Soldiers’ Letters: the evolution in form and content of correspondence between the second South African and Vietnam wars. [abstract].

One aspect of my research has been concerned with the changing form of war correspondence between soldiers and their families, as many of the ‘letters’ from soldiers during the Vietnam War are either physical tape recordings or their transcripts. Close attention has been paid to these records in an attempt to discover whether such changes in epistolary techniques or technology has changed the general content of the soldier’s letter. As such communication is continuing to evolve, seen by the popularity of email among current and recent soldiers, this has prompted interest in further – and more recent - research on the topic

Beyond the Blueprint: African-American Literary Marxism in the Period of the Cold War, 1946-1969.

Beyond the Blueprint: African American Literary Marxism in the Period of the Cold War, 1946-1969 investigates the aesthetics of Marxist commitment in African-American literature of the post-Second World War period. Anchored in novels that unsettle the fixed political itinerary of Marxist identity articulated in 1930s proletarian fiction, this dissertation examines avant-garde forms of Marxist expression in the work of Richard Wright (1908-1961), Rosa Guy (1922-2012), and Sarah E. Wright (1928-2009). Through their fiction—Richard Wright’s Native Son (1940) and The Outsider (1953), Rosa Guy’s Bird at My Window (1966), and Sarah Wright’s This Child’s Gonna Live (1969)—each author offers a formal record of his or her subjective experience in the margins of official forms of radical belonging, namely the Communist Party, the “ultra-Bolshevism” of French philosophical Marxism, Pan-Africanism, Black Nationalism, and Third World Internationalism. My emphasis on formal (e.g. stylistic and structural) analysis in the interpretation of non-aligned committed literature revises traditional analytic methods of literary radicalism founded upon an author’s standing in existing political organizations and institutions. In addition to compromising the legacies of individual authors’ complex political and literary imaginations, these methods have suppressed a vital body of literature that expresses the most significant historical transition of the twentieth-century—a moment that philosopher Hannah Arendt theorizes as “between past and future” (Arendt 3). While the innovative writing (and reading) practices performed by these authors may not resemble the radical writing of the 1930s and early 1940s, their departure from this previous mode of expression reaffirms the dialectical quality of Marx’s thought, which requires that any appropriation—political, philosophical, or cultural—respond to its particular historical and material conditions. Such a theoretical position has traditionally been attributed to continental theorists, especially the Frankfurt School in Germany, the post-Althusserian school in France (including Michel Foucault, Étienne Balibar, Alain Badiou and Jacques Rancière), and the existential Marxism of Jean Paul Sartre and Maurice Merleau-Ponty; however, the existence of an African-American Marxist avant-garde at the helm of these theoretical advancements has been virtually ignored.PhDEnglish Language and LiteratureUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/113286/1/kkarageo_1.pd

Chemical characterization of the inorganic fraction of aerosols and mechanisms of the neutralization of atmospheric acidity in Athens, Greece

