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M Duffield

Publications and source records attributed to M Duffield.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Governing the borderlands: decoding the power of aid.

This article examines aid practice, that is, the public-private contractual networks that link donor governments, UN agencies, military establishments, NGOs, private companies and others, as a relation of global liberal governance. In order to fulfil this function, such networks embody what could be called the 'securitisation' of international assistance. Based upon ideas of human security and ameliorating the effects of poverty and vulnerability reduction, aid is now seen as playing a direct security role. Rather than being concerned with relations between states, the primary aim of this security paradigm is to modulate and change the behaviour of populations within them. In doing so, it is able to exploit the opportunities afforded by privatisation. At the same time, however, aid as security is confronted by its own particular problem of 'governing at a distance'; how can calculations made by leading states be transformed into actions at the global edge when a multitude of private and non-government implementors now intervene? The article concludes by examining the contribution of risk analysis to solving this problem and, especially, the development of new contractual regimes based around technical standardisation, benchmarking and performance auditing. Through such technologies, metropolitan states are learning how to manage the public-private networks of aid practice and, as a result, to govern the borderlands in new ways.

Humans↗
PubMed2000

Molecular epidemiology of HIV type 1 in a rural community in southwest Uganda.

The molecular epidemiology of a population-based cohort in a cluster of 15 villages in southwestern Uganda was investigated by sequencing part of the p24 gag gene and performing heteroduplex mobility assays (HMAs) of the V3 region of the env gene. Sequence and HMA data, obtained for 69 and 88 proviruses, respectively, showed that the clade A and D viruses were present at a ratio of about 0.67:1. No other clades were detected. Thirteen (22%) of 59 proviruses for which both gag and env data were obtained appeared to be recombinants. Although both clade A and D viruses were present in 13 of the villages, their distribution was unequal: for example, from env data 59% of clade A viruses were found in the eastern villages, compared with only 27% of clade D viruses. Phylogenetic (maximum likelihood) analysis of the p24 gag sequences showed a total of five clusters supported by bootstrap resampling values above or close to 75%. Four clusters were sexual partners, but there was no known sexual contact between the persons in the other cluster. The DNA sequences showed between 0.5 and 8.3% divergence from the cohort clade A or D consensus sequences. The sequences were not closely related to those published for other clade A or D proviruses.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1998

Novel attributes of an androgenic steroid-mediated increase in cardiac end diastolic stiffness in rats.

Although cardiac early and mid-diastolic stiffness constants are well accepted as being modulated by alterations in myocyte active processes, increments in left ventricular end diastolic (LVED) stiffness (LVED k; g x cm(-2)) in classical pathological models of a reduced LVED k (e.g., diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension) are determined largely by the properties of the myocardial extracellular matrix (ECM). As such, increases in LVED k in the latter cardiac pathologies are insensitive to acute changes in cardiac load, heart rate, and contractility. We examined whether the same attributes that apply to changes in LVED k in DM and in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) also apply to an androgenic steroid (nandrolone decanoate; 5 mg x kg(-1) biweekly) induced increase in LVED k. Myocardial collagen (ECM) characteristics and the capacity of acute verapamil-mediated changes in cardiac dynamics to impact on LVED k were evaluated after 3 months of steroid treatment to rats, 4 months of DM in rats, and in 45-week-old SHRs. Chronic steroid administration increased LVED k (steroid = 42 +/- 4, control = 25 +/- 2; p < 0.01). An acute infusion of verapamil to steroid-treated rats decreased LVED k to values not different from controls (29 +/- 3; p < 0.05 as compared with LVED k at baseline). Measures of myocardial collagen concentrations, phenotype ratios, and cross-linking were unchanged following steroid administration. Verapamil failed to alter the increased LVED k that occurs in either rats with DM or in SHRs, despite similar effects on cardiac dynamics as those noted in steroid-treated rats. The increased LVED k in the former animal models was associated with alterations in the ECM. In conclusion, the unique lack of association of the androgenic steroid-induced increase in LVED k with alterations in the myocardial ECM and the novel sensitivity of the steroid-mediated increment in LVED k to acute alterations in cardiac dynamics further supports the notion that changes in LVED k should not be considered to be a reflection of ECM characteristics in all cardiac conditions.

Androgens↗
PubMed1997

Conflict, the continuum and chronic emergencies: a critical analysis of the scope for linking relief, rehabilitation and development planning in Sudan.

