Understanding Displacement and Urbanisation in Somali Cities

Somalia has one of the largest populations of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the world: an estimated 2.6 million in 2018. Yet little is known about the way displaced people experience flight and resettlement, how they learn to navigate their new city lives, and what measures they take to improve their security. The ESRC-DFID funded ‘Security on the Move’ project captured the experiences of displaced people in four Somali cities and provided spaces for them to raise their concerns with policymakers. The study showed that land, tenure and labour insecurity consistently feature in their lives. Living conditions differed considerably depending on the duration of settlement, individuals’ connection to local power-holders, and their gender. However, in all four cities, displaced people provided services within the expanding urban economies. Physical insecurity remained a threat, as people continued to experience evictions, domestic violence, crime, or threats posed by armed groups.ESRC-DFI

Integration of Membranes and Bioreactors

Combined application of bioreactors and membrane separations are considered as membrane bioreactors (MBRs). Examples for the application of MBRs are given in this chapter both for large scale (wastewater treatments) and in other areas in smaller scale. Wastewater treatments are the majority of the large-scale applications, where biological degradation is coupled with membrane filtration (microfiltration and ultrafiltration). Other types of MBRs include integration of biotransformations and bioconversions by microorganisms and enzymes with membrane separation processes, not only with filtration but also with pervaporation, electrodialysis, and gas separation. These MBRs provide significant advantages compared to the conventional batch bioprocesses. In this chapter, several examples are presented for both applications

Family -- Dicistroviridae

This chapter focuses on Dicistroviridae family whose two member genera are Cripavirus and Aparavirus. The virions are roughly spherical with a particle diameter of approximately 30 nm and have no envelope. The virions exhibit icosahedral, pseudo T = 3 symmetry and are composed of 60 protomers, each composed of a single molecule of each of VP2, VP3, and VP1. A smaller protein VP4 is also present in the virions of some members and is located on the internal surface of the 5-fold axis below VP1. The virions are stable in acidic conditions and have sedimentation coefficients of between 153 and 167S. They contain a single molecule of infectious, linear, positive sense, single stranded RNA (ssRNA) of approximately 8500–10,000 nt in size with a GC content ranging from 35 to 45%. RNA constitutes about 30% of the virion weight and the proteins account for 70% of the virion weight. The approximately 200 kDa nonstructural polyprotein and 100 kDa structural polyprotein are encoded by ORF 1 and ORF 2, respectively. The virions contain three major structural (capsid) viral proteins, VP1, VP2, and VP3 and the size of these capsid proteins ranges from 24 to 40 kDa. The RNA genome is monopartite and dicistronic with two nonoverlapping ORFs that are separated and flanked by UTRs. All members of the family infect invertebrates and most members of the family are widely distributed in nature. Dicistrovirus infection is not usually associated with overt disease, although infection commonly leads to reduced life expectancy

Feasibility study of polyetherimide membrane for enrichment of carbon dioxide from synthetic biohydrogen mixture and subsequent utilization scenario using microalgae

In this work, the potential of utilizing a polyetherimide (PEI) hollow-fiber membrane to separate synthetic biohydrogen mixture (H2/CO2) was studied. From the gas separation experiments, where the effects of feed to permeate pressure ratio (Pfeed/Ppermeate) and stage-cut as key factors were evaluated, it was found that the PEI membrane had the capacity to purify either H2 or CO2. It turned out that different separation settings should be chosen in accordance with the actual technological purpose, defined either as the enrichment of H2 or CO2. The highest H2 concentration (66.4 vol%) in the permeate was achieved at Pfeed/Ppermeate of 4.62 and stage-cut of 0.47, while the peak CO2 concentration (79.2 vol%) in the retentate was obtained by applying Pfeed/Ppermeate of 4.55 and stage-cut of 0.65. The assessment and discussion of results indicated the possible utilization of the CO2-rich fraction (produced by the PEI membrane) for the biological sequestration using microalgae. To our knowledge, PEI membranes have not yet been tested in such a concept and thus, the results and experiences can mean a new contribution to the literature.publishedVersio

A review of the innovative gas separation membrane bioreactor with mechanisms for integrated production and purification of biohydrogen

This review article focuses on an assessment of the innovative Gas Separation Membrane Bioreactor (GS-MBR), which is an emerging technology because of its potential for in-situ biohydrogen production and separation. The GS-MBR, as a special membrane bioreactor, enriches CO2 directly from the headspace of the anaerobic H2 fermentation process. CO2 can be fed as a substrate to auxiliary photo-bioreactors to grow microalgae as a promising raw material for biocatalyzed, dark fermentative H2-evolution. Overall, these features make the GS-MBR worthy of study. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the GS-MBR has not been studied in detail to date; hence, a comprehensive review of this topic will be useful to the scientific community

Voluntary exercise does not increase gastrointestinal motility but increases spatial memory, intestinal eNOS, Akt levels, and Bifidobacteria abundance in the microbiome

The interaction between the gut and brain is a great puzzle since it is mediated by very complex mechanisms. Therefore, the possible interactions of the brain–exercise–intestine–microbiome axis were investigated in a control (C, N = 6) and voluntarily exercised (VE, N = 8) middle-aged rats. The endurance capacity was assessed by VO2max on the treadmill, spatial memory by the Morris maze test, gastrointestinal motility by EMG, the microbiome by 16S RNA gene amplicon sequencing, caveolae by electron microscopy, and biochemical assays were used to measure protein levels and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Eight weeks of voluntary running increased VO2max, and spatial memory was assessed by the Morris maze test but did not significantly change the motility of the gastrointestinal tract or production of ROS in the intestine. The protein kinase B (Akt) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) protein levels significantly increased in the intestine, while peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor gamma coactivator 1 alpha (PGC-1α), mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM), nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NFR1), SIRT1, SIRT3, nicotinamide phosphoribosyl transferase (NAMPT), and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) did not change. On the other hand, voluntary exercise increased the number of caveolae in the smooth muscles of the intestine and relative abundance of Bifidobacteria in the microbiome, which correlated with the Akt levels in the intestine. Voluntary exercise has systemic effects and the relationship between intestinal Akt and the microbiome of the gastrointestinal tract could be an important adaptive response

Precarious Urbanism: Displacement, Belonging and the Reconstruction of Somali Cities

This book explores relationships between war, displacement, and city-making. Focusing on people seeking refuge in Somali cities after being forced to migrate by violence, environmental shocks or economic pressures, it highlights how in-migrants are actively transforming urban space. Using first-hand testimonies and participatory photography, the book documents and analyses the micro-politics of urban camp management and infrastructure, evictions and nascent gentrification, and the networked labour of displaced populations that underpins growing urban economies. Central throughout is an emphasis on the political economy in which urbanisation processes at the global margins are embedded. The book sheds light on this through analysis of the emergence of different forms of rentierism or the commercialisation of services – all of which are contributing to the further financialisation of poverty. Critical analysis is also provided of how the discursive figure of the ‘internally displaced person’ is co-produced by various actors, including those involved in international interventions that problematise and attempt to find provide ‘durable solutions’ for displacement. The book argues that the ‘IDP’ label exerts significant power in structuring socio-economic inequalities and the politics of group belonging within different Somali cities connected through protracted histories of conflict-related migration

Precarious technoscapes: forced mobility and mobile connections at the urban margins

Displaced people settling at the margins of Somali cities live in conditions of extreme precarity. They are also active users of information and communications technology (ICTs), employing mobile phones to maintain social networks, obtain information, navigate urban space and labour markets, transfer and store money, and receive aid. This article explores mobile connectivity from the perspective of displaced people, analysing how they experience mobile phones, and the connections they enable in the context of conflict and urban reconstruction in Somalia. The findings caution against techno-optimist developmental discourses, and provide a nuanced picture of the benefits, constraints, challenges and risks entailed in the engagement of marginalised urban populations with ICTs. Although providing various beneficial affordances, increased mobile connectivity does not by itself diminish inequalities. ICTs can reinforce power differentials between urban labourers and employers, become instruments of exploitation, and increase the distance between receivers of aid and the transnational regimes that govern precarity in Somali cities