Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / Includes bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The resurgence of unconstitutional changes of government in Africa is regarded not only as a threat to democratisation processes but also to peace, security and stability on the continent. The United Nations (UN), the African Union (AU) and various regional economic communities (RECs) have all sought to address this challenge, in what may be described as a trilateral linkage between the international, regional and sub-regional organisations. The unconstitutional change of government in Madagascar in 2009 led to the involvement of the UN, AU and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Although these organisations all responded to the case of Madagascar, it cannot be assumed that they all share a common understanding of and approach to unconstitutional changes of government. This study builds upon a constructivist approach to norm development, with a particular focus upon the norm life cycle. The thesis seeks to assess if a normative approach to dealing with unconstitutional changes of government has developed within the UN, AU and SADC respectively, and if so, how? Furthermore, how have these organisations responded to such a case, with a specific focus on Madagascar? Building upon these findings, the thesis aims to assess if and how a norm condemning unconstitutional changes of government has emerged, spread and become internalised within the UN, AU and SADC. The study illustrates that the norm condemning unconstitutional changes of government is particularly salient within the AU. Furthermore, and unlike many other peace and security norms, the norm condemning unconstitutional changes of government seems to have emerged from the level of the AU and impacts upwards on the UN as well as downwards on SADC. These findings imply that the AU will have a prominent role in informing the approach and response to such cases on the African continent in the future. Furthermore, the normative frameworks of the UN and SADC may be developed largely as a result of and on the basis of the principles and policies of the AU. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die herlewing van ongrondwetlike regeringsverandering in Afrika word nie net as 'n bedreiging vir die demokratiseringsprosesse beskou nie, maar ook vir vrede, veiligheid en stabiliteit op die kontinent. Die Verenigde Nasies (VN), die Afrika-Unie (AU) en verskeie streeks-ekonomiese gemeenskappe (REC's) het gepoog om hierdie uitdaging, wat beskryf kan word as ‘n driehoekskakeling tussen die internasionale, streeks- en substreek-organisasies, aan te spreek. Die ongrondwetlike regeringsverandering in Madagaskar in 2009 het gelei tot die betrokkenheid van die VN, AU en die Suider-Afrikaanse Ontwikkelings gemeenskap (SAOG). Alhoewel hierdie organisasies op die Madagaskar-saak gereageer het, kan daar nie aanvaar word dat hulle ‘n gemeenskaplike begrip van en benadering tot die ongrondwetlike verandering van regering deel nie. Hierdie studie bou op 'n konstruktivisme benadering tot die ontwikkeling van norme, met 'n spesifieke fokus op die lewensiklus van ‘n norm. Die tesis poog om te bepaal of 'n konstruktivisme benadering respektiewelik binne die VN, AU en SAOG ontwikkel het rakende ongrondwetlike regeringsverandering, en indien wel, hoe? Verder, hoe het hierdie organisasies gereageer op so 'n geval, met spesifieke fokus op Madagaskar? Met hierdie bevindinge in gedagte, sal die tesis bepaal of, en hoe, 'n norm wat ongrondwetlik regeringsveranderinge veroordeel, na vore gekom het en hoe dit versprei en binne die VN, AU en SAOG geïnternaliseer is. Hierdie studie illustreer dat die norm wat ongrondwetlik regeringsveranderinge veroordeel, besonder opvallend is binne die AU. In teenstelling met ander vredes- en sekuriteits norme, blyk dit dat die norm wat ongrondwetlik regeringsveranderinge veroordeel, sy oorsprong het op AU-vlak, met opwaartse trefkrag op die VN, sowel as afwaarts op SAOG. Hierdie bevindinge impliseer dat die AU in die toekoms 'n prominente rol in die benadering tot en reaksie op derglike gevalle op die Afrika-kontinent, sal hê. Verder kan die normatiewe raamwerke van die VN en SAOG moontlik hoofsaaklik ontwikkel as gevolg van die basis van beginsels en beleid wat deur die AU neergelê word. / Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI).

