Author: Théophile Niyitegeka

Burundi:CNIDH re-accredited with B status

{The accreditation subcommittee -SCA, recommended re-accreditation of the Independent National Commission on human rights in Burundi- CNIDH, with B status. The accreditation status will be considered after one year as states law 18.1 of the statutes of Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions- GANHRI.}

SCA said it planned the re- accreditation in May 2016, but, considering the current political situation in Burundi, it realized that CNIDH was working in difficult conditions and decided to postpone the re-accreditation.

SCA accuses CNIDH of publishing reports which minimize flagrant violations of human rights and of giving false figures.” The 2015 report shows 27 cases of torture and ill-treatment instead of 250 as documented by the United Nations High Commission of Human Rights- HCDH, between April 2015 and April 2016.”

SCA also accuses CNIDH of taking a non-independent position: « CNIDH has not taken a position to promote the protection of human rights in response to credible allegations of gross violations of human rights by Burundi authorities.”

SCA said CNIDH does not apply Paris principles in its manner of working. It also said CNIDH denied allegations of the civil society and results from independent investigations.

Jean Baptiste Baribonekeza, CNIDH Chairman said on 8 February 2017, that he is not yet aware of the re-accreditation decision. “What we know is that we still have A status in international human rights organisations. CNIDH continues to do its best to help people solve human rights related problems”, said Baribonekeza.

In compliance with GANHRI statutes, the SCA gives CNIDH possibility to provide, within one year, clear evidence to confirm its respects towards the Paris Principles.

Source:Iwacu

February 11, 2017
Duo intercepted with untagged minerals, attempts to bribe police officer

{Police in Ngororero District are holding two men who were intercepted transporting untagged mineral, but attempted to bribe an officer during the due course to buy their way out.}

The suspects are identified as Jean Damascene Humvumugabo and Diogene Kanyamuninja, who were on February 8 found with 100kg of untagged coltan.

According to the Western Region Police apokesperson, Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Theobald Kanamugire, upon their arrest, they unsuccessfully tried to bribe an officer on duty with Rwf 167,000.

“An officer on duty encountered a motorcycle with plate number RC 758J, in Myiha Cell of Muhororo Sector, rode by Humvumugabo carrying a huge sack. When he checked, he found it was minerals and he immediately took him into custody for being in possession of illegally mined minerals,” said the spokesperson.

“Upon arresting Humvumugabo, Kanyamuninja showed up immediately and attempted to bribe the officer with Rwf167, 000 so as to release Humvumugabo, but was also arrested rightaway,” he added.

He referred to article 1 of the Ministerial Regulations No001/Minifom/2011 relating to fighting smuggling in mineral trading that stipulates that “Nobody is allowed to purchase or sell minerals without commercial registration.”

“Article 4 of the same instrument indicates that ‘transportation of minerals outside mining licensed areas (Concessions and Permits perimeters) is only allowed, when the consignment shows the source mine, its value and when it has the right tag’ which was violated,” CIP Kanamugire explained.

Any person, who receives or exports minerals and quarry substances without authorisation, under article 440 of the penal code, is liable to a term of imprisonment of up to three years and a fine of two times the amount of the value of the received or exported substances.

Under article 640, any person who explicitly or implicitly offers, directly or indirectly proposes or promises a gift or any other illegal benefit, to a person in charge of a service, mission or mandate in order to render a service to him or her or somebody else,also faces a term of imprisonment of two to five years and a fine of two to ten times the value of the illegal benefit granted or promised.

Source:Police

February 11, 2017
Baby’s sex plays a role in pregnant woman’s immunity

{Women have claimed for years that their bodies react differently whether they’re pregnant with a male or female baby. Some studies suggest that a baby’s sex could play a role in why some women report differences with morning sickness, cravings and other symptoms based on the sex of their baby.}

Now evidence, published in the February issue of the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity, shows the sex of a baby is associated with pregnant women’s immune responses. Researchers from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center followed 80 pregnant women across the course of their pregnancy and examined whether women exhibited different levels of immune markers called cytokines based on fetal sex. Analyses were conducted on levels of cytokines in the blood and levels produced by a sample of immune cells that were exposed to bacteria in the lab.

