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This article examines the effect of China's soft power projection through the Chinese media in Africa on the African audiences' perception of China's national image through a case study of the residents of Nairobi. It adopted Joseph Nye's soft power model and sought to address three fundamental questions : What is the extent and objective of China's media diplomacy in Africa? How has China's media “offensive” in Africa impacted African audiences' imagery of China? What are the implications, if any, of China's media diplomacy on the Kenyan public view of China?

This article used a mixed-methods research design, which deployed elements of positivism and interpretivism. It used a deductive approach and deployed the survey strategy, which entailed the collection of data from Nairobi city residents. The secondary data were collected from relevant academic literature sources. The primary data were analyzed empirically using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), while the secondary data were analyzed using discourse analysis.

China's soft power projection through the Chinese media in Africa is aimed at addressing the “misinformation” about China. China seeks its share of representation among the African public to correct negative perceptions of China. Kenyans had a generally positive attitude toward China. South Africa and Angola have “Fairly” positive perceptions of the Chinese media. However, this study did not reveal whether the perception was due to the influence of Chinese media. These findings implied that the African public's positive imagery of China cannot be fully attributed to Chinese media's influence.

This study is groundbreaking in that it is one of the few studies that have focused on China's public diplomacy in Africa and assessed the impact of Chinese media on the African public’s perception of China.

The industrial application of continuous glass fabric-reinforced polymer composites (GFRPCs) is growing; however, the manufacturing boundedness of complex structures and the high cost of molds restrict their use. This research proposes a three-dimensional (3 D) printing process for GFRPCs that allows low-cost and rapid fabrication of complex composite parts.

The composite is manufactured using a digital light processing (DLP) based Vat-photopolymerization (VPP) process. For the composites, suitable resin material and glass fabrics are chosen based on their strength, stiffness, and printability. Jacob's working curve characterizes the curing parameters for adequate adhesion between the matrix and fabrics. The tensile and flexural properties were examined using UTM. The fabric distribution and compactness of the cured resin were analyzed in scanning electron microscopy.

The result showed that the object could print at a glass fabric content of 40 volume%. In DLP-based VPP printing technology, the adequate exposure time was found to be 30 seconds for making a GFRPC. The tensile strength and Young's modulus values were increased by 5.54 and 8.81 times, respectively than non-reinforced cured specimens. The flexural strength and modulus were also effectively increased to 2.8 and 3 times more than the neat specimens. In addition, the process is found to help fabricate the functional component.

The experimental procedure to fabricate GFRPC specimens through DLP-based AM is a spectacular experimental approach.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how cronyism is employed by some married female faculty to secure workplace rights and privileges.

A qualitative research design is employed and interviews were conducted with 32 female academics working at four different universities.

The narrative demonstrates the gendered use of cronyism at work – pre-COVID-19, during which female academics had to work full-time and be present on school campuses, and after COVID-19 pandemic, when academic working conditions changed due to the lockdown of university campuses and the reliance on remote online protocols to fulfil academic duties. The paper shows an increased use of cronyism as a mechanism to reduce heavy workloads. This type of cronyism is known as the expectation of mutual favour cronyism, which means that benefits are exchanged between a female academic and the chair of her department and/or the school rector, but the interests of the university they work in are not taken into consideration.

Virtually, no research exists on the sociocultural determinants of nepotism that undermine the professional performance of female academics at work. The authors draw on social exchange theory and the norm of negative reciprocity to identify the conditions under which social capital is undermined. The results have important implications for theory, practice and future research.