Neobeguea mahafalensis Leroy. and Cedrelopsis grevei Baill. are the two Madagascan species which were investigated in this work. Neobeguea mahafalensis Leroy. belongs to the Neobeguea genus of the Meliaceae family and is a plant unique to Madagascar. It is commonly referred to as "Handy" by the native people of Madagascar, who use it as a medicinal plant. The stem-bark of N mahafalensis which has been analysed in this work, was collected from the dry, thorny forests of the deep south of Madagascar. Most species found in this region are unique in the world and are highly specialised in adapting to the very dry climate. The hexane extract was found to yield a limonoid (compound I) which has not been previously reported as a natural product. The known pentacyclic triterpenoid, j3-amyrin (compound II) and stigmasterol (compound III), were also isolated. Cedrelopsis grevei Bail!. is one of seven species of the genus Cedrelopsis which are confined to Madagascar. This species, commonly referred to as "Katrafay" by the Madagascan people, has undergone intensive chemical investigation as prior inclusion ofthis species in the Meliaceae family has always been questionable. The South African species Ptaeroxylon obliquum (Thung.) Radlk., is a member of the Ptaeroxylaceaefamily which is found to be so chemically similar to Cedrelopsis that the latter has been placed in the Ptaeroxylaceae family. The stem bark of Cedrelopsis grevei was obtained from the dry southern part of Madagascar and yielded a variety of chromones and coumarins, as well as stigmasterol (compound III) and the pentacyclic triterpenoid, j3-amyrin (compound II). Two chromones were isolated from Cedrelopsis grevei, namely ptaeroxylinol (compound IV) and ptaeroglycol (compound V). Ptaeroglycol has been previously isolated _from this species as well as from Ptaeroxylon obliquum whereas ptaeroxylinol has only byen isolated from Ptaeroxylon obliquum. Six coumarins were isolated from Cedrelopsis grevei in tillS study, all of which were 6,7-dioxygenated coumarins. These included the known compounds, scoparone (compound VI), O-methylcedrelopsin (compound VIII), norbraylin (compound X) and cedrelopsin (compound IX), as well as compound VII and compound XI which . have not been reported previously. No limonoids were isolated from this species in this investigation. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, 1997.

De 1896 à 1960, quoique placée sous différents statuts (colonie, territoire d'outre-mer, puis État membre de la Communauté), Madagascar est restée sous la domination française. Durant cette période, la France administre le pays, notamment, elle doit faire régner la justice, un des premiers éléments de la mission du colonisateur. A cet égard, la politique consiste à introduire dans l'organisation judiciaire des magistrats français qui, en charge de véhiculer les valeurs occidentales, vont assurément participer de la domination. Toutefois, en même temps, en exerçant sur le territoire malgache, ces juges se heurtent à l'existence d'institutions indigènes déjà bien établies qu'il convient de respecter. Par ailleurs, ils se trouvent face à une population européenne nouvellement installée à qui il faut aussi « dire » le droit, un droit somme toute particulier. Ainsi, au sein de la Cour d'appel de Madagascar, les magistrats jouent un rôle majeur en ce qu'ils ont à remplir une triple mission à la fois : appliquer un droit spécial aux Français, appliquer leurs lois coutumières aux indigènes et appliquer le droit métropolitain, « symbole éminent de la culture française », à la population locale. Dans la pratique, malgré les difficultés qu'ils ont rencontrées outre-mer, et les contraintes qui se sont imposées à eux, les magistrats s'en sont plutôt bien sortis dans la délicate tâche qui leur a été confiée. En se dotant, sans complexe, de toute la liberté nécessaire à leur fonction, ils ont su, à leur façon, satisfaire « leurs » justiciables tout en restant fidèle à la politique coloniale. / From 1896 to 1960, Madagascar remained under French domination, first as a colony, then as a territoire d'outre-mer, finally as a member of the Communauté française. One of the most important elements of the « mission » of the colonizer was to assure the administration of justice. French policy consisted in introducing into the judiciary organization French judges whose task it was to bring to the country Western values, thus playing an important role in colonial domination. They were obliged, however, at the same time, to respect certain traditional native institutions. Their decisions also concerned the recently settled European population of Madagascar, for whom French metropolitan law had to be specially adapted.There were therefore three tasks to be accomplished by the judges of the Court of Appeals of Madagascar : to implement a special law to the French population, to implement their customary laws to the indigenous population and implement the law of metropolitan France, « eminent symbol of French culture », to that indigenous population. In practice, despite the difficulties encountered and the limits imposed on them, the judges managed these delicate tasks rather well. In confidently granting themselves all the liberty necessary to their function, the judges managed to satisfy the various communities in Madagascar, while remaining faithful to colonial policy.