“While women didn’t exhibit differences in blood cytokine levels based on fetal sex, we did find that the immune cells of women carrying female fetuses produced more pro-inflammatory cytokines when exposed to bacteria. This means that women carrying female fetuses exhibited a heightened inflammatory response when their immune system was challenged, compared to women carrying male fetuses,” said Amanda Mitchell, a postdoctoral researcher in the Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center and principal investigator of the study.

Inflammation is a critical part of the immune response involved in wound healing and responses to viruses, bacteria and chronic illnesses. However, excessive inflammation is stressful to the body and can contribute to sickness-related symptoms, such as achiness and fatigue. While more research is needed, the heightened inflammation observed among women carrying female fetuses could play a role in why women tend to experience exacerbated symptoms of some medical conditions, including asthma, when carrying a female versus a male fetus.

“This research helps women and their obstetricians recognize that fetal sex is one factor that may impact how a woman’s body responds to everyday immune challenges and can lead to further research into how differences in immune function may affect how a women responds to different viruses, infections or chronic health conditions (such as asthma), including whether these responses affect the health of the fetus,” Mitchell said.

While maternal inflammation can affect outcomes related to the fetus, like timing of birth, more research is necessary to understand how fetal sex is associated with maternal inflammation. It’s possible the sex hormones or other hormones in the placenta affect maternal inflammation levels, Mitchell said.

“It’s important to think about supporting healthy immune function, which doesn’t necessarily mean boosting it — it’s problematic to have too little or too great of an immune response. That being said, research has shown that exercise supports healthy immune functioning, as does eating some foods, like leafy greens, and relaxing with activities like meditation. Of course, it’s always important to check with your healthcare provider before making any changes to your routine or diet,” she said.

Source:Science Daily

February 11, 2017
Business community called to be vigilant against fake currency notes

{The business community and the public in general have been called upon to be vigilant and report anyone they suspect to be involved in counterfeiting or circulating currencies.}

This comes after several people were arrested circulating fake currency notes, especially in buying goods.

Recently, three people were arrested in Gahara Sector of Kirehe District including a woman, with Rwf142, 000, all fake.

Police spokesperson for the Eastern Province, Inspector of Police (IP) Emmanuel Kayigi, identified the suspects as Saidi Twakiribiji, Emmanuel Hakizimana and Goreth Uburiyemuye.

The notes were in Rwf5, 000, Rwf2, 000 and Rwf1, 000 denominations.

They were also found in possession of a fake note of US$100.

According to IP Kayigi, the suspects were apparently trying to use the fake money to procure goods before they were noticed and reported to police.

“Most of the targeted people are those with small businesses, telecom banking agents and bars especially at night, but we are glad that most of them have been vigilant enough to notice that the notes are fake and have involved the people and the police to ensure that culprits are arrested,” said Kayigi.

He asked traders to always use currency detection machines to differentiate fake from genuine monies

Counterfeiting and circulating counterfeit currencies is punishable under articles 601 and 604 of the penal code, with a prison sentence of up to five years and a fine of five to ten times worth the amount of money that has been faked.

Source:Police

February 11, 2017
New, long-lasting flow battery could run for more than a decade with minimum upkeep

{Battery stores energy in nontoxic, noncorrosive aqueous solutions.}

{Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a new flow battery that stores energy in organic molecules dissolved in neutral pH water. This new chemistry allows for a non-toxic, non-corrosive battery with an exceptionally long lifetime and offers the potential to significantly decrease the costs of production.}

The research, published in ACS Energy Letters, was led by Michael Aziz, the Gene and Tracy Sykes Professor of Materials and Energy Technologies and Roy Gordon, the Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Materials Science.

Flow batteries store energy in liquid solutions in external tanks — the bigger the tanks, the more energy they store. Flow batteries are a promising storage solution for renewable, intermittent energy like wind and solar but today’s flow batteries often suffer degraded energy storage capacity after many charge-discharge cycles, requiring periodic maintenance of the electrolyte to restore the capacity.

