Coarse-resolution Ecology of Etiological Agent, Vector, and Reservoirs of Zoonotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Libya

Cutaneous leishmaniasis ranks among the tropical diseases least known and most neglected in Libya. World Health Organization reports recognized associations of Phlebotomus papatasi, Psammomys obesus, and Meriones spp., with transmission of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL; caused by Leishmania major) across Libya. Here, we map risk of ZCL infection based on occurrence records of L. major, P. papatasi, and four potential animal reservoirs (Meriones libycus, Meriones shawi, Psammomys obesus, and Gerbillus gerbillus). Ecological niche models identified limited risk areas for ZCL across the northern coast of the country; most species associated with ZCL transmission were confined to this same region, but some had ranges extending to central Libya. All ENM predictions were significant based on partial ROC tests. As a further evaluation of L. major ENM predictions, we compared predictions with 98 additional independent records provided by the Libyan National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC); all of these records fell inside the belt predicted as suitable for ZCL. We tested ecological niche similarity among vector, parasite, and reservoir species and could not reject any null hypotheses of niche similarity. Finally, we tested among possible combinations of vector and reservoir that could predict all recent human ZCL cases reported by NCDC; only three combinations could anticipate the distribution of human cases across the country

Study of process intensification Higee technology applied to the absorption

Treballs Finals de Grau d'Enginyeria Química, Facultat de Química, Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2015-2016, Tutor: Jose Maria Gutiérrez GonzálezHigee technology or High-gravity Technology has been widely studied for the intensification of industrial processes such as absorption, desorption, distillation, extraction, among others, in order to find and improve the benefits compared to conventional methods. According to Documents about Best Available Techniques (BREFs), Higee technology is emerging as an alternative to the methods used so far. This work studies Higee technology improvements applied to the absorption process compared to conventional packed columns. The absorption is mainly used to remove pollutant components of a gas stream to avoid leaks outside and/or to recover some component that the stream could contain for production purposes. To achieve the goals of this project, a bibliographic search of Higee technology, studied by different authors, has been performed. In this research, the focus is on the modifications made in recent years in order to show the advantages of this technology compared to the conventional one. After this research, the design of a conventional absorption column and Rotating Packed Bed have been studied in order to make a comparison among the design results and a comparison of these with those obtained experimentally by the different authors. From these studies the main conclusion is that the use of Higee technology get a huge reduction in the volume of the device and it is also possible to use smaller amounts of absorbent liquid. However, Higee technology presents some disadvantages over conventional technology because it is necessary that the absorbent liquid be subjected to a centrifugal force, so this will require greater energy. All these changes make the design more complex and the device suffers a faster wear due to continuous movement and, consequently, it increases the economic cost. Thus, based on studies performed so far, replacing the conventional absorption column for Higee technology is not recommendable. However, it should be further investigated because it has potential to get better results in comparison with conventional processes, either applied in the process studied in this work or applied to another types of processes

The Impact of Global Crises on Women: The Case of Covid-19 in Egypt

Any global crisis is expected to affect every human being, but for women it is always twice as hard. In the case of Covid-19, women are more affected across every domain, from social protection to health, simply because if their gender. This research explores the impact of Covid-19 on women, both economically and socially, with the focus on the case of Egypt. It explores the systematic gender inequalities in the economic, social, and health spheres using cases from previous crises, and how this gender inequality and vulnerability has resulted in much worse consequences of Covid-19 than that of men. The primary research focuses on women in upper/middle classes, and aimed to answer, as we emerge from this pandemic, how can we prevent it from excavating the existing gender inequalities? The primary research displayed that the pandemic’s impact was felt deeply and added a strain women, however it is also important to point out that it also portrayed some positive changes especially in household dynamics. Concluding that the imbedded gender stereotypes that add pressures on women are not related to social or economic class, they are deep rooted in society and will only change, if the younger generation change those ideals and recognize the role of women as an active agent in the development process of the society. The research also examined the Egyptian Covid-19 response plan in comparison to other countries and overall, the Egyptian response plan reflected a new gender-sensitive strategy that is very apparent in almost all the policies. Egypt addressed issues like unpaid care work, and increasing in cash benefits to female-headed households, and micro financing to women entrepreneurs, which was not the case for many countrie