The genus Schefflera is the largest in Araliaceae, with approximately 900 species. Recent studies have shown that Schefflera is polyphyletic and represents no fewer than five distinct clades, each corresponding to a specific geographic region including Asia, continental Africa and Madagascar, Melanesia, the Neotropics, and a small clade distributed throughout several islands in the insular Pacific Ocean. The Afro-Malagasy clade contains nearly 50 species distributed throughout tropical, sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, the Comoros, and the Seychelles islands. Previous studies have suggested that this group is monophyletic, identifying two smaller subclades within Afro-Malagasy Schefflera corresponding roughly to informal groups identified as “Meiopanax” and “Sciodaphyllum” on the basis of morphology. Using sequence data from nuclear rDNA spacers and plastid markers derived from 32 of the 48 currently circumscribed species of Afro-Malagasy Schefflera, this study tested the monophyly of Afro-Malagasy Schefflera and of each of its two proposed subclades. Trees based on this molecular data were used to examine patterns of morphological evolution and biogeography among species in the clade. Results support the monophyly of Afro-Malagasy Schefflera and both subclades, which correspond closely to “Meiopanax” and “Sciodaphyllum” which are herein referred to as Neocussonia and Astropanax, respectively. Additional interspecific relationships were examined, which provides evidence for hybridization among several species. Schefflera myriantha, the most widely distributed species of Afro-Malagasy Schefflera, is paraphyletic with respect to two other species, S. humblotiana and S. monophylla. Many morphological features historically used to distinguish species of Afro-Malagasy Schefflera appear to be evolutionarily labile, with a history of gains and losses (e.g., reduction in leaflet number, which occurs independently in both subclades). Biogeographic analyses suggest an African ancestry for the entire Afro-Malagasy Schefflera clade, and for both subclades, with two independent divergence events to Madagascar.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. October 2017. / Since the arc assembly and continental collision of the East African Orogen some 640 million years ago, Madagascar has gone through several geodynamic and tectonic episodes that have formed and subsequently modified its lithosphere. This thesis aims to investigate the structure of the crust, the uppermost mantle, and the mantle transition zone beneath Madagascar to gain insights into the relationship between present-day lithosphere structure and tectonic evolution, and to evaluate candidate models for the origin of the Cenozoic intraplate volcanism. To address these issues, local, regional, and teleseismic events recorded by several temporary seismic networks; the MAdagascar-COmoros-MOzambique (MACOMO), the SEismological signatures in the Lithosphere/Asthenosphere system of SOuthern MAdagascar (SELASOMA), and the Réunion Hotspot and Upper Mantle – Réunions Unterer Mantel (RHUM-RUM) were used to complement the seismic events recorded by the permanent seismic stations in Madagascar. The different methods used and the primary results of this study are explained in each section of this thesis. In the first part of this thesis, crustal and uppermost mantle structure beneath Madagascar was studied by analyzing receiver functions using an H-κ stacking technique and a joint inversion with Rayleigh-wave phase-velocity measurements. Results reflect the eastward and northward progressive development of the western sedimentary basins of Madagascar. The thickness of the Malagasy crust ranges between 18 km and 46 km. The thinnest crust (18-36 km thick) is located beneath the western basins and it is due to the Mesozoic rifting of Madagascar from eastern Africa. The slight thinning of the crust (31-36 km thick) along the east coast may have been caused by crustal uplift and erosion when Madagascar moved over the Marion hotspot and India broke away from it. The parameters describing the crustal structure of Archean and Proterozoic terranes, including thickness, Poisson’s ratio, average shear-wave velocity, thickness of mafic lower crust, show little evidence of secular variation. Slow shear-wave velocity of the uppermost mantle (4.2-4.3 km/s) are observed beneath the northern tip, central part and southwestern region of the island, which encompass major Cenozoic volcanic provinces in Madagascar. The second part of the thesis describes a seismic tomography study that determines the lateral variation of Pn-wave velocity and anisotropy within the uppermost mantle beneath Madagascar. Results show an average uppermost mantle Pn-velocity of 8.1 km/s. However, zones of relatively low-Pn-velocity (~7.9 km/s) are found beneath the Cenozoic volcanic provinces in the northern, central, and southwestern region of the island. These low-Pn-velocity zones are attributed to thermal anomalies that are associated with upwelling of hot mantle materials that gave rise to the Cenozoic volcanism. The direction of Pn anisotropy shows a dominant NW-SE direction of fast-polarization in the northern region and around the Ranostara shear zone, in the south-central Madagascar. The anisotropy in