By modifying the structures of molecules used in the positive and negative electrolyte solutions, and making them water soluble, the Harvard team was able to engineer a battery that loses only one percent of its capacity per 1000 cycles.

“Lithium ion batteries don’t even survive 1000 complete charge/discharge cycles,” said Aziz.

“Because we were able to dissolve the electrolytes in neutral water, this is a long-lasting battery that you could put in your basement,” said Gordon. “If it spilled on the floor, it wouldn’t eat the concrete and since the medium is noncorrosive, you can use cheaper materials to build the components of the batteries, like the tanks and pumps.”

This reduction of cost is important. The Department of Energy (DOE) has set a goal of building a battery that can store energy for less than $100 per kilowatt-hour, which would make stored wind and solar energy competitive to energy produced from traditional power plants.

“If you can get anywhere near this cost target then you change the world,” said Aziz. “It becomes cost effective to put batteries in so many places. This research puts us one step closer to reaching that target.”

“This work on aqueous soluble organic electrolytes is of high significance in pointing the way towards future batteries with vastly improved cycle life and considerably lower cost,” said Imre Gyuk, Director of Energy Storage Research at the Office of Electricity of the DOE. “I expect that efficient, long duration flow batteries will become standard as part of the infrastructure of the electric grid.”

The key to designing the battery was to first figure out why previous molecules were degrading so quickly in neutral solutions, said Eugene Beh, a postdoctoral fellow and first author of the paper. By first identifying how the molecule viologen in the negative electrolyte was decomposing, Beh was able to modify its molecular structure to make it more resilient.

Next, the team turned to ferrocene, a molecule well known for its electrochemical properties, for the positive electrolyte.

“Ferrocene is great for storing charge but is completely insoluble in water,” said Beh. “It has been used in other batteries with organic solvents, which are flammable and expensive.”

But by functionalizing ferrocene molecules in the same way as with the viologen, the team was able to turn an insoluble molecule into a highly soluble one that could also be cycled stably.

“Aqueous soluble ferrocenes represent a whole new class of molecules for flow batteries,” said Aziz.

The neutral pH should be especially helpful in lowering the cost of the ion-selective membrane that separates the two sides of the battery. Most flow batteries today use expensive polymers that can withstand the aggressive chemistry inside the battery. They can account for up to one third of the total cost of the device. With essentially salt water on both sides of the membrane, expensive polymers can be replaced by cheap hydrocarbons.

This research was coauthored by Diana De Porcellinis, Rebecca Gracia, and Kay Xia. It was supported by the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability of the DOE and by the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy.

With assistance from Harvard’s Office of Technology Development (OTD), the researchers are working with several companies to scale up the technology for industrial applications and to optimize the interactions between the membrane and the electrolyte. Harvard OTD has filed a portfolio of pending patents on innovations in flow battery technology.

Source:Science Daily

February 11, 2017
Gicumbi: Police warns against involving minors in trade of illicit drugs

{Due to strengthened police operations in Gicumbi Districts against drug trafficking, traffickers are said to be engaging minors as proxies in the criminal act, which is also a crime and punishable by the law.}

On February 8, Police in intercepted a 16-year old boy in Byumba Sector with over 100 liters of a banned crude gin commonly known as Kanyanga.

The Northern region police spokesperson, Inspector of Police (IP) Innocent Gasasira, the boy together with others who fled, had been hired by adult traffickers to traffic the illicit gin.

“Investigations indicate that alleged trafficker, whom we have since identified but yet to be arrested, hires young boys to guise in his criminal dealings. Because the children cannot afford to carry big loads, he had hired about five boys, each carrying at least 20 litres and paying them Rwf5, 000 each,” IP Gasasira said.

A child, under article 217 of the penal code, means every human being under the age of eighteen years unless otherwise provided by other laws.

The spokesperson further noted that parents are also among the people, who engage the children in their criminal businesses, warning of severe consequences to whoever will be caught in such acts.

“It is a disgrace and criminal to manipulate and use these minors in dirty work instead of being in school. It is equally an act of nurturing criminals, which everyone should fight against because raising responsible citizens and fighting crimes in particular is a collective responsibility by all Rwandans,” he noted.

