluorescence microscopy (SRM). To obtain quantitative data, semi-automated computational image analysis routines were tailored in both approaches. AFM was used to quantify the attachment yield and placement accuracy of poly(3-tri(ethylene glycol)thiophene)-b-oligodeoxynucleotide diblock copolymers on a rectangular DNA origami. This work has also introduced the first hybrid of DNA origami and a conjugated polymer that uses a highly defined polythiophene derivative synthesised via state-of-the-art Kumada catalyst-transfer polycondensation. Among the AFM-based studies on polymer-origami-hybrids, this was the first to attempt near-single molecule resolution, and the first to introduce computational image analysis. Using the FindFoci tool of the software ImageJ revealed attachment yields per handle between 26 - 33%, and determined a single block copolymer position with a precision of 80 - 90%. The analysis has pointed out parameters that potentially influence the attachment yield such as the handle density and already attached objects. Furthermore, it has suggested interactions between the attached polymer molecules. The multicolour SRM approach used the principles of single-molecule high-resolution co-localisation (SHREC) to evaluate the structural integrity and the deposition side of the DNA origami frame “tPad” based on target distances and angles in a chiral fluorophore pattern the tPads were labelled with. The computatinal routine that was developed for image analysis utilised clustering to identify the patterns in a sample’s signals and to determine their characteristic distances and angles for hundreds of tPads simultaneously. The method excluded noise robustly, and depicted the moderate proportion of intact tPads in the samples correctly. With a registration error in the range of 10 -15 nm after mapping of the colour channels, the precision of a single distance measurements on the origami appeared in the range of 20 - 30 nm. By broadening the scope of computational AFM image analysis and taking on a new SRM approach for structure analysis, this work has presented working approaches towards new tools for quantitative analysis in DNA nanotechnology. Furthermore, the work has presented a new approach to constructing hybrid structures from DNA origami and conjugated polymers, which will open up new possibilities in the construction of nanoelectronic and nanophotonic structures.

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Image Super resolution is a widely-studied problem in computer vision, where the objective is to convert a lowresolution image to a high resolution image. Conventional methods for achieving super-resolution such as image priors, interpolation, sparse coding require a lot of pre/post processing and optimization. Recently, deep learning methods such as convolutional neural networks and generative adversarial networks are being used to perform super-resolution with results competitive to the state of the art but none of them have been used on microscopy images. In this thesis, a generative adversarial network, mSRGAN, is proposed for super resolution with a perceptual loss function consisting of a adversarial loss, mean squared error and content loss. The objective of our implementation is to learn an end to end mapping between the low / high resolution images and optimize the upscaled image for quantitative metrics as well as perceptual quality. We then compare our results with the current state of the art methods in super resolution, conduct a proof of concept segmentation study to show that super resolved images can be used as a effective pre processing step before segmentation and validate the findings statistically. / Image Super-resolution är ett allmänt studerad problem i datasyn, där målet är att konvertera en lågupplösningsbild till en högupplöst bild. Konventionella metoder för att uppnå superupplösning som image priors, interpolation, sparse coding behöver mycket föroch efterbehandling och optimering.Nyligen djupa inlärningsmetoder som convolutional neurala nätverk och generativa adversariella nätverk är användas för att utföra superupplösning med resultat som är konkurrenskraftiga mot toppmoderna teknik, men ingen av dem har använts på mikroskopibilder. I denna avhandling, ett generativ kontradiktorisktsnätverk, mSRGAN, är föreslås för superupplösning med en perceptuell förlustfunktion bestående av en motsatt förlust, medelkvadratfel och innehållförlust.Mål med vår implementering är att lära oss ett slut på att slut kartläggning mellan bilder med låg / hög upplösning och optimera den uppskalade bilden för kvantitativa metriks såväl som perceptuell kvalitet. Vi jämför sedan våra resultat med de nuvarande toppmoderna metoderna i superupplösning, och uppträdande ett bevis på konceptsegmenteringsstudie för att visa att superlösa bilder kan användas som ett effektivt förbehandling steg före segmentering och validera fynden statistiskt.