the uppermost mantle beneath these regions aligns with the existing geological framework, e.g. volcanic complex and shear zones, and can be attributed to a fossil anisotropy. The Pn anisotropy in the southwestern region, around the Morondava basin, is E-W to NE-SW-oriented. It can be attributed either to the mantle flow from plate motion, the African superplume, or the Mesozoic rifting from Africa. Results from this study do not show any substantial evidence of the formation of a diffuse boundary of the Lwandle plate, cutting through the central region of Madagascar. Station static delays reflect the significant variation in the Moho depth beneath the island. In the third part of the thesis, the thickness of the mantle transition zone beneath Madagascar, which is sensitive to the surrounding temperature variation, has been estimated by stacking receiver functions. Single-station and common-conversionpoint stacking procedures show no detectable thinning of the mantle transition zone and thus no evidence for a thermal anomaly in the mantle under Madagascar that extends as deep as the mantle transition zone. Therefore, this study supports an upper mantle origin for the Cenozoic volcanism. However, the resolution of the study is not sufficient to rule out the presence of a narrow thermal anomaly as might arise from a plume tail. Overall, the findings in this research are broadly consistent with the crustal and upper mantle structure of Madagascar determined by previous studies, but provides significantly greater detail with regard to the crustal and uppermost mantle structure as more seismic stations were used. / LG2018

Madagascar est une île continentale de l’Océan Indien, au large de l’Afrique. C’est également un point chaud de biodiversité, hébergeant plus de 12 000 espèces de plantes vasculaires, dont plus de 600 espèces de fougères caractérisées par un endémisme dépassant les 45%. L’Afrique continentale n’héberge en comparaison que 800 espèces. Comment peut-on expliquer une telle concentration de biodiversité à Madagascar ? Quelles sont les origines biogéographiques des fougères malgaches ? L’apport de nouvelles données et la littérature préexistante permettent de proposer ici des hypothèses sur l’histoire biogéographique des fougères de Madagascar. Quatre groupes de fougères ont fait l’objet d’une étude biogéographique : les sous-familles de fougères grammitides et blechnoides, les genres Rumohra et Lindsaea-Odontosoria, ainsi qu’un genre de lycophytes, Phlegmariurus, représentant un réplica dans une autre lignée de plantes vasculaires à spores. L’histoire biogéographique des lignées malgaches au sein de ces groupes a été reconstruite, à partir de phylogénies moléculaires mondiales complétées par les espèces malgaches, de datations moléculaires, ainsi que de l’estimation des aires ancestrales.Bien que Madagascar soit d’origine ancienne, gondwanienne, les résultats des analyses biogéographiques montrent que les fougères et les lycophytes auraient colonisé Madagascar après son isolement, durant le Cénozoïque (< 66 Ma), depuis les néotropiques (Amérique du Sud) l’Afrique et l’Asie tropicale (au sens large, incluant l’Asie continentale et le sud-est asiatique jusqu’en Australasie). En particulier, de nombreuses dispersions ont été observées à partir du Miocène (< 23 Ma). Ces résultats seraient expliqués par une combinaison d’événements au Cénozoïque (formation des forêts tropicales humides Malgaches, formation de courants éoliens permettant la dispersion par spores) et des préférences écologiques des fougères et des lycophytes pour les forêts tropicales humides d’altitude, s’étant formées à partir du Miocène dans les régions sources. / Madagascar is a continental island in the Indian Ocean, near African coasts. It is also a biodiversity hotspot, comprising more than 12,000 species of vascular plants and including more than 600 fern species with an endemism reaching the 45%. Comparatively, continental Africa comprises only 800 species. How can such a diversity be explained in Madagascar? What are the biogeographical origins of the Malagasy ferns? Thanks to new data combined to the literature, hypotheses on the biogeographical history of Malagasy ferns are here proposed.Four fern taxa were newly investigated: grammitid and blechnoid subfamilies, Rumohra and Lindsaea-Odontosoria, as well as Phlegmariurus, a genus of lycophytes considered as a phylogenetic replicate in another vascular spore-bearing plant lineage. The biogeographical history of the Malagasy lineages was inferred, based on worldwide molecular phylogenies completed by Malagasy species, molecular dating and ancestral area estimates.Despite its Gondwanian origin, ferns and lycophytes would have colonized Madagascar after its isolation, during the Cenozoic (< 66 Ma), from the Neotropics (South America), Africa and tropical Asia s.l. (meaning from continental Asia to Southeast Asia and Australasia). Dispersal events were especially inferred from the Miocene (< 23 Ma). These results could be explained by the combination of events during the Cenozoic (establishment of the Malagasy rainforests, onset of wind currents allowing spore dispersal) and ecological preferences of ferns and lycophytes for elevated tropical rainforests that have established from the Miocene in the source regions.

