Making a virtue of necessity: recycling solid waste by the poor for the poor

This article presents waste valorization and recuperation activities in a poor area in Greater Cairo

Chiffonniers et entreprises privées internationales Stratégies d'adaptation des acteurs formels et informels face à la reforme de la gestion des déchets au Caire

International audienceResearchers have only recently paid attention to solid waste management in the Arab world. With the arrival of European private companies, the informal system of solid waste management in Egypt has been totally transformed since 2000. In Cairo, the relative failure of the private-controlled system of waste collection has been partly caused by the non-integration of the informal sector (rag-and-bone men, called "zabbâlîn"). Firstly, our paper will provide a brief overview of how informal garbage collectors used to operate before the "privatization" of waste collection and recycling. Zabbâlîn in Egypt are often considered as having the most efficient recycling system in the world with 80% of waste collected and recycled. They also have a great capacity to adjust to new techniques and to recycle new materials. Moreover, the zabbâlîn operate with a wide range of industrial sectors nationally and internationally. However, zabbâlîn also face a number of constraints including health issues, the lack of labour legislation as well as uneven collection in some areas. We will then focus on the transition towards a private waste collection system. In order to highlight its impact on the zabbâlîn, it is important to take into account the local context, in particular the political, social, cultural and religious circumstances. We will also discuss the local communities' reactions, including residents who opposed the introduction of a new waste collection system, rejected the new fees and stood by the side of the zabbâlîn. We will also examine the actors' strategies of adjustment given this new context. Some of the zabbâlîn have been incorporated into the formal labor sector and others have signed contracts with foreign companies to collect and recycle waste. But most of them have resorted to other forms of organization, often illegal. While some traditional intermediaries have been excluded from the new waste collection system, others now play a new role. These new practices have profoundly changed the structure and organization of the zabbâlîn community. They have also created new professional territories based on different activities. The zabbâlîn also rely on different professional networks. Finally, the key issues arising from the case study conducted in Cairo will be discussed namely the relationship between the formal sector, consisting of foreign companies, and the informal sector, found almost all Arab countries. While it cannot be denied that the former has professional expertise in this field, the zabbâlîn's skills can be seen to provide another form of efficient waste management. This raises the further question of the transfer of skills and technology between developed and developing countries.La gestion des déchets dans le Monde Arabe reste encore largement inexplorée par la recherche académique. Or, depuis les années 2000, l'arrivée d'entreprises européennes dans le système de gestion des déchets en Égypte a profondément bouleversé les modes d'organisation antérieure et remis en cause la place et le rôle du secteur informel. En ce qui concerne Le Caire, l'échec relatif de la privatisation est en partie dû à la non-intégration des chiffonniers, appelés les zabbâlîn. À travers l'étude détaillée des relations entre les acteurs formels et informels, cet article retrace les modes de gestion des déchets en Égypte et leurs reconfigurations récentes. Tout d'abord, il présente le système traditionnel des zabbâlîn, puis la transition vers un système privatisé et les conséquences sur cette communauté et, enfin, les différentes stratégies d'adaptation mises en œuvres par les acteurs afin de stabiliser le service et de pérenniser leurs activités. Cette étude de cas est riche d'enseignements pour les autres pays de la région qui partagent les mêmes enjeux et problématiques d'un secteur informel traditionnel confronté à la modernisation du service. Elle pose aussi la question du transfert de compétences entre pays développés et en développement

Sainte Térèse

Copia digital. Valladolid : Junta de Castilla y León. Consejería de Cultura y Turismo, 201

To what extent does gender stereotyping affect the careers of female journalists in France and Ireland?

The purpose of this dissertation is to analyse whether the increasing number of women working in newsrooms stands for equality. This research is based on two countries France and Ireland. To conduct this research, seventeen female journalists in total were interviewed. All the participants are working in print and digital news media across France and Ireland. The participants, even though passionate by their job, reported a certain discrimination in the workplace. This discrimination covers the gender pay gap, the problematic around motherhood, the ongoing sexism in the newsrooms and a fewer women can break through the glass ceiling. Journalists who participate in this research gave ideas to potentially improve female journalists’ work lives

Solid waste management cycle in northern Cairo

This report study shows all the economic informal activities related to waste in a popular area of Cairo (Egypt)

Complex organic molecules in comets C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) and C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy): detection of ethylene glycol and formamide

A spectral survey in the 1 mm wavelength range was undertaken in the long-period comets C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) and C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy) using the 30 m telescope of the Institut de radioastronomie millim\'etrique (IRAM) in April and November-December 2013. We report the detection of ethylene glycol (CH$_2$OH)$_2$ (aGg' conformer) and formamide (NH$_2$CHO) in the two comets. The abundances relative to water of ethylene glycol and formamide are 0.2-0.3% and 0.02% in the two comets, similar to the values measured in comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp). We also report the detection of HCOOH and CH$_3$CHO in comet C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy), and a search for other complex species (methyl formate, glycolaldehyde).Comment: Accepted for publication as a Letter in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Palaeoecology of the Upper Tournaisian (Mississippian) crinoidal limestones from South Belgium