Junge Menschen spielen eine lang unterschätzte Rolle für Frieden. Das Potenzial ihrer Einbeziehung in die UN-Sicherheitsagenda wurde erstmals 2015 offiziell durch die internationale Gemeinschaft anerkannt. Die UN-Sicherheitsratsresolution 2250 (2015) und Folgeresolutionen 2419 (2018) und 2535 (2020) bilden die Grundlage für die Agenda Jugend, Frieden und Sicherheit (Youth, Peace and Security, YPS). Diese Arbeit leistet einen umfassenden Beitrag zum Verständnis der normativen Grundlagen und Wirkungen der YPS-Agenda. Zunächst werden dafür die drei YPS-Resolutionen ausführlich analysiert. Die daran anschließende rechtliche Würdigung der YPS-Agenda untersucht das Narrativ junger Menschen als Friedensakteur:innen mit Schutzanspruch, eine mögliche Weiterentwicklung des Rechts auf politische Partizipation junger Menschen und inhaltliche Kritik, Chancen sowie Mechanismen der Institutionalisierung der Agenda. Abschließend werden die Auswirkungen der YPS-Agenda auf das UN-System und die UN-Sicherheitsarchitektur untersucht. Die Analyse erkennt die YPS-Agenda als einen Wendepunkt in Bezug auf die Stigmatisierung und den mangelnden Schutz junger Menschen. Die YPS-Resolutionen artikulieren die weitreichende Forderung nach effektiver Jugendpartizipation in Konfliktprävention, -lösung, humanitärer Arbeit, Friedensprozessen und politischen Strukturen und liefern dafür einen umfassenden Werkzeugkasten aus Situationen, Formen und Merkmalen von Beteiligung. Die YPS-Agenda stärkt damit nachhaltige, inklusive Friedensbemühungen und positioniert die Jugend schrittweise, aber dauerhaft in der UN-Sicherheitsagenda. / Young people play a long underestimated role for peace. The potential of their inclusion in the UN security agenda was recognized by the international community officially in 2015. UN Security Council Resolution 2250 (2015) and follow-up resolutions 2419 (2018) and 2535 (2020) provide the foundation for the Youth, Peace and Security (YPS) agenda. This paper makes a comprehensive contribution to understanding the normative foundations, effects and implications of the YPS agenda. First, the three YPS resolutions are analyzed in detail. The subsequent legal assessment of the YPS agenda examines the narrative of young people as peace actors with a claim to protection, a possible further development of the right to political participation of young people, as well as content-related criticism, opportunities, and mechanisms of institutionalization of the agenda. Finally, the impact of the YPS agenda on the UN system and its security architecture is examined. The analysis portrays the YPS agenda as a turning point concerning the stigmatization and lack of protection of young people. The YPS resolutions articulate the broad call for effective youth participation in conflict prevention, resolution, humanitarian work, peace processes, and political structures more generally, and provide a comprehensive toolkit of situations, forms, and characteristics of participation for this purpose. The YPS agenda strengthens sustainable, inclusive peace efforts and progressively but permanently positions youth in the UN security agenda.

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Call number: LD2668 .T4 1985 S54 / Master of Science

This study explores Durant Sihlali’s documentation of traumatic events during apartheid in South Africa, with specific focus on his watercolour paintings documenting the forced removals and demolitions that took place in Kliptown and Pimville during the seventies of the previous century. The argument can be made that Sihlali used the process of creating art as a type of narrative therapy, and that each artwork functions as a form of externalisation. Based on the assumption that each artwork is representative of a specific narrative in the broader context of the forced removals and demolitions, it is argued that the problem which Sihlali experienced, namely the trauma caused by the forced removals, is separated from himself through the process of creating an artwork. This made it possible for him to assume a more objective and external perspective towards the oppression afflicted by apartheid. Furthermore it is argued that Sihlali could not only manifest his emotions in an external format, namely the artwork, but that he also assumed a positive and optimistic position towards the conflict and oppression suffered during this time. The idea that he would have liked to open a museum of his artworks, where the South African community could learn more about him and the real “truth” of South African history, did not only suggest that his work harboured the potential to bring his own trauma to resolution, but could also bring peace to other South Africans, albeit as victim or oppressor. The cathartic characteristics of his artworks are conveyed through the delicate handling of his subject matter through his watercolour medium. This is not only reinforced by the delicate and sensitive brushwork in his paintings, but also by the nostalgic characteristics of his paintings, where memories are remembered without pain. / MA (History of Art), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This study explores Durant Sihlali’s documentation of traumatic events during apartheid in South Africa, with specific focus on his watercolour paintings documenting the forced removals and demolitions that took place in Kliptown and Pimville during the seventies of the previous century. The argument can be made that Sihlali used the process of creating art as a type of narrative therapy, and that each artwork functions as a form of externalisation. Based on the assumption that each artwork is representative of a specific narrative in the broader context of the forced removals and demolitions, it is argued that the problem which Sihlali experienced, namely the trauma caused by the forced removals, is separated from himself through the process of creating an artwork. This made it possible for him to assume a more objective and external perspective towards the oppression afflicted by apartheid. Furthermore it is argued that Sihlali could not only manifest his emotions in an external format, namely the artwork, but that he also assumed a positive and optimistic position towards the conflict and oppression suffered during this time. The idea that he would have liked to open a museum of his artworks, where the South African community could learn more about him and the real “truth” of South African history, did not only suggest that his work harboured the potential to bring his own trauma to resolution, but could also bring peace to other South Africans, albeit as victim or oppressor. The cathartic characteristics of his artworks are conveyed through the delicate handling of his subject matter through his watercolour medium. This is not only reinforced by the delicate and sensitive brushwork in his paintings, but also by the nostalgic characteristics of his paintings, where memories are remembered without pain. / MA (History of Art), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014