According to article 220 of the Rwanda penal code, engaging a child in narcotic drugs attracts an imprisonment of two to five years and a fine of Rwf1 million to Rwf5 million.

Source:Police

February 11, 2017
6 ways you can be a more loving partner

{Do you want to be a more loving partner? Below are 6 ways you can be a more loving partner}

{{1. Forgive }}

If you want to be a more loving partner, you should be prepared to forgive your partner when he/she hurts you. You can’t be a loving partner when you hold grudges and fail to forgive.

{{2. Forget past experiences }}

You can’t be a loving partner if you still hold onto negative experiences you’ve had with falling in love in the past. In order to be a more loving partner, you have to be willing to let go of the past and open yourself to love.

{{3. Give without expecting anything in return }}

If you want to be a more loving partner, you should learn to give without expecting anything in return. When you do something nice for your partner, don’t hold it against him/her by expecting him/her to do something nice for you in return.

{{4. Be mindful of your partner’s wants}}

You can’t be a loving partner if you aren’t mindful about the needs of your partner. To be a more loving partner, you should pay attention to your partner’s needs. Show concern and listen to your partner.

{{5. Support your partner }}

A loving partner is expected to offer emotional support to his/her partner when their partner is going through crisis. Encourage your partner’s passion and dreams instead of making fun of them or criticising your partner’s efforts.

{{6. Make time to talk to your partner }}

If you want to be a more loving partner, you should always make time to talk to your partner irrespective of how busy your schedule is.

Source:Elcrema

February 11, 2017
Dual-function nanorod LEDs could make multifunctional displays

{Cellphones and other devices could soon be controlled with touchless gestures and charge themselves using ambient light, thanks to new LED arrays that can both emit and detect light.}

Made of tiny nanorods arrayed in a thin film, the LEDs could enable new interactive functions and multitasking devices. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Dow Electronic Materials in Marlborough, Massachusetts, report the advance in the Feb. 10 issue of the journal Science.

“These LEDs are the beginning of enabling displays to do something completely different, moving well beyond just displaying information to be much more interactive devices,” said Moonsub Shim, a professor of materials science and engineering at the U. of I. and the leader of the study. “That can become the basis for new and interesting designs for a lot of electronics.”

The tiny nanorods, each measuring less than 5 nanometers in diameter, are made of three types of semiconductor material. One type emits and absorbs visible light. The other two semiconductors control how charge flows through the first material. The combination is what allows the LEDs to emit, sense and respond to light.

The nanorod LEDs are able to perform both functions by quickly switching back and forth from emitting to detecting. They switch so fast that, to the human eye, the display appears to stay on continuously — in fact, it’s three orders of magnitude faster than standard display refresh rates. Yet the LEDs are also near-continuously detecting and absorbing light, and a display made of the LEDs can be programmed to respond to light signals in a number of ways.

For example, a display could automatically adjust brightness in response to ambient light conditions — on a pixel-by-pixel basis.

“You can imagine sitting outside with your tablet, reading. Your tablet will detect the brightness and adjust it for individual pixels,” Shim said. “Where there’s a shadow falling across the screen it will be dimmer, and where it’s in the sun it will be brighter, so you can maintain steady contrast.”

The researchers demonstrated pixels that automatically adjust brightness, as well as pixels that respond to an approaching finger, which could be integrated into interactive displays that respond to touchless gestures or recognize objects.

They also demonstrated arrays that respond to a laser stylus, which could be the basis of smart whiteboards, tablets or other surfaces for writing or drawing with light. And the researchers found that the LEDs not only respond to light, but can convert it to electricity as well.

“The way it responds to light is like a solar cell. So not only can we enhance interaction between users and devices or displays, now we can actually use the displays to harvest light,” Shim said. “So imagine your cellphone just sitting there collecting the ambient light and charging. That’s a possibility without having to integrate separate solar cells. We still have a lot of development to do before a display can be completely self-powered, but we think that we can boost the power-harvesting properties without compromising LED performance, so that a significant amount of the display’s power is coming from the array itself.”

