Aloof: Black Divas of Refusal

“Aloof: Black Divas of Refusal” studies performers Lena Horne and Billie Holiday as the progenitors of a new tradition of authentic representation of Black female interiority in the entertainment arts. As interiority denotes the wide-ranging amalgamation of human expression, these divas equipped themselves with a sense of refusal and aloofness to strategically posture themselves in conditions that suited their personal predilections best and considered their status as representatives of the Black community. Lena Horne’s evolution as an aloof diva successfully saw the singer and actress escape classist thought of racial uplift to the full embracing of the totality of Black experience, and she was successful on the merits of her performative choice to withhold her interiority, and talents, from an oppressive gaze. Jazz icon Billie Holiday refused the simultaneous logistical arrangements of racism with an aloofness to law and an unapologetically candid interiority. By rejecting pervasive stereotypes of Black women in their art and lifework, I come to recognize, honor, and venerate these divas for their contributions to Black female performance

Financial liberalization and the development of stock markets in Sub-Saharan Africa

This study sought to investigate the relationship between financial liberalization and stock market development in four Sub-Saharan African stock markets using quarterly data for the period 1975 - 2014. The analysis focused on three dimensions of liberalization in isolation, which are capital account liberalization, stock market liberalization and financial sector liberalization. Hence, the empirical analysis uses three Bayesian VAR models for each market studied. The results from the investigation show a positive correlation between stock market development and the liberalization of stock markets and the financial sector in all four countries, which advocates for the opening of financial markets to international investors, as well as the deepening of the sector. Additionally, a positive long-run response of stock market development to all three forms of liberalization in all the markets considered suggested that greater focus should therefore be put on increasing financial openness by removing the restrictions in the financial sectors of the respective economies, as this will promote the effectiveness of the deliverance of credit to the private sector, efficient credit evaluation and public sector surveillance, which is provided through the stock market. Finally, the analysis uncovered negative correlation between stock market development and inflation in all four markets, suggesting that policy makers in these countries should pay special attention to inflation targeting policies in order to positively contribute to enhancing these markets

The changing impact of macroeconomic environment on remittance inflows in sub-Saharan Africa

This paper identifies the core macroeconomic factors responsible for explaining the changing levels in international remittances received by SSA countries. A set of annual panel data on 36 SSA countries, covering 1980-2009, was used in a ‘system’ Generalised Method of Moments following Blundell and Bond (1998) dynamic panel-data estimation technique. In order to provide a more detailed insight into the possible dynamics of varying impact of macroeconomic variables that explain remittances received in SSA, decade-based (1980-89, 1990-99, and 2000-09), as well as an overall study period, 1980-2009, estimations were carried out. It was found that both migrant home-country and host-country macroeconomic environment impact on remittance inflows in SSA with a varying impact overtime. In absolute terms, generally, whilst the impact of real exchange rate, migrant income, and institutional quality has been increasing on remittances overtime, the effects of family income and the rate of inflation has be decreasing overtim

The changing impact of macroeconomic environment on remittance inflows in sub-Saharan Africa

This paper identifies the core macroeconomic factors responsible for explaining the changing levels in international remittances received by SSA countries. A set of annual panel data on 36 SSA countries, covering 1980-2009, was used in a ‘system’ Generalised Method of Moments following Blundell and Bond (1998) dynamic panel-data estimation technique. In order to provide a more detailed insight into the possible dynamics of varying impact of macroeconomic variables that explain remittances received in SSA, decade-based (1980-89, 1990-99, and 2000-09), as well as an overall study period, 1980-2009, estimations were carried out. It was found that both migrant home-country and host-country macroeconomic environment impact on remittance inflows in SSA with a varying impact overtime. In absolute terms, generally, whilst the impact of real exchange rate, migrant income, and institutional quality has been increasing on remittances overtime, the effects of family income and the rate of inflation has be decreasing overtim