The PM<sub>10</sub> mass concentration levels and inorganic chemical composition were determined on 12-h resolution sampling during August 2003 and March 2004, in the centre of Athens, Greece. The August 2003 campaign mean PM<sub>10</sub> mass concentration, obtained by Beta Attenuation at 5 m above ground in Athinas Street, was 56 μg m<sup>−3</sup> while the corresponding value for March 2004 was 92 μg m<sup>−3</sup>. In both campaigns the E.U. imposed daily limit of 50 μg m<sup>−3</sup> was exceeded on several days. During the March campaign, in Athinas Street, additionally obtained DSFU-PM<sub>10</sub> (PM<sub>10-2.5</sub>+PM<sub>2.5</sub>) gravimetric mass concentrations (mean: 121 μg m<sup>−3</sup>) in the "breathing zone", at 1.5 m above ground were significantly higher compared to the respective mean PM<sub>10</sub> mass concentrations obtained by the same method at 25 m above ground, in a second site (AEDA; mean: 86 μg m<sup>−3</sup>) also in the centre of the city. The above findings suggest that, for a realistic estimation of the exposure of citizens to particulate matter, PM<sub>10</sub> sampling in the "breathing zone" (1.5–3 m above ground) is necessary. Such data are presented for the first time for the centre of Athens. In both campaigns, calcium was found to be the predominant component of the coarse fraction while crust-related aluminosilicates and iron were the other major components. The above elements constitute the most important components of the fine fraction, together with the predominant sulphur. All toxic metals were found in concentrations below the established air quality limits, and most of them in lower concentrations compared to older studies. Lead in particular, appeared mostly in the fine fraction and in very low concentrations compared to studies dating more than a decade back. The predominant ions of the coarse fraction have been found to be Ca<sup>2+</sup>, NO<sub>3</sub><sup>−</sup>, Na<sup>+</sup> and Cl<sup>−</sup>, while SO<sub>4</sub><sup>2−</sup>, Ca<sup>2+</sup> and NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup> were the major ionic components of the fine fraction. In the fine particles, a low molar ratio of NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup>/SO<sub>4</sub><sup>2−</sup> indicated an ammonium-poor ambient air, and together with inter-ionic correlations suggested that atmospheric ammonia is the major neutralizing agent of sulfate, while being insufficient to neutralize it to full extend. The formation of NH<sub>4</sub>NO<sub>3</sub> is therefore not favored and additional contribution to the neutralization of acidity has been shown to be provided by Ca<sup>2+</sup> and Mg<sup>2+</sup>. In the coarse particle fraction, the predominantly abundant Ca<sup>2+</sup> has been found to correlate well with NO<sub>3</sub><sup>−</sup> and SO<sub>4</sub><sup>2−</sup>, indicating its role as important neutralizing agent in this particle size range. The proximity of the location under study to the sea explains the important concentrations of salts with marine origin like NaCl and MgCl<sub>2</sub> that were found in the coarse fraction, while chloride depletion in the gaseous phase was found to be limited to the fine particulate fraction. Total analyzed inorganic mass (elemental+ionic) was found to be ranging between approximately 25–33% of the total coarse particle mass and 35–42% of the total fine particle mass

Chemical characterization of the inorganic fraction of aerosols and mechanisms of the neutralization of atmospheric acidity in Athens, Greece

International audienceMass concentration levels and the inorganic chemical composition of PM10 (two fractions; PM10?2.5 and PM2.5) were determined during August 2003 and March 2004, in the centre of Athens, Greece. August 2003 monthly mean PM10 mass concentration, at 5 m above ground, was 56 ?g/m3 and the EU imposed daily limit of 50 ?g/m3 was exceeded on 16 occasions. The corresponding monthly mean for March 2004 was 92 ?g/m3 and the aforementioned daily limit was exceeded on 23 occasions. The PM10 (PM10?2.5+PM2.5) mass concentrations at 1.5 m above ground were found to be approximately 20% higher compared to the respective PM10 measured at 5 m. Consequently, for a realistic estimation of the exposure of citizens to particulate matter, PM10 sampling at a height of 1.5?3 m above ground, in the "breathing zone" is necessary. Such data are presented for the first time for the centre of Athens. In both campaigns, calcium was found to be the predominant component of the coarse fraction while crust-related aluminosilicates and iron were found to be the other major components of the same fraction. The above elements constitute the most important components of the fine fraction, together with the predominant sulphur. Toxic metals were found to be below the air quality limits and in lower concentrations compared to older studies, with the exception of Cu and V for which some increase was observed. Pb, in particular, appeared mostly in the fine fraction and in very low concentrations compared to studies dating more than a decade back. The major ions of the coarse fraction have been found to be Ca2+, NO3? and Cl?, while SO4?2, Ca2+ and NH4+ were the major ionic components of the fine fraction. The low molar ratio of NH4+/SO4?2 indicated an ammonium-poor ambient air, where atmospheric ammonia is not sufficient to neutralize all acidity and the formation of NH4NO3 does not occur to a significant extend. Calcium predominated the coarse fraction and its good correlations with NO3? and SO4?2 indicated its role as an important neutralizing agent of atmospheric acidity in this particle size range. In the fine fraction, both Ca2+ and NH4+ participate in the neutralizing processes with NH4+ being the major neutralizing agent of SO4?2. Chloride depletion from NaCl or MgCl2 was not found to occur to a significant extend. Total analyzed inorganic mass (elemental+ionic) was found to be ranging between approximately 25?33% of the total coarse particle mass and 35?42% of the total fine particle mass