No description available.

Notre objectif a été d'évaluer (i) l'importance de Plasmodium vivax dans les infections palustres à Madagascar, (ii) la sensibilité de ce parasite à la chloroquine et à la sulfadoxinepyriméthamine, (iii) et la place des marqueurs moléculaires pour la surveillance de la résistance aux antipaludiques et de la circulation des souches parasitaires.<br />Pour cela, notre étude a été conduite sur 8 sites sentinelles. Les patients présentant un paludisme causé par P. vivax ont été inclus dans des tests d'efficacité thérapeutique selon les critères de l'OMS. L'analyse de polymorphismes génétiques sur les gènes pvcrt-o, pvmdr1, pvdhfr et pvdhps, impliqués dans la résistance aux antipaludiques, ainsi que sur les gènes pvcsp, pvmsp3, pvmsp1 utilisés pour le génotypage des souches a été réalisée sur les isolats<br />collectés. Des marqueurs microsatellites ont également été recherchés pour évaluer la diversité génétique de ces isolats, ainsi que la circulation des souches parasitaires et la propagation des isolats résistants.

"An ‘exponential growth of science’ throughout modern history has been frequently boasted by numerous narcissistic accounts of ‘modern humanity.’ Nonetheless, ‘modern science’ seems to have overwhelmingly compromised on its original promises by fitting into an ‘industrial scheme.’ With this concern, ‘molecular phylogeographics with conservational ambitions’ would look an intact ground for research efforts in a ‘school of biotechnology.’ The dog (Canis familiaris) as an earliest domestic animal has a history of conflicts over its origins and dispersal. Having those disputes addressed, valuable knowledge could be acquired on the nature and dynamics of domestication, and of human societies particularly of pre-agricultural ages. We employed two most widely-used genealogical markers, the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and the non-recombining portion of the Y-chromosome (NRY), to address dog demography. Through 582 bps of mtDNA Control Region, complemented with whole mitochondrial genomes, it was established that almost all maternal lineages of the domestic dog worldwide coalesce to a population of at least 51 and perhaps many more female wolves in Asia South of Yangtze River (ASY) approximately 16,000 years before present (BP). This was based on the presence of a maximal diversity in this area, a descending gradient of diversity outward it, and a ubiquitous population structure everywhere in the world. A closer examination of this portrait in Southwest Asia (SwAsia) and the Fertile Crescent (FC), a region which has supplied persuasive evidence on early presence of the domestic dog, retrieved the same information, with implications for backbreeding with the local wolf population. Meanwhile, analyses of mtDNA dispersal showed that dogs took the long way via land to Madagascar Island, and not together with humans via sea. By the other approach, the NRY data in 14,437 bps length supplemented the mtDNA in reporting the height of diversity from ASY with a founding population of at least 13 male wolves, but expectably produced lower inter-regional differentiation by diversity. Screening of NRY by a SNP assay in the dingoes of Australia Island as a population of feral dogs revealed restricted and similar dispersal patterns for sires and dams. Prospects of ancient, multilocus and whole genome assays with the emerging high-throughput technologies has still more to promise on finer elaborations of these issues." / <p>QC 20120529</p>

Th. Etat--Anthropologie sociale et ethnologie--Paris--Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales, 1998. / Les vol. 2 et 3 contiennent les textes des chants populaires en langue malgache avec la trad. française en regard. Bibliogr. p. 430-451 (t. 1).