In addition to interacting with users and their environment, nanorod LED displays can interact with each other as large parallel communication arrays. It would be slower than device-to-device technologies like Bluetooth, Shim said, but those technologies are serial — they can only send one bit at a time. Two LED arrays facing each other could communicate with as many bits as there are pixels in the screen.

“We primarily interface with our electronic devices through their displays, and a display’s appeal resides in the user’s experience of viewing and manipulating information,” said study coauthor Peter Trefonas, a corporate fellow in Electronic Materials at the Dow Chemical Company. “The bidirectional capability of these new LED materials could enable devices to respond intelligently to external stimuli in new ways. The potential for touchless gesture control alone is intriguing, and we’re only scratching the surface of what could be possible.”

The researchers did all their demonstrations with arrays of red LEDs. They are now working on methods to pattern three-color displays with red, blue and green pixels, as well as working on ways to boost the light-harvesting capabilities by adjusting the composition of the nanorods.

Source:Science Daily

February 11, 2017
Ladies…15 cute ways to seduce your man

{If you need ideas that would help you turn up the heat on your man tonight, these tips below are just what you need.}

1. Make your man expectant by texting him things you plan to do to him when he gets home.

2. Whisper into your partner’s ears, telling him exactly what you want to do to him right now.

3. When you are in bed with him, tell him what you want from him. Be direct and avoid beating around the bush.

4. Wear clothes that flatter your figure. Men are visuals and seeing you dress sexy for him will definitely turn up the heat.

5. Touch him. Place your hand on his knee briefly while he’s talking. Just ensure there is skin contact.

6. Flirt with him by running your fingers down his chest while looking into his eyes and telling him the things you want to do to him.

7. Get him to pay attention to your lips by licking or biting them.

8. If surrounded by people, kiss him when no one is watching and act like everything is normal. It will make him eager to find some privacy.

9. Make eye contact with him. Your eyes can do so much more than you think.

10. Go pantless and make sure he knows. He will be dying to have you.

11. Before he leaves for work in the morning, tell him he’s in for a surprise when he gets back home.

12. Take his hands and show him exactly how and where you want to be touched.

13. Kiss and give him what he wants, then stop suddenly and walk away. That will leave him wanting more. He will definitely chase you.

14. Suggest something new you have always wanted to try but haven’t.

15. Answer the door partially naked but make sure he is alone as you don’t want his friends seeing you partially naked.

Source:Elcrema

February 11, 2017
UAExChange boosts Kigali malnutrition fight

{UAExChange yesterday provided 200 liters of milk to 32 children with malnutrition related diseases including stunted growth at Nyiranuma health center located in Nyarugenge sector of Nyarugenge district, Kigali city. }

Riyaz Naghoor, the head of operations at UAExchange Rwanda said that the donations are part of their charity dubbed ‘transferring happiness’ which is extended to children with stunted growth.

“Contributing to the welfare of the society is our culture at UAExChange other than currency exchange only. We are also committed to helping vulnerable members of the society to induce happiness. We have decided to join Kigali city during the week of fighting against malnutrition among children under five years through donating almost 200 liters of milk for their proper growth,” he said.

UAE Exchange is a United Arab Emirates based company dealing primarily in remittances, Foreign exchange and bill payment solutions. Founded 36 years ago, the company is headquartered in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and operates through 800 officesacross 31 countries.

It has been operating in Rwanda for six years.

Nyagahinga Jean de Dieu, Nyarugenge district official in charge of health affairs said that mobilization is needed to equip parents with skills of preparing a balanced diet to eliminate malnutrition.

He lauded UAE for providing milk to fight malnutrition.

The week devoted to fighting against malnutrition among under five children in Nyarugenge started on 6th to be closed on 10th February 2017 where parents were taught on how to prepare balanced diet to enhance better growth of Rwandan children.

Over 100 children in Nyarugenge district are assisted at health centers to recover from malnutrition related diseases.

A total of 38% of children across the country suffer from stunted growth, 9% have weight not matching with their age while 3% suffer from hunger.

February 10, 2017