The concept of the 'relief-to-development continuum' has been the subject of renewed interest in recent years. Concerned by the rise in relief budgets over the past decade and the absolute fall in development aid resources, support has been growing for the concept of developmental relief. In the context of complex political emergencies, it has been argued further that as effective development aid can reduce vulnerability to the impact of natural hazards, so it might also be used to contribute to a process of conflict prevention. In this way, the concept of the relief-development continuum has become entwined with broader discussions about the contribution of official development assistance management. Drawing on a Review of Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS), this paper cautions against uncritical application of the concept of the continuum in complex political emergencies and rehabilitation in particular, in the current Sudanese context. It argues that in order to move legitimately from relief aid programming to development aid programming, three fundamental conditions must be in place: first, a minimum level of security, respect for human rights and humanitarian access. Second, empirical evidence from the field needs to demonstrate that the emergency is over. Finally, moving from relief to development aid programming is contingent on donor governments accepting the legitimacy of national governmental structures and of the rebel movements. In other words, for donor governments, moving along the continuum is in significant part determined by foreign policy considerations, not only technical ones. Consideration needs to be given to the actual and perceived legitimation of the different movements that a move to rehabilitation might be seen to imply. The paper argues that none of these conditions had been satisfied in Sudan by mid-1997. Instead of a process of normalisation paving the way to long-term development, the current situation in Sudan is better described as a chronic political emergency. In such a context, uncritical pursuit of developmental strategies may negatively affect the welfare of conflict-affected populations.

Humans↗
PubMed1996

The symphony of the damned: racial discourse, complex political emergencies and humanitarian aid.

This paper concerns the manner in which the West is responding to protracted political crises beyond its borders. It examines the conceptual world-view that aid agencies bring to complex emergencies and which shapes action. The paper provides an analysis of developmentalism. That is, the currently dominant idea of development which is an adapted form of multiculturalism. It is based on the empowerment of cultural differences and the relativisation of progress. As a variant of multiculturalism, developmentalism is part of Western racial discourse. In terms of understanding conflict, it establishes a mirror-image relationship with new rascist ideas premised on cultural pluralism inevitably leading to social breakdown, violence and anarchy. To the contrary, with its functional view of social harmony, libertine developmentalism claims that even unresolved political crisis constitutes a development opportunity. Developmentalism, like culturalism generally, is incapable of analysing power. It therefore cannot understand the effects and significance of its own organisational forms. Moreover, since the absence of power translates into operational neutrality in a war zone, it is also unable to analyse the nature of new political formations emerging in the global periphery. That is, the so-called weak or failed states, warlords and so on. This functional ignorance has allowed a widespread incorporation of humanitarian aid into the fabric of political violence. Developmentalism is an essential underpinning for the growing organisational accommodation to ongoing conflict and eroding standards of justice and accountability.

Cultural Diversity↗
PubMed1994

Crescentic nephritis at Groote Schuur Hospital, South Africa--not a benign disease.

The etiology of crescentic nephritis (CN) in the developing world differs from that of Europe and North America. This retrospective study of 73 patients is the largest series of CN in the developing world. The records of all renal biopsies performed at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa, over thirteen years, between January 1977 and April 1991, were reviewed. Specimens selected for this study had six or more glomeruli and over 50% of these glomeruli had crescent formation. It confirms that post infectious glomerulonephritis (PIGN) (n = 21) is the commonest cause of CN in this setting. In addition there were 15 patients with CN associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). These two groups make this study unique as they are the largest series of each described in the literature. Thirty-nine (53%) patients in this series progressed to end-stage renal failure (ESRF) and only nine (12%) patients recovered renal function to a normal serum creatinine. Eight (38%) patients in the PIGN group developed ESRF, indicating the poor prognosis of this condition. Six of eight patients in the PIGN group treated with steroids and cyclophosphamide recovered to a serum creatinine level less than 200 mumol/l and only one progressed to ESRF, which may indicate that this form of therapy is beneficial. Thirteen (87%) patients with SLE either developed ESRF or died which suggests that the presence of crescents in this condition is associated with a poor prognosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Probing the substrate-binding sites of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases with the procion dye green HE-4BD.

A reactive bis-dichloro derivative of the Procion dye Green HE-4BD was shown to inactivate irreversibly methionyl-tRNA synthetase (MTS) from Escherichia coli and also tryptophyl-tRNA synthetase (WTS) and tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase (YTS) from Bacillus stearothermophilus at pH 8.5 and 37 degrees C. At a 5-fold excess of reactive dye over enzyme subunit concentration MTS was quantitatively inactivated within 20 min in the ATP/pyrophosphate exchange assay, whereas WTS and YTS show an 80% loss of activity over the same time period. The inactivation is affected by the addition of substrates, which either protect (WTS and YTS) or promote (YTS with tyrosine) the dye-mediated enzyme inactivation. Green HE-4BD-OH was shown to be a competitive inhibitor of MTS with respect to MgATP, methionine and tRNA substrates.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