UN Peace operations and conflicting legitimacies

Analyses of UN peacekeeping increasingly consider legitimacy a key factor for success, conceiving of it as a resource that operations should seek and use in the pursuit of their goals. However, these analyses rarely break down legitimacy by source. Because the UN is an organization with multiple identities and duties however, different legitimacy sources—in particular output and procedural legitimacy—and the UN’s corresponding legitimation practices come into conflict in the context of peacekeeping. Drawing on a range of examples and a specific case of the UN mission in Congo, this article argues that looking at different legitimacy sources and linking them to the institutional identity of the UN is thus critical and it shows how the UN’s in contradictory legitimation practices can reduce overall legitimacy perceptions

Haematological and Biochemical Reference Values for Healthy Adults in the Middle Belt of Ghana

BACKGROUND: Reference values are very important in clinical management of patients, screening participants for enrollment into clinical trials and for monitoring the onset of adverse events during these trials. The aim of this was to establish gender-specific haematological and biochemical reference values for healthy adults in the central part of Ghana. METHODS: A total of 691 adults between 18 and 59 years resident in the Kintampo North Municipality and South District in the central part of Ghana were randomly selected using the Kintampo Health and Demographic Surveillance System and enrolled in this cross-sectional survey. Out of these, 625 adults made up of 316 males and 309 females were assessed by a clinician to be healthy. Median values and nonparametric 95% reference values for 16 haematology and 22 biochemistry parameters were determined for this population based on the Clinical Laboratory and Standards Institute guidelines. Values established in this study were compared with the Caucasian values being used currently by our laboratory as reference values and also with data from other African and western countries. RESULTS: REFERENCE VALUES ESTABLISHED INCLUDE: haemoglobin 113-164 g/L for males and 88-144 g/L for females; total white blood cell count 3.4-9.2 × 10(9)/L; platelet count 88-352 × 10(9)/L for males and 89-403 × 10(9)/L for females; alanine aminotransferase 8-54 U/L for males and 6-51 U/L for females; creatinine 56-119 µmol/L for males and 53-106 µmol/L for females. Using the haematological reference values based on the package inserts would have screened out up to 53% of potential trial participants and up to 25% of the population using the biochemical parameters. CONCLUSION: We have established a panel of locally relevant reference parameters for commonly used haematological and biochemical tests. This is important as it will help in the interpretation of laboratory results both for clinical management of patients and safety monitoring during a trial

Münzmetallbasierte Präkursoren zur Herstellung von Nanopartikeln und leitfähigen Schichten

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschreibt die Synthese und Charakterisierung ethylenglykolfunktionalisierter Carboxylate der Münzmetalle sowie deren Verwendung als Präkursoren in der Herstellung von Nanopartikeln und leitfähigen Metallschichten. Ein Schwerpunkt der Arbeit liegt auf der Verwendung von Kupfer(II)-carboxylaten zur Herstellung von druckbaren Kupfertinten. Es wird gezeigt, wie zentrale Präkursoreigenschaften durch Variation der Carboxylatreste optimiert werden können. Einen zweiten Schwerpunkt bildet die Herstellung von Kupfernanopartikeln durch thermische Zersetzung ethylenglykolfunktionalisierter Kupfercarboxylate. Der Einsatz von Bis- und Tris(triphenylphosphan)kupfer(I)-carboxylaten ermöglicht hierbei die Herstellung von oxidfreien sphärischen Kupfernanopartikeln sowie von Kupferstäbchen unter einfachen experimentellen Bedingungen. Weitere Arbeiten widmen sich der Verwendung von ethylenglykolfunktionalisierten Silber(I)-carboxylaten zur Synthese von Silbernanopartikeln. Der entwickelte Prozess erlaubt die Herstellung blättchenförmiger Silbernanopartikel bei vergleichsweise niedrigen Temperaturen. Auch die Herstellung von blättchenförmigen Kupfersulfidpartikeln durch Thermolyse eines ethylenglykolfunktionalisierten Bis(triphenylphosphan)kupfer(I)-thiocarboxylates wird beschrieben. Schließlich wird gezeigt, wie thermolytisch hergestellte Goldnanopartikel an ethylenglykolfunktionalisierten Kohlenstoffnanoröhren abgeschieden werden können. Der Prozess wurde auf einem Wafer durchgeführt. Die erhaltenen Strukturen ermöglichen eine Verwendung als optischer Sensor