Africana Resources in Four Selected U.S. Academic Research Libraries

Purpose – To explore the relationship between the importance of African Studies programs and the acquisition of African imprint titles in four selected American academic libraries. Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines the characteristics of the African Studies programs in four universities in comparison with library holdings including the percentage of holdings from four major English-language African publishers. Finding -- The four research libraries acquire substantial numbers of African monographs in keeping with the importance of their African Studies programs. Originality/value – The paper provides information on major four African Studies programs and the library holdings that support them

Developing a Master Curve (E*) Database for Asphalt Mixtures Containing various percentages of Recycled Asphalt

Abstract This thesis investigates how the mechanical properties of asphalt mixtures change when different amounts of recycled asphalt are added and Dynamic modulus testing value is used to study the effects of adding various quantities of recycled asphalt. The dynamic modulus (E*) is an important parameter that describes how asphalt mixtures respond to different temperatures and loading frequencies, essential for evaluating pavement performance. The research involved thorough lab testing at the University of Agder using a Universal Testing Machine on asphalt mixture AC11, analyzing levels of RA content at 12.4%, 30%, and 40%. The testing protocol followed the standards outlined in AASHTO T 378-17(2021), ensuring consistency and reliability in the measurements. By applying the principle of time-temperature superposition, master curves for dynamic modulus were created using sigmoidal modeling. The created master curves show how the material changes as time passes, offering a single equation for E* values in different temperature and frequency ranges. The study found important connections between dynamic modulus, temperature, and frequency, showing that materials become less rigid at higher temperatures and more pliable at higher frequencies. Analysis comparing dynamic modulus values at varying RA contents revealed greater stiffness and durability at higher RA levels. Significantly, asphalt mixtures with 40% RA showed increased stiffness, suggesting improved performance and sustainability. Analysis of the shift factor revealed different rheological properties depending on the amount of RA in the specimens, with 40% RA samples showing increased stiffness and resistance to deformation at lower temperatures. Nevertheless, under high temperatures, these samples showed a higher vulnerability to rutting, highlighting the importance of a well-rounded strategy when incorporating RA. The research highlights the significance of taking into account RA content in asphalt mixes in order to enhance performance and sustainability in road building. Overall, this study adds to the creation of a thorough Master Curve (E*) database for asphalt mixtures containing recycled asphalt, providing important knowledge for pavement engineering. Further research is needed to study how various types of aggregate and aging periods affect the performance of asphalt mixtures in order to establish reliable design standards for sustainable pavement solutions

Solid-State Dynamic Nuclear Polarization at 263 GHz: Spectrometer Design and Experimental Results

Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) experiments transfer polarization from electron spins to nuclear spins with microwave irradiation of the electron spins for enhanced sensitivity in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Design and testing of a spectrometer for magic angle spinning (MAS) DNP experiments at 263 GHz microwave frequency, 400 MHz 1H frequency is described. Microwaves are generated by a novel continuous-wave gyrotron, transmitted to the NMR probe via a transmission line, and irradiated on a 3.2 mm rotor for MAS DNP experiments. DNP signal enhancements of up to 80 have been measured at 95 K on urea and proline in water–glycerol with the biradical polarizing agent TOTAPOL. We characterize the experimental parameters affecting the DNP efficiency: the magnetic field dependence, temperature dependence and polarization build-up times, microwave power dependence, sample heating effects, and spinning frequency dependence of the DNP signal enhancement. Stable system operation, including DNP performance, is also demonstrated over a 36 h period.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH grant EB-002804)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH grant EB-002026

Dynamic Nuclear Polarization NMR Spectroscopy Allows High-Throughput Characterization of Microporous Organic Polymers

Dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) solid-state NMR was used to obtain natural abundance 13C and 15N CP MAS NMR spectra of microporous organic polymers with excellent signal-to-noise ratio, allowing for unprecedented details in the molecular structure to be determined for these complex polymer networks. Sensitivity enhancements larger than 10 were obtained with bis-nitroxide radical at 14.1 T and low temperature (∼105 K). This DNP MAS NMR approach allows efficient, high-throughput characterization of libraries of porous polymers prepared by combinatorial chemistry methods

How do integration workers give meaning to the term integration and the politics that is attached to it in today’s Norway?

Denne masteroppgaven er en kvalitativ studie som undersøker hvordan integreringsarbeidere gir mening til begrepet integrering og den politikken som er knyttet til begrepet i dagens Norge. Ved å bruke tematisk analyse til å kategorisere temaene i materialet, tar jeg sikte på å vise hvordan ulike betydninger og forståelse er knyttet til begrepet integrering basert på konteksten. Analysen er basert på syv intervjuer utført med syv integreringsarbeidere som jobber i samme kommune. Dataen ble samlet inn i løpet av noen få måneder i 2017. Basert på analytiske begreper, integrering og assimilering, sosial identitetsteori, likhet som ideal og minorisering og majorisering, analyserer jeg hvordan integrering forstås av integreringsarbeidere, samt effektene som kommer fra disse forståelsene. Personlige forståelser av integrering, forståelser av integrering produsert gjennom mine informanters arbeid og forståelser av integrering produsert i forhold til kjønn diskuteres for å belyse det overordnede spørsmålet. Integrering, som forskning viser, er et tvetydig begrep som brukes til å bety forskjellige ting. Jeg ser på dette begrepet fra integreringsarbeidernes perspektiv som har direkte kontakt med deltakere i introduksjonsprogrammet. Å utforske deres forståelser er avgjørende på grunn av informantenes posisjon som bakkebyråkrater med diskresjon og autonomi. Selv om egenskapene som tilskrives integrering i mine informanters innledende definisjoner lener seg mot sosial integrasjon, viser analysen at begrepet skifter mening avhengig av temaet som diskuteres. Forståelsen av integrering som produseres av mine informanters arbeid tyder på at integrering er likestilt med sysselsetting og økonomisk uavhengighet. På den annen side, når kjønn er tema, er integrering likestilt med å etterligne den norske formen for kjønnslikestilling. De ulike forståelsene av integrering gitt av integreringsarbeidere indikerer at begrepet ikke bare er tvetydig, men også defineres på radikalt forskjellige måter av de samme informantene avhengig av emnet.  This master’s thesis is a qualitative study that examines how integration workers give meaning to the term integration and the politics that is attached to it in today’s Norway. By using thematic analysis to categorize the themes in the material, I aim to show how different meanings and understanding are attached to the term integration based on the context. The analysis is based on seven interviews conducted with seven integration workers working in the same municipality. The data was gathered within a span of a few months in 2017. Based on the analytical terms, integration and assimilation, social identity theory, sameness as an ideal and minoritizing and majoritizing, I analyze how integration is understood by integration workers, as well as the effects that emerge from these understandings. Personal understandings of integration, understandings of integration produced through my informants’ work and understandings of integration produced in relation to gender are discussed to shed light on the overarching question. Integration, as research shows, is an ambiguous term that is used to mean different things. I look at this term from the perspective of integration workers who have direct contact with participants of the introduction program. Exploring their understandings is essential because of my informants’ position as street-level bureaucrats with discretion and autonomy. Even though the characteristics attributed to integration in my informants’ initial definitions lean towards social integration, the analysis shows that the term shifts meaning depending on the topic being discussed. The understanding of integration that is produced by my informants’ work indicates that integration is equated with employment and economic independence. On the other hand, when gender is the topic, integration is equated with imitating the Norwegian form of gender equality. The different understandings of integration given by integration workers indicate that the term is not only ambiguous but is also defined in radically different ways by the same informants depending on the topic at hand

Dynamic Nuclear Polarization of Deuterated Proteins

For D's a jolly good fellow: Deuteration of proteins significantly increases the signal enhancements observed in dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR experiments. In 13C CP-MAS spectra an enhancement of 120 is observed for perdeuterated SH3 with an exchangeable proton ratio of 50 %, whereas the enhancement is only 31 for the fully protonated SH3. The direct 13C excitation of the perdeuterated sample increases the enhancement to 148

Farmers Perception on Climate Change and Determinants of Adaptation Strategies in Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State of Ethiopia

Adaptation to climate change involves changes in agricultural technologies in particular and management practices in general to reduce its risk and effects. To minimize the losses due to climate change factors, farmers have employed different climate change adaptation strategies. Consequently, this study examines farmer adaptation strategies to climate change in Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State of Ethiopia based on a cross-section data of three representative zones of Assosa, Kamashi zones and Mao-komo special district. The study describes the perceptions of smallholder farmers to changes in climate change indicators and adaptation measures at the farm household level using multivariate discrete choice model to identify the determinants of adaptation strategies. The econometric model has showed that households demographic factors, resources endowments (land, labor, livestock), institutional factors (access to extension services, cooperative membership and access to credit) are some of the important determinants of farm-level adaptation. The policy implication from our finding is that improving access to credit, production factors (like land, labor) enhancing the bargaining power of smallholder farmers can significantly increase farm-level adaptation to climate change. Moreover, adopting different improved crop varieties have showed better yield gains than non-adopters. Thus, policies and strategies should focus at research and development on appropriate technologies that help smallholder farmers’ adaptation capacity to climate changes hereby varietal development, appropriate agronomic recommendations, pre-extension demonstration and popularization of improved cultivars and promoting appropriate farm-level adaptation measures such as use of irrigation technologies

"Our tears are not for sale!" Decolonizing the hegemonic order of knowledge on racism

Der Beitrag hat zum Ziel, ausgehend von einer postkolonialen Kritik auf historische und gegenwärtige Formen der hegemonialen Wissensordnung für eine intersektional orientierte dekoloniale Praxis in der deutschsprachigen Rassismusforschung anzuregen. In diesem Zusammenhang wird das Konzept der Intersektionalität mit dekolonialen Perspektiven in Dialog gebracht und dafür plädiert, eine communityübergreifende, solidarische Widerstandspraxis zwischen den verschiedenen diskriminierten Gruppen in der Dominanzgesellschaft zu gestalten. Im Mittelpunkt des Beitrags steht die These, dass die Rassismusforschung in Deutschland von einer intersektional orientierten dekolonialen Praxis der Wissensproduktion profitieren kann. Eine herrschaftskritische, widerständige und intersektionale Wissensproduktion trägt zur Dekolonialisierung hegemonialer Rassismusforschung bei.Drawing on a postcolonial critique of historical and contemporary forms of the hegemonic order of knowledge, this article aims to foreground an intersectional oriented decolonial practice in research on racism in Germany. In this context, it brings the concept of intersectionality into dialogue with decolonial perspectives on racism and pleads for creating a cross-community practice of resistance and solidarity between the various discriminated groups in the dominant society. This article argues that research on racism in Germany can benefit from intersectional oriented decolonial knowledge production. An intersectional perspective aims to produce critical, resistant and decolonial knowledge on racism