The Tournaisian stage (Lower Mississippian) is known as the golden age of crinoids. In S Belgium, Upper Tournaisian crinoidal limestones, locally called "Petit Granit", are known in the Condroz area (Ourthe Formation) and in the Soignies area (Soignies Member) where tens of quarries expose the crinoidal facies. An isopach map shows that the Ourthe Formation thins northward and westward, probably because of synsedimentary block faulting. Despite its apparent monotony, five crinoidal and peloidal microfacies are identified throughout the formation, and the size and preservation of the crinoid columnals vary vertically and laterally. The encrinite deposited as amalgamated tempestites that accumulated under fair-weather wave base. An estimation of the carbonate production rate was calculated and a value of c. 1200 cm(3)/m(2).y is proposed for the Ourthe Fm. The density in individuals was lower in the Hainaut area possibly due to its deeper situation. The analysis of disarticulated crinoid columnals reveals that the crinoidal meadows were diverse with several taxa following a vertical tiering model to maximise the capture of particles from the water column. Beside the crinoids, the fauna was dominated by suspension feeders (brachiopods, bryozoans, tabulate and rugose corals) adapted to a weakly-agitated environment and a relatively soft ground. Rare nektonic and benthic macrophages (holocephalan chondrychthians, actinoceratoid cephalopods, palaechinids, and trilobites) show that the ecosystem was relatively complex despite a simple appearance

Isotopic ratios of H, C, N, O, and S in comets C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) and C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy)

The apparition of bright comets C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) and C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) in March-April 2013 and January 2015, combined with the improved observational capabilities of submillimeter facilities, offered an opportunity to carry out sensitive compositional and isotopic studies of the volatiles in their coma. We observed comet Lovejoy with the IRAM 30m telescope between 13 and 26 January 2015, and with the Odin submillimeter space observatory on 29 January - 3 February 2015. We detected 22 molecules and several isotopologues. The H$_2^{16}$O and H$_2^{18}$O production rates measured with Odin follow a periodic pattern with a period of 0.94 days and an amplitude of ~25%. The inferred isotope ratios in comet Lovejoy are $^{16}$O/$^{18}$O = 499 $\pm$ 24 and D/H = 1.4 $\pm$ 0.4 $\times 10^{-4}$ in water, $^{32}$S/$^{34}$S = 24.7 $\pm$ 3.5 in CS, all compatible with terrestrial values. The ratio $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C = 109 $\pm$ 14 in HCN is marginally higher than terrestrial and $^{14}$N/$^{15}$N = 145 $\pm$ 12 in HCN is half the Earth ratio. Several upper limits for D/H or 12C/13C in other molecules are reported. From our observation of HDO in comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy), we report the first D/H ratio in an Oort Cloud comet that is not larger than the terrestrial value. On the other hand, the observation of the same HDO line in the other Oort-cloud comet, C/2012 F6 (Lemmon), suggests a D/H value four times higher. Given the previous measurements of D/H in cometary water, this illustrates that a diversity in the D/H ratio and in the chemical composition, is present even within the same dynamical group of comets, suggesting that current dynamical groups contain comets formed at very different places or times in the early solar system.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Rice Yellow Mottle Virus stress responsive genes from susceptible and tolerant rice genotypes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The effects of viral infection involve concomitant plant gene variations and cellular changes. A simple system is required to assess the complexity of host responses to viral infection. The genome of the Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) is a single-stranded RNA with a simple organisation. It is the most well-known monocotyledon virus model. Several studies on its biology, structure and phylogeography have provided a suitable background for further genetic studies. 12 rice chromosome sequences are now available and provide strong support for genomic studies, particularly physical mapping and gene identification.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The present data, obtained through the cDNA-AFLP technique, demonstrate differential responses to RYMV of two different rice cultivars, i.e. susceptible IR64 (<it>Oryza sativa indica</it>), and partially resistant Azucena (<it>O. s. japonica</it>). This RNA profiling provides a new original dataset that will enable us to gain greater insight into the RYMV/rice interaction and the specificity of the host response. Using the SIM4 subroutine, we took the intron/exon structure of the gene into account and mapped 281 RYMV stress responsive (RSR) transcripts on 12 rice chromosomes corresponding to 234 RSR genes. We also mapped previously identified deregulated proteins and genes involved in partial resistance and thus constructed the first global physical map of the RYMV/rice interaction. RSR transcripts on rice chromosomes 4 and 10 were found to be not randomly distributed. Seven genes were identified in the susceptible and partially resistant cultivars, and transcripts were colocalized for these seven genes in both cultivars. During virus infection, many concomitant plant gene expression changes may be associated with host changes caused by the infection process, general stress or defence responses. We noted that some genes (e.g. ABC transporters) were regulated throughout the kinetics of infection and differentiated susceptible and partially resistant hosts.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We enhanced the first RYMV/rice interaction map by combining information from the present study and previous studies on proteins and ESTs regulated during RYMV infection, thus providing a more comprehensive view on genes related to plant responses. This combined map provides a new tool for exploring molecular mechanisms underlying the RYMV/